Lazy day: 14 August

Day 11 or so, in Leiden

The day started with pouring, horrible rain and hail, which was incredibly noisy. I could not rouse myself to the idea of getting soaked on my bike, so waited for it to finish and got a very late start.

Once again, I saw that until my bank account is open here, I can't get computer wireless service started, much less t.v. or landline. It will be open this week. I'm determined not to be overly impatient, but it's hard not to be.

I celebrate little victories, such as starting this silly blog today, finding a huge computer room with printing access in the student center, and again, nothing awful happening. I keep waiting for the shoe to fall (as it did repeatedly, just before I left Washington), but so far, so good.

I planted a pretty little flowering plant (lavender blooms, but no scent) in the heavy metal bucket that's between my house and my so-far unknown gentleman next door. He's a phantom (seen twice, in nearly two weeks). He doesn't seem to have regular comings and goings, and I wonder if he sleeps at his office.

Another neighbor is a very attractive (but sort of standard Dutch attractive: tall, long-legged, blond, blue-eyed and cheerful) KLM stewardess who's partnered with a very lean, very Dutch-looking American from Iowa, who teaches at an American school in The Hague. He seems to come and go erratically, as well! She's very sweet, outgoing and helpful.

Also in the tiny street lives a chubby, cheerful lady who walks numerous dogs, but mostly snub-nosed chestnut and cream-colored spaniels (at least four at a time). Otherwise, I haven't met anyone else. At one corner is a Turkish restaurant, but it's closed for vacation. There are a few children, but my immediate block is very quiet, which suits me perfectly. The other next-door house is under construction.

I try to imagine how life was in the street when the houses were built, in 1620, but have no idea, other than that they would all be cleaner than they are now. The street is pretty and relatively tidy, but could be neater. My windows, in any case, need washing. No one has lived in the house for several months, and the windows show it.

Yesterday, I again fruitlessly took the train to Haarlem, to try to meet a man who conducts a Saturday Evensong choir in Amsterdam's largest church, the St. Nicolaas Kerk, very near the Central Station. However, I will have to make an appointment, as he wasn't there, and it was nearly a wasted trip. I did salvage some of it by seeing the ''Big'' or St. Baavo Church, which has an enormous and famous pipe organ, made by a Danish company named Muller. It was huge! The church itself, though, was a disappointment, as all churches so far have been, with a fraction of its nave used for services, and clear signs of nice things having been removed, centuries ago, in what seems to have been a far more severe reformation than in England.

It's cocktail time (7:20pm), so will sign off for today. I hope this thing works!

PB