Last days in Leiden
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…