Arrasatterdam?!

The other day I was just having a walk in my town Arrasate, dreaming my own stuff, when I got woken up by an awkwardly familiar odor.. Is that weed? But I thought: Hey I'm the Dutch guy here, and clearly I'm not smoking! Who is that?' Well, just some guys, having a smoke in the streets.. That's is not even allowed in the center of my town due to a bye-law!

But this is Arrasate, so apparently it is okay. Thereafter, I went to a bar with some Basque friends, only to be confronted with the same damn smell! 'In a bar?!', I asked them. And yes, nobody seemed to be bothered by the joint rolling youngster at the bar. Another thing which is not done in the Netherlands. Okay, since the smoking ban you can't smoke anywhere, but even before that.. Smoking weed in a bar was not done. For example, the bar I used to work had you kicked out instantly!

What a surprise, small villages tend to be more conservative, but in the same time there's a feeling of anarchy. And EVERYBODY does seems to do it! I guess the 'legalization' in the Netherlands proved effective, cause I think we don't find it that interesting for that reason. While here it's illegal, but everybody does it and no one seems to care about it happening.So when homesick in Arrasate as a Dutchy, just close your eyes, open up your nostrils and feel at home..