AMSTERDAM DAY 1

Amsterdam is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. beautiful! This is a photo of Central Station, the main hub of transportation in Amsterdam.

Inside of Amsterdam Central is the Metro. I have absolutly loved using the public transit, it is so convienient and fast paced. Much different than driving my little Mazda, Vern, who I will say would fit in nicely next to all of the small European cars! Definetly no monster trucks here...sorry Truck Loving Texans!

There are many canals that run through the city and on Saturday we are going on a canal tour!

The weather is very cool and SUPER windy!!! My little tennis skirt had many Marilyn Manroe moments today! (Not pictured...sorry)

Amsterdam reminds me of a portion of the Bible (Matthew 23 You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.) Amsterdam is what I would consider a whitewashed tomb. From the outside it is beautiful and clean but on the inside there is much filth. For example on every street here has beautiful arcitecture mounted with flags and signs, all well layed out and designed. The streets smell of bakeries and candy shops that line them. Between these beautiful buildings are alleyways full of what I would call the "underground market" a full Mötley Crüe experience minus the Rock and Roll. Here you can smell cigarettes, marajuana, and sometimes even human pee. Amsterdam seems to be a lawless land compared to the United States however, I have not felt unsafe even in the "sketchiest" of places. Speaking of sketchy places the restrooms here are nothing to write home about, but here I am writing home about them anyways. In order to get to the bathrooms you often have to go up the steepest of stairs into the tiniest of bathrooms where if you are anywhere over 5'4" your legs will touch the stall door. Here is a pictire of some of the stairs I climbed in a resturant to use what they call the "toilets" here.

Amsterdam has a heart for it's people. Today we visited the University of Amsterdam where we listened to a man from Malayasia who came to the University to speak about his organization in Malaysia that serves as an asylum for the LGBTQIA+ community. I was intrigued by him. As someone who is in full support of the LGBTQIA+ community my heart was warmed by this man yet enraged at the thought of such oppression and inequality of people.

When I think of a big city in America it is difficult for me to not picture the hundreds of thousands of people experiencing homelessness. Here in Amsterdam people seem to be properly taken care of. Even the people experiencing homelessness have access to clean water. This to me seems like the bare minimum but those experiencing homelessness in America often do not have access to clean water. I think that this is something that we as Americans should push for and use as an exapmple in order to better care for the people.

Before coming to Amsterdam the Red Light District was something that I had only heard tales about but never imagined experiencing with my own two eyes. We did have the opprotunity to walk the streets of the Red Light District. Photos were prohibited and against the law so I do not have any in this area, though I am sure that if you are curious enough you can find some photos online. If you are unfamiliar with what the Red Light District is then I'll sum it up: the sex work strip. It was hard for me to not think of victims of human trafficking and my heart was heavy as I walked the streets. Few here in Amsterdam deny that human trafficking is prevailent however, the Red Light District is known to be the "Safest place for sex work in Amsterdam". I will have to research more before making a full opinion however my initial response was not thrill, it was sadness.