Spring Break!!

So for Spring Break I was joined by the lovely ladies, Carmen and Maia. I was so happy that they came to see me! It was a great week, and it was also really good to have people from the states, and to see my sister!!
They got here on Saturday morning, and after some meeting place confusion we went back to my homestay, where I showed them around, prepared their bed, and then we all took a long nap! Poor little jet-lagged girls. Afterwards, we went to Museum Night Fever, where for 7 euros we gained entrance into tons of museums, where they had tons of fun things going on. In Bozar, there was a lyre player and renaissance-era breakdancers- we also got the PLEASURE of visiting the "museum" of "fantastic" "art", which basically just had tons of strange things (like a was figure of a guy with a shrunken head and a cow's udder) in this building. Weird.
But the other museums were real and were great! We made it home on the Metro and then went to sleep to prepare for our early morning excursion to Cologne.
We got up very early for the train because Carmen has an immense fear of not catching trains- good thing we did too, because we had a mini-crisis where all of our important papers were left at the homestay. We made the train and upon arrival in Cologne we went to find our hostel. we dropped off our things and then went to eat ice cream at this faaaancy cafe- after that, we went to the former Gestapo headquarters of the city which was one of the only buildings in Cologne that was not completely demolished in the heavy World War 2 bombings. They turned it into a museum which was sad but also very interesting- it was a really good find! After that we went to the Cathedral and looked around there.
Then we went to the hostel to.... nap!! love these girls because they appreciate a good nap as much as me!
After the nap, we went to where the Animal Collective concert we were going to attend was and ate some German food at a Kebap place? It was good, though. Then we made our way to the concert- the opening act was a little creepy and just spent 837492478293 hours on his synthesizer (not my cup of tea- sorry Farley), but then Animal Collective went on and they were really good! It was a totally fun concert, too. We rocked out, and then went home to rest for AMSTERDAM!

The next morning, we boarded an extremely efficient and awesome German train to go to Amsterdam- we got off on the train station and made our way to OUR HOUSEBOAT, THE BEAGLE!!! Seriously, this boat rocked: two stories, two computers with free internet, a kitchen, a bathroom, so many plants, and to top it all off the guy who owns it, AJ, was such a BABE. We marveled in the loveliness of our houseboat and then went off to explore the city. We saw the red light district and walked along the canals, then went to the Sex Museum- very strange- and then we went to the grocery store to buy goodies to eat for dinner. After that, we were pretty tired so we went back to the houseboat to eat dinner and hang out before going to bed.
The next day, we decided to walk to the other side of Amsterdam and stroll through the park (where there were SO many puppies romping!) and then we tried to enter the Van Gogh Museum (which we didn't enter because it was 15 euro each and they wouldn't give Carmen a MoMa discount), so we went to the other museum and saw more classic paintings- it was a very good museum.
After this, we went to meet Carmen's friend Lotte, who lives in Amsterdam and has an awesome bike- and eat some delicious but expensive Thai food. We hung out with Lotte for a while, and then made it back to the Beagle.
The next morning we had to take a train at noon for Brussels (sad!) so we got some breakfast, and then got on the train very reluctantly.

Amsterdam was great- I'm off to make mini pizzas and antipasti for Italian night, so the rest of Spring Break will come later! I love you!

Hey, Strangers!

So onto the next leg of my adventures: London!

London was really great- I really felt like I needed at least a week in order to do everything I wanted, but seeing as we're complete pros we managed to see a ton of things in the short time while we were there.
The first thing we really did, after sleeping a night in our pretty disgusting hostel while sharing our room with an Australian hairdresser who had been living in that room for six months, was take a free tour of the city. The girl leading the tour was a little overenthusiastic, but it was still a good way to get to know the city! We also saw something we really had never seen in Brussels: the sun.
You know you're living in a weather-beaten city when you go to LONDON for the good weather!
After that, we went to the National Gallery, which takes forever to get through- we were there for more than two hours and I only got through five or six rooms! The audio guide is very thorough.
After that we went to get dinner and walked around Trafalgar Square, which has some beautiful lights of the Picasso exhibit shining on the National Gallery. We were very tired from that long walking tour, and so we went to bed.
The next morning we went to the Portabello Market, which was beautiful even though I couldn't afford anything. Then we went to the British Museum, where I lost track of the time and made us late for getting into Westminster Abbey for the choral services- we ran all the way there, Trent nearly knocking over a baby carriage, but we managed to make it! They didn't let us walk around, though, so we couldn't see the graves, but it was still very beautiful.
The next day, we did the "Milennium Mile" walk that my guidebook told us to do- we saw Towere Bridge, The Tate Modern (which was for the most part pretty cool), the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament- we got some pretty awesome night pictures as well.
After that, it was time to drop our things off at King's Cross and wait there- for 8 hours. Kings' Cross doesn't like to close their doors, and it was freezing- we spent almost all of our time in this coffeeshop buying tea and coffee with the little amount of money we had left, waiting for the terminal to open. But hey, we did go to Platform 9 and 3/4!
The train finally came, and then all we had to do was go to the Committee of the Regions dressed properly to hear a guest lecturer and then sit through an entire day of classes with max 3 hours' sleep under our belt!!

