where were you when you heard michael jackson was dead?

sunset over amsterdam sub-burbs

my foot on the train

near dam square

ramsey and i with benny hill

after making a post on facebook asking if anyone was in amsterdam, i got a reply from carlos, one of my school friends from saudi arabia that another classmate ramsey was in amsterdam shooting commercials for saudi dairy products. we started messenging and decided to meet in a'dam that night for drinks. it was kind of like a blind date since we hadn't seen each other in 25 years! we met at madame tussaud's wax museum next to the dam and had a few drinks at his hotel and sharing saudi stories before heading over to a coffee shop. (when in rome.) michael franti was playing when we walked in so i took it as a good sign and since i've had bronchitis for the past week i decided to go for it. after hanging out for a while and laughing hysterically the girl behind the counter turned the music off to announce that michael jackson had died. we hung out for a bit longer but since it was a little bit of a walk back to centraal station and my train took an hour it was time for me to head back. ramsey walked me back to the station and we just listened to all the people walking in the streets talking about michael jackson, singing his songs and many seemed to be celebrating his death. we agreed we'd see each other in europe, lebanon (where his family now lives), or at an aramco brat reunion and parted ways, me to rotterdam him to jeddah where he lives now with his wife and kids. after a long train ride i got back to the flat at about 3 where sadie was waiting up for me and till had left the light on.