Everything In Its Place

I feel like my posts have been lacking something lately. Intrigue, perhaps? I'm really settled in, at this point. It occurs to me that I might not cotton to Amsterdam if I came here as a tourist - certainly if I had someone to show me around, I would love it, but if I just came here and was left up to my own devices I'm not sure I'd be wild about it. As a tourist you can come here and stay within a one mile radius of Centraal, surrounded by other tourists, huge international chain stores, flashing lights and coffee shops, with the Red Light District and all you might think it entails directly to your left. In any case, the point is that I'm going crazy about this city, as a place to live. There are amazing creative people here, there are amazing creative things and good food and beautiful canals and nice places to bike and hip hole-in-the-wall stores and bars and restaurants and galleries all over the place. I walk down certain streets, the Singel and Koningsplein, for example, at least a few times a week. I notice new and exciting things almost every time.

I only had one class this week, so I've been laying low and trying to get things done. Taking Lupe for spins around town, walking and exploring, cleaning, reading for school and for the field experience, pondering my future, etc. My gut has not been quite the same since the food poisoning incident. I bought a really cool skirt with Warhol-esque faces on it for 3 euro! We finally made the trek to the Dappermarkt, a huge market with clothes and food that's just around the corner. I had a real stroopwafel hot off the griddle, and vowed to come back the next time I'm shopping for vegetables. Produce in Dutch grocery stores is often lacking, and yesterday Hallie mentioned as we wandered spellbound past stalls displaying bounties of leafy greens and gigantic root vegetables that this could probably be attributed to the fact that most Dutch people buy produce at markets. It hadn't occurred to me, but I'm going to try that from now on. I found a coffeeshop in Leidseplein that I really like, it's called Dolphins. It's underwater themed, so there is coral everywhere, and sea murals, and a big plastic dolphin near the door. And comfortable couches. All ages and types congregate there.

Last night we went out to De Duivel again. This place is quickly becoming my favorite bar in Amsterdam. Rembrandtplein is easy to get to by bike, and there seem to be an endless number of late night fast food options, an always very welcome characteristic of a neighborhood. Sat for an hour or two, bopped along to the wonderful music they are always spinning, drank een biertje and chatted. A rasta complimented my shoes. A girl sitting on the bench next to us whipped out a sketchbook. Everyone was grooving and standing in circles and patting each other on the back and laughing.

A word about something very strange that's going on here right now. Geert Wilders' anti-Qu'uran film Fitna came out yesterday. Watch it. Geert Wilders is one of the Dutch politicians who has been very vocally anti-Islam in the aftermath of the Theo Van Gogh murder. It's really interesting to see what Islamophobia in the Netherlands is like compared to Islamophobia in the States. Here, curiously enough, it's based in a logic of what one might call "tolerance-gone-wrong". The Dutch pride themselves on their long history of progressive policy towards religion, integration, and gender. There is a rampant belief in the current political regime that Islam is a danger to these relations, and that integrating the ever-growing number of Islamic immigrants into Dutch society will threaten "Dutch values" of, for example, gender and sexual equality. There is a huge lack of recognition that all Islam is not practiced in the way that religious fanatics practice it. This is obviously hugely problematic for a number of reasons, and deserves a much more in-depth analysis than the very brief and general gloss I'm giving it here. Islamophobia is more insidious here. Watch the film - it's about 15 minutes long. Take note of the moment where Islam is compared to Nazism and Communism. Read Ian Buruma's book Murder in Amsterdam, which gives a context for the circumstances surrounding Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the death of Theo Van Gogh. Read Hirsi Ali to get a fuller context of the anti-Islam stance. Try to track down the film that she made with Van Gogh. It's such a different set of fears and such a different framing of debate than we are used to in post-9/11 America.

Love you all.