last sunday. markets and picnics.

 

"otherground" market day at overtoom 301 (the big squatted old theater school that de peper is in). viviana and gloria.

 

out front of the peper, eating vegan food. viviana, gloria, victoria, arjay and arjay's friend... i don't remember her name. sorry.

 

foxy brown hanging out in overtoom 301.

 

later that day at our dutch class picnic. jillian, scott, victoria, laura, and gloria.

 

viviana, eduard (our dutch teacher), his kid laura, and chelsea. in vondelpark.

 

chelsea, ciara, janelle.

pull up contest between eduard, laura and scott.

 

what a bad ass little girl. she later beat them both in a sit up contest by doing 100 sit ups.

rest of the flower fields.

 

neon flower fields, from the tulip bike ride in lisse.

 

leigh and the flowers.

 

victoria, mildly p.o.'d.

 

colors!

spring!

 

more glam shots.

 

me and chelsea, posing on the bus. pretend like you can't see my arm (how embarrassing).

glamour shots in the flower beds.

 

these aren't even tulips, but they're pretty.

some of the group went on a bike ride through the tulip fields in a town called lisse. it was really touristy but it was sunny and nice to go on a long bike ride where the air smelled like flowers. me and my friend leigh decided to do some glamour shots. i’ve got a bunch more pics from the last week but i’ll upload them later, i got stuff to do today.

summer summer time.

 i can wear a tank top at night. i am so happy.

great things about this week so far:

-got into the women’s leadership program at school for next year.

-registered for class and am taking so many good things. alanna is going to be my t.a. and that rules.

-went to 2 really awesome movie nights at 2 different small squatted theaters.

-have had good bonding time with some ladies on the program. and am slowly but surely making more dutch/non-program affiliated friends.

-went to a good lecture about sexuality education in the netherlands tonight. it was about how even the dutch education system could be a lot better and more comprehensive.

-got 2 packages from friends/sisters!

-decided to make a zine in my spare time in amsterdam.

-scheduled my first interviews and am happy with myself for actually already being productive with my independent study research project.

great things that are coming up:

-free boat ride in the canals if it doesn’t rain on friday.

-big garage sale at overtoom 301 (the big squat complex where de peper and one of the theaters i went to this week are in). gunna buy some summer shorts and dresses for so cheap.

-group bike ride through the tulip fields on saturday that is being entirely paid for by the program. there’s a 25 mile ride that me and a couple others are gunna go all out on.

-group picnic in the park on sunday! our dutch teacher is bringing the booze.

-working at de peper on my own! and getting paaaaaid for it.

-working at the occii a couple nights. 

-summer weather 4 ever, even though im probably jinxing myself right now.

YAY life!

tropical rains.

 

even worse than baggy knee, soggy knee!

 

so sad.

 

i just got caught in the middle of a tropical rainstorm. i left the house and within 90 seconds i felt like i had gotten into a bath with my clothes on except i was on my rickety bike being pelted with grape sized rain drops, surrounded by flashes of lightening and when i was almost home i actually jumped cause the thunder was so loud. it was so funny i had to document how wet my jeans and shoes are before i took them off. i had to turn around and go home instead of meet my friend at a bar. it was the gods telling me to watch lost. i give in.

back from berlin.

so, this website was really not the easiest to use when trying to upload a bunch of pix or videos so i went and got a flickr account so i can upload things easier:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ihadmariahcarey/

go to that to see extra photos and videos. i’ll still put my faves on here though.

 i got back from berlin yesterday at 5am and the bus ride really wasn’t that bad. my trip was really good. it mostly consisted of walking around in the sun a lot, seeing a lot of really pretty murals and graffiti, sitting in berlin’s version of dolores park, eating the best ice cream i’ve ever eaten (melon and chocolate chili flavors), going to a crazy techno/indie/thrash club and not getting back to the hostel till 6am because we couldnt figure out the tram system for 2 straight hours, the berlin wall, a ramones museum and the most insane, huge, overwhelming, and informative jewish museum i have ever seen. 

all in all, it was really good and i’m glad i went. i’m excited to go back with naomi when she visits cause there was still a lot i didn’t get to see and do.

 

nun playing a gameboy!

 

gay billboard. it was in kreuzberg, where theres a big mix of germans and turkish immigrants.

 

grolitzer park. berlin's version of dolores park. real cute.

 

the berlin wall.

 

so real.

 

keith harring and german children.

XO hannah

past week in amsterdam.

 

mary and the baby cheeses (get it? i didn't. baaad joke.). they're from berlin and i saw them at de peper. i'm going to berlin next weekend with anna and they offered me a place to stay at their "commune". gunna be rad.

mini drum set. it still sound good though. they were awesome.

 

carousel pancake diner!

 

WE WENT ALL OUT. so good.

 

kitchy rock 'n roll themed cafe in the red light district.

 

my head looks abnormally large, i dont even know.

real cute.

