Second Sight

This entry has been bouncing around in my head since mid-March. I think it's time I finally posted it.

There are two things that have made me look at Middelburg in a different way this semester.

The first is simply that it's my last semester at RA, and therefore in Middelburg. I'm pretty broken up about it. A lot of my friends just laugh about how excited they are to get away. I'm excited too, and looking forward to living in a big city again, (whichever one it might be!) but I'm really going to miss Middelburg. So I've been noticing little things, buildings and streets and such, that I never noticed in the last two and a half years.

The second reason is, in the end of February, I went to have my eyes checked, thinking I might need glasses; the people at Pearle Opticiens freaked out and told me I need to see a doctor or I could go blind.

I think what they were trying to say is that it looked like I might have glaucoma. I went to the optometrist and he said I was fine (though I did need glasses).

So, if you ever have to get your eyes checked in the Netherlands... maybe don't go to Pearle.

Two or three weeks later, they told the same thing to another RA student, and her numbers weren't even as high as mine.

Anyway, a scare like that is enough to make you look at things in a different way. So I started taking more pictures of things that I love and things that I'll miss and things that I've never noticed before. Here are some of these photos.

These trees are so pretty in late February. They have a pretty greenish tint to them and look like something from Dr Seuss.

The Lange Jan tower peeking out above the buildings

The van de Perre House, the 16th-century home of some wealthy merchants, which I pass on my way to school (and just about anywhere else) every day.

Which, coincidentally, is on one of my favorite streets, right behind my house.
I only realized how much I love this street this semester.

Looking down the other direction, the way I walk to school. This street feels somehow "French" to me. I think the "CAESUUR" sign reminds me of the town of Caen in Normandy... dunno.















I walk this way every day and never noticed all the windows.

Look how incredibly ugly this building is! One day I was walking home from class and saw this for the first time. I stood there, astounded, wondering how I could have missed it for so many years. It's so ugly it's almost beautiful, especially among all of the truly beautiful old buildings of Middelburg. The crooked shades perfect the look.

Dutch light and windmills

Funky, funky buildings in Vlissingen - and the beach

And, a series of pictures of amazing Dutch light... sorry, they're a little blurry, I was so excited I couldn't keep still.