A day off in the Vondelpark
It's been one week since we have arrived in Amsterdam - what a journey so far!
After a week filled with orientation, making friends with one another on the program, exploring the city of Amsterdam and learning more about queer politics and activism, we deserved a break to kick back and relax. We did this Amsterdam style! We got to sleep in and explore some parts of the city on our own until we all met up to go to the Vondelpark together. The Vondelpark is a well-known public park in Amsterdam where people get to escape the bustling city and relax under the trees and next to beautiful ponds where ducks and many other animals roam around. During the summer months, the park offers free music concerts to all and we were lucky to be here when one was hosted. Today we got to see Rilan & The Bombardiers who managed to get us from our seats and on our feet where we danced to the tunes that filled the park air.
As we danced the afternoon away we built up quite an appetite which worked out perfect as we had a great dinner planned for after the concert. We walked two blocks from the Vondelpark and arrived at an Ethiopian restaurant that was beautifully decorated and where we were greeted by our friendly hosts. For many of us, this was the first time having Ethiopian food. With hands all washed and orders placed, big platters arrived with Injera bread/pancakes topped with different small vegetable and meat dishes. Eating with your hands is customary when eating Ethiopian food or at least the type we were eating and it turned out to be a lot of fun for many of us - some starting a little bit more hesitant than others at first. With a great dinner and stomachs full, some of us continued to explore the area around the Vondelpark and enjoy the last bit of sun the day had to offer. Dutch weather is very unpredictable and you almost have four seasons in one day, so this was why we had to make the best of it!
What a good day to kick back and relax - now we are ready to take on the new week ahead of us filled with more exciting activities and things to learn.
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