Red Lights and Public Urination

This is one of the many alleys in the Red Light District.
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After a quick nap last night (which we would later regret), Christina and I headed out to the Red Light Disrtict of Amsterdam, only a short walk from our hotel. It did take a while to find but it was well marked and there was no question the posts with the flashing red lights meant we had arrived. Upon our first walk down one of the main streets, we were a bit disappointed. There was the occasional infamous red-lit window with a scantily clad woman behind it, miming seduction to the crowds passing by, but they were far outnumbered by loud bars, neon coffee houses, and sex shops offering live porn shows. This couldn't be it. We wanted to see more hookers! Then we glanced down an alley to see crowds of men, their faces glowing red form the all the lights on the walls. We followed the overflowing group of people and ended up in a mini maze of narrow alleys, lined on both sides with full length windows. The windows had long red lights on the outside, and black lights on the insides. Some had a curtain pulled over them. Behind the women you could see the contents of the rooms. Most were about 8 feet by 10 feet, with a small bed, chair and sometimes a sink. Some were even smaller, with only a chair or a shower. We heard these rooms are rented by the girls for up to 400 Euros a night, depending on the location. The prostitutes, some dancing, some looking bored, one even talking on her cell phone, all looked tan and dressed as I had expected one would in their line of work (if you know what I mean). They would tap on the windows to get the attention of te men walking by. When one was interested, she would open the door and name her price. Sometimes there was a little haggling, but if he accepted the cost, she let him in and pulled a curtain over the windows. We learned during our bike tour earlier that day about the reasons the Dutch government legalized prostitution. They were similar to the reasons marijuana was decriminalized. It began when they simply wanted prostitutes off the streets. The government figured that if they were given an area in which to work, the prostitutes would stay concentrated in that area. The legalization also offered many other benefits to both the girls and the city. Their profession could now be unionized. The girls gained rights, and no longer required the protection of a pimp or madame, thus they could make more money. Their safety is guaranteed, their health monitered, and their profits taxed. The Red Light District is the most heavily policed area in the city of Amsterdam, with many officers in plain clothes. Each room is wired with a hideen alarm and, if triggered, it showa up on a police switchboard and an officer is sent to its location. Response time is said to be less than one minute. The prostitutes are also required to show up to a monthly health exam. If they do not show up, or fail a test, they are dropped from the union and prohibited from selling sex. The government profits heavily from the taxation of this industry. The entire city benefits from that income. Not a bad deal. We also learned from Pip and Stewart the significance of a blue light in the Red Light District. It simply means "penis included". I would love to hear a story of someone finding this out in a more difficult way. As hard (ha! hard) as we looked, we found no blue lights. Darn.

No explanation needed...
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We walked up and down the streets and alleyways for a few hours. As one would expect, they were littered with inebriated men and shady drug dealers. We had to shrug off quite a few catcalls and offers of coke and ecstatsy. There was something else we were not used to seeing out in the openess of crowded public streets.  Many open-air urinals. There was such a problem in this particular area with men urinating in public, either on buildings or in the canals, (side fact: about 60 bodies are pulled from the canals each year. A majority of them are men who, evidence shows, fall into the canals while relieving themselves after a night spent in the pubs) that the government built these metal cylindrical urinals seen on various street corners. To accomodate the rise in population, and consequently the need for more restrooms, they added some more modern versions. These modern versions are large gray plastic square like structures with a crotch-height bowl on each corner. Full bladdered men just stand up against them and do their thing, hardly taking notice of the people walking past them only a few feet away. Fascinating.

If you look closely, you can see a man in the urinoir.
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They tried to do something similar for the women (after a protesy where hundreds of women marched up to city hall, pulled down their pants, and simuetaneously peed) by putting up small public single toilet stalls complete with locking doors. It didn't take long for every homeless person in town to take this as an offering of a place to sleep for the night, and before long the structures were quickly boarded up. The only thing to compensate for this male-only convenience has been the invention of the "She-Pee", a disposable funnel-like contraption shaped to fit a woman and enable her to urinate standing up, and thus able to utilze the urinals. We have yet to try out this "She-Pee", but if we get the chance, we will definitely let you know how it goes.

Chris and I returned to the hotel around 2 in the morning and, thanks to the naps we had taken earlier, were anything but sleepy. It took us a few hours to get to bed, and we set the alarm for 10 the next morning. As you can imagine, it took as much of effort to get up this morning and get to breakfast on time as it took getting to sleep last night. This has left us pretty tired, but we are still planning on checking out the Anne Frank House later this afternoon. We'll let you all know how it goes.

Until then, have fun, as we will, and take care!

Love and miss you all!

Chris and Jess