Wow, less than 3 weeks in between posts! Yes, that pinch did hurt because you are NOT dreaming! (Who knew Europe would make me cornier?)
But the real reason I am posting right now is because I am going on a dream-mediterranean cruise next week and am not sure when I will have time to post again. Talk about study abroad problems (like White people problems but soooo much better). So the past weeks in Brussels have been pretty great. I've gotten to relax a lot after mid-terms (even if I should have been writing papers) and gotten to do some really cool things. Last Wednesday, I went to the Magritte Museum in Brussels. Magritte was a Belgian surrealist painter who did some really cool and really famous artwork in his time. The artwork was beautiful but trying to understand surrealist works is definitely something that takes more than one museum in one morning.
Last week I also got to visit the International School of Brussels to give a presentation with Fulbright. The school is one of the best secondary schools in Brussels and Diplomats' children from all over the world go there (including several Americans).
Two of my friends from my Study Abroad program and I went to a networking event. We kind of registered for it on a whim and it ended up being a really cool experience. It was definitely not as formal as a networking event would be in the states (for starters, it was basically held in a night club) and it was very intimidating. Pretty much everyone there was either a grad student or worked for a European institution. It took a while for us to warm up to the idea of networking but by the end of the night we had talked to a bunch of people and had a really fun time.
Last weekend, we went to Normandy with the program. It was really beautiful and a great place to be a history buff! We went to several of the beaches, explored some of the German defensive strongholds, visited a few military cemeteries, and went to a couple museums and cathedrals as well. We stayed in this little town called Bayeux near Normandy. It was a cute little town with a really nice hostel and a few good restaurants but I am pretty sure that the most exciting thing that happens in Bayeux is that 40 American college students descend on it once a year for this trip.
The town is famous for housing this giant tapestry that illustrates the Norman invasion. It was really nice but not exactly the most stimulating activity in the world. There were two bars in the town and we went to both of them during our weekend. One bartender was so excited to have customers that he gave us some free shots of Calvados (sp?) this Cognac-like liquor that is ridiculously strong. Apples are a big deal in Normandy so a lot of the food and alcohol is apple based and really delicious. They serve hard apple cider everywhere and I got to try some apple beer as well. We had really good meals in Normandy too. The second night I had this beef stew that is supposed to be Julia Childs' favorite French dish and it was very tasty!
The worst part about the trip was just that it was about an 8 hour bus ride in both directions but it gave me a chance to do some reading. I am now almost finished with A Dance With Dragons and it is amazzziinnngggg. And I will have some time to finish it on the way to Italy. We leave tomorrow and have just a night in Rome before we hop on the cruise on Sunday. After that, I am off to Cicily, Athens, Chania, and Ephasus. I am so stoked it's hard to put it all into words. I am going to take a ton of pictures and it's gonna be great so stay tuned for a post in two weeks!
Happy Trails!
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