Another Game for MILOSSSS

Incase you were wondering...my taco bell was delicious. It traveled quite well. It was glorious and I can't wait to try the Doritos taco when I am home. My parents' visit was pretty much what you would expect a visit with the Mannans to be. Just the three of us making fun of each other non stop. My dear old mother was exposed to some rather...unwanted... scenery here in Holland. On the train ride from The Hague back to Amsterdam, her poor, innocent eyes were exposed to a crazy, naked Dutch man. Full frontal...Welcome to Europe, mom!

After a brief tour of Holland, we made our way to Cologne, Germany. For no other reason than getting Papa Mannan his Hard Rock Cafe fix! The following weekend we flew to Germany to spend some time with Elizabeth before her Diamond Jubilee. Then these past 2 weeks I traveled with my brother. We had tickets on Ryanair from Dusseldorf, Germany to Zadar, Croatia. These budget airlines always fly out of smaller airports in the middle of nowhere, and this was no exception. The airport was in a town called Weeze, about and hour and a half outside of Dusseldorf. We decided to stay the night in the airport since we had an early morning flight. I think we must have set some kind of record that day. We got to the airport 12 hours before our flight, and still missed it. THANK YOU RYAN AIR. Luckily I was able to book a last minute ticket out of Cologne the next morning and we made it to Croatia.

Zadar was my favorite city in Croatia. Zadar has the first sea organ ever created, made through pipes built underwater and when wind pushes water into them, they push out notes. The music is hauntingly mesmerizing. You can also catch beautiful sunsets at the sea organ, sunsets that Alfred Hitchcock has been quoted saying are "the most beautiful sunsets in the world." (Full disclosure: they were beautiful, but I've seen better, you just can't beat the sunsets in St. Kilda, Oz!) We also did a side trip to Mostar, in Bosnia, where we made a new best friend, Milo. He continuously told us how much joy we brought him (why? we suck!), and also told us "I will smoke with my son when he is older because I am COOL!" Silly Milo! Mostar had some of the friendliest people we have met, and we even heard some first hand accounts of the war.







I am officially done with my first year of grad school! Next week I embark on a trip through Scandanavia, and then a summer of funemployment, frolicking with Turk, and eating lots of delicious Mama Mannan food at home!

Quote of the day: "I don't want to be the first person to drown at Krka National Park!"-Apparently, Nikhil can't swim.

Taco Bell

Mama and Papa Mannan are coming tomorrow... and they're bringing me taco bell! We have never attempted such a feat before. I will report back with the results. This is how we do. Yo quiero.

Quarter Asser with Cheese

I've really half assed school this period. Which, I guess, would actually be quarter assing it, because I always half ass it. It's just always worked out fine that way, so I figure, why change? I just took an exam for a class I did no readings for, and studied for about 15 minutes. Let's see if my Kanika magic worked or not this time. The reason for my quarter assing it is because of all of the fun things that have been going on in the last few weeks. First I had my KKJK visitors in town for the weekend, and then my dear Condizzle came for a week, we went to Ireland, and then this past weekend I participated in a huge student organized relay race called the Batavieren. We had to leave on Friday night for it, I ran at 3 am (which was so odd), and I didn't actually go to sleep until Sunday morning until about 3 am, because afterwards there was a party for all the participants. And I wasn't about to skip that, no way, I earned it! Needless to say, I was delirious. And in case you're wondering, our team came in 271st place out of 350... we're awesome. During my run I was continuously lapped by 8 foot tall Dutch guys. My little legs just couldn't keep up with them. On a brighter note, my university's team came in 1st place! So I'll just pretend I was part of that team.

 On Sunday night I celebrated Queen's night, and on Monday, I lost myself in a sea of orange for Queen's Day. The way I see it is, I can always retake the exam if I don't do well, but this is my only chance to experience all the other things. Am I right, or AM I RIGHT??? I'd say it was all worth it. Also, today I conquered a fear of mine... I blew my nose during class.

Quote of the day: "Everyone good is leaving SNL! Who am I supposed to watch on there now? Fred Armisen? I HATE that guy!"- Kim

Slagroom

Last week my friend, Nidhi, visited for a few days. We went to a town in Belgium called Gent, despite the fact that in Holland everything I hear about Belgium and it's people is negative. Apparently Belgian's to the Dutch are like Canadians to Americans (I guess we all need someone like that?) But let me just tell you, Gent was awesome. Just think of a typical European town. Got it? Ok good. You're thinking of Gent! Cobblestone streets everywhere, old old old buildings, towers, castles, and churches. Waffles and freiten (with makhani sauce). Sunshine. Canals. Graffiti! (you all know how much I love graffiti...) I really fell in love with the town. And I am going to hatch out a plan that will allow me to live there at some point in my life. But it has to be soon, because I'm pushing 30.

