Friday
Allison and I slept in a little bit and ended up leaving Leiden at noonish for Volendam, a small traditional Dutch town north of Amsterdam. We took a train to Amsterdam and a bus to the town.
I was worried about the transportation, but we actually made it around with no problems whatsoever!
We really had no schedule or idea of where we wanted to go when we got there around 1:30, so we stopped in the VVV (pronounced Fay Fay Fay... it's the tourist information center). They told us the direction we should walk, so we went exploring and found the harbor of the IJsselmeer (a large lake). This was the more touristy area.
We went in some souvineer shops and had a photo taken of us in traditional Dutch costume (photo in previous post).
We also had lunch in a cafe that faced the harbor, so we got to look out onto the pretty view. The weather was very interesting... it was overcast and muggy, but then became warm and breezy and then hot and sunny (and back and forth).
For photography this week, our assignment was to make a "reconstruction" or "collage" out of at least nine photos of an object and/or surrounding. We wandered around the less touristy areas to take some photos for that project...
Volendam was so picturesque... Small canals ran among small houses on small streets... It was a very different feel than the other places we have been.
We also found a grassy area with beautiful light, so I had creative fun with reflections and pictures of Allison and me.
The bus/train ride back to Leiden at 5ish seemed really slow. We got on a stoptrain from Amsterdam to Leiden, and that's the slowest one! I guess it was just a good relaxing wind-down to the day.
I went to a couple of pubs with a group of people, and there were a lot of other people out and about. I think it might have been some sort of graduation time, because there were more people around than usual in the evenings...
We learned that students who have recently graduated hang their bookbags on the flagpoles outside their houses, and we saw some of that in Amsterdam and Leiden.
Saturday
This morning, Allison, Emily, Drew, Doug and I went to a place called Bagels & Beans for brunch. The shop is in the same area as the big Leiden market, so we went there after breakfast and walked around. I didn't buy anything, because I have to use up the food I already have!
We went back to Amsterdam in the afternoon to go to the market we saw on our group excursion. Allison, Emily and I went to shop, and Drew came to buy presents for his girlfriend.
It's funny how un-touristy we feel in Amsterdam. Since we've been there 5-6 times now and kind of know our way around, we feel like we're the locals amongst all of the tourists.
The Waterloo Market ("Vaaterloo") was actually kind of disappointing because there wasn't very amazing stuff, and it was semi-expensive. To top it all off, it is a haggling market. That means that most of the goods don't have prices on them, and you are supposed to negotiate a price. I didn't like that concept... Nobody bought anything...
After lunch, we walked around a little bit and found some souvineer shops and some thrift stores. I found a cool beaded necklace at one of the stores and a wooden ring at another store.
On our way back to the station, I was looking around and realized how I don't really notice the people I pass on the streets. When I started looking at them, I was surprised how easily I invented stories in my head about who they were and what led them to the point where our paths crossed. I thought this could make a really interesting idea for my final project, so I started taking some candid photos from my small camera at my side.
I really like how they turned out...
After some relaxation time in Leiden, a group of us got together and went to a park to take pictures for our photography homework. It was starting to get foggy, so the light was really interesting.
We went back and played some theme song trivia (a game I invented on my computer). Then, Allison, Emily and I decided to go outside independently to take pictures of the fog. It was WAY cooler at night!
Emily and I ran into each other and started walking around. The combination of the fog and walking in a semi-unknown place made it seem really surreal. We started to try some slow motion/long exposure photos, and some of them turned out well. That's the benefit of taking pictures of a modern dancer who is familiar with the shape of her body.
Today was a really, really good day, and at the end of it, I feel happy, content and refreshed. I got my creative juices flowing and created some really interesting photos. Yay!
Sunday
Today was a more relaxing day... I slept in and then went to the Turkish Bakery with Allison and Emily. It's one of the only things open on Sunday, so we got some brunch and walked to the Hortus Botanicus.
We spent an hour or two in the gardens taking pictures and then went back to the dorms to get our photos ready to print. We dropped our photos off at the HEMA at 3:30 and then walked around and got ice cream and french fries.
I came back to the dorm and worked on my "reconstruction" project. We have to do two different objects/surroundings, so I'm doing an old car and a street scene from Volendam. This is one rough idea, but I'll put more pictures up when they're done...
After dinner, Emily, Allison and I thought it would be fun to make some drawings with sidewalk chalk. We saw some people down the street doing it the other day, and it looked like fun. We were doing a great job, but then a grumpy lady came up and didn't look pleased with our creativity so we left.
Last but not least, we went to a park to do some more night photography. Tonight, I experimented a lot with silhouettes... It was fun, but the time flew by! We were in the park for probably three hours!
Now it's really late and I'm blogging, but I know if I don't do it now, I'll get really behind. I'm already behind with my photos -- I'm just taking so many, I can't keep up!
This week is going to be crazy... It's the last week that we'll be here AND we have to finish our final project and pack and everything... ahh!!
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