I Made It!!

Today has been one crazy day. I can’t even believe I’m sitting her, in Amsterdam, in a Hostel no less, on a squeaky twin bed (it’s actually not even a twin, it’s smaller). It’s so surreal. I’ve been preparing for this experience for months and it has finally come, after a long and sleepless 8 hour flight...it came.

Amsterdam is definitely different. It has it’s own characteristics. The people, the food, the entertainment, it’s all very centered around a culture: “just relax.” Today is Saturday, everybody’s day off. The streets were absolutely packed with people, almost wall to wall. There are people of all different races and backgrounds. It’s a conglomerate of Europeans, French, Spaniards, British and even Indian, they’ve got it all. Everybody wants to chill and relax and the best way they know how to do that is to roll up a joint and sip a Heineken. People however have been very nice. We have stopped many people asking, “Where is duh duh duh?” “How do you get to duh duh duh?” They were all very willing and excited to be talking to an American with their broken yet good English. I realize how much I have taken for granted that I live in a country where I know the language, the culture, and the people well enough to feel safe and independent. This experience has and will continue to have an impact on me in that sense. I’m in a country where Dutch is the primary language spoken. All the signs, guides, and written material are in Dutch. It can be very frustrating, especially when you need to catch a certain Central Amsterdam train and you’re not sure how it might be spelled.

Jackie has been great. Full of energy, eager to get out and see the world of Amsterdam, ready and willing to do whatever. She’s fun to talk to, she laughs all the time and tries (and succeeds) to make every situation a good and fun one. I’m excited to continue to get to know her as time goes on here in Amsterdam and in-country Uganda. She has a very strong will which has taken her very far in life. She has an incredible ability to succeed in many things at once, and I mean MANY. She has a hard time declining people who want her to be apart of a certain group, take on a certain leadership position, or anything else that involves being very qualified. She wants so much to do so much in life and accomplish much. She’s a wonder to me in many ways, I just don’t think I could ever accomplish what she has at her age, she’s incredible.

I can’t believe some of the things that go on here. There is a place/area called the “Red Light District.” It’s basically many streets full of extremely inappropriate photos, acts, merchandise, and everything else you might consider XXX. We weren’t so much interested - thankfully - in the content of these street as we were the experience of being there. We kept our eyes forward and unfocused on what was around us for fear something would be permanently etched into our minds. This place, like others, has its nasty side...and if I had to bet, one of the worst in the world.

It’s beautiful here. It’s very green with lots of trees, grass, shrubs, etc. With all of the CO2 in the air these plants are getting their daily fill times ten. We will be traveling to the flower gardens tomorrow to check out the incredible and renowned tulips of the Netherlands, a perfect Sunday activity. We are going to try to make it to church, though it will be awkward since we’ll have our bags on us and I’ll be in jeans.

I took 75 pictures today and we got about 10 minutes total worth of video, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but we covered quite a bit and got some great footage. We are trying desperately to document this trip to the max, we want to leave here not forgetting a single detail, and with Jackie’s HD video camera and my DSLR, we should be able to accomplish that feat fairly well.

Well, it’s time for bed. It’s now 1:49am and I am supposed to be asleep to be fixing my jet-lagged brains. And I’m sure the extra intake of second-hand smoke has done me a lot of good. Until next time.

Money Earned

Thanks to an incredible neighbor who has supported me for many years as her auto detailer and computer fixer, I finally have my first donations.  My uncle has also supported me in my efforts to raise money.  

The current amount raised at this point is: $680.

My appreciation is through the ceiling, thank you so much for your support!

Fund Raising

Remember, purchasing a food storage package is not the only way you can help in this amazing service project.  If you'd like to make a donation, you can make checks out to:

HELP International (put my name in the Memo line so that way the know it's for me!)

send to:

HELP International Office

363 North University Avenue, #110

Provo, UT  84604

or, if you feel better about it, send the check made out to HELP to me, and I'll take it to the office.  Remember to put my name in the memo line. 

Your support is very appreciated, not just by me, but by the people of Uganda awaiting my serivce.

Corbin

1380 South 605 West

Orem, Ut  84058