 

there was a bruce album in there.

 thats all. i didnt get a whole lotta pix from her trip here, but we had a really nice time and did a million things. i finally got to the anne frank house and rijksmuseum and both were really awesome. well, the anne frank house was more so than the rijksmuseum, but i like it a lot too. i’m real excited cause i’m meeting anna and a couple of her friends from school in berlin next weekend. its gunna be so awesome! 

this weekend has been super busy, and is gunna be super busy into the week. we have a couple assignments due and have to start scheduling our interviews for this month. it feels a little overwhelming,mostly because this “school” trip has been so non-schooly. i guess after berlin i gotta buckle down. i start volunteering at de peper tonight. im excited!

LOVE hannah

ps. i saw a movie that was filmed in san francisco (called the joy of life) and wsa basically stills of different streets and stuff in san francisco with the character’s voice over in the background. it made me a little nostalgic.

croatia II

 

wheat pasted art in the center of the city.

 

witchy shit.

flower market.

 

the first statue of our walking tour of zagreb. victoria, gloria and i with tesla (i think a croatian poet?..)

 

dragon slaying statue. emily, me and victoria.

 

gloria and me. statue #3, i forget who he was but he was in a pretty park.

 

creepy owl on a fancy building.

 

cool lady carving.

 

pretty botanical garden that was closed on saturdays so we couldn't actually go in. i had to take this through the gates. bummer.

 

all the architecture was so pretty and old.

 

library.

 

intense dudes.

 

another pretty park, but in downtown zagreb. it has the busts of famous croatian scientists and artists in it. (b/c the modern art gallery and sciences museum are near by).

 

kiddy train that takes kids (and their parents/guardians) around zagreb for free. we didn't get to go on it but it made me think of ben and jack.

 

top of the big cathedral.

bottom of the big cathedral.

 

churchy church church.

 

croatian tram ride. gloria and victoria.

me and emily squished on the tram.

croatia ruled.

updates:

-went to the anne frank house today. 

-had a really good organic vegan dinner at a feminist queer squat. 

-am going to volunteer there this weekend and i’m really excited. not only are the people awesome but i get to eat 4 free!!!! 1 less sketchy meal of hot saurkrout (sour-kraut?) strudel thing. love it. 

-don’t really have classes this week besides dutch so i’m finally taking advantage of the touristy museum stuff with anna and linda. yay!

love hannah

croatia!

all important building in croatia are painted bright yellow:

the arts high school. so fancy. also important.

 

cute street in the center of town.

 

another cute street. where we ate lunch the first day and i accidentally bought a 10 dollar glass of wine because i don't understand currency conversions. living the good life..

 

the awesome produce market in the center of zagreb.

 

fruits and veggies.

 

our hostel was near a beautiful big park with the zagreb zoo in it. here's cotton candy stand.

 

pretty park.

 

gazebo in the park.

 

me and emily went to the zoo!

a million swimming rats! it was the first exhibit in the zoo and they swam right up to us. me and emily both have pet rats so we were particularly excited.

 

how cute is that?

 

otters.

 

being birthed.

 

nesting.

 

emily.

 

emu.

 

lioness.

 

our new bff.

 

more cute lil animals that look like rats!

then my camera died mid-zoo trip. i guess pictures of animals in a zoo are kinda universal but too bad. it was actually a really nice zoo, not even that depressing. me and emily had a really nice day walking around the park.theres a bunch more pictures from other croatia adventures  that i’m gunna add later.

i had a really really great time in croatia minus spending 24/7 with tons of people. group excursions are a little intense but we are done with the big group trips now. i’m excited cause i’m planning a few more traveling things with friends in the next month: paris, berlin and back to zagreb for the queer zagreb festival in the beginning of may.

we got back to amsterdam  yesterday and anna and linda are visiting! its really nice to see faces from home. im not particularly homesick but its nice to be around people who are not all brand new school friends. it just gets a little intense after awhile.

love, hannah

jewish historical museum and my walk home from the tram stop.

 

went to the jewish historical museum today.

 

back of janelle's head going into the museum.

 

"and i don't care that sometimes you are late to shule."

 

the inside of the great synagogue (1 of 4 that the museum inhabits). it was abandoned and looted when the jews in amsterdam were brought to concentration camps in the early 1940's and sat empty until 1987 when the museum took over the buildings.

 

hebrew type setting supplies and hebrew books that were printed and bound back in the day.

 

hebrew type, up close.

 

more. so cool looking.

 

o.g. playing cards. made out of metal. some aristocratic dutch jewish family owned them.

 

one of the first medical texts written/drawn by a (jewish) woman of women's bodies and organs.

girl's dress from nazi occupation of amsterdam.

 

clock that told people what time shabbat started.

 

cool dude.

 

picture of cool dude.

 

a bike lane (between the dotted lines).

 

the neighborhood community center near my house, called de buurtcentrum de pijp.

 

my ugly, i'm-obviously-a-tourist bike.

we’re going to utrecht tomorrow to visit a sexual health research institute. we’re also having a lecture on transgender issues in the netherlands, then a dinner and documentary night about women in croatia after the dissolution of yugoslavia and the civil wars/genocide that happened in the 90’s to prep for our trip to croatia on sunday. then after that i volunteer, for my second time, at the rock ‘n roll night at occii. BIG DAY. 

we’re gunna be gone for a week, starting sunday, in zagreb, croatia. 

LOVE, HANNAH