After lugging my 600 suitcases (including an extra checked bag that cost 86 bucks/ 50 euros. Screw this damn exchange rate!!!) around I finally arrived at Amsterdam's airport. So far out of all the airports, it's been my favorite. And the guy at the immigration window was really nice and I got a stamp! I love when my passport receives stamps. My cousin live in Rotterdam which is approximately 45 minutes away from the Amsterdam airport. Upon the arrival to Rotterdam I definitely got a different vibe. I am experiencing culture shock number two. Everywhere I go or see I compare it to Spain. My cousin lives in the heart of downtown Rotterdam so it's really convenient. He pointed out all the shopping areas and his work and such. Everything is seriously within 5 minutes. His apartment is on the 29th floor of the building so we're really high up and have a nice view of dt. Surprisingly, even though I am afraid of heights I really enjoy the view. I feel like I'm in a city in the States. The apartment is completely different than my homestay in Seville. We walked around for a little bit and went to Hema a market here. We weren't there for long but I gather it's kinda like El cortes Ingles( a mix of Target and Macy's combined). I will let you know when I go back. I was able to grab a salad and it was delicious. Salads are perhaps one of my favorite foods and I did not get the good kind in Sevilla. The past couple days I have eaten more vegetables than my entire stay in Sevilla. For my first dinner here, my cousin and his financee took me to a Vietnamese restaurant since I haven't tasted it in over 5 months. Since he lives in such a great location and it is the preferred method of transportation, we walked to the restaurant. The food was definitely not authentic Vietnamese food but it was good and the closest I've gotten to any Asian food. It was very weird to eat so early. The last time I ate dinner at 8ish was in the States. I've grown so accustomed to eating at much later. Slowly I am trying to transition myself to yet another culture. Practically no one was out. All the shops were closed. They all close at 6 p.m.! I have no idea what people do after shops are closed. My cousin tells me it's customary for people to just stay home and be inside. This makes me sad. I am used to things being shut at 3-5 for seista time and then things opening up for longer hours. I miss families and people being out much later to enjoy their coffees, dinners or just each others' companies. My first night I was very tired because I hadn't really slept the past two nights so I passed out quickly at 10 p.m.

Day two: I wake up a little late because I was exhausted. The weather wasn't quite as nice as the day before and was a bit chilly, around 17 Celsius. I am yet again pulling out my winter clothes and wearing a jacket and jeans, such a contrast to current Sevilla, where I was sweating buckets in shorts and a tee. My cousin had to do his grocery shopping so I tagged along. The shopping area was hustling and bustling. Seemed like the entire city was out running their errands. Again such a contrast to life in Sevilla. Everything is closed with the exception of restaurants and cafes. You can't even go grocery shopping on Sundays. The grocery was interesting. It was very modern and clean, more of what you would see in the States. I tried to take a few pictures but I didn't want to look like a weirdo. I'll post them soon. Later for dinner we went to my cousin's friend's restaurant (which is part of a franchise) via bicycling. I haven't biked in forever so it took me a second to adjust but it was fun. They are going to let me borrow the bike so I'll be cruising around town on it. We only biked for a few minutes because the restaurant was nearby.The concept of the restaurant is a to-go wok style cuisine. You choose your meat, veggies and type of rice and they grill it together and viola you have dinner. The owner told me that some of his Chinese workers have been in Holland for 15 years and their Dutch is still terrible. That's very discouraging. I was hoping that my stay in Holland would trigger my memory and I'd be able to pick it up. So far, no such luck. Dutch is really an odd language and nothing seems like Spanish or Italian. I suppose there is no latin background so it makes things really complicated. Everything looks like this: irtu fijjge jket ik flaat. Luckily every where I go someone speaks English. Every time someone has spoken Dutch I've wanted to respond in spanish because that's the only European language I know but I forget they all understand English. What I also enjoy is that I am seen as a local. I don't get long awful stares like in Spain where I'm a different species. I am shocked at how diverse Rotterdam is. There are lots of Moroccan and Turkish people and plenty of other races. It's kind of comforting and reminds me the States minus the jibber jabber language.

But so far, so good. I really am liking Rotterdam more than Amsterdam. It seems less touristy. I have yet to try "real" Dutch food and all that, but, as soon as I do, I will blog. What's great about my second adventure in Europe is that I'm on Summer vacay and don't have to worry about school or trying to learn Spanish or trying to doing everything in Seville. My experience is completely different than in Sevilla, which makes this a great learning experience.