Belgium so far has been...hectic, to say the least. We are always doing things, and when we aren't, I am sleeping. I have never slept as much as I sleep here in my life. Although, it is getting a little better (I didn't take a nap yesterday!).
Saturday morning at 3:15am, after going to bed after midnight and not getting any sleep, we got up and left for Chimay to take a bus to London. It was my first ever double decker experience, and very exciting! I decided they should bring them to the US because they are very practical, and much cheaper. London was beautiful, but it reminded me an awful lot of Paris. Everything was under construction or being repaired. There was literally work being done on every block. We had a tour in the bus and then wondered the streets for a few hours. Katie wanted her picture inside of an english phone booth and so our entire group of eleven stopped there for an hour or so and took a ton of pictures of just about every combination of people they could come up with (pictures to come soon!).
One of the rotarians in my club owns and lives in a castle (yes, a REAL castle). Last night they hosted a feast and play there which was, incredible. The food, not my favorite. A typical, as far as I've seen, belgian meal of a great selection of meats and a few sides. The belgians, as I've heard and now seen, love their beer. Just as our exchange coordinater handed us one he said, in his broken english, "Let me remind you of the rules, no driving, no drinking..." he started laughing and finished, "Actually I really just wanted to say that one. No driving, the rest, not our problem." They are, as I've discovered, very open here.
They weather has been pretty decent, until today. The village is adorable. Everyone literally knows everyone and their cousin. That is, if they aren't already their cousin. I swear there must be something like two families here because everyone seems to be related. I may not look different, but I sure stick out. I've found that meals really are a big thing here. Everyone seems to congregate around Mamy's (Grandma) house for lunch everyday. It is about a five minute walk, or maybe two by buggie, which my host mom uses to get around the village. I've had maybe five meals there, and it is always filled with new family members that I haven't met yet. The house is tiny, which makes it feel even more full at lunch time. The dining room takes about half the house and Mamy cooks and waits over everyone as we eat.
This weekend was the annual festival of Renlies. By night, the Salle de Fetes (party room) was an all night rave of all ages, and by day, there were carnival games and people. The main attraction was one of those fake Rodeo bulls that you try and stay on while it throws you off. I maybe would have tried, but I was wearing a skirt. There was also a horse drawn carriage tour of the town which was super cute. They raced antique cars around the village and when they passed, everyone would run out of their houses and wave. And of course the was frites (fries).
It is so different here, this morning when I got up, there was a man riding his horse down the road as normal means of transportation. My family have ten pet deer and there are also wild boar. My host dad, who is a hunter, has a head of one hanging above the computer which is kind of freaking me out. Last night one ran infront of the car and my host mom slammed on her breaks and still barely hit it. They also drive ridiculously fast. We've gone up to 160 km/hr (Katie says the speed limit in Canada is 110, and people stretch it maybe up to 130).
Anyways, I've got french lessons in half an hour. More to come soon.
-Clarissa
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"'No driving, the rest, not our problem"
You are so lucky :) We can buy alcohol at 7-eleven here, but they definitely watch over us and would not allow drinking. Though my host-dad did offer to let us drive around the parking lot on his bikes. Does that count? ;)
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