{"id":103,"date":"2009-10-27T11:38:50","date_gmt":"2009-10-27T08:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisabrounstein.com\/blog\/?p=103"},"modified":"2009-10-27T11:38:50","modified_gmt":"2009-10-27T08:08:50","slug":"watch-the-fat-girl-fall-off-the-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/?p=103","title":{"rendered":"Watch the Fat Girl Fall OFF the Bus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"looierI thought I was done falling. \u00a0 I don’t normally fall. \u00a0 I have managed for quite some time to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. \u00a0 Until I got to Amsterdam last week I can’t remember the last time I fell. Then I did that amazing fall to my knees as I tried to step up over the gap from the house boat to the landing. \u00a0 That was a good one. \u00a0 Today’s fall takes the prize. \u00a0 Sima had to go to her salon. \u00a0 She normally rides her bike. \u00a0 Since I am here we decided to take the Stop and Go part of the way and then walk the rest. \u00a0 The Stop and Go is little bus. \u00a0 More like a van but bigger that makes a big loop in this area. \u00a0 It is one Euro and will stop whenever you wave it down. \u00a0 We walked to the corner and one came in moments. \u00a0 We got on and off we went. \u00a0 About half way to our destination another woman got on. \u00a0 Sima told the driver where our stop was and asked for her to stop on the bridge. Instead, she stopped short to leave us on the corner. \u00a0 I had been looking at a map the whole time. \u00a0 I was thinking that given how bumpy the ride was reading the map on the bus was a recipe for car sickness. \u00a0 When I looked up I felt a bit dizzy. \u00a0 Unlike the tram, there isn’t a huge rush to get off but I jumped up and headed for the door. \u00a0 As I got to the step I just sort of jumped. \u00a0 I can’t describe it really. \u00a0 My head felt foggy and it seemed like a long drop down but I thought I was going to make it. \u00a0 Then mid flight I realized “this is going to suck!” \u00a0 My feet went down but the momentum threw me forward onto my hands and knees. \u00a0 For a brief moment, I wanted everyone in Holland to be somewhere else. \u00a0 Unfortunately, 3 people were standing in front of me. \u00a0 There were two men on the corner. \u00a0 Sima was behind me and then next to me in seconds. \u00a0 “Are you okay?!” she asked me as she went to help me up. \u00a0 I stood up and then there was all of the obligatory “are you okay?” “do you need help?” etc. from all the strangers. \u00a0 I told everyone I was fine and off we went. \u00a0 But WOW were my knees and palm of my hand burning. \u00a0 Again, the pain to my ego was extraordinary compared to the rest of me. \u00a0 I think I will be fine in the morning. \u00a0 Maybe a little sore. \u00a0 Maybe a little bruised. \u00a0 Like Ben said, I will never see those people again. \u00a0 If they see me they may remember me as the fat girl who took a swan dive out of the Stop and Go but I certainly won’t recognize them.<\/p>\n

\"salon\"I spent some time with Sima in her shop. \u00a0 It is in a very quaint neighborhood. \u00a0 I walked around a little bit. \u00a0 It was Monday evening so a lot of the stores were closed or closing. \u00a0 I went into a health food store. \u00a0 They smell the same as they do in the US. \u00a0 I window shopped and then went back to Sima’s salon.<\/p>\n

I had been thinking about going to the Anne Frank House. \u00a0 I had actually decided against it. \u00a0 I knew it would be emotionally difficult for me. \u00a0 Then today I decided I wanted to go. \u00a0 I didn’t want to regret not going or to always wonder if I missed something. Sima and I left her shop and I walked over to the Anne Frank House by myself. \u00a0 The line earlier in the day had been very long so, I wasn’t sure if I would even get in. \u00a0 When I got there the line was rather short so I waited and paid my way in. \u00a0 I walked in and as soon as I turned the corner and saw Anne Frank’s pictures on the wall I just stopped and felt overcome with emotion. \u00a0 I stepped aside as my eyes filled with tears and a lump formed in my throat. \u00a0 The rest of the way through I kept finding myself having to step aside and compose myself. \u00a0 They have dated quotes from her on the walls. \u00a0 They have brief videos of people who knew her and her family discussing her and them. \u00a0 Again, I had to deal with those crazy Dutch staircases. \u00a0 I couldn’t take pictures in there but they \"annewere remarkably steep and narrow and difficult. \u00a0 They have a small opening behind the bookcase for you to climb through just like they had to when they were in hiding. \u00a0 It was an overwhelming and challenging experience. \u00a0 First, for me physically but also for me emotionally. \u00a0 What they endured until they could no longer endure is incomprehensible. \u00a0 Seeing the picture of her father standing in the empty house in 1960 was so moving. \u00a0 I am so glad I went to the Anne Frank House. \u00a0 It put so much into perspective for me. \u00a0 Life is so short and precious. \u00a0 Not a moment should be wasted! \u00a0 This last quote is the one that I feel compelled to share,<\/p>\n

“April 5th 1944. I can shake off everything if I write, My sorrows disappear, My courage is reborn.” Anne Frank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I was done falling. \u00a0 I don’t normally fall. \u00a0 I have managed for quite some time to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. \u00a0 Until I got to Amsterdam last week I can’t remember the last time I fell. Then I did that amazing fall to my knees as I… Continue reading Watch the Fat Girl Fall OFF the Bus<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trip-to-amsterdam","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lisabrounstein.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}