The Sweathouse

We're basking and sweating in the warm, tropical sun of Greece right now, oh wait, we're in a dumpy little cafe without air conditioning in Amsterdam.
It's so farging hot here. This morning, we awoke to a young Dutch man with a knarley arm-band tribal tattoo, and a HUGE gold chain shaking Devra, saying, "Chayk out tyyme, rahhhhhyuheuuuuuuh!" This was surprising, because we were under the impression that we had till tomorrow. Unfortunetly, there was a mistake in our booking, but with lady luck on our side (shout out to Marlon Brando) we paid a few extra euros to get the all-girl suite.

We've had a great time here so far. Upon arrival, we decided to indulge in the fine Dutch cuisine, oh wait, we had Thai food. It was good. The next day we visited the Rhijkes Museum, which had a beautiful garden and some really awesome Rembrandts. What else? Devra got a mapbook, and has been getting her rocks off becoming our official "which way?"-er of this here Netherlandish town. It's great, because we have been taking all sorts of routes through the city, seeing all different kinds of areas here, but haven't actually been lost. Devra's very proud. (A little note: I don't actually know where we are right now, but can and will find out very soon.--Dev) The canals here are AWESOME and pretty. We want to get into a rumble, fistfight, JUST to see who can knock the other into the water first.

So far we've seen the Anne Frank house, which had that photographer who took pictures of the women who had just given birth (The one you and Erin like and have a poster of in your house, Steve) Had pieces up in the cafe there, and the actual museum was petty sad and freaky. We also went to the Van Gogh Museum yesterday, which was Devra's highlight of her life, and she was really excited to see a museum that was totally devoted to her favorite artist. We also got to see a few paintings she hadn't seen before, that she really liked. And she got a keychain.

Tina here. I find it extremely odd that Devra has refered to herself in 3d person. Oh well, props to Bob Dole and Devra.
We also got to visit the Verzetsmuseum which is a Museum about the Dutch Resistance from the years of 1940-1945 during the Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands. We were interested because it sounded just like "Army of Shadows" by Jean-Pierre Melville. It ended up being so interesting because we learned about historical events that have never occured to us because of the egocentric American History that's been shoved down our 'troats' all through schooling. The country was really divided, apparantly, into Catholics, Protestants, Socialists, and Liberals, but when the Germans invaded, there was this great unity that sprung up against the oppression they had to endure together as a country, which Devra really loved. They all just wanted to help and get the Nazis out.
It showed how women would smuggle food stamps in pregnancy girdles and how rebel publications were made. Prisoners families did their laundry, oddly enough, and they passed notes in their clothing written in blood.
There was another section devoted to the prisoners of war which were taken to the West Indies.

So to sum it up, it was a great museum.

Today is our last day in Amsterdam. Tomorrow, we head to Stuttgart. It'll be a long train ride, but will be nice to max, and relax!

Expect postcards.

Chillin like ice-cream fillin',
Virgo and Cancer