A Week of Firsts

This week has been one of the best since I've moved here... and a week of many firsts for me. So, here they are:

* My first cooking lesson with Fabio, my Italian co-worker. Fabio is an amazing cook, and he offered to have me over for cooking lessons every Wednesday. Since my schedule is somewhat flexible these days, I would have been a fool not to take him up on this!! :) He told me that we'd be having "fish". What he didn't tell me is that they would still have eyeballs. Check this out:


Fabio went to the local fish market and bought THE LARGEST shrimp I have ever seen in my entire life! Because I'm the apprentice, I was responsible for cleaning these bad boys. Let me tell you - my hands smelled like shrimp until Friday, and my fingers were sore from ripping off the shells! I'm a cooking wimp!


How often do you have to look your dinner in the eye before eating it???


Almost done... this dish was absolutely amazing!! It was so nice to spend the evening with a good friend and good food. :)

My co-workers are amazing... the next night was my first dinner with my friend and co-worker Erwin and his girlfriend, Marjolein. They introduced me to my new favorite Dutch dessert, which is called Vla... it's kind of like pudding, but thicker. I immediately went to the grocery store and got some to keep at home... this could be my new alternative to peanut butter... uh-oh!! :)

My next first:

*My first pair of skinny jeans. As Shakira puts it, "My Hips Don't Lie", which makes it rather challenging to fit into jeans made to fit on a body shaped like a toothpick. Upon shopping on Saturday, however, I ventured into this shop that sells jeans made by a Danish designer. Evidently the women there are a little more shapely, and the jeans fit me perfectly. Which was great, because of my next first:

*My first party on the Nike houseboat. One of our Dutch employees is currently an ex pat living in Thailand. He and his wife own a houseboat on one of the canals in Amsterdam, and Nike rents it out from them. We have guests stay there, and also use it for parties and things of that nature. Our design director, who is an American, is finishing his assignment here, and so his going away party was Saturday on the houseboat. A good time was had by all, especially me in my new skinny jeans. :)


KP and Alex - trying to get used to the rocking of the boat - or did we just feel like it was moving after the wine?!? :)


Andre receiving his gift from Graham


Trouble!! The girls all upstairs laughing it up... Culture differences, what culture differences? I sat up here in the living room, with Ditte (Dutch) to my right, and George and Rachel (British) to my left. The Italians were all standing across from us. Despite being from completely different places, laughter translates to all cultures, and I haven't laughed this hard since moving to Amsterdam. I wish the night didn't have to end!


Alex with Rachel

We all had SUCH a fun time on the boat that we didn't want to leave... and we really could have stayed out all night - the bars don't close until 6 here. But, unfortunately, I had another first on Sunday morning:

*My first Dam to Dam Loop. This is a 10-mile race that goes from Amsterdam to Zaandam. I had heard that it was a lot of fun, so I signed up right when I moved here. My friend from Beaverton, Douffy, was in town for work, and so he ran the race too. Being from Africa, he had a bit of an advantage on me and we only stayed together for the first 4 miles. I still ran really strong, and finished in 1 hour, 25 minutes. Having not run 10 miles pretty much since I moved here, I was pretty proud to run such a good time. :) Douffy took pictures, which I will post as soon as he sends them to me. One is particularly funny, and I'll describe it here as my last first of the week:

*My first experience with behavior at races in Holland. So, in Amsterdam, we have these outdoor urinal things. Basically, it's 4 urinals that are all arranged in a cross formation. Men simply walk up to them, whip out their goods, and take a whizz right there in the open. I always turn away embarrassed, but I'm sure if you really looked, you could probably see a little something-something. Well, at races, the men all wear these tight spandex shorts, and, so, rather than whipping out their goods, they hike up one leg of their shorts and pull their goods out of the bottom. No joke. I was dying in laughter. hehe - I couldn't convince Douffy that this was a good idea, but I did get a picture of him faking it. :) Another strange race item: at the end of the race, people were just changing into dry clothes out in the open. Meaning - I saw a lot of old dudes in their underwear. I'm still just not used to this comfort with nudity here... guess I'm still not an Ameripean. :)