Stolen bikes and Sunburns

It's been only a week since my last update but a lot has happened since then. Last weekend was full of ups and downs that I don't care to share on the internet, but ...

... on Wednesday night, my bike got stolen!! Yup. That's right, folks. I was out with Wicax, Mariam (new French friend - in the picture, taken last Saturday night), Ricard (new Spanish friend - sorry, Catalonian friend - I learned never to call a Catalonian Spanish, it's like calling a Québecois Canadian), and Jorn at Pand48 to relax on the terrace. I had buddy-locked with Wicax all night to because we've seen our friends lose their bikes when they didn't buddy-lock. However, Wicax left one hour earlier than me and in that one, solitary hour, my bike was stolen, lock and all. I was proud of my bike injuries from a few weeks ago but now I'm just plain sad. Fortunately, I may be able to get a free bike in a week from Bore (new Macedonian friend) but I have to walk or borrow until then. I refuse to pay 90 Euros for a new (used) bike for one month. Jorn's friend (Dutch) told me to steal one back, but when I offered him 10 Euros to steal one for me, his own conscience wouldn't let him do it either.

Thursday night, after working until 8:30pm in the lab (and busting the FACS machine when I was working late and alone - oopsies!), I did another bartending shift at our flatbar with Sjoerd. While a couple of hardcore, loyal friends showed up to support me (thank you Jorn, Wicax and Bore!), there were only about a dozen people that came, most being the "regulars". On the bright side, conversation was interesting (I chatted with one customer that does research in insulin inhalers) and the free beer is always a bonus.

Friday I took the day off of work. I'm really stressed these days and needed a small break. Besides, I didn't want to face walking all the way to work again on such a hot day. So, in the evening, I went with my gang (Mariam, Jorn, Wicax, and Bore) to see Pirates of the Caribbean II (hilarious movie!) at the local movie theatre, the Pathé. I tried to borrow Jorn's old bike to get to the theatre but, despite of it's lovely paint job of pink stripes (in the picture), I couldn't go two feet because it is too big for me and it has no brakes. So Wicax, with a gesture of chivalry, swapped with me and ended up almost slamming into the theatre which is located on a downslope. Anyways, after the movie, we chilled at Club Pepper, an outdoor lounge bar on the roof of a building at the centrum full of suave 20 and 30-somethings, and later we hit the Spieghel, a cute little jazz cafe, where we chitchatted about the meaning of life to candlelight while listening to live jazz in the background.

Saturday, Sjoerd was kind enough to help me achieve a weekend of pure relaxation by taking me for a getaway to Schiermonnikoog, another adorable little island off the north coast of Holland (I said I'd be back to the islands and I did it!).

On the ferry ride over to the island, a great number of seagulls and, um, don't remember the name of the other type of bird, were feeding off of the waters being stirred up by the boat. I've never been so close to birds soaring in the air - they were so close that we could literally touch them! A seagull's flight is absolutely graceful to see that close up. I took pictures to show you but the picture does not give the experience justice.

When we arrived, I tried to find a beach towel that had the island's name on it as a souvenir but ended up buying an overpriced one with stripes on it and the word "stripes" written along the edge. Who's the guy that gets payed to design these things? Then, despite the ferry being crammed full of people, there was almost no one to be seen on the actual beachfront. One of the few humans in the vicinity was a solitary guy selling ice cream out of a cooler under his umbrella stand, as you can see.

On the journey towards a spot with nice, soft sand, we walked through areas of wet sand and clay (the tide was low). We walked over piles of worm poo - little piles of sand that look like worms but are actually squeezed out of worms - and around patches of quicksand. One guy was brave enough to walk through the quicksand zone (can you spot him in the pic?).

When we finally found our spot, we lazed in the hot sun and I did my share of meditation. Soooooo nice and low-key! We relaxed a little too long, though, because we both came out of the day with a painful sunburn to bring backto Groningen with us.

By the later afternoon, the wind picked up and the skies clouded over. In the pic you can see the ferry that we took back home, with Sjoerd posing handsomely on the lefthandside. By the time we were back in Groningen, it was pouring rain. Of course, with me having no bike, we had to walk back to our student house from the bus stop, but no matter because the rain soothed our sunburns.