Besos- next I will explain the most wonderful spring break ever!

Family Visit Part one: Mom and Dad!

Okay so on to the week of visiting from my lovely parents!! This is gonna be a short post because a) it was so long ago the details won't be as clear, and b) mom and dad, you were there! so you guys know what happened.
After Luxembourg and Germany, my parents came to visit me!! (after a romantic weekend in Paris!)- we met up on Monday and I stayed with them for two nights at this gorgeous hotel called Hotel Bloom- on Tuesday I had a half day at work so we took a walking tour of the Grand Place, the Palais Royale, and the Palais de Justice- Mom and Dad really got the Belgian tour because it rained the entire time! Mom did buy this awesome Euro umbrella, though. So after that we went to dinner for some moules and frites at a fancy restaurant, which was pretty delicious, but also nothiing special for the prices they were charging.
The next day I had to go SLAVING AWAY at work while Mom and Dad spent their time lounging about Amsterdam! From what I heard, they loved it. We met up on Friday in Bruges, where we spent a night there and did some more copious amounts of walking (Bruges is small, and also gorgeous, so it was fine). We ate at this delicious restaurant where I had escargot for the first time (so good!) and Dad had some delicious mussels he swore was from Galicia. We stayed in a small but pretty hotel room on the outskirts of Bruges (aka a ten minute walk from the center of the city).
The next day we stayed in Bruges for a couple of hours and then did some more Brussels touring- we had waffles (which weren't as good as the waffles from the stand, very sad) and then ate at Stokkel! After that, I had to say goodbye to Mom and Dad since they were going back to the hotel and were leaving super early in the morning. It was sad to say goodbye, but we had tons of fun and it was so super awesome to see them!
The next day, a few of us from the program went to Binche for the carnival- we didn't stay too long, but we got to see some ridiculous costumes, bought some crazy hats for ourselves (mine's a hat with a ram on it!) and threw tons of confetti. Fun times for all!
That's about it for Mom and Dad visit- up next, London!!

replendent lights

Oh God I haven't updated this in forever!

So, it's been a while. I blame this on being so incredibly busy at every second of the day, but I'm having tons of fun so it's all okay!
I guess I should talk about Luxembourg, Trier, and the Battle of the Bulge- bear with me, this happened like weeks ago so I may not remember everything.
So directly after work on Wednesday we all boarded this bus and made our way to Luxembourg- since our day was super hectic and we got to the hotel relatively late, we didn't do anything when we got back and just went to sleep (after me and Catherine, my roommate, watched this insane movie with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman being in the New World in French).
The next day we went to the Court of Justice, which was very interesting- we saw a court case, which really wasn't that interesting. The problem with the case was that the lawyers were very technical and kept on referring to articles and decisions that made no sense to us, so I spent my time flipping through the different interpretations and analyzing languages. After the Court of Justice we went to I beleive the European Investment Bank, and then Jerry took us on a tour of Luxembourg, which was so beautiful. After that we all had dinner and then started a loong preparation time for going on. Once we finally got out the door though, Rinske fell and twisted her ankle! oh no! and so Liz and I took her back to her room and then, tired, I decided to just go to bed.
The next day we left Luxembourg in order to go to Trier, a German town that still has many remnants from the Roman days. Rinske was a trooper and although she was in a wheelchair, followed us on a walking tour of Trier, up into towers and down into bathhouses. Trier was very beautiful and after the tour we went back in order to have some dinner- me and a few other people went to this German restuarant where Sara acted as the translator and made sure that we all had delicious food. After dinner, we went out (strangely, the best place to go out was in the old Jewish ghetto) and then collapsed into bed.
The next day we followed the tracks of the Battle of the Bulge in our bus- we spent a good amount of time on the bus, but the best part was going out and seeing the physical battlefield. It was beautiful and also haunting, since we knew that so many people had died there and Jerry kept warning us not to stray from the path because we might fall into a foxhole. After that we went back to the hotel and a few of us went out to a hookah bar, but it was an early night as we were so tired.
The next day we saw a graveyard where American soldiers who died in World War 2 were buried and got a tour- we also saw the site of a massacre of American POWs by German soldiers, and a site where four black US soldiers were tortured and killed- no monument had been made to them until 2002. After this, we went to a World War 2 museum which was run entirely by this man whose town had been liberated from German occupation by American soldiers and his wife. They've dedicated their lives to keeping the memory of World War 2 alive, and it was really great to see all of their things, which were mainly very personal things about soldiers that they had kept over the years.
After this, we got back on the bus and made our way to Brussels.
Peace out! Next time, my parents come to visit!!!

