A hazy tradgedy

I've been busy the last couple of weeks. It's been a lot of fun but not particularly noteworthy. I spent last week in a city called Delpht with some of Freek's friends. They were very nice and it was fun to see a different city.

However, this post isn't about that. Freek and I were on our way back from Northern Holland where we had spent the weekend. We had a 15 or 20 minute layover in a city called Utrecht, which is a central hub for trains.

We were sitting on the bench just hanging out when this (apparently homeless) man came up to us and began asking for money. Freek, not having any money told me that if I wanted to I could give him some. So I gave the guy one Euro. He had some postcards that he wanted to trade with me (they were free postcards that he had taken from somewhere). I placed my wallet on the bench next to me as he began to show me the postcards. However, my wallet slipped off the bench. I wasn't worried about it, I knew exactly where it was. The man, ostensibly to show me the postcards better, bent down on one knee. As he did so he scooped up my wallet.

Seeing this (just barely) I said to him “Hey man, give me my wallet back”. He said he didn't have it. I stood up (as did he) and said again “Hey, giving me my fucking wallet, I saw you take it”. Luckily for me (and not for him) he was pinned in by the glass of the waiting area. Again he denied any knowledge of the wallet. So, with some profanities, I pushed him up against the glass.

He was a big guy, maybe 6' 3''. But he was fat, and as I quickly realized, completely out of it. Maybe he was stoned, drunk or mentally sick, whatever it was, there wasn't much he could do. I had the advantage.

I asked (kind of) for my wallet back, again. He told me (again) that he didn't have it. He told me to search him. So, I turned him around and lifted up his shirt, and sure enough (much to my relief) there it was, stuck into his boxers.

I took it back and told him to get out of there. Before he left I took a few of the postcards (maybe just a little bit spiteful). Freek was in the process of calling the police and the guy made a hasty retreat.

We ended up talking to two officers and tried to give them a description. Some friendly spectators who had seen the whole encounter helped fill in the detail. At this point and for the next 10 or 20 minutes I was shaking with a mix adrenaline, fear and self-righteous anger. If I had lost my wallet I would have been royally screwed.

And then the adrenaline began to wear off. And I remembered how it felt, to grab this fully grown man, and realize that he was defenseless, truly helpless against me, a 19-year-old brat on a world wide romp.

I felt like crying. All I could see was the little kid in that man. The little kid that, no doubt grew up in a hopeless situation. Somehow, somewhere he wasn't loved. Somebody didn't hold that kid. And that kid grew up into this man. A man, who tried to steal from someone who was giving him charity. But in my wallet I had 150 Euros, plus a bank card with access to five times that. So, giving him one Euro was almost an insult

I'm not saying I didn't do the right thing (if there is such a thing as the right thing). But the disparity of the situation, the tragedy of it is mind boggling.

I have everything. I'm strong, fit, rich, and loved. I'm protected by the law from men like him. He is outside of the society, even with the advanced state of Holland's social services he is still dangerously close to the edge.

And he shouldn't steal from people. We have to be protected from people like that.

We and them. We being the ones in power.

I know that what happened, how it happened, had to happen as it did. I need my money, my ID all that jazz. It's true I do need it.

But I still can't get that image of me shoving a little kid up against a glass partition. Me in all my righteous anger manhandling someone with absolutely nothing.

A closer look at the Dutch bike

So, here are some pictures of the type of bike I've been riding.

Here is the built in lock.

And a closer look.

Here you can see the entire bike.



Later Freek and I went to get groceries. They don't give bags at Dutch supermarkets so panniers are a must.

To Gel or not to Gel?

When I was in ninth grade I used to gel my hair all the time. It was a morning ritual. I would wake up and take a shower. A shower was a must, because you have all the gel in your hair from the night before. After I showered I would dry my hair lightly and then apply handfuls of Gel. Soon, my hair would be helmet like, impenetrable to wind, bugs, dust, anything really.

It really was the life. Putting on a shirt and or taking one off was a bit hard, sometimes they would become stuck to my hair, causing all sorts of discomfort. But I was on top of the world.

And then the dot.com bubble burst. Suddenly I found myself unable to support my Gel habit. After i lost my job I stopped worrying about my looks. I would roll out of bed, pop open a beer and watch T.V. I didn't matter if my hair was puffy or ugly or flat or anything.

You know it's true. It happened all over America. Hundreds of thousands of men suddenly stopped Gelling their hair. They just didn't care.

