Amsterdam

Stepping out of the airport I could feel myself dissolve into a crowd of hundreds of people.  It's really a strange feeling realizing you no longer stick out in a crowd.  No one was looking at me, no one cared.  In a way it was a relief.  
I was glad to arrive in the early hours of the morning since it gave me a chance to walk around and find my hostel for the week.  Apparently I look dutch, or there isn't a lot of blond girls who walk around alone who aren't local.  People would approach me speaking dutch and then when they wanted an answer I would simply say, "I'm sorry I'm not from here"  They responded with "oh... you're AMERICAN" and would walk away.  It wasn't that they didn't know english, the majority just happened to have a negative opinion of americans.  I did however meet some wonderful Australians throughout the week.  We spent most of our days in the park or wondering the streets.  I did happen to take a ferry north one day with some new friends and we found a quant little fish stand in the middle of the road... it was amazing.
Every morning I would sit on the sidewalk eating breakfast and drinking a heineken...  Gave me a chance to observe my surroundings and realize I was no longer in Africa... Ha... I could sit on the ground :)  It's strange when you have spent the last two months constantly aware of your surroundings and then to let your surroundings dissipate in a matter of days.
Lets just say a week in Amsterdam was a wonderful transition.