Political Roses.

This week the Dutch weather has taken the idea of summer and ran with it. And for this Scottish lass, with wee white, milk bottle legs, it has been a physical and emotional struggle. I have been flirting with the concept of being able to soak up all that glorious vitamin D, but facing a reality of hiding from the sun's rays and hideous humidity. Humidity is not cool dude. Not cool.

Saturday started with a speedy market grocery run, before embarking on a girlie shopping trip with Lindsey, Eva, Jess, and Helena. We traipsed around the shops and lived up to those typical female stereotypes: eating food, spending money we don't have and taking advantage of every free promotion going (from free coffee to political roses). I also invested in some decent purchases; finding myself a pretty dress, skirt and vest top for just €27 - love a good bargain!

On Sunday evening a small group of us ventured to Locus Publicus, a nearby pub that has about a million and one different variations of beer. I was feeling more a little lost as, one by one, our crew ordered a selection of beers that I had never even heard of and bashfully admitted to the waiter that beer isn't really my drink of choice. Not a problem apparently! I was recommended a beer that tasted like berries, and was pleasantly surprised when my pink beverage was placed down before me. It turned out to be a really lovely evening, pretty uneventful for a blog post, but nice all the same! Finally, Jess and I concluded the evening by devouring a falafel at mine before calling it a night, ready for classes to ensue bright and early the next day.

Monday was certainly my day for unanticipated BOGOF offers. First receiving two Mars Bars out of the vending machine instead of one, then purchasing two Mocha Cookie Crumble's from Starbucks and accidentally confusing the cashier enough to only pay for one...oops! Slightly ashamed to only have those two examples representing my diet for the week, but we all have the occasional chocolate day now and then! ;)

Happy place.

Temperatures appeared to reach a high on Tuesday; drawing me outside for a gentle stroll towards the lake. After lurking in the shadows for some time, and applying copious amounts of sun cream, I emerged to find some friends enjoying a picnic. Gatecrashing, I settled myself down on the blanket to enjoy their company for and hour or so before heading our separate ways once more.

The evening that followed was that of the Open Air Cinema, watching Moonrise Kingdom under the stars. After temperatures managing to reach about 26°C during the day, surely there would be no weather issues, right? Wrong. The moment we arrived, rain began to fall. Warm(ish) rain. But rain all the same. Everyone abandoned the site to and fled for shelter to wait out the short-lived shower. But with humidity in the air, there was another type of weather which was definitely not short-lived; thunder and lightening contributed massively to the atmosphere of our little outdoor gathering. A pretty bizarre setting for a film: sitting on cold, wet concrete with just a plastic bag separating me from the ground, surrounded by a mismatch of students all wrapped up against the cold with blankets and jumpers, whilst the occasional lightening bolt crackled above our heads, lighting up the sky. Beautiful...

...and cold. Very cold.

This week's final landmark event was the ESN Farewell Ball at Club Vie. Yes, that's right. The Farewell Ball. How the hell did that happen? Despite my utter disbelief that the academic year is beginning to wrap itself up, it was a great 'final' party! Of course, it's not going to be the last party of the year, but most likely the last one with everyone together in one place. I'm probably not the biggest fan of Vie, but I'm just so glad that it turned out to be such a good evening with a great atmosphere. It was also really lovely to bump into all those old characters from the beginning of my exchange that I don't happen to spend a lot of time with. Always a pleasant surprise! And we obviously polished the night off in the kebab place, where else? ;)