Between the Canals: Amsterdam Finale

Major Highlights/Accomplishments of My Final Week:
-went to a meditation class at my yoga studio
-I wrote over 60 pages this week among my three finals
-finished all my finals relatively stress-free
-cooked some pretty delicious dinners at home

-Ashley visited!
-began our Amsterdam finale celebrations
-cleaned my room for one last time to take pictures before packing
-went to the Squatter house for dinner (knocking more items off the bucket list)
-bicycled around the city and smiled amidst my sadness about leaving
-I'm still here (and I'm so happy about that) but I'll be home with my most loved ones so soon (and I'm so happy about that)

This week brought much fun, even a sort of hilarity, amidst my paper writing scarily representative of my typical finals-week workload at Brandeis. My semester was fairly academically simple, at least in comparison to all the work I have at home, but this past week presented me with the challenge of three written finals, each of which required extensive reading, research, outlining, and time to synthesize my thoughts in a cohesive and presentable paper. My study locations ranged from my room to my favorite cafes, and eventually the library to really kill those papers.

Pre-finals pleasure reading (which I have made a practice of committing myself to every morning!)


Finals have begun, as has Kyle's week-long job as a paparazzi.

Cafe Tuin

View from the top of the public library

Hannah indulging in our life savor 4 hours into paper-writing...pocket coffee (espresso shot inside a chocolate bar)

Luckily, though, even through the craziness of finals, I was still able to have a great week. I got to cook some fantastically delicious food, including our traditional Shabbat Indian curry dinner. Kyle and I visited the Van Gogh museum for a free tour of the current photography exhibit and some mingling with Dutch folk. I was able to do most of my work in gorgeous cafes, sipping tea and soup and munching on little complementary cookies all the while. This week reminded me how wonderful the little pleasures in life are when you're living in a place, not merely staying for a few days. I took breaks from bike rides across the city to sit by the water and hopped into book stores I'd been meaning to meander through for a while. I drank coffee at my favorite cafes -- it's cool that being here for four months has granted me the ability to have favorites :)

Proud chef, over here.

YUMMM

Thought this attempt to throw his bike into the Amstel would make for a good pic :)

And, as if my semester wasn't exciting enough already, Ashley came to visit (!!) on her way home from her semester abroad in South Africa. We had so much fun finally being together again and got super excited about living together next semester, as well as next year. I had initially worried that her visit was ill-timed, situated smack in the middle of my finals week, but it actually gave me quite the motivation to finish two of my three finals before she came. CHECK! Although I spent most of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday working on finishing up and editing everything, my mid-week break with a best bud was in fact the perfect study break.

Blurry blurry but happy happy

Dinner at the Pancake Bakery!

I was certainly busier this week than I remember being during most other weeks here, and wish I'd had more time to relax and blog more, but my lack of posts is simply representative of the craziness that is being abroad, the excitement that is finals week and the grand simplicity in being present and caught in the whirlwind of constant activity and commotion that is also calm and constantly rewarding.