Pictures: Luxembourg and the Battle of the Bulge

Note: Never go to Belgium in the Winter if you ever want to be warm again (Ghent and Antwerp)

On to more visits to Dutch towns! Just a warning, this post is going to be incredibly short on account of me having one of my busiest weeks here- and seriously, that's saying a lot.
But anyway, the day after Leuven we went to Antwerp. I loved it a lot- the city is known for its port and its diamond trade done traditionally and still mainly carried out by the Hasidic Jews who will sell you tens of thousands of dollars on a handshake. Seriously, this is how all business transactions should be carried out- it's no much more civilized and trusting.
After seeing the daimond section we toured a beautiful cathedral which got us out of the cold for a bit, then had lunch. After lunch we did some more touring and saw some crazy statues and a view of the river. We walked a good but of Antwerp, and the Jerry left us to our own devices. Antwerp is known for many things, one of which is their fashion, so even though we missed the big sales by about 5 days Christina, Shiza and I went shopping. This is where I discovered that while delicious, I should probably be eating less of my homestay family's food. In true "me" fashion however, five minutes after making a diet pledge I ate my first Belgian waffle! It was super delicious. We went shopping for a while and I bought a Zara cardigan for 6 Euros, so everything was good.
After this we were completely exhausted so we had half-dinner at this place that smelled delicious yet had cold soup and then went home, where I got 8 hours of sleep!!
Rested from my sleep MARATHON, the next morning we made our way to Ghent, where all of my energy left me the second we got there. We did manage to tour a castle which had this ridiculous video tour which taught you nothing of the actual castle but weaved this intricate drama of a Jewish merchant falling in love with the Duke's almost-queen Portuguese wife andbeing friends with this old writer he kept calling "pen-pusher". It was strange.
After that we did another tour where we saw some beautiful buildings, and we ended up in the cathedral that houses the van Eyck brothers' "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb"- aside from spending an hour with the painting listening to the audio guide, I also took a walk around the gorgeous cathedral. After this I met up with Catherine, where we made our way home.
Rinske and I decided to try out a cafe on our campus before going home, but we didn't stay long on account of how EXTREMELY exhausted we were and the 974918749817349134 hours of class waiting for us tomorrow.
And tonight I write to you after many hours of class and internship- my internship is getting mroe interesting- I attended a meeting today on Child Protection with representatives from Human Rights Watch and Save the Children, and started writing up Executive Summaries on the EU's Human Rights Guidelines. I have a computer now, but no harddrive. Poco a Poco.
Tomorrow I have my internship, then am off to Luxembourg!
Besitos!

