Well today is finally Sinterklaas day here in the Netherlands. That's right, 5 December, Sinterklaas comes and puts presents in the kids shoes (that have been good this year). Bad kids get put in Zwarte Piet's bag and whisked back to Spain! coincidentally i'm flying to spain tonight. i guess i must have been bad this year...
when i got to work this morning, there was a big box on my desk. a sinterklaas present from Fugro! so i open it up, and behold - a big pastry filled with almond paste, shaped like a big "F". hahahah! awesome!! the pastry is unbelievably good. i have a serious weakness for baked goods. the almond-filled pastry log is a popular dessert here. its good when you heat it up a little.
work was kind of non-work today. wouter brought in little cakes to celebrate his birthday. he sent an email out in dutch that said he was "today i have one more year older". but the word for "older" and "parent" is the same, so i thought he had said "today i became a parent". so i go in to his office and said congrats on the new baby and he looked pale. then he laughed and explained the mistranslation. he said later he called his girlfriend just to make sure she wasn't pregnant. haha!! at 3PM we all met in the hallway to have some drinks and snacks to celebrate Sinterklaas. And we all got to leave 1 hour early (at 4PM). i left right at 4 so i could get to the airport to catch my flight to spain. its normally about a 2 hour drive to Maastricht, but with Friday and holiday traffic, it was a miserable 3.5 hours. i mean miserable. stop go stop go stop go. but, i made it to the airport with plenty of time before my flight.
the airport was kind of in the middle of nowhere, it only had 2 gates, and the whole airport was about the size of a .... i don't know. it was freakin small. a bit bigger than the oxnard airport but not by much. i got some prepackaged nuts, some m&m's, and a water and read my civil engineering magazine while i waited to board the plane.
Boarding the plane was a fiasco. so first you go from the general waiting area to the gate waiting area. so, instead of sitting comfortably, now you have to stand in a line southwest-style (before they did the numbering system) for about 20 minutes. then, you go through an attendant who checks your passport. then you wait in another line. then, you go through a second attendant who checks your ticket. then, you wait in line for a bus that drives you about 100 feet over to the plane. where you wait outside in the cold to board the plane. note to ryanair.... hire a process engineer!! streamline!!!
the flight was nice. cramped. cheap. but worth what i paid and gets me from point A to point B. everything was plastic. no seatback pockets even, not even an airsick bag. no magazines. no drink service. no in flight movie. whatever, all i want to do is sleep. but, what they do have is LIGHT. the cabin lights are kept on the whole flight. shouldnt they be worried about saving on electricity?? during the flight they try to sell you stuff. lottery tickets. perfume. calling cards. swimsuit calendars. god dammit all i want to do is sleep.
so happened to be sitting next to these two students from the US (one guy from new jersey and a girl from SF). they're doing some study abroad program at a school near maastricht. i think they're art or drama students but i'm not sure. in any case, i didn't like them at all, not really because i didnt like them as people, i didnt like them because they were americans. the way they talked irritated me. the stupid crap they talked about irritated me. the way they said "ohhh my god!" and "like" every third word. how they talked about how one of them had a dorm mate leave mid-semester and never got it filled, so he had a single. "oh my god i hate you!" she said. no.. i hate you! now let me sleep dammit!!!
so i got the alicante, and the weather was perfect. it was pleasant with a light breeze. a perfect california summer night. got a taxi to my hotel. checked in. the hotel is very modern. newly renovated about 26 rooms. just what i would think a european hotel would look like. minimalistic. sleek. everything my moroccan paradise is not. here's some pics of my room. its small but perfect for me. the best part are the big french doors that open out to a patio that is bigger than my room! all for about 100 euro for the weekend. well worth it i think. its about 1AM and i finally crash. finally. sleep. dammit.
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