Alex: Thanks for the postcard! It definitely made my day!! Big THANK YOU!! :))

A'dam Day 87

Ok, ok, I'm not having a happy week any longer (since yesterday); like all miracles, my week was only happy for 3 days - my bad! ;(

Back to reality means taking a bite of the pavement, fortunately not literally, but still...

That was it, folks!

A'dam Day 85

Today's mood: largely political. The Dutch go to the poles today! Angela celebrates 1 year as 1st woman chancellor! Peaking the news: Pierre Gemayel's death & controversy around it.

Amnesty International's revealings of Russian police [again...] torture activities- maybe to face CAT cases? - it appears that Russia is amongst the initiators of the CAT & OPCAT documents - as you can see here. However, Russia has its own CAT - how ironic is that?!

My own spinning cycle: Got my first grade this Maandag :) - not bad, not bad at all! :)
The VRKring is finally starting to get going! :)
Finally gotten some really nicely looking A'dam photos from Nov 11th's city centre tour with the MTEC'ers! :)

My aura: semi-focused & semi-revolutionary

Academia: 3 Dec VRK "human rights documentary afternoon"
11 Dec FSLS-D Palestine paper deadline
12 Dec MTEC'ers meet Academic Coordinator
14 Dec Dutch Language Exam
14 Dec MTEC'ers Christmas dinner with CROSS representative/s
tomorrow: finally, the EAW!! :)

.... my life is too acronym-ic :) but i feel sort of happy! :) Yeah! :) ... I think I'm having a good week! :)

A'dam Day 81

... today was a sunny day :) Bernardo knocked my door this morning and, in a short while, we were on our way to Haarlem (an old map of which can be seen above)!

Haarlem's CS (above) is just 15min away from A'dam CS - which made it for a very short trip. Talking about the TEU & the TEC & the European law various branches made the trip seem even shorter! Anyway, it seemed like we were there in no time, Haarlem feeling warm and welcoming in the mellow sun, unbelievably beautiful for that matter.

However: the main attraction was St. Bavo's Church - a huge Reformed gothic cathedral, with an impressive history & general feel - just makes me think...

Upon return, there was dinner celebrating the birthday boy and a movie to follow briefly.

.... Should start thinking in real life terms quite soon (19 sounds like a good number for that)

A'dam Day 8o

Today's "birthday boy": Mr. Moebius
More historically, today was also "1989's beginning of the "Velvet Revolution," which led to the downfall of communism in Czechoslovakia."
aaand: "2003 - Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor of California."(!!)

My Personal Week's Menu included: one piece FSLS-D; one piece IDSL; 2 pieces INTT language course and 3 pieces LPIO2 lectures, including 2 guest speakers.
Quasi-academic: the VRK meetings (2 till now, heading for the 3rd in 30 min); and the "good ol' times" CCS visit.

Yesterday's birthday: Konstantin. And tomorrow's: Andrei.

I miss: proper sleep, for sufficient amounts of time.

Today's piece of unhealthy sugar: Chupa Chups Cola flavour.

Amsterdam Day 74

Tonight was Ana's birthday party, so we had to take the metro to Amstelstation.

my 2nd time in this place (1st was purely accidental) after arrival here. Perhaps more to follow. Photo not mine yet necessary nonetheless.

Next Sunday: Sinter Klaas arrives to A'dam! :)

A'dam Day 70

Sem 1/ Block 2/ Week 2 of LLM

On-going projects: my 3 new courses: FSLS-D, IDSL & LPIO 2
the Dutch Language course
VRK organizational board membership

Reading: Anthony Doerr - The Shell Collector

Lisbon movies: The Black Dahlia - at the midnight session & Open Season - with Dora & Tiago

Need to catch up with: my Mentor group; timetables; Museum card & a bike; letters, postcards, emails & phone calls.

Flavour: Sportlife Peppermint

Latest acquisitions: Dicionario Basico Ilustrado (Lingua Portuguesa) & a brand new Springfield Card

Lisbon findings: the Belem area, the Vasco da Gama tower, dinner with primo David, the EMCDDA address

Thinking of: time management & purposeful construction

A'dam Day 68

On the strangeness of things: woke up in Lisboa, PT, 5.o5 a.m. and went to sleep again in Amsterdam, NL, o2.3o p.m. How fast does globalization affect individual life?

More to come: tomorrow.