My life post-Barcelona

I was hoping that this week I could recover from Barcelona, but no dice!
This week we had hella-class plus internships plus our first EXAM plus leuven, antwerp, and tomorrow ghent, so I am still working on minimal sleep, but also extremely happy.
Monday was, if I recall, not very exciting and was largely taken up with classes, but on Tuesday I had my first day at my internship! Which was... interesting?
I don't think they were very ready for an intern, due to the fact that I had no desk, had no computer, and no work to do. Apparently one of the full-time staff just got back from maternity leave and the other from Iraq and didn't have time to brief. Also there was another full-time intern who was starting on Wednesday (she got a desk AND work to do) so I guess they were pretty swamped, but it wasn't the msot encouraging of welcomes. They gave me about 300 pages of filler reading to do each day, and when I was done they sent me home. I was home by 2 pm both days.
The lack of enthusiasm was a bit disconcerting, but I do love the organization and find their work extremely interesting, so I will give it some time.
Tuesday and Wednesday were basically internship days, and Thursday was filled with class and mega test studying. I went to Trent's house to cook dinner and study with him, Ben, and Rinske after class, and we were there until eleven.
The day of the test, I thought it was an hour earlier than it actually was so I got there at 9:30, but whatever cause it was an extra hour of studying. And for a 50 question multiple choice, the test was extremely hard- I'm a little nervous about the results. Jerry said he'd curve, but since I'm pretty sure Trent got a hundred, there goes the curve! haha.
After the test we went to Leuven (after me and Rinske had a lunch of leftover plain pasta with lemon juice- we paid two euros to cook dinner Thursday night and got a lunch out of it too!) which was very nice, but probably my least favorite of the places we've gone. It just really didn't have much to offer besides a delicious kebab place with a dirt-cheap student menu. The town is a college town and has been for hundreds of years, so it was definiftely interesting, but compared to Bruges and Antwerp didn't really offer much.
After Leuven some people were talking about going out, but I decided that me almost falling asleep in the metro was a sign that I should go home.
I was so excited to get nine hours of sleep!!

"Barcelona no es Espana!!!"

Even though I have not recuperated all of my energy, I hope that I have enough brain power to write a post that makes sense. I highly doubt it.
BARCELONAA!!!!!!
What an amazing place- and what a great time! I had never specifically planned on going to Barcelona while here, since I've obviously been to Spain and I wanted to visit more new countries, but I am so glad that I did! Everything was wonderful and so much fun, and I enjoyed being able to fully converse in the main language! (Except when people used Catalan)
Our plane left at 9pm, and after a bumpy Ryanair ride, an hour and a half bus ride, and getting lost while looking for our hostel, we finally got to our room. It was tiny- smaller than Leonard 424 and with twice the amount of people- but we had our own bathroom, got free breakfast, and everything was clean and new! Also we only paid 14 euros a night per person for it. When we got to the room it was very late and we were exhausted, so we just went to bed.
The next morning we got up early in order to see the sights. We walked from our hostel to the Sagrada Familia which was awesome, and all of the girls bought amazing scarves at discounted prices because of my AMAZING haggling skills. (hahahah, I need to learn to haggle better, I'm sure I didn't milk enough out of him) After that we walked from the Sagrada Familia to the Barrio Gotico, which was a significatly long walk, but it was awesome because we basically took a walking tour of that part of the city. We saw the Arc de Triumf and took amazing pictures (this is also where my camera decided to die on me, and for that sad fact I only have about 20 pictures of this trip- thank god for Katie's obsessive picture taking!) and then we walked to the park where we saw a couple taking their wedding photos, the most badass dog just chilling in an amazing sweater, and some guys doing crazy fake-fighting dancing in a gazebo. We also took pictures by the fountain and on a statue of an elephant.
After that we went to the Picasso Museum (I loved his take on Las Meninas) and then the ticket lady recommended this bar/restaurante that was close by for the "gringo"s first tapas! It was a huge hit and the guy was very nice- he made a sampling for us, and it turned out to be relatively cheap. After that, we went back to take a SIESTA!! and then we got ready to check out the area around Las Ramblas, where Maria Aurora gave me some places to check out, but only after having "platos combinados" and most of us trying "lomo" at a non-tourist restaurant that was awesome.
In true tourist fashion, however, we didn't know how to get to those places, and while asking the most amazingly beautiful and nice guy for directions he gave us the name of a cheap bar around the corner, which we went to and met the most ridiculous people, including a girl named Noche, a guy named Victor who told Shiza all about hoe Catalunia isn't part of Spain and how it should be independent, and a guy who may or may not have been named Xavier who hit on Ben and told us that hitting on guys was "how he picked up girls". Weird strategy, especially since it most definitely wasn't working. Hmmm.
The next morning we decided to go to Montjuic, where we took a cable car (I think that's what it's called) up to the top of the mountain and spent a while touring the castle that was up there. The castle was beautiful, and what was amazing was that after being used for fusilamientos (shotting squads) and warfare for centuries, it is now being turned into a center for peace. Deep!
After the mountain we went to eat lunch in a tourist restaurant where we ordered the "menu del dia" or fixed menu and then we walked around a bit. This, however, was when it started to rain- which ruined all of or plans about going to see the Cathedral and the Gaudi park. Instead we did a bit of shopping and then went to a cafe to sit down- after that I bought an AMAZING coat for 12 Euros and put it on immediately because I was soaked, and then tired of the rain we ducked into the first palce we saw in order to try the sangria. The place was very nice, but obviously for an older crowd so after a glass we went back out to face the rain.
We then found another tapas bar where they count the tapas by toothpicks and so we tried their delicious food, and then we walked to the beach (still in the rain). We passed by a camera crew that was shooting an action film and although there was no Johnny Depp or other amazing actor, it was still cool.
When we got to the beach me and Katie went for a swim (still raining!) for about ten seconds and then we decided to go back to where our things were kept at the hostel and change. We changed and then hung around the hostel hangout area until it was time for us to catch our bus- we waited for another hour at the bus station where an epic game of "Would You Rather" was played, and then we took a bus-plane-bus-train-metro home, where I talked to my host family and then took a shower and PASSED OUT.
It was an amazing weekend, and as this week I have classes/my first day at my internship/our first exam/ Leuven/Antwerp/Ghent, I think this week is gonna shape up to be extremely busy as well. BUT I LOVE IT!

