A'dam

I am back in the land of internet-connectivity (specifically, Amsterdam, more specifically, my friend D's dorm room) after a retreat in Bonn, at which I laughed more than I had in months. Any attempt to explain the inside jokes that developed over the course of last week would fail.

And Amsterdam is lovely... like an extreme version of Portland. PDX has bike riding, but the streets of A'dam are filled with bikes. (I have been told that bikes outnumber people in this city... and I almost believe it.) While PDX leads the US in strip clubs per capita, A'dam has brothels (not that I visited either...) A similar drug use analogy could also be made. Even the weather is Portland-but-more-so. It feels like a Portland October here, with me toting an umbrella and a jacket everywhere, but frequently wearing only a T-shirt. It's hard to believe that it is still July. (My return to BGD in a few days will relieve me of any fall-like delusion.)

Another fun thing about this city: the Miracle of Amsterdam. It's the only miracle story I know in which vomit plays a central role.