UNAWE

As of this morning, when I finalized the Changemakers proposal for a UANWE-US program, I finished my internship with Universe Awareness officially. It has been an amazing summer, and I’ve learned a lot, not just about astronomy outreach and education, but also about what it means to work for an international non-profit organization. I’ve done a lot of reading and writing, a lot of independent thinking, and also a lot of team collaboration. It’s been a great experience, and I am so grateful to UNAWE and the CPGC for helping to make it happen!

As for the rest of my time here, I’m just trying to absorb as much as I can in the time I have left. Yesterday, for example, was “Marathon Tuesday”:

9:30am — meeting with Irene, an illustrator in Leiden, about the scale-of-the-universe poster.

10:15 — Nothing left to do at the Sterrewacht, and it was actually WARM and SUNNY! Rode my bike to the beach (~30 min) to enjoy the sunshine.

1:30 — Rode bike to Leiderdorp (~1 hr) to kayak for the last time.

2:30 – 4 — Kayaked from Leiderdorp into downtown Leiden and back. Waters were very bumpy since all of Leiden was out on their yachts enjoying the nice weather.

5:30 — Take bike to train station.

6:30 – 10 — Delft to play Ultimate in the Netherlands for the last time. Head back to Leiden. Bike home from train station.

It was quite a day. I definitely slept well…

Today, I spent the day in Amsterdam with my friend Karimu. We wandered around, went to a few great bookstores, and eventually made it to the famous Van Gogh museum. Very crowded, but still great.

Tomorrow I’ll go to Nijmegen to visit my friend Ilja (BMC, ’12), and come back on Saturday for the Amsterdam Pride Parade. Sunday, it’s goodbye Netherlands and hello Denmark! I’ll be in Copenhagen for a week before heading back to the US…

The above quote from a frisbee friend basically sums up the mentality about summer here in the Netherlands… And, this July has been the coldest and rainiest in Dutch history in decades. (Lucky me!) Every once in a while, the sun peeks through for an afternoon, or maybe even a day. But usually, it’s quite rainy and cold. However, “summer” still carries on.

This weekend, I went with friends to a street carnival in Rotterdam. This annual Zomercarnival (summer carnival) is supposed to mimic the famous Brazilian Carnival, or other Mardi Gras-type festivals.

Rotterdam is much more heterogeneous than Leiden, and every nationality and ethnicity seemed to be represented in the parade. The brightly colored costumes, dancing and spicy foods, while they provided a lot of fun and cultural variety, seemed completely incongruous with the cold (~58 degrees Fahrenheit), grey and mildly damp weather. But, as I said before, to maintain our sanity, we have to believe in summer, despite what the weather report actually says…

Also, this weekend, I played beach ultimate twice in Scheveningen, (try your luck at pronouncing this one!!). On Friday night, there was a huge turnout of about 20 players, despite the cold and rain. On Sunday, however, we had fewer players (~8), and the sun came out!

(Let's be honest. I probably didn't catch this one...)

We started playing at noon, but I ended up spending the whole afternoon there with frisbee-folk, enjoying the ever-so-rare Dutch warmth. The next two days should be sunny and in the 70′s, so while finishing work at UNAWE, I’ll also be taking time to be outside to enjoy this rare and probably fleeting treat!

Only one week left in the Netherlands!