On Sunday for my birthday, I had a few friends over and introduced them to beer pong, which was a big hit. Although I couldnt find the classic American red cups anywhere, so we had to play with smaller Dutch cups. I swear, everything in this country is so much smaller, yet the people are giants. Anyway, we just spent the day outside in the garden eating, drinking, and being merry. And making fun of Sam because he has to wear the cone of shame right now. Aaahaha doogles...

Quote of the day: "Next time you go out of town, just drop me a line so I know."- Mama Mannan has apparently become quite hip in my absence...

Mannans

There is someone in town selling their car for a mere 450 euros. Part of me really wants to buy it, but all of me is broke. I also can't drive stick because Papa Mannan refused to teach me how to in his fancy schmancy convertible. Said I'd crash it or something, ha! What does he know... So, I guess what I'm saying is, someone want to buy me a car and then teach me how to drive it? Kidding. Anyway, I was skyping with Mama Mannan yesterday and told her about the car and that I wanted to buy it. Her response was "But, how much car will you use?" to which I replied "Probably just one tire." Mama Mannan was confused. She asked what do I mean, and I said, I'm not sure, what do you mean by "how much car will I use?" We had a laugh. Good ol' Mama Mannan. Always there to make ya smile, broken English and all. Famiry.

The Burden of Being Indian

Right now I am taking a course called "Property rights, natural resources, and conflict." Sounds pretty interesting, right? Well it's not! And last week I was really embarrassed in class, which makes me hate it more. About an hour of lecture had gone by, and I had been day dreaming for about 58 minutes of it. But then everything changed. Out of nowhere, my professor points at me and says "You're from India, right?" Oh god. Why is he asking me this? What has been said in the last hour that has led to this comment directed at me? I responded, "Uh, my family is from there but I live in the US."
He replied "Yes, but you are from India, and you have a strong connection to the country?"
"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess."
"So do you agree with me?"
Oh. My. God. Agree with what?! Agree that the food is delicious? Agree that the caste system is great and should've never been abolished?! Agree with what? I could feel my face turning bright red (luckily I'm brown though so you can't really notice that much) and I was literally starting to sweat. I had no idea what to say so I just muttered out "Um. I'm not sure. I haven't been back there in a while..." He gave me a puzzled look, and clearly, I had just made a fool of myself. He sort of lowered his eyebrows at me, as if to say "How is that girl in grad school right now?" And after he said a few more things, I realized what he asked me, and it was such a simple question that anyone could've answered, whether or not they were Indian. But it was too late for me to chime in with my agreement at that point. So I silently sat in shame. But then later in the class, he points to me again and goes "You must know what tank irrigation is, right?" I DON'T!!!! Does anyone?! And now whenever he mentions India (which is a lot, since he did research there) he points his hand at me. I don't think he really heard me when I said I live in the US... Needless to say, I skipped class yesterday and today.

On a happier note, I went to Edinburgh, Scotland this past weekend. I absolutely loved the city, it was full of charming cafes and pubs, and so much history so we always had something to do. Except every now and then we encountered a Scottish person whose English we could not understand at all. Including our bus driver from Glasgow to Edinburgh. He hated us. But he talked like a drunk fool, so whatevs. Also, multiple people felt compelled to point out how short I am.

Goin Dutch

One thing I've noticed about a lot of Dutch people is that they always wear the same outfit 2 days in a row. At first I just noticed it with one person, then another, and then I started noticing that more than half of the Dutch people in my classes do it. So I asked my housemate and a friend from class about it, both of whom partake in this particular pastime, and they both said that most Dutch people do it, and they had no idea that most other countries in the world didn't ("huh? you don't wear the same outfit twice in a row?????"). So tomorrow, I'm going to wear the same outfit I wore today in an effort to assimilate better into this new culture I am living in. And also because I barely left the house today and didn't see anyone I know. So no one will actually know I'm doing it.

Quote of the day: "Do you think anyone has ever paid money to bring a pet fish on a flight with them?"- Ele

PS- I'm a booyah again :)

AND we have a new housemate. His name is Sammy and we like to watch movies together.

Oh yes, and my eyes are finally back to normal!

Just incase...

...anyone needs to brighten their day a bit.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rickye/the-best-picture-youll-see-today-201k