Study abroad is made up of millions of small moments, as I suppose most of life is, too. As people start leaving their abroad destinations to head back home, and asking about my plans to leave, this month has become more reflective than intended. How do you group four months of experience into a one-sentence answer to a question? How do you take the ups and downs, the nights in and nights out, school, biking, touring, traveling, meeting new people and seeing old friends, feeling lonely and connecting, feeling Jewishly engaged or isolated—into one blog post? Or even 10 or fifteen?
This semester has been a practice in living intentionally—simultaneously always going about my daily life, while at the same time reflecting always in my blogs, in pictures, and in reports to back home. Maybe this is how we should always live, though at the same time it's a bizarre way to go about your everyday—in the constant rotation of doing things and then thinking about them or trying to remember them. So I try to provide as much detail in these blogs as possible—but at the same time, know that there was so much of this semester that wasn't recorded, but just experienced in the moment. And they will never be remembered, maybe in five or 10 or 50 years, but in their own ways, they have had an impact on my experience in Amsterdam, and subsequently, on me.
With that said, here is a sampling of a whole bunch of little moments, which this semester, has been made up of lots and lots of cocktail bars/beer/coffee/shops and restaurants.
Coffee:
Bocca
Scandinavian Embassy
Good Beans
Il Momento
Cafe Krull
Beer:
Brouerij Troost (De Pijp)
Oedipus Brouerij (Noord)
BeirBaum (De Pijp)
TapKabinet (De Pijp)
BierFabriek (Rokin)
Cocktails & Wine:
Tales and Spirits (Jordaan)
NJOY (Leidseplein)
Vesper (Jordaan/Harleem)
Labyrinth (Near Vondelpark)
Door 74
Bubbles and Wines Winebar (Jordaan)
Glou Glou (De Pijp)
Restaurants:
Vegan Junk Food (De Pijp, Leidseplein)
Bardak (De Pijp)
Cafe Brecht (Near Museamplein)
The Avocado Show (De Pijp)
De Tulp (De Pijp)
The Groene Vilnder (De Pijp)
Pancakes Amsterdam (The 9 Streets, Jordaan)
The Caroussel
Outdoor Spaces:
Hannekes Boom
Waterkant
Oedipus Brewery
Lalaland
Roest
Rachel Blau
<p>Hi! My name is Rachel Blau and I’m a Junior at Brandeis University studying Business and Social Enterprise and minoring in English and Legal Studies! In my free time I love climbing, hiking, cooking, reading, and<br>traveling. One fun fact about me is that this semester I’ll be serving as the Amsterdam global ambassador for KAHAL, connecting Jewish students abroad to local resources!</p>