Besitos!

Internship Mania!

So I just recently got back from BARCELONA, which was amazing, but as I'm a week behind on my blogs I'm gonna start from where I left off after Bruges.
Sunday was basically a do nothing day, which was fine with me because after Bruges and then going out I was pretty tired. My homestay family cooked me yet another delicious dinner, which was extremely nice because they're not obligated to cook for me on Sundays, but they did. Awesome!
On Monday I went to my first interview at the International Rescue Committee, which lasted less than ten minutes and therefore had me pretty nervous. Then I had a few classes and we went to our French class, where they put me in beginner? Everyone else in the class hasn't taken a day of French, and although I think it will be really cool to be able to see how a language is taught at the beginning, I think I may ask to be switched to intermediate because I do want to learn a bit of the language.
Tuesday I had an interview with a Member of the European Parliament, Peter Skinner, who was extremely personable and seemed like a good guy to work for. After that I interviewed with ICE VISTA, a new organization that has two full-time employees working in their house but seemed pretty cool. After that I went back to Parliament to interview with Peter Stasny, a former player on the Jersey Devils! what what! But also as it turns out also extremely conservative and against the protection of baby seals. Then we had our first security class with Jamie Shea, who works at NATO and seems extremely cool.
Wednesday I interviewed with European Link, where you get to go into the Parliament and take notes on the committee meetings. The place looked pretty awesome, but the guy asked really forceful questions and looked like he would be hard to work with.
Then we went to go see the Compleat Works of William Shakespeare for Rinske's birthday- it was pretty hilarious and the theater was pretty and tiny.
On Thursday I actually found out what internship I got- it was the IRC!! I was so happy because that's the one I really wanted and the one that I am msot interested in. I'm not sure that I was their first choice because the way that Catherine (our internship coordinator) phrased it made it seem like she pushed me on them- but whatevs, at least I have the opportunity to show them what I've got!
The other great thing about the IRC is they have offices in DC and New York, so if I like them and they like me I may have a connection to a job in the US! Yay!
After a day of classes and finding out our internships, Christina, Shiza, Katie, Ben, Trent and I started off on our journey to Barcelona! It was amazing and I will describe it in detail on this blog, but I am so tired now that I don't think I can do it justice.
So I will end here- sorry if this post isn't enitrely "up to par"- I will only be able to think straight again when I get some quality sleeping time.
I love you all!
~Lucia

