Allison Anachronism: We're Going to Be Friends

Originally posted 6/13/07.

We've been very busy with classwork lately, so I used this past weekend just to relax a bit. It was nice to go to the market on Saturday and get some fresh fruit and bread. I really like the attitude of this town. Everyone is very relaxed, very easy going. It is nice to just walk through the center and see all the families out together. I may have said this before, but quality of life is much more important than quantity. There is no such thing as take home work here, and people dedicate a lot of time to just be with people. It may seem like a simple, quaint way of living, but I really enjoy it.

Friday, I had a nice dinner (not sure all of what I ate) with Jochem and his roommate. Finally, I get to chat with people my own age! We talked about anything and everything, but they were very interested in how I perceived the Dutch and they were quite willing to tell me what they thought of the U.S. There is no love for the U.S. here. None at all. But we ate outside on the roof, so I was able to see the town in a whole new way. Then it started to rain, so we took coffee inside. To my suprise however, we had Bible study. When in Rome, I suppose. Someday I may have a discussion of religion with them, but I felt like I should just sweep that under the rug for our first night together. They have both kept in touch this week though, and Sam and I may stop by for coffee tomorrow night, although she is not as okay with the Bible study part.

We also met a couple girls through our class that want to have us over for dinner sometime. Apparently dinner gatherings are the most common way to spend time with friends. We want to be able to cook for them in return, but when half the time you don't know what you are buying in the first place, it is difficult to make an old recipe. Opened a bag of frozen chicken breasts the other day to find out that they were already cooked.

I have been talking about politics with many people here. Sadly, the most common question is, "Is it true that Americans don't care about politics?" It is a hard question to answer because even though I follow what is happening, I know many of my friends who couldn't name the current candidate possibilities if you asked them. I am ashamed with how little I know about foriegn politics. My neighbor and I were just discussing election systems, and he knew so much about how ours worked, but I had no clue how the Italian system was. Also, it is sad that people equate certain beliefs with being American. People don't understand that the nation doesn't think as a whole and that there is quite a bit of unrest with the people right now. I have honestly been told, "Don't you know we all think your beliefs are ridiculous in Europe?" without even being asked what my beliefs are. Maybe I am just not as patriotic as I am expected to be, but I just can't connect living in a country with what someone believes.

On a different note, we have now had to rework our project twice since we thought we'd finished it. When we got to the zoo on Friday, the curator asked us to research something different, and then today we had to change most of that work. But, as it turns out, there is an infant, and we are trying to see how much time the infant is spending with each adult. Last year they lost an infant because it was "fathered to death." We are hoping the father allows this one to nurse so that it does not starve, and it seems that there is a lot of pressure on us to figure this out. We are just praying at this point that it does not die in the next few days.

Here are a few pictures of our macaques, and some other shots I got at the zoo on Friday.