In this photograph (entitled "New York, 1940"), the children are connecting with one another by simply playing in the street, similarly to the way that the people at Dappermarkt form community through daily interactions. How can we, like Levitt, articulate what is special about Amsterdam and finally translate those observations into something tangible?
Post-Foam, we got a bit closer to figuring this out. Stephanie the Wondergirl took us out to coffee (koffie)/tea to help us formulate a concrete project for the coming month. Here's what she suggested: a series of interviews with, and perhaps photographs of, people who occupy distinct roles in the Dappermarkt community. We would follow the interviews with individual written responses about the stories we heard. After hearing these different stories, our goal is to be able to compile these histories into a larger cohesive analysis of how a community.
As Peter says, the greatest compliment is when a visitor to the market tells him that he comes because he loves it, not because he wants buy the best cheese or bread.
Today, we met with Peter the Great, Peter the Dreamer. He is the definition of a successful community organizer because he, himself, is a dynamic part of the community and not a stilted decision-maker. Walking through Dappermarkt with Peter was inspiring; we've never met a man so powerfully grounded in his neighborhood. Though we spent much of the afternoon exchanging ideas, we did also, in fact, concretize a few of our concepts into projects; we'll be focusing much of our time helping Peter and others organize a public poetry event to take place on January 29th at both Dappermarkt and Waterlooplein, another market. He introduced us throughout the day to fascinating candidates for our interview project, and we learned invaluable lessons about coalescing disparate groups into an energetic community: little things and small improvements not only matter, but eventually add up to hugely significant changes and change must sprout from within the community itself.
We rode our brand new yellow Dappermarkt bicycles (droooool) to Amsterdam's City Hall, where we got a VIP tour by the lovely Annemiek - our mama; she works in the market affairs department.
Then we came home and got sexy makeovers from Rosa, the four year old. Damn, we look good.
Honey wafer cookies for all,
Jesse and Hannah
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Load the Dishwasher ...Michiel Style.
1. Compile all dishes on counterspace above dishwasher.
2. Start throwing dishes, silverware, etc. into dishwasher (Note: Ignore racks. Just throw).
3. Complain about having to peel plastic off dishwashing soap tablet; Finally place tablet into either of two possible soap compartments in dishwasher. Does not matter which. Go with gut intuition (It's usually correct).
4. Make sure that dishwasher closes. (Note: this is the most important step. As long as it closes, the "steam" will clean the dishes. "It's all steam anyway.")
5. Press on.
Done! Good job!
For clarification, Michiel is our nutty Dutch poppa who has an extra special knack for loading the dishwasher. Wow. We can all learn from Michiel.
Besides having one of the most thrilling days of our lives, we had incredible falafel last night. I mean, this stuff was great. Plus, we ate it in a synagogue-turned-flashy-Middle-Eastern-restaurant. The "humuz and pide" wasn't half-bad either.
But seriously, folks, we learned to make salmon today!!
But seriously, folks, so many profound lessons have been learned. Our brains are expanding past skull capacity, our hearts are open wide to new experiences, and have you ever had an Espresochoco?!?? You think it's like a mocha but it's not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But seriously, folks, every new day seems to one-up the last. Yesterday was a cross-town adventure with Stephanie, beginning with a visit to a stunning photography museum on the Keizersgracht called Foam. The main exhibit by Helen Levitt, who shot the majority of her work in 1940s New York City, seems to tie flawlessly into our studies in Amsterdam - specifically, the ways in which
people interact in public spaces. In this photograph (entitled "New York, 1940"), the children are connecting with one another by simply playing in the street, similarly to the way that the people at Dappermarkt form community through daily interactions. How can we, like Levitt, articulate what is special about Amsterdam and finally translate those observations into something tangible?
Post-Foam, we got a bit closer to figuring this out. Stephanie the Wondergirl took us out to coffee (koffie)/tea to help us formulate a concrete project for the coming month. Here's what she suggested: a series of interviews with, and perhaps photographs of, people who occupy distinct roles in the Dappermarkt community. We would follow the interviews with individual written responses about the stories we heard. After hearing these different stories, our goal is to be able to compile these histories into a larger cohesive analysis of how a community.
As Peter says, the greatest compliment is when a visitor to the market tells him that he comes because he loves it, not because he wants buy the best cheese or bread.
Today, we met with Peter the Great, Peter the Dreamer. He is the definition of a successful community organizer because he, himself, is a dynamic part of the community and not a stilted decision-maker. Walking through Dappermarkt with Peter was inspiring; we've never met a man so powerfully grounded in his neighborhood. Though we spent much of the afternoon exchanging ideas, we did also, in fact, concretize a few of our concepts into projects; we'll be focusing much of our time helping Peter and others organize a public poetry event to take place on January 29th at both Dappermarkt and Waterlooplein, another market. He introduced us throughout the day to fascinating candidates for our interview project, and we learned invaluable lessons about coalescing disparate groups into an energetic community: little things and small improvements not only matter, but eventually add up to hugely significant changes and change must sprout from within the community itself.
We rode our brand new yellow Dappermarkt bicycles (droooool) to Amsterdam's City Hall, where we got a VIP tour by the lovely Annemiek - our mama; she works in the market affairs department.
Then we came home and got sexy makeovers from Rosa, the four year old. Damn, we look good.
Honey wafer cookies for all,
Jesse and Hannah
In this photograph (entitled "New York, 1940"), the children are connecting with one another by simply playing in the street, similarly to the way that the people at Dappermarkt form community through daily interactions. How can we, like Levitt, articulate what is special about Amsterdam and finally translate those observations into something tangible?
Post-Foam, we got a bit closer to figuring this out. Stephanie the Wondergirl took us out to coffee (koffie)/tea to help us formulate a concrete project for the coming month. Here's what she suggested: a series of interviews with, and perhaps photographs of, people who occupy distinct roles in the Dappermarkt community. We would follow the interviews with individual written responses about the stories we heard. After hearing these different stories, our goal is to be able to compile these histories into a larger cohesive analysis of how a community.
As Peter says, the greatest compliment is when a visitor to the market tells him that he comes because he loves it, not because he wants buy the best cheese or bread.
Today, we met with Peter the Great, Peter the Dreamer. He is the definition of a successful community organizer because he, himself, is a dynamic part of the community and not a stilted decision-maker. Walking through Dappermarkt with Peter was inspiring; we've never met a man so powerfully grounded in his neighborhood. Though we spent much of the afternoon exchanging ideas, we did also, in fact, concretize a few of our concepts into projects; we'll be focusing much of our time helping Peter and others organize a public poetry event to take place on January 29th at both Dappermarkt and Waterlooplein, another market. He introduced us throughout the day to fascinating candidates for our interview project, and we learned invaluable lessons about coalescing disparate groups into an energetic community: little things and small improvements not only matter, but eventually add up to hugely significant changes and change must sprout from within the community itself.
We rode our brand new yellow Dappermarkt bicycles (droooool) to Amsterdam's City Hall, where we got a VIP tour by the lovely Annemiek - our mama; she works in the market affairs department.
Then we came home and got sexy makeovers from Rosa, the four year old. Damn, we look good.
Honey wafer cookies for all,
Jesse and Hannah
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Hi Jesse - Love to read about your adventures and your thinking. Sounds so exciting. We are here in the freezing cold - icy weather thinking of you and your exciting times. Sounds like a very interesting project. I wish we were there too. We love you and miss you. Robin, Laura, and Mariah
ReplyDeletePS - Hi to Hannah too.
update! update! =)
ReplyDeletei miss you girls so much.
ReplyDeleteplease update tha blog!