Bruges: Where all of us now want to go for our MAs

So yesterday we went to...BRUGES!
It was so amazing; apparently the city was once one of the biggest in London, but then the river dried up making the port useless, and the city lost its wealth. Because of this, nobody built new structures in Bruges, meaning that now it is almost exactly like how it was hundreds of years ago. So great!
We took a walking tour of Bruges (the city is extremely small it wasn't too strenous) with the always amazingly knowledgeable Jerry and saw so many amazing things. First we saw a beginuale house, which is where women whose husbands had gone off on the Crusades came so as not be alone and to pray. This is is now a convent, but they had a museum that was set up how a beginuale would have been and we were allowed to take pictures- so great.
Bruges is also very known for its lacemaking, which seems to have the same technique as in Galicia- it's amazing to me how many things remind me of Spain, but are also different in some crucial ways.
After the beginuale houses, we walked around, Jerry telling us stories of different houses (we saw the projects of ancient Bruges) and then went into a church to see the only Michelangelo in the North, Madonna and child. The churh where it is has so many amazing structures and sculptures, it was extremely beautiful. After that we went to the center of the city, seeing a few more things, and then the tour ended and we were left to do what we wanted. Some of us went to eat at this tea house, where I had the babiest croque monsieur ever and some Earl Grey Tea, which amazingly filled me up for a while. Then we split and I went with Aiko and Marissa to see the relic of Jesus' blood in a tiny church in the city- it is only open for veneration for an hour and on specific days, so we were very lucky that we could see it. Then we went to the Groeninge Museum, which has samples from every major Northern Renaissance artist who had done work in Bruges, and which is about to close for renovation (sorry anybody coming to visit!!). It was amazing and so beautiful, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures. After that we went to the famous brewery where we met up with almost everyone, and then took the train back home.
When we got home, Rinske, Trent, Ben and I decided to, after a failed attempt of finding a house to cook in, take the Metro and get off at a random stop for dinner. We tried three of four stops before finding ourselves in the center of the city where we were going to meet some of the others later on, and ending up eating in a Kenbap place. After that we met up with Shiza, Christina, and Katie and went to a new bar called Delirium, but it was expensive and after a drink we ended up back in Celtica. Since the Metro even on weekends closes at midnight (so lame!), me and Rinske went back early and then I went to bed, exahusted from my entirely crazy first week.

Today will be spent on me attempting to give myself a budget and preparing for my internship interview tomorrow! I am extremely nervous because I really want the IRC one, so we'll see what happens!

Besitos,
Lucia


Pictures: 1) Michelangelo's Madonna and Child
2) Christina, me, Katie, and Shiza at Delirium
3) one of the first views of Bruges, with swans which they take immense care of.

Really? Deep-frying a cheeseburger?

Ok so back on to my first full week in Brussels! Part 2!

Thursday morning I went to my first round of classes- they seem like they will be very interesting, but I'm not sure how I feel about 2 hour long lectures. We got one from Jerry our program coordinator at 10am, then went to lunch (some crazy omelette sandwich from an Asian place on campus) and then had a guest lecture come talk about the History of Belgium. He was completely insane, but very funny and extremely knowledgeable. After class, I went out to dinner at this amazing cafe that was cheap but also delicious, then we went to Celtica again- me and a couple people went back pretty early, though, because we had another round of classes today.
Today, we had basically the same format of classes as yesterday (except for a chicken pita for lunch), and then Shiza, Christina, Katie, Trent, Ben, and I spent about two hours in the computer lab figuring out where we wanted to go next weekend when we have a free Friday. Since this Friday kind of crept up on us, it was hard because although traveling is still extremely cheap, it gets more expensive closer to the date. After quite a long time, we chose.... BARCELONA!
Yes, Barcelona! The lovely, sunny region of Spain that I know I visited when I was young but can't remember any of it so this'll be like visiting for the first time! It'll also be nice to go to a country where I know the language, and the tickets didn't get cheaper later on, so we decided to go there now. It'll be great because the weather forecast for next weekend is high fifties and SUNNY!! Here in Brussels I don't think we've had even one completely sunny day, so we're all pretty excited about that. We got the tickets and plan to spend two nights in Barcelona and one in Girona (that's where the airport is, and as we're leaving early morning Sunday we figured it'd be best to spend Saturday night there).
After choosing that, we all went home and chilled for a bit, and then I went to dinner.
So with the homestay arrangement we get three dinners at the home, (they give us a 400 euro stipend for the rest) and as I have already taken mine earlier in the week I decided to explore the lovely area of Stokkel to see if there was soemplace I could eat by myself without looking weird. Every place was either expensive or closed, and the only place I could get food at was this fries place near the bus stop I take. I ordered fries and a cheeseburger because everything else looked extremely strange (like gigantic sausages and what I assumed was a form of fried cheese that did not look nearly as appetizing as mozarella sticks)- but then when the guy cooked the not-beef-but-i-guess-some-sort-of-meat patty, he deep fried it! ugh! It was so gross, but as I had already paid for it I took it. Then I saw Trent at the beginning of the line- I guess he had the same trouble looking for a spot- and so we went back to his homestay to eat the burger. Needless to say, it was pretty gross. I still feel so enormous and pumped with cholesterol! But it was a learning experience, and now I know to stay away from that weird fries stand!

