8th Feb - 10th Feb

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." Alexander Graham Bell

Indeed, although I was still reminiscing about South America, I knew I had to let that go if i wanted to really appreciate what Europe had to offer. I had the usual tears in my eyes as I left the Montreal terminus. A new beginning, another memorable trip were my thoughts as I sat staring in the window listenning to "Kids" by MGMT.

It was cheaper to leave from Burlington, so I had to take the bus there. I slept very little in the bus, and when I finally arrived to Burlington, I missed the stop, and had to tell the driver to stop the bus after having driven about 5 minutes towards Boston. I then took a taxi to the airport, only to realize that the airport was desserted. everything opened at 4am. Attempt #2 to sleep failed on the airport chairs. I awaited impatiently until 4am to check in my baggage and go through security. Chicago, here I come!

I arrived in Chicago at 8am and waited for my friend Khairunnisa to come pick me up. I haden't seen her since last June, before my South American trip. We had breakfast in this cute Swedish restaurant and then went to the Field Museum. It was really amazing, with a great exposition on the evolution of man! We then went to Gardiano's for some deep dish pizza. Apperently, I had to try it, but to my dissapointment was not that impressed: Pizza Car is waaayyy better!

I said goodbye to Khairunnisa, and was off to catch my plane at 6pm. The plane ride allowed me to sleep a little. I arrived in Amsterdam at 10am. I followed instructions to get to my brother's place only to realize that he was not home and I had to go to his friend's house for his keys. When I got to his friend's house, Tony, he opened the door with open arms...not litterally...but he was very welcoming. Tony is an exchange student from California, near Malibu.

We spent the whole day walking around as he told me all of the crazy stories him and my brother got themselves into. After about 1 hour, we went to a coffeeshop. I did not want to waste anytime. A little Calimist was all I needed to officially welcome me to the most liberal country in the world. Tony then took me to this guy named Mahkmoud that sold great bread for 1 euro. We got some along with some pasta sauce and went back home to wait for my brother that came at 4pm.

I decided to then take a nap as my brother and Tony went out to a party. My brother ended up waking me up to go to another place called "Candela". We went with this girl named Laura from Spain that works in Amsterdam. Since, it was far, Laura had two bikes for us to use. Here in Amsterdam, everyone bikes, I love it!Candela was fun as I got to meet all the people that my brother has met. We got back at 3am...thank god for that nap!

The next day, I woke up and finished some med school applications...I know, still not done! Tony, my brother, and I then went around 4pm to downtown. We bought tickets for a carnaval party on Friday. The girl in the office where we bought the tickets was really cute, and she was flirting a lot, which brought me to this realization about the Dutch women: they are all laid back, and big flirts, two things I love the most in girls.

We then went to a coffeeshop again, where I tried my first space cake...for 5 euros! After being spaced out, what more to do, but the red light district nearby. Ahhh, the Red Light district, a beautiful area along a nice canal with beautiful big white swans that fold their wings in a shape of a heart until...BANG! BANG! ...I look up to see a prostitute in a window banging the window to get my attention and rubbing her...ahhh, Amsterdam!

We strolled around until 8pm then decided to go home. On the way back, Tony introduced me to the Mc Kroket at McDonalds. Kroket is a typical snack from the Netherlands that consists of a deep fried meat ragout covered in breadcrumbs. Tomorrow is going to be the official sightseeing day since I forgot my camera today and yesterday.