Things got better, economically speaking, but my pride never really returned. I never fully recovered. I resorted to short hair cuts and hats. Never again did I Gel my hair.

Well, things changed in Holland. You see, although Holland was hit hard by the dot.com bubble burst, the winds of fate saw fit to leave them with plenty of Gel. The day the bubble burst, there just so happened to be a huge shipment of Gel going through Amsterdam. Truckloads of the stuff were lined up waiting to be shipped to America. But suddenly their customer base was gone. The Gell companies folded and Holland was left with literally tons and tons of Gel. So the government began giving the stuff away. Much like health care.

Enter Eli Francovich, five years later. Fresh from india I hadn't thought about Gel in years. Ok, maybe months. But I wasn't ready for what Holland was going to throw at me. Every man, woman and child had Gel dripping out of their hair. At first I though "Nah, I ain't gonna use that stuff, it's too good for me." However, I soon realized I had no alternative. People looked at me weird. I was told on multiple occasions that "You "have the potential to look nice, but you really gotta do something with your hair." I began to Gel my hair.

Ever since then my self-confidence has begun to return. Sure, I'm unemployed, I don't have a college degree, the economy is a mess (again) and it's still snowing in Idaho, but hey, at least I have Gel in my hair, right?

Biking around

So, I got an impassionated request for a blog about bikes. The request came via my Uncle Pat. He has an amazing blog about biking in Spokane. You should really check it out here.

Anyways, this post won't do justice to the Dutch biking scene, but I will try.

Holland has an amazing public transit system. While many families own cars, most don't use them on a daily or even weekly basis. Instead they use the train, bus or they bike. You can almost anywhere in Holland via any three of these mediums.

The bike lanes here are very clearly marked, often they are seperate roads. They follow the main roads and highways (see here). There are roadsigns for bikers, telling them how far to the next city. It makes biking very easy and safe.

However, the flip side is that the rules regarding bikers and biking are much stricter. A couple of nights ago me and some friends were biking back from the pool and the cops pulled us over. One of the people we were biking with didn't have a light. She was lucky and only got fined 10 euros, however, the maximnum fine for that kind of infraction is 80 euros. So they take it pretty seriously. Having all these rules kind of dampens some of the fun of biking for me. In America biking feels a little bit less controled. I feel kind of like a lot of the rules of the road don't apply to me in the same way. Which isn't true technically, but practically it is (at least in my experience).

Anyways, all that aside it's really nice biking in Holland. Three days ago I went on my first 'long' bike adventure. It was a 25 km ride to a city called Maastricht. Although I didn't take the scenic route, it was still a beautiful bike ride. The bike path followed the main highway fairly closely, however, it was seperaed by a little strip of grass. It doesn't sound like much but it sure is nicer than hugging the shoulder while cars hurtle by inches from you. I ended up planning the trip terribly and had to take the train back in order to be home in time to help cook dinner. But now I know it can be done, so I will do it again.

Most people ride pretty heavy commuting bikes. I don't prefer to ride on them but they are nice enough. On nice days I see packs of spandexed bikers hurtling by. Although I've never had the oppurtunity to ride on a Dutch road bike, they look just as fast and efficient as their American counterparts. One interesting thing about European bikes is that the lock is built into the bike. A metal bar clamps between the back spokes and then you just lock it. Although it makes the bike heavier, it is nice not to have to carry a lock eveywhere you go (this was the same in India). I haven't done any bike work so I don't know what other differances there in terms of hardware.

Here is a picture of the bike I rode to Maastricht. I will try to post some more detailed photos of bikes as soon as I recharge my camera (my power adapter is all screwed up).

Ok, there is more coming on bikes. I have some videos I took and a few more photos. I will post those as soon as I can. Adios.

For the bike lovers

Plethora

So, I don't really have one topic or anything in mind for this post. I thought I would talk briefly about a few different things. But, before I start I have an idea. How about, if all of you who read this agree, you guys ask questions (if you have any) via the comment section. I will then respond to your questions to the best of my ability. That way I have topics to write about and you all will have your questions answered.

Anyways, maybe that will work, and if not I won't hold it against any of you!

So here we go.