Now I am back and am going to get some much needed rest before I am off to Bruges tomorrow! I love it!!!

Picture uploader not working! sorry!

What do the Jersey Devils have in common with the European Parliament? Read on to find out!

Okay, so it's been a very long time since I've updated this, but to be honest I haven't really had that much time to do so!!
So on Monday I got myself to school with minimal confusion (yay!) Where we had more orientation and a talk about our internship interview which we would get information on on Wednesday. We then had a tour of our campus and then had lunch at this amazing falafel place that is on campus, and relatively cheap!
After that I went back to my house and then I decided to walk to Stokkel (the metro closest to my house, about a tewnty minute walk) to get shampoo and notebooks, things that I needed. On the walk home though, it started POURING and although I was wearing my (baller) rainboots and had my umbrella that morning when the sun was shining, had decided to leave it at home this time!
Rule number one of living in Brussels: ALWAYS bring raingear.
So I walked back and got thoroughly soaked, then had a super delicious dinner cooked by my homestay mother (a sort of chiken and rice dish that looked thoroughly healthy AND yummy) and then I went with Shiza, Christina, and Katie to a bar that was not the best- the waiters were rude and we were like the only girls there so it was awkward.
The next day, apparently the bus drivers decided to go on an illegal strike, yet I had no way of knowing this, so ended up waiting for the bus in -8273498734 degree weather for an hour and it never came! I finally went back to my house to change my socks and go (extremely late) to class and ran into my homestay mother who gave me a ride. So my second day I was 45 minutes late, but since it was not my fault I didn't get in trouble. I do hate buses, though.
After that we had more orientation and then had a tour of Brussels on a bus, and then walked around where the palace was. It was really awesome- we got to learn a lot about the city and see all of the museums (Carmen!) and the courthouse which was ENORMOUS. After our walk though, we went back to the bus and I feel asleep! It was sad, but it did give me energy for INAUGURATION!
Which is what I did after the bus ride- half of the group went straight to a bar called Fat Boys- and American bar where the inauguration was going to be played on big screen- but I had to change and get money so I went home and met up with Trent at the Stokkel metro stop. We got so lost though and got off on three different metro stops- at the third we asked some German guy who was extremely nice where the Parliament was and he showed us. The bar is right across from European Parliament, and we managed to get there right as Biden was being sworn in.
OF COURSE I am SUPER bummed about not being in DC for the inauguration, but I have to admit it was nice to be inside and on a chair watching it, instead of with 67 million other people outside in the cold. After the inauguration we went to Celtica, a bar with 1 Euro beer and therefore friendly to budgets, then we went to a karaoke bar (no, I didn't sing!) but the crew that lives by Stokkel had to go back relatively early because the metro closes at midnight and we didn't want to catch the last one. This is also when I found out that Rinske, another girl from the program, lives about a block from me and so that we could walk back together! (which is what we had to do because the bus drivers were STILL on strike- don't worry, the neighborhood is super nice and there were three of us because we met this Belgian girl who lived next to us and is our age.) The walk is also really nice, too, everything is calm and you're basically walking in the suburbs. I've taken to walking half the time to Stokkel in the morning because the walk is amazing and I am desperately trying to fight off the inevitable weight gain I'm gonna have from all of this delicious food (although we do have a gym we can use for free- mom and dad I need you to bring my gym shoes!)
So the next day was my lowkey day! I had a meeting with my internship coordinator at noon, where I found out that I have five interview for internships- two are for members of European Parliament; one of the guys is (Adel will love this) Peter Statsny, one of the best hockey players for Slovenia and who once played for the JERSEY DEVILS!, one is for a guy who needs an intern to actually sit in on the Parliament sessions and take notes (really awesome!), and one is for a company called ICE VISTA which is half business and half dedicated to the conservation of polar bears? But the one I really want is with the International Rescue Committee, an organization that works all around the world on various issues including Rape in the Congo, immigration and refugees, and the crisis in the Sudan. I really hope I get that one! But the others sound extremely interesting so I'd be happy with either.
After getting my internship I went to get my abonnement which gives me ULIMITED rides on metro bus or tram for only 28 euros!! and then I had a delicious dinner with my homestay family (steak and these awesome mashed potato things- they treat me right!) and then I basically did nothing and really enjoyed resting a bit. This included many episodes of House.


