Another Pretty Picture

Not Much to Report, but that Never Stops Me

Although I did have my second waffle today. (That one was for you, Mia)! No class today but I have 6 hours of lecture tomorrow, so don't be too jealous. I went running around Bruges this morning and it was lovely. I then attempted to research a paper topic I have due on Friday (not my thesis, thank goodness), but I really did not get anywhere. I got back to my room just in time to feel the start of a really bad headache coming on. So I scrapped my plans for more research and took a long nap. It was amazing! I am usually not the type to enjoy a nap. They usually do more to mess up my day than to help me recharge, but when a headache is involved, there is nothing better than sleep. I am feeling much better now, even after the mystery lasagna we had for dinner, and am looking forward to going out for a drink tonight with Nasia and a couple of other people. It should be fun.

In other news, Piet Lust, the rotarian I stayed with when I first arrived, contacted me today. While I was staying with his family I helped them pick about 200 kilos of apples and pears from there small orchard. It was great fun shaking the trees and eating some fresh apples (the apple crumble we made was pretty tasty too! I do love a nice crumble - which is really a funny word if you say it in French :) ) . Anyway, every year Piet and Bieke take all of the apples and pears to a man who makes fresh juice from your own fruit. And the juice is finally ready! So Piet is going to bring me a bottle of the fresh apple juice along with some peanut butter! I am so excited! So thank you Piet, Bieke, and Anouk for thinking of me!

Here is to fresh apple juice, and of course, waffles.

Love

This is Where I Live

Two Down . . .

And I am not sure how many to go, but they are going fast! Weekends that is. This past weekend was a lot of fun. Aside from doing nothing much at all with my time, I managed to fit in a few requisite relaxing activities. Saturday does not count because I had class (although I should only have one more Saturday with classes which means . . .FREE TRAVEL TIME!!! YAY!!!!) Anyway, Sunday was just fabulous. I managed to get an invite (along with several Italians) to the Greek souvlaki Sunday event. This entailed about 20 College of Europe students (over half were Greek) descending upon this tiny Greek restaurant in the middle of Bruges to order gyros and other yummy Greek delicacies. The one man working that day had no idea what hit him. It was chaos, but in a good way. When it was finally ready,we took our food to an open square and ate outside, enjoying what everyone keeps telling us is the last of the sunshine. Then, happy day, we went to get WAFFLES!! You can see the pictures. I was a pretty happy camper. Warm, sweet, sticky, still gooey in the center. Life doesn't get much better. But then it does. After the waffles we walked along the canal to a little cafe and had cappuccinos as the sun was setting over the city. What a great day! It makes you thankful that the canteen is closed on Sundays. I hope we do this again sometime. I met some great new people and ate lots of delicious food.

Monday (today that is) wasn't too bad either. There were no waffles and there was class again, but overall it was a productive day. If I can get my paper topics chosen this week I should be golden. So, again, if anyone has any ideas, send them my way!

Ciao!

PS, I really like reading your comments on my posts. If you have any, feel free to write! It lets me know who is reading so I really appreciate them.

Merci

Waffle Time At Last!!!!

Missing Things

Now is about the time in any trip when I begin to miss certain things, to pine for others, and to be downright angry that where I am is not where I am used to being. This never means that I am having a terrible time or that I want to leave. It’s simply me telling myself that I wish I had access to all of the comforts of home, and some days, home itself. For instance, I have hit my peanut butter week. I want peanut butter. I want a peanut butter sandwich, a peanut butter banana milkshake and for the love of Pete, I want a GIANT Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. While it can sometimes be scrounged from the depths of an obscure supermarket, peanut butter is a strange and mysterious thing to most European nations, including Belgium it seems. In the words of Goldie Hawn as Private Benjamin “I want to go out to lunch!” (and not have to spend 15 Euros). Where oh where is St. Louis Bread Co.? I want the biggest glass of crushed ice you have ever seen followed by another glass of Diet Cherry Coke – once again non-existent here. Oh, and while we are at it, how about a nice, tall, ice cold glass of SKIM milk? Finally, I want to watch American TV. I want to watch the Office and have Survivor nights with my friends. I want to spend 6 hours on a Saturday (or a Tuesday for that matter) watching House and NCIS with my roommates. Right about now, at the three-week mark, I begin to miss all of these things. You may laugh, and you should, because, in the end, these are small and insignificant. I am in a beautiful city with wonderful people learning very important things. But standing before my closet this morning, looking at the 4 dresses I was able to fit into my suitcase, I suddenly could not remember why I ever left home. I love my family. I wish life made it possible for everyone you love to stay together. But I also love what I am doing and I know why I left. I left because I realized a long time ago that the world is bigger than home. It is a gift that should be explored and appreciated. So too is education. I know that peanut cravings will come and go and some mornings I will stand in my room and wish to be home. But I also know that I am having the time of my life right now and I would not exchange this experience for anything.

(Warning: this post may be revised come exam time)

Shout Out!

I just want to give a huge shout out to Rotary. You guys are awesome! Rotary 6060 deserves a HUGE thanks for for all of their help in getting me ready to come to Belgium and district 1620 has been absolutely fabulous since my arrival - and I have only met a couple of them! But those that I do know are responsible for my wonderful first impression of Belgium and my relatively "facile" adjustment into life here in Bruges. I could not ask for a better host counselor than Paul and I could not have chosen a more welcoming city. Another shout out to the Bruges Rotoract Club who had me to a meeting tonight! Although I only understood about every 50th word of the Flemmish proceedings, it was great to see some familiar faces and meet some new ones. After the meeting there was cake (always a plus if you ask me - please refer to post on batter), and then we went to the Vuurmolen for drinks. It was a great Friday night and I am looking forward to getting to know Rotoract and its members better throughout the year. Thanks again everyone. I would probably be miserable and lost without you. Rotary rocks.