Loving Maastricht!

Hello from Maastricht this time!  As noted above, I love it here so far.  My flight went well, despite the fact that I just could not fall asleep no matter what, and we landed around 8 in the morning Amsterdam time- which is 1 in the morning Houston time! Literally my very first glimpse of this country from the plane window after we finally got through the thick clouds was a windmill- but not a traditional one, a very modern one in the middle of the ocean... strange. Going through customs and baggage claim was quicker and easier than I expected, then we all headed out into the rainy morning to meet our buses. It was a two and a half hour ride from Amsterdam to Maastricht and it was BEAUTIFUL- the Dutch countryside is full of fields that are irrigated with canals and populated with some of the happiest looking cows I've ever seen. Well, that may be my imagination, but I sure would be happy to live in such a pretty place. And of course, there were also plenty of windmills. The bus driver was apologizing for the traffic and saying it was because we were on the biggest highway in the Netherlands, but really it was nothing compared to Houston or even Waco, and the highway was comparable to Highway 6 between Houston and Waco, so I thought that was funny. The ride seemed to go quickly, and we stopped at this "rest stop" to get lunch, and it was gorgeous! It was like a gas station and convenience store, with a Burger King, but there was also a cafeteria attached a sunroom with a large tree in the middle of it, so we all sat down to relax and eat our omlettes, soups, and sandwiches and marvel at the fact that the American lifestyle is so rushed that nothing like this exists. We drove for a while after lunch, then arrived in Maastricht and unloaded everything at our dorm, called the Guest House- really it is in a separate wing of what seems to be a hospital, so that has been interesting. The room is decently sized and sunny, and has a little kitchen area, so that's nice!

Our room!

                                                                  
My roommate's name is Brittany, and I think we will become great roommates and friends. After we unpacked, we went on a "short" (15 minute) walk to the grocery store and other shops- it's actually set up like a mall which is cool. Here, you have to bag your own groceries and weigh your own produce. I was too exhausted to think about what I needed so I didn't get anything for now, but I'll probably be back there soon. Then, a group of us went out to dinner at Nora's, a pizza place. They had a student special and we weren't quite sure what it was because it was in Dutch but it included fries and a drink all for only 5 euros so we all just went for it because we were feeling adventurous, and also, we are learning to save euros wherever we can. :) It turned out to be a kebab (still unsure about what kind of meat it contained...) and it was alright but not my favorite. Then some people went out exploring, but I went back to the room with another group because I was so tired! The bed isn't fancy but seemed very comfortable after a long day and a half of traveling!

The walk home was so pretty!

We got to start day two a little bit later than we normally will. I went with Brittany and some other people to a bakery and had a delicious raisin... bun? I'm not really sure what you'd call it but it was yummy. Then we had orientation at Maastricht University. The University is really neat, because it's spread out in unique buildings throughout the old part of the city. The auditorium we were in seemed to have once been a church, which is very likely because apparently there are so many churches here and so few people that go to church, so the old church buildings are converted for other uses.

Inside a UM bulding

After the orientation we had pie and coffee, then a short tour of another UM building, then lunch very soon afterward- I like their priorities here, dessert before lunch :) We had a break after lunch before we were to meet up for a city tour, so we returned to the Guest House to get our Eurail passes to be validated later.  We cut it a little too close on time though, and had to jog back to the UM building.  However, it all became worth it when a car full of Dutch guys pulled up next to us in their dainty little European car and asked us a question in Dutch. We just kept jogging and yelled "Sorry, we don't speak Dutch!" and they got all upset and drove off and yelled "Sorry? Jehkks!" I'm assuming he meant "jerks"? At any rate, we thought it was hilarious and proceeded to call each other "jehkks" for the rest of the afternoon.

We made it just in time to catch up with the tour group before they turned around a corner to start the tour, success!!! Our guide was a sweet, older Dutch lady who spoke very good, if quiet, English, and was SO informative about everything we saw! It blows me away that this city has such a rich history compared to everywhere I've ever been and lived- Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands! The guide kept talking about things that are still here from when the city was founded by Romans, which is pretty amazing to me.

Buildings this pretty are fairly typical here... it's wonderful.

A mill and little waterfall... and I found a lion! <>

Entrance to the UM library

The ancient city walls

Flowers in the windowbox AND heart shaped widows... the Dutch are adorable!

We saw more beautiful churches, and even a church that has been turned into the coolest bookstore ever.

Tower of the Red Church.

The church/bookstore, possibly my favorite place so far.

The tour ended on the bridge over the river Maas, which seems to connect the old, historical part of Maastricht, with the newer, but still beautiful part that contains all the shopping centers and lots of restaurants.

The river Maas

Along the river

The train station is right by the bridge, so Aislinn, Amy and I went to validate our Eurail passes, exchange money, and you know, make a quick stop in Belgium :) We took a train from Maastricht to Liege, Belgium, because that is the closest station with an international service counter where we could reserve tickets to go to Paris next weekend. It was really cool, because even though it is only thirty minutes away, EVERYONE there speaks French, while no one in Maastricht seems to- everyone here speaks Dutch. So, I got to use my French earlier than I expected to (HAD to, actually- the man only spoke a couple of English words). We got the tickets and came back to Maastricht, where we realized we weren't sure how to get back to the Guest House. Luckily, we pointed out enough silly things on the tour that we were able to retrace our steps- things like a light up neon Elvis sign in a window that said "To-night?". Haha. I'm just thankful we made it back.

During the scavenger hunt/ memory game/ walk home

After a looong day of walking, we just called it a day and went to our rooms to rest up for our first day of classes.

It's Wednesday afternoon here, so I'm almost finished with my first day of classes- more about them later, this is already so long! For now I will just say that I love them, and that Dr. Baker and Dr. Abell (my professors) are some of the most interesting people I've ever met and I am so excited to learn from them!

lotts of love from Maastricht,
Allison