Why?

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” ~Pema Chodron

April 12, 2013
I’ve asked myself a few times why I am going to Amsterdam. The simple answer is I want to see the Anne Frank house. While I haven’t yet finished reading her diary (and May not before I get back stateside with all of the travelling, blogging, and homework I’m doing) her story has captivated me. It really is so relatable about just wanting to feel at home in your own world. I’ve enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing it come alive.

But the other stories that come back from Amsterdam are horrifying to me! I heard one recently about a group of students who went, and their hostel doubled as a brothel. People were in and out of the room all night with the prostitutes that worked out of the building. They would do the deed on the bunk just next to them, finish, and then leave so the next customer could come in.

Of course the drug use is rampant in Amsterdam. In addition to marijuana, mushrooms are also legal. The country has discovered that both of these drugs have ruined their society. Matt and Lizzy were explaining plans they have to faze them out (sort of like American prohibition? Did that work?) but the government really does fear that the society has gone too far to come back to Earth.

So why is straight laced, doesn’t drink, in bed by 12, boring-old Zach going to Amsterdam?

I think it’s because it makes me uncomfortable. It think it’s because I don’t understand it, but I want to. I think it’s because I know that somewhere behind the sex and the drugs, there are people with beating hearts searching for love and a purpose in life. That’s what I hope to see anyway.

My plane leaves at 5:30 tonight. I need to buy batteries for my camera, and then I’m off to the airport!