After finally getting to sleep a night, I woke up with a positive attitude and ready for the day. We started with a delicious breakfast at the hotel followed by a canal cruise at 10:00. The cruise was very fun, and very informative. On the cruise, the guide talked a bit about the history of the Amsterdam. I found it very interesting that houses used to be taxed based off of the width of the houses, so people would make their houses as skinny as possible. Below is a photo I took of the skinniest house in the world. It’s actually still owned and lived in by people!
After the cruise, we took a break for lunch. A group of us decided to go to a local grocery store and have a picnic of sorts by the water, and it was absolutely lovely. I was shocked how cheap and delicious the food was, as well as how healthy everything was in the grocery store.
After lunch, the group split in two for the next activity. Theres twelve boys and twelve girls on this program, and that’s how we ended up splitting ourselves up. First, my group visited the Cacao and Spice shop for a presentation and taste test of different chocolates. At Cacao and Spice, all beans and chocolate come from direct trade routes to ensure people are treated equitably and fairly at every step of the process.
We also learned that Amsterdam is the biggest cacao harbor in the world, and how important it is to be aware of where your beans are coming from in the chocolate making process. Only five percent of chocolate in the world is made in its country of origin, and despite women doing 60-80% of the work in cacao growing and harvesting, they receive only around 10% of the profits.
At Cacao and Spice, emphasis is put on supporting women from all over the world. The shop is in the red light district in Amsterdam, and the woman who owns it explained that the shop used to be located between two brothels. She told us how close she grew to the ladies, and how kind they were to her and her husband. She also talked a bit about the politics of the red light district, and how the current female mayor is trying limit the district by encouraging entrepreneurial Dutch shops in the area, such as Cacao and Spice. While that’s great for the shops and the economy, it also is putting the ladies way of supporting themselves in jeopardy. Since then, the shop has moved to a new location that used to be a brothel before the pandemic closed it.
The owners husband is a tour guide in Amsterdam, and while we had been learning about chocolate and politics, he had been giving the other group a tour. We switched with them, and he gave us a tour next. He took us all over, showing us various shops and telling stories about the areas. The most impactful, to me, was the story of Alida Bosshardt, who was a general in the Salvation Army during the Second World War. Despite it being banned, she ran a daycare and orphanage under nazi occupation. She also saved over 75 Jewish babies she was given but their mothers throughout the war by biking them four to five hours into the countryside and placing them with a farming family.
After that, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. A group of us went shopping for a while and then had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant before heading back to the hotel. All in all, it was an incredible day full of learning and fun, and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s tulip fields!