Right now, I am hungry and need to go searching for food- so more on Thursday and Friday in an hour or so!

I love you all and miss you!

Pictures: 1) Jennie, Christine, Shiza, Katie, Christina, and Ben in Celtica
2) Beautiful park with the statue of Egmont and Horn
3) OBAMA!!! look how close I was!!

First Days

Well, I got here at about 9am and met other people from the program- we went back to the hotel and checked in. My roommate wasn't there yet, so I went to get some breakfast with some other people in a small cafe down the street. I got toast and coffee (lame, but it was really good) and then took an awesome nap until we had to go down for orientation. After a couple of hours where our director told us a bunch of information, we went to dinner and had quiche (mmmmmm!) and veal ( which wasn't so good, and also kinda went against my morals) and some amazing ice cream. Then most of us went to a bar, but we didn't stay that long since we were all exhausted. I was in bed by eleven!

The next day, we had orientation at 9:45 after a delicious breakfast where I had waaay too much brie. By the time our housing coordiantor finished telling us what to expect from homestays, it was time for lunch- a goat cheese sandwich from this natur place that was delicious (this lunch was paid for by the program, as was last night's dinner, which made it even tastier!) Then we met individually with the housing coordinator where she gave us the names of our homestays and some information on them- turns out the mother in mine is from Argentina and that she knows Spanish better than English! Guess I won't be losing my spanish here!
Then we went to tour the Grand Place, which I loved because it had so many statues and decorations, and each of them meant something- either representing Rey Carlos V (I think) imprisoning Muslims (same idea, less degrading than another statue I know...), crazy Belgian stories, or something else. We also saw the Mannekin Pis, who gets dressed up all the time- cute and weird! After Grand Place, we went back to the hotel to get picked up by out homestays- Mine has the mother and three kids, Catalina, Jeronimo, and Sara. Catalina's my age and speaks Spanish and is trying to improve her English- Sara is 12 or 13 and doesn't speak English or Spanish. I went back to their house- in the outskirts of the city, but still relatively close (30 mins on Metro) to the center since Brussels is very small. We had dinner (spaghetti with tons of cheese- it seems like my diet is going to consist heavily or carbs and cheese) and then watched The Bucket List, but I didn't finish it because I was falling asleep, and went to bed at 9:45pm.

I woke up at 12:30 today although I went to bed so early- since I don't have a cell phone until tomorrow I don't ever really know what time it is. We had lunch, and then I took a shower. This house is really nice, but it is so cold!!! It's fine normally because I'll just put on a sweater or dress warmly, but when I went to take a shower I almost cried! I don't know how I'm gonna stand it tomorrow morning. After my frigid shower, we went to see the battlefield of Waterloo and climbed 12347147981324 stairs to get to the top- it was really cool. They also had a panorama in another building which depicted life-size the battle from the eyes of someone standing at the top of the hill. Carmen, you would like that because it's one the only remaining panorama of the battle, and also it's terrific artwork. They put it all around you and have sounds of gunshots and the battle around you so you feel like you're there. After that, we went to the Cathedral where the king and queen had their "Boda Real"; we went during Mass so we couldn't walk around, but stayed a little to hear the singing, where the singers would repeat the short songs in about 8 different languages, maybe more. After that, we went to see the Palace and then walked around the park in the palace. Then we went home, and here I am!
Tomorrow I have to go to the university, and Cataline showed me where I need to go (a bus and the metro, relatively simple). I am super tired now, but I do love this city!
Even though I'm freezing.

Picture explanation:
1) the panarama (well, part of it) at Waterloo
2) the hill at Waterloo with a lion statue on top of it where some British guy got wounded
3) Mannekin Pis dressed up
4) My homestay sisters in front of the Palace
5) The statue of imprisoned Muslims
6) An old dilapidated church that was next to our hotel