Ahhhh, Paris!

First off, my deepest apologies for becoming a horrible correspondent! My mom came to visit until the end of November, then I was rushing around to go home for Christmas. Not much of an excuse, but there you go!

Mom and I had such an amazing time--it was so good to be able to show her where I live and work and introduce her to my friends. I think it's easy to have a worse idea of the Red Light District than the reality, at least as far as safety is concerned. It's every bit as seedy as you'd think, but I (almost) always feel really safe there. She was able to come to the Monday night Bible study and meet the ladies who attend regularly, and that was great. It was amazing to see them open up more when a mother was present--they seemed to feel more willing to talk about their own lives and families back in the Dominican Republic. Mom also really enjoyed meeting them and kept saying how sweet and special they are. I agree!

Over Thanksgiving, Mom and I traveled to Paris, which I guess is the next best alternative to being at home with the family! We saw some amazing places and both especially enjoyed the Palace of Versailles, where many of the King Louis's and Marie Antoinette lived. Here are some pictures of that time:



In the first one, we are standing in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral; the view of the Seine River with the Eiffel Tower; a view of the full moon over the Palace of Versailles; and a panorama of Paris from the top op Notre Dame. Such good memories!

Believe it or not, Paris seemed to have more people who were "slightly off" than Amsterdam does. One guy got on the subway, toting around a karaoke machine in a wheeled cart. He'd wait til the subway started moving, leaving you no means of escape, then start singing and asking for donations. Awkward! There was also a really scary guy who stood up and started screaming at everyone, so we got off at the next stop and moved to the next car back. Apparently that's par for the course in Paris!

After Paris, we came back to Amsterdam for one more week and did lots of fun touristy things, including one of the museums that I haven't even gone to yet! It's nice to have visitors, which forces you to do things you normally don't make time for. It was hard to see her go, but I knew that I'd be flying home in three weeks for Christmas, which made it much easier for both of us! It was just so nice to have somebody around who really knows and understands me; that's a luxury I don't have much of here. All in all, it was a wonderful two weeks with lots of great memories and photos!