First of all, Cody and I both determined that out of all of the places we went to, Amsterdam was probably the coolest of them all. I know, I know...you're trying to envision Cody and myself in some seedy "coffee shop" smoking marijuana right now. Well, believe it or not, you can go to Amsterdam and have a lot of fun without smoking weed. Cody and I are both self-proclaimed woosies when it comes to any sort of drugs, and we maintained our woosie status throughout our trip. However, we did have a lot of fun seeing all the crazy people doing lots of crazy stuff throughout Amsterdam.
The first night we got to Amsterdam, we wandered around until we eventually found the Red Light District. I'm not sure we were necessarily searching for this part of town, but we found ourselves right smack dab in the midst of all the shadiness. I loved it. The whole street is like a train wreck of debauchery that you simply cannot take your eyes off of. There are people of all ages, shapes, colors, and sizes walking up and down the streets partaking in all sorts of fun stuff. I witnessed my first time a drug deal take place approximately ten feet from me. I saw a 70-something-year-old man negotiating with a prostitute. I saw lots of private parts, mainly on buildings. I smelt marijuana for hours on end. I saw all sorts of cool sex toys in lots of different shops. It was crazy. Straight up crazy.
In our jet lagged haze, Cody and I decided we should go into a Sex Museum that happens to be located in the Red Light District. It was weird and uncomfortable. There were lots of naked people doing things that naked people do with one another. There were literally four stories of sex stuff from all over the world dating back years and years ago. We took quite a few pictures in this museum. However, I would like to keep my job as a public school educator, so I am going to include only the more tame pictures from our experience. This is Cody in one of the cut-outs from the sex museum. I really appreciate his expression. Cody can blend in with the best of them.
We went back to the Red Light District a couple of times after our first night in Amsterdam. I really could handle the drugs and alcohol and sex shops and all of that stuff. Those things are somewhat available in every part of the world. The weirdest thing about Amsterdam were the girls who were displaying themselves for sex. There were literally window after window up and down side streets around the Red Light District with women standing in very little clothing. The women were making kissing faces and pointing at men. They were doing all these weird sexual poses. Some men would stop and talk to them. Some men would even go so far as to start getting their wallet out. On occasion you would walk by a window with the shade pulled down. I could only imagine what was happening on that twin sized bed in that little room. Disgusting.
The whole time I walked around and saw these women (girls) I kept wondering where their parents were. How do you get to that point in your life? Do they think selling themselves for sex is ok? It was so weird. And then I started wondering who these men were that were actually communicating with these women. Were they married? Did they come to Amsterdam just to have sex with some random chick? Ick! It was really gross and disheartening. It was a really sad representation of humans. Yet again, it was absolutely impossible not to watch. It was so far from anything I ever experience in Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was really interesting. Needless to say, I will not be including any pictures from the Red Light District. If you're really interested, contact me later and we can set up a private R rated viewing of our other pictures.
With the rest of our time in Amsterdam, Cody and I went to the Dutch Resistance Museum. It was really cool. It was all about Dutch people who worked against Hitler's regime during the Holocaust. I teach a book about the Holocaust each year, so it was really interesting for me to see. At the end of the museum, they had a table set up where people could leave some sort of sewing creation (this tied into some of the Dutch women who created stuff during the Holocaust). Cody took some time out of busy schedule to create the masterpiece below. Pretty impressive, if I say so myself.
We also visited Anne Frank's house while we were in Amsterdam. I, of course, was super interested in all of this. Cody did a good job of acting like he was interested as well. I'm looking forward to sharing some of my experiences with my students this year.
Cody and I also took a bike tour into the countryside outside of Amsterdam. EVERYONE in Amsterdam rides a bike, so bike tours are pretty popular. The whole city is completely flat and covers about 4 miles of land, so it's very simple to get around on a bike. We saw a windmill and a cheese factory. We got to ride around the streets and hear all of the history behind the canals of Amsterdam. It was really fun.
Amsterdam was really fun overall. It had a good mixture of ridiculously bizarre drug use and prostitution sprinkled in with a population of people that were friendly and really open to tourists. It was also nice because despite all of the drug use and gross stuff that happens in the city, Amsterdam was really clean and let off a very cookie-cutter vibe outside of the shady streets. They even had huge clogs that you could take your picture in. What more could a naive American ask for?
It's very cool that you got to visit Anne Frank's house. I hope you were able to take pictures that you can share with your students. It's so hard for them, and us too, to imagine what people went through and the places they lived during wartime. It is so far removed from our everyday lives, as you found just in visiting. Just think how much more you can bring that unit to life now. :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to hearing more about your travels...