So mayke showed me the usual stuff, the churches, the market sq which had a pretty town hall and a statue of Jan pieter minckeleers who was a native that invented gaslight. So there is a flame in his hand that is always lit, even when its snowing! And mayke told me this story like some students tried to put it out and they were badly punished by the university. I forgot the whole story but it was something along those lines! So we went to the old city fortifications from Roman times, the helpoort, the city gate from the 13th century and the oldest in the Netherlands apparently. Then she showed me where the natural history museum was and we walked along some tree lined avenue which was a bit scenic. Maastricht, like most dutch cities, had lots of sculptures on the streets, so I took a pic of me on a donkey. She also showed me a fancy hotel which had like Roman remains in it, and a bookstore which used to be a church! so the ceiling and paintings on the wall were not like your average Barnes and noble! We also went across the bridge to the more modern part, which had a museum, an aldi and a building where I think the eu was born, as the official date the eu started was written on a brick in the ground. Then she showed me an old water mill, which was like a little secret cause it was on a small street and probably not very well known so that was quite cool. So yeah all the while we were walking around checking out the sights, we also went to 3 karneval shops. I wanted to buy demon wings, a devil tail and horns, and some type of black and seductive outfit to wear. So I got the wings and horns no problem from the first store, but couldn't find a tail so I decided I will make one out of fabric wrapped around aluminum foil. Then we went to a cheap clothing store and there I bought some black velvet pants, and a corset type top, so with that my costume was nearly completed. Mayke also showed me the university campus, who recycled some old the old cloisters and buildings around town and now they house a few faculties. and she also pointed out a typical person from maastricht, which was an older woman all dolled up in a leopard print outfit and hat, walking her fancy dog. I guess a lot of rich, snoody people live in maastricht!? And We also went to HEMA so I could try tompouce, super yummy! And we went food shopping after all the sightseeing and karneval shopping. I felt like we were married!! And we decided to go out for dinner this night so we went into a restaurant near campus that is cheap and popular with students, so we could make reservations for the night, but it was all booked, probably because it was Valentines day! So we went to a nearby pub and tried there. When we walked in, mayke goes "oh look who's here" and we go over to a group of people and one of them comes over to me and says "oh hi michele, how have you been!?" And I'm thinking who is this guy, he looks like someone who I met at NU but obviously this isn't him! So I just played cool like I knew who he was and I just assumed he was her brother anyway, and I was right, so awkwardness diverted there! But mayke and I made the reservation and stayed and talked with them for a little bit and then left. I said, "you're brother was skinnier when I met him in Sydney", hoping she wouldn't take offense, and she said "yeah he got fat from too much beer drinking!" So she agreed lol and then after we saw all of maastricht we went back to hers for a bit and I showered, and then in a few hours time we went back to the pub and continued to catch up. So she had gone to Mexico for her studies, I forget how long but maybe a year. And she really liked it out there, so I think that's where she got the idea to then go work in Brazil (even though they speak Portuguese and not Spanish) . And at the moment she is doing a masters in some topic
relating to management and helping humans in developing areas so that's quite nice. And she works part time in one of the offices at the university, so she is quite busy! She told me I hadn't chAnged much, in looks or personality. She said carmen changed in personality but not looks and I agreed there lol. She also told me she will see andre and Connie in dusseldorf at Andy and sophies at the end of march. I got a bit jealous cause they see each other regularly, but its so hard for me to see them since I live so far away! Damn that Atlantic, why does it have to be so big!? also i had mentioned something about the lady she lived with in sydney and she said she didnt like her, and i knew she didnt like her in sydney but i forgot the reason so i asked her again and she said she wasnt very friendly and probably didnt like the idea of her coming home late from partying, and she was like acting like a mother figure, saying "oh dont you ever study?" so i think that got on maykes nerves. and she told me that she said to mayke after she met me for 10 minutes that i was a typical new yorker! not quite sure what she meant by that because if she ever did meet some other new yorkers she would know i clearly deviate from the mean, but i was in fact dressing up and painting myself green to go to a party as the statue of liberty when she met me, so maybe that had something to do with it ;) so After dinner we went to a bar and had some drinks. I was happy no one was smoking inside like in Amsterdam. She told me this story of when she went driving around australia with andre and Connie in the campervan, they had parked in a caravan type park one night and she managed to lock the keys inside the car! Andre and Connie were nice about it, but not happy!! So they tried to pick the lock to get the door open and to break the windows but they were pretty secure so both methods didn't work. then they started asking other campervan drivers in the park if they could borrow their keys to see if it would open their door, and they had several of them but none worked, so they were going to go up but they asked this one last person and it worked! So they were relieved but also a bit weirded out that some campervan keys work on multiple vehicles! Kinda makes me not want to rent one when I go back! She also told me that when she was in Mexico she was telling her friends how she wasn't religious and how she believes in evolution and they all laughed at her, saying how could you actually Think we evolved from monkeys!? So clearly science isnt a fundamental subject taught in Mexican schools..what a shame! So anyway we stayed there for a bit but went to her place. when we were getting ready for bed mayke was explaining the raunchyness of carnival. she said that there is a lot of cheating going on and drama. she said the percentage of people from eindhoven who cheat on their partners is 25% whereas in maastricht, its only like 14% or something. and i just remembered that when i was at patrick and anne marie's, patrick told me some crazy stat that in july there are more babies born in germany than any other month, and thats because of all the debauchery that goes on during oktoberfet! i cant remember the exact figure but something involving 80% lol.but anyway, so mayke and i went to bed cause she had work in the morning!
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