Spanish Delights

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted last. With all the homework we get, it's hard to find time to write two paragraphs on my blog. Anyway, we were in Barcelona last weekend, which is the place where we chose to go for our N-SPICE group trip. To find out more details about the trip, check out these sweet blogs. I pretty much go to the same places as these guys, since I am a natural follower (or leader). I'll show you some pics from the highlights of my trip. I went to a castle on a hill at the highest point in Barcelona, which also had a lot of old canons and war artifacts. There was a sweet view of the entire city and the Mediterraen Sea. To get down, we took a gondola from the top of the hill to the beach down below. The Segrada Familia was an bizarre architectural masterpiece- we took a tour and got to climb those towers. Here's me pondering life's mysteries as I take in the sunrise. A group of guys played hacky sack at the beach, and I can honestly say that was the most skilled hacker. I even have my own patented move, called the Sinnema Squeeze.
One of the days, I was getting sick of people (not really), so I walked around by myself for awhile. I found a nice park, sat down on a bench for a half and hour, and enjoyed the scenery. Is that weird? I also checked out the Picasso museum, since I am so cultured and artistic minded. By the way, it may sound that Europe has made me cocky, but I'm really not.

A Tale of One City

There's nothing quite like Easter weekend in Paris. Six of us N-Spicer's went to Paris on Thursday via a high-speed train, and came back on Monday night. Spending three full days in Paris, we really got a taste for the people and the city. Sure we can call the French "cheese-eating surrender monkees" or "French snobs", but I learned that we shouldn't overgeneralize about the French. Since Aaron debunked the myths, I won't go any further about the French people.
Despite your views on the French, you cannot deny that Paris is an amazing city. There is so many sights, museums, and parks that it's hard to describe everything, so I'll just tell a few of my favorite things. Seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre was a definite highlight for me. On Saturday, we went to the Palace of Versaille, where Louis XIV, the sun king, once lived. Both the inside of the Palace and the surrounding gardens were breathtaking. We also saw Quasimodo's old stomping grounds, the Notre Dame.
The food was another nice part about Paris. Every morning for breakfast, we went to a bakery across from our hotel and bought French pastries. For lunch, we had ate baguettes in the park. We also ate at a French restaurant and drank some fine wine over three hours of stimulating conversation. And of course, we tried ordering freedom fries, with no success.
So, this Paris weekend was really a life-altering experience for us. Aaron and I bought French berets and will wear them proudly at the Bean next year.

What about the Caribou?

While browsing on CNN.com today, I came upon some upsetting news. The Senate voted to open up the Artic National Wildlife Refuge(ANWR) to oil drilling. Rather than looking to reduce our oil consumption, apparently our only option is to scar a pristine wilderness area that is home to large populations of caribou and wild geese. The oil will take 10 years to extract and will only provide the U.S. with a 6-month supply. Since living in Holland, I have noticed some practical ways that the Dutch reduce their oil dependency. Here are some ideas that American's can borrow from the Dutch in order to avoid exploiting our natural wilderness.

1. Less SUV's, more Smart Cars. Maybe they don't make you feel like manly man, but you can drive for a month without filling up the tank.
2. More bike riding to school and work. It's fun and great exercise.
3. Higher taxes on gasonline in exchange for a small reducation in income tax. Gas here is really expensive, and that provides an incentive to drive less.
4. Take Public Transporation. Who says taking the bus is uncool?
5. Elect new political leaders who haven't aren't in the pockets of the oil industry.

Perhaps all of these ideas don't sound feasible in the U.S., but they should at least be considered. So the next time you get into your get into gaz guzzler to drive two blocks to the grocery store, think about the caribou whose migration patterns will be disturbed because of our insatiable thirst for oil.

Give Germany a Chance

This past weekend, Aaron, Chad, Jessica, Beth, and myself went to Heidelberg, Germany. As usual, Aaron documented every detail on his blog, since everyone and their mother reads it. So instead of repeating everything, I'll show you a few sweet pics and give you a short summary. Heidelberg has a certain charm; it's nestled in rolling hills, with the Neckar river flowing through the city. It's a very ancient city with a lot of history- did you know that Mark Twain wrote part of Tom Sawyer while living in Heidelberg? And there was also something called the Cathecism written here-you may have heard of it. My favorite part of the trip was actually in a small fishing village called Neckarsteinach located 14 km outside of Heidelberg. Dotting the hills were four ancient castles and we got to explore them and climb up the towers. So overall, a great weekend- a few days of intense school work, and then it's off to London.

Settled Out

If you know the game Settlers of Cataan, you know it is fun and addicting. I played often at Dordt, although my victories were sparse. Here in Holland, it is quite popular, and when I arrived at my host family, I was pleasantly suprised that they owned the game. My host brother(Evar) and sister(Roanne), 15 and 13 respectively, like to play, so I thought, here is my chance to improve my skills and rack up a few W's. Unfortunately, my losing ways continue. I have played several games against my host children and I have yet to win. On Sunday, I played a game of SeaFarers against Evar and Roanne and a friend of theirs. I clearly started out with the best position on the board, and a victory was surely in hand. Alas, when the game ended, I finished with a measly 6 points(out of 12), 4 behind my 13 year old Roanne, and 6 behind 15 year old Evar. This is really shaking my confidence, because Settlers is a strategy game, and when I am regularly outplayed by young teens, I feel less than intelligent. However, I still play a mean game of SkipBo.

When in Prague

Well, back from a week in Prague, which is a really beautiful and historic city. Less than 20 years ago we would not even have been allowed to enter the Czech Republic, being as though it was part of the Soviet bloc until 1989. It's hard to describe everything we saw, so I will show you a few select pictures of the city. The most interesing part of the trip for me was going to Terezin, which was a concentration camp 20 miles outside of Prague. It is a lesser known camp, but there were still about 35,00o killed there. My least favorite part of the trip- everything in the city center is aimed at tourists. There are about a million souvenir shops which all sold the same things- shot glasses, soccer jerseys, Prague t-shirts, and other stuff that only tourists would buy. Even for winter, the streets were lined with tourists. Most entertaining part- Aaron being harassed by a drug dealer. If your ever in a foreign city and someone on the street approaches you trying to become your friend, they are probably trying to sell you something illegal. Most bizarre- a theatre show we went to on Wednesday night. It is hard to explain but it involved time travel, ballet, a laser show, black outs, and dancing swans. Most informative- the Communist museum, which described the history of communism in the Czech Republic. Best deal- beer is cheaper than pop or water, so every night the only stewardly thing to do is enjoy your meal with the finest Czech lager. Well, enough for now, I'm late for the anti-Bush protest in Brussels.

Youth Group Rocks

On Friday night, the whole N-SPICE group went to a church and a bar. Actually, they were in the same building. The Reformed Church near Zwolle that we went to had a lounge area where the youth from the surrounding area can hang out. In order to keep the young group from going to the seedier bars in town, they built a room where they can play pool, darts, video games, and drink beer or wine. They also had loud music playing, but it was not Michael W. Smith. We were rocking out to Eminem, Lincoln Park, AC/DC, and other American music that may or may not be appropriate for young ears. It was quite bizarre drinking Amstel Light, listening to Eminem- all in the church building. So next time your at your church council meeting, and their discussing how to connect with the youth....no, this probably wouldn't go over well in the U.S.