Sleepy Ferrell

I've had a full few days, and I can't think of a good title for this post, so I'm dubbing it, "Sleepy Ferrell."  I had to work all day today, so I wasn't able to get out into Amsterdam like I did on Sunday.  So, as soon as I had an opportunity (around 7 p.m.), I headed out for dinner, dragging a few of my colleagues along with me.  I needed to get out of the hotel (which is very nice, but still a hotel)!

As I mentioned before, I'm here in Amsterdam as part of UNC's global OneMBA program, an executive MBA program, so it's only fitting that my dinner companions represented all parts of the world:  an American originally from Maine (may as well be a different country, right?), a Hong-Kong resident who is also a Canadian citizen, a Dutch women who told me she's lived int the same town her entire life, and a Colombian woman who currently resides in Mexico.  We headed out into the city, aiming for a Tapas restaurant that the Dutch native suggested.  She warned us it was in the Red Light District...which was no problem for me, since I wanted to visit there in the evening (I went during the day, but the famous ladies behind the red doors come out at night).  In short, we got turned around, and we never found the restaurant.  We did, however, find a small Mexican cantina (in the Red Light district) where I had some decent chicken fajitas (B knows I'll eat MX food whenever I can).  As I mentioned on Twitter, it doesn't get more global than this!?!  I'm posting a few photos of my dinner companions here:

The first photo is Chantal from Holland and Alice from Hong Kong.  The next is Diana from Mexico and Brigitta from UNC (my colleague) and Chantal again.  The final photo is Brigitta and (a hideous photo of me).

As we were walking through Amsterdam this evening, I thought about a few things:

1) This is truly a beautiful city.  Who knew?  Based on everything I thought I knew about Amsterdam, I really didn't expect it to be so pretty.  There are numerous streets that must look just like they did in the 16th or 17th century, and the canals are incredibly beautiful at night.

2) While many are weirded out by the "ladies of the night" behind the doorways, I find the whole thing really pretty fascinating.  Yes, it is a bit odd.  But, prostitution is the oldest business in the world, and it happens everywhere, certainly in the United States.  The only difference here is that the ladies are being open and honest about their business, rather than trying to hide it.  It almost makes the whole thing seem less seedy...if that makes any sense.

Off to sleep now...I hope.  I've had a hard time sleeping, and then I'm exhausted in the morning.