The Shy Dutchwoman(man)

Freek (see photo) is not a shy guy. When he came to America he made friends easier than most people wake up in the morning. Although I knew mentally that all Dutch people aren't like Freek some part of me insisted that they would be. Basically, I imagined myself meeting a whole country full of exited, extroverted Dutch people, who would be more than willing to talk to me in English. Well, it hasn't quite been that way. Freek's friends are really great people. But they are a bit shy around me. Some of them are more outgoing than other, but overall I spend a lot of time listening to people talking in Dutch. I'm not complaining at all, I totally understand. But it's interesting to compare and contrast the way Freek says they act around him (extroverted, etc) and how they act around me (like they don't talk in English). Obviously many of them have loosened up with time (or alcohol), but I'm not going to lie, I spend a lot of time trying to understand Dutch. Which, brings me to my next mini-point.

The Language Barrier

The last couple of months I've spent a lot of time not understanding what people are talking about. In a way it's really nice. I'm not held to the same standards as everyone else. When people are arguing or trying to plan something, I can just stand there with a dumb grin on my face and pick my nose. It's awesome. But, at the same time I get the feeling I miss out on a lot. Oops, I'm straying from my point. SO, in both India and Holland, while listening to people jabber away in their native tongue I've always felt like I could almost understand what they are saying. It felt like if I just relaxed my mind a little of something I would understand it all. Of course I haven't been able to, but it's interesting. You can tell, just by listening, that the weird words they are saying have meaning. I imagine this is true with any language.

Sex(uality)

When I first got to Holland I kind of felt like what a conservative Christian farm boy might feel like if they suddenly landed in Las Vegas. There were so many pictures and posters of nearly naked women. I couldn't help but stare, but not in the usual way that I stare, this time I was staring just out of sheer amazement. In India they aren't allowed to show people kissing in movies. The most revealing film shot is the the famous wet Sari shot (any Indian movie worth it's salt (I bet that saying comes from a time when salt was expensive) has a wet sari scene). I've gotten used to it pretty quickly, I mean I was born in the heartland of sexuality as advertisement (aka the USA) it's in my blood, when I see a women in a bikini I immediately think about either shampoo, vodka or the retail value of the bikini. I can't help it.

All this aside I have a confession. The naked advertisement women are definitely hot, but like some famous person said, “It's just tits and ass”. I find it a lot more exciting and intriguing to see a beautiful woman that is wearing slightly revealing (yet beautiful) clothing. It's so more interesting, I think.

The Legal Beer

Another thing that has surprised me about Holland is how legal alcohol is. I mean, me, Eli Francovich, the 19-year-old kid, can walk into a Dutch pub, throw some Euros down, and drink a beer. Wow. It's awesome. I no longer have to sit in my room, drinking beer from a lemonade bottle. A couple nights ago I went out to a pub with Freek and a bunch of his friends. There was music, dancing, beer and conversation. And it was all legal. In Couer d' Alene the only place I can dance is in my room, the only place I can have a conversation (after 9 pm) is a coffee shop and the only place I can have a legal beer is... no where.

I know alcohol is evil (until you turn 21, then it's not evil anymore) but I can't help but think that maybe things would be better if people were allowed to drink a little bit earlier. At the Pub I went to some people had quite a bit of alcohol, but no one was out of control (as far as I know). In the books that I read that talk about underage drinking parties in America there is a lot of out of control behavior. People throw up in plants, on coaches and on each other. It's disgusting. It's one of the biggest problems facing America's youth, vomit. Every year millions of dollars are spent cleaning out clothes, buying new plants and having coaches cleaned. If we could save all that money we would be able to balance the national deficit in at least 100 years. Oops, I'm deviating from my purpose. Where was I? Oh yes. So, perhaps, if the USA was to lower the drinking age maybe people would learn how to drink responsibly. Maybe not. Maybe we would just have a lot of bing drinking high schoolers (which we don't have now). But if nothing else, I would be able to go out on Friday night in Coeur d' Alene and do something besides wander up and down Sherman trying to get the courage to try and sneak into a bar.

If facts and evidence don't support my hypothesis, don't tell me. I don't have any serious legislative power so you might as well let me believe lowering the drinking age would accomplish something.

Money

Wow, this post has it all, sex, money, beer and language. Actually this is a post in response to a question asked by Terri Simmons on my comment page (that is how I got the idea for an interactive blog). She asked how I've been budgeting my money. So in response: I don't really have a budget plan. I worked over the summer and in the fall a bit. But more importantly I graduated from highschool and my extended family and friends were incredibly generous in my graduation/travel gifts. So I left America with about $3,000 in my account. While in India my mother paid for everything (and my father, he stayed home and worked and gave money to my mom and I). So I arrived in Holland with almost all of that $3,000. In Holland I don't have to pay for a place to stay, but Freek and I are splitting food costs. That hasn't been too expensive. We usually eat for about 4 Euro a day. Transportation in Holland is very expensive (compared to India at least). But I have the money so it's not a problem. The exchange rate isn't favorable (as of today one dollar equals one Euro and 33 cents) but like I said I have the money and my expenses aren't too bad.

