Ok, so what haven't I done in the last week since I posted my previous entry? Its been such a long time that some of the early things are hard to remember. At least all the little details, not the big things. Ok, so first things first was babysitting with my host sister Marie. Her little cousins came over early in the morning, so when I woke up there were children all about the house. There are 4 of them, ages 5,7,9, and 12 I think. They are the cutest things I have ever seen. The youngest one, Mattéau walked in on me taking a shower first thing in the morning, and must not have known I was there. He came in and peeked around the corner and just stared at me. After 5 or 10 seconds of him standing there with a confused look on his face, I smiled and waved. He ran out of the bathroom. We took them to the park to play and they swung on the swings, pretended to fly a space ship to Spain, and played a strange version of soccer ( they are little kids after all). I had fun playing with them and when we got home we jumped on the trampoline, and they taught me a 'soccer' game that is sort of like 'wall ball'. Then we ate lunch and they had to go home.
That night, I went to my first ever Rotary meeting! It was inside a bloody castle, how cool is that?! The Rotarians were all very nice and they teased me about my blog. They all knew exactly who I was and all of my excursions... :p but they were not mad at me, they explained that the rules in Belgium are a little bit different than in the States. As long as I am in control of my actions and know my own limits, there are no problems. I met a really nice guy who is going on an exchange in the States, in Texas ( I think)! The meeting was very relaxed and fun, but next time the exchange students will not sit by each other I think. That way we can meet more people and talk to the locals, rather than just amongst ourselves. That night I also met Ambar Chacon and Nelson Luna, from Venezuela and California, respectively. They are going to be good friends for this year and for life, I can just tell! They are awesome :)
The next morning we woke up and went to the highest point in belgium, or at least I think that's what it was, I might've been mistaken. Anyways, it was really comical because when we got there, there were steps leading up the mountain, and they disappeared into the tree branches. But when we got closer, there were only like 20 or so steps, it was not as high as we imagined. It was pretty ironic and we all laughed for a long time. Then we went on a little walk through this march type place, Im not really sure what to call it. But it is protected land, you can't even walk on the ground! There are these little wooden walkways you must use. And then we went to Aachen, in Germany! That was my first time on German soil! And shout out to Philiip, I loved it! It was a cool experience, for sure! We went to this cathedral that was sanctioned by Charlemagne and get this, his bones are still resting in the cathedral! It was really impressive architecture on the outside, and I took lots of pictures, but on the inside I thought it was ugly and tacky. Too much gold and colored stuff. Then we went to this museum that had all sorts of artifacts and things from long ago. I think they had a loch of hair from St. John the Baptist and a finger bone from St. Stephen, whoever that is. But I'm not sure how they know where those things really came from...
Anyways, that was really cool, and I enjoyed it a lot. Then it was the Rotary weekend in Bruxelles and Huy! In Bruxelles, we saw the Royal Palace and the Parliament. Inside the Royal Palace there was a ton of cool stuff, it was all super fancy! I will post the pictures of all that stuff. Then we went to the Grande Place in Bruxelles, which is the capitol of Europe. It was so impressive! I think we even saw the prince of Belgium on one of the balconies, but by the time someone told me who it was and I got my camera out, he was already going back inside, so I got a really crappy picture. Then we ate lunch and went to the parliament building. It was really cool to see everything there. We got to sit in the room where they have all the debates and meetings and whatnot, I forget the word for it. But it was funny because you aren't supposed to take pictures inside the room, it is forbidden. But before they told us that, everyone was taking pictures. I got like at least 5.
Then we went to Huy, to go over the rules of Rotary, as if we haven't heard them all at least a hundred times already. Those parts of the weekend were boring, but there were definitely some fun parts as well! I made a few new friends, and met a ton of interesting people! It was pretty fun. There was a dance party that was pretty fun, but not the most fun one I've been to yet. The Rotarians let us drink some beer and I had my first Kreik (I think thats how you spell it)! It is a sweet cherry flavored beer though, so I didn't like it... But it was fun, outside people were making human pyramids and things like that. I also got to see my buddy Florian again, which was cool. I had forgotten how crazy and funny he is! I also met some other belgians that I hope will be my buddies eventually too! :) Then we went on a little tour of Huy which was fun because the exchange students are so cool and so much fun! The whole time the tour guide was talking, the belgian Rotex were laughing and saying how Huy was a shitty town. But that's ok, I enjoyed it because there is nothing like it back home.
Then, when we got home to Chaineux, there was the Fête à Chaineux, which is the biggest party of the year for the village. It was really fun, we hung out and danced with each other (my new exchange student buddies) and it was a really fun night. There are pictures on Facebook with all of the exchangies here in Chaineux, including a new one that we met that night from Equador! He is not with Rotary, but he was really cool. His name is Diego and he was a lot of fun, but none of us can get in contact with him now...? Anyways, that was fun. The next night we went to a birthday dinner for Ambar at the house of my 3rd host family. I also met the rest of my 2nd host family! They seem really nice, though we couldn't really talk much because I don't know much french :( But by the time I live with them I will speak it much better :) Then tonight I went out with my host sister and her friends to the fête again, though tonight was more like the fair. We played arcade games and the "lotto" though it was really just Bingo. But it was a ton of fun, I love them!
And tomorrow night we are going bike riding! I didn't really understand where we are riding to, but it is some sort of railroad that goes from Belgique to Germany that doesn't run anymore, so now it is a bike trail or something? Idk, but it should be fun! I will blog about it later of course, and maybe tomorrow I will put up the photos from the last week as well. Though it may take a long time, there are tons!
Hope everyone is enjoying the blog half as much as I am enjoying doing all the things in said blog! Alors, bonsoir tous le monde! À la prochaine!
No comments:
Post a Comment