Maastricht

(Ignore these star things *)

Okay, so today I went to Maastricht with my main Cali girl, Sarah. *I was so blessed to be put in such a lovely town* like Vise because it is literally a 15 minute train ride to Holland. That’s right, I could walk to another country and be back before dinner time. *So, it was a spur of the moment type of decision (really the only way I know how to make a decisions)* and it ended up being one of the best days of my life. 

We casually were *sitting on a bench downtown* when I decided I wanted to do something different then our typical sunday coffee date. We walked over to the train station, checked out the times:

“Hey, a train for Maastricht leaves in seven minutes.”

Bought two tickets, and within 20 minutes we were in another country. In-freakin-credible, right?

Here’s were it gets fun: We ran into one of Sarah’s friends from California. Yeah. He’s going to school in Maastricht. I can’t even… It was just plain crazy.

So, he showed us where the shopping streets were and left us there to *waste all our money on useless items*. Fantastic. Anywho, *we ended up having a completely random day that was filled with complete bliss.* 

If I learned anything in my two months here, it’s to stay calm. Freaking out just wastes time. Can’t read the flemish train schedule? Don’t *start crying out of frustration*, simply ask a train director if he speaks french or english, because odds are, they can. 

Never been to a city and are terrified you’re just gonna get lost? *Simply look for certain land marks. I learned this trick back in New Mexico because no one in Santa Fe or Taos actually know the names of the streets.*

“Oh my house? Yeah it’s by the tall tree with the weird yellow green leaves and that one rock that’s shaped like a horse shoe.”

Long story short, today I learned how to get around Holland and somehow managed to get home before dinner time. 

*The entire day, however, there were many things remaining me of home. The autumn leaves had just fallen yesterday, and stepping on them (you know, the crunching sound) took me right back to steaming hot coffee and walking my dogs in the park. The after smell of cigarettes mixed with laughter took me back to fall nights at the Taos Inn and after school Starbucks trips through the Santa Fe plaza. The amazing thing about laughter is that it’s understood in every language. I could laugh in Holland, Belgium, or New Mexico and everyone would understand. And boy, I’m tellin’ ya… That is the greatest thing you could ever learn in life.*