The End

OK, that is it. Please let me know if there is anything you want to hear/learn about.

Some Dutch sights

Hello Holland

Hey, well it's been a while. I've been in Holland for a week now. I meant to write earlier but it's been busy. So I will try to convey what I've been experiencing as accurately as possible.

The flight from India to Holland was uneventful. I watched some movies, slept and talked to my neighbor. Although I barely slept I wasn't tired at all. I was really excited to get off the plane and see Holland.

I'm staying with a guy named Freek. He was a foreign exchange student at my high school in junior year and we became friends. He was going to meet me at the airport with another friend, Chelsey Bowes, with whom we had both gone to school. Chelsey was going to be in Holland for 10 days. It was her spring break trip.

There was a mix up about where we were going to meet, so I ended up sitting by the train station for two hours, while they waited for me at my gate. I read a book and began to try to assimilate this new culture.

The first thing that I noticed about being in Holland was how nicely everyone was dressed. In India I had always felt well dressed, maybe even a little over dressed. Being in the Amsterdam airport showed me the reality of the situation. I looked like a hobo. I had filthy khaki shorts on, a ratty button-up t-shirt and flip flops.

The second thing that I noticed about Holland was how cold it is. When I had left India, at 1:35 am it had been 90 degrees. The temperature in Holland when I arrived was 50 degrees, and it was a warm day. Needless to say I didn't stay in flip-flops for long.

When I finally met up with Freek and Chelsey we had a nice little reunion and then we went out to catch the bus.

The bus was clean, quiet, safe and almost empty. I couldn't believe it. The roads we were driving on were wide, well marked, well maintained and all the vehicles were following the traffic rules. I really couldn't believe it.

The next couple of days are a blur. The whole time I felt like a ghost. I didn't really know where my place was in the culture. Freek had to study for a final exam so Chelsey and I spent a lot of time exploring different cities. We were staying at Freek's parent's house, which was small by American standards, but decadent by Indian standards. Occasionally while walking around I would switch back to my India vision, I would be mesmerized by a billboard or a garbage can, or something else that equally mundane in Holland, yet spectacular in India.

Chelsey left last Saturday. I'm now living in Sittard (Freek's parents live in Alphen de Rhine). Freek has an apartment here, which is where I currently call home.

It's interesting the Dutch culture doesn't hit me over the head the way India did. It's a lot more familiar. But it is still quite a bit different.

Here are a few of the differences I've observed:

1. smaller houses
2. smaller cars
3. smaller portions of food
4. cloths are expensive (I wanted to buy some jeans but I couldn't find anything under 50 euros)
5. food is cheaper than in the U.S.
6. Transportation is easy and efficient, but a little expensive
7. people bike everywhere

I learned yesterday that Holland is the second most crowded country in the world. It makes sense then that everything is smaller, they don't have room to build and build. They have to be creative with their space.

That reminds me of another thing that is different in Holland than in India and the United States. The cities and towns are all planned looking. Everything fits together. Freek's dad is an urban planner, this means his job is to make everything fit together. He explained some of the work he does and it sounds fascinating. Because there are so many old building in Holland there are a lot of rules stipulating how they should be protected. Leon's (Freek's dad) job is to (among other things) help design cities and town that are modern and convenient, but also blend in with the older buildings. You can't help but notice it. It's everywhere you go. I haven't seen any of the disease like urban sprawl that is beginning to characterize the Rathdrum Prairie.

Although I'm really enjoying being in Holland part of me misses India still. However, it's nice to be able to have a cup of coffee or a beer. It's also nice to be able to go out and walk around and not be harassed by twenty different people.

I'll be in Holland for about a month and a half. After that I'm going to Germany and France. I still don't know how I'm going to get there, I've heard about something called EuroBus, which sounds really cheap, so I might look into that. For now that is all!

Motorcycle ride in Pondicherry

Hey, so I took this video a few months ago, however, due to slow internet I wasn't able to post it. So now that I'm in Holland I'm able to post, so here it is! I'll have a new blog up soon, it's just been a little busy here in Holland. Ok adios.

Last day in India