Adventures of the Traveling Fleece

Yesterday after staying up until almost 5 in the morning to take Hary to the airport (he's in Syria for 2 weeks now) and taking a nap, Janee and I went to do a little shopping. We went to Decathalon, which is more or less like an Acadamy, and I decided to pick up a new fleece. When I was living in Spain I could never get warm so I finally went to the Decathalon there and bought a pink pullover Quechua fleece.

And then never stopped wearing it.

If you have paid any attention at all, you have seen me wearing it. When I travel, I almost always take it with me. In fact, it is almost comical to look through my travel pictures (from any that are not in the absolute middle of summer) because I am wearing it in almost every picture.

Anyway, the new one is almost exactly the same but black and oh-so-soft. And I think I bought it just in time--it's getting chilly! So here is the new fleece, get used to it!

Some pictures of me in my old fleece. It got around.

My fleece peaking out in Santorini

My fleece and me in a Scottish glen

Wearing my fleece in Portugal

Fleece in Casa Blanca

Me in my fleece with our Berber guide out in the Sahara

Me, my fleece and a Viennese fountain

And finally, me wearing my fleece getting really excited about a kebab.

They found me...

One thing that really dragged me down this summer was allergies. It rained so much in Abilene this year that things grew for the first time in decades down there and my allergies were having none of it. Going back and forth between Fort Worth and Abilene about every week would mean that I had just enough time to start to get sick in each city. Each week. I was looking forward to changing locations completely and hopefully getting away from my allergies.

Shows how much I know.

Turns out Brussels is not only the capital of the European Union, but also one if it's allergy capitals. I've had headaches for a couple of weeks now, and been really tired for a while, but yesterday they really hit me. So for any of you out there worried, I will not be living here permanently. Here's hoping that I'm going all-in and getting them over with and that I'm not going to be sniffling until December 4th.

Update: I didn't even bother bringing any allergy meds with me. None of it works for me (or it makes me crazy). I'm medicating with extra-dark Belgian chocolate instead.

Week in Review: Week 3

Whoa, I have been here for 3 weeks! Week in review:

• This week Hary, Janee and I went to the Syrian/Lebanese part of town. The food from these two countries is basically the same. And delicious. We had the best pizza I have ever had. And they were 2 euros each!
• I also had a bite of the worst olive I've ever tasted. One bite and I had a sore in my mouth for two days. Hands down the saltiest thing I have ever eaten.
• Syrians are a lot like the British in that they love to call everyone "love." But more so. Habib and Habbibi ("love" and "my love") get thrown around a lot. When we decided we wanted yet another Syrian pizza, Hary called to the guy--Habib! Another pizza, please!
• The greeting, Key feck habibi? (How are you my love?) cracks me up. There's not necessarily anything romantic intended, but it reminds me of some guy going, what up, baby? Which is an odd thing to say to your 60 year old neighbor.
• While in that part of town someone asked me if I was Syrian. Close, but no.
• Thursday I got to go to the biggest Moroccan market in town (pretty much just like being in Morocco) then walked down the block to a Flemish midwives office (for Janee, not myself obviously). Talk about culture shock.
• This week was my first week back teaching classes. We have about 33 students registered in 3 different levels. So far they are pretty awesome.
• As class began on Wednesday a man came by wanting to register his daughter. I was trying to explain everything to him in my crappy French (which is actually just French sounding Spanish with a few French words thrown in) when he stopped me about 5 words in and asked if I spoke Spanish. Turns out they are from the Canary Islands! Fun!
• For one of our conversation classes we talked about things that annoy you (which is a good way to get people talking!). I realized that I do a lot of things that really annoying people.
• Sorry.
• إسمي لورين
• My name is Lauren.
• We went to visit a friend in the hospital across town and randomly came across a 14th century (?) castle.
• Fanta's Red Berry flavor is not good.
• Arabic orange soda tastes just like whatever it was that McDonald's used to sell when I was a kid.
• It's getting cold. Apparently the weather report on the street is that it is supposed to rain every single day from now until spring. Awesome. We are down to low 40s already.
• Krystal: He was not TDH.
• I took a little break from using my free time to write papers and started thinking through post-graduation trip plans. Who's excited?!?

That's all for now. A few pictures below!

Clockwise: Cheese, Cheese, lamb, tomato and peppers, and olive oil and herb. The cheese was definitely the winner in my opinion.

We also picked up some Halawa--kind of like a soft, slightly sweet peanut brittle made out of tahini and pistachios. Or something.

Spices at the market

Why hello castle!

NOT recommended.

What Happens...

What happens when you invite 2 Americans and a Syrian over to the house of a Turk and a Syrian for a French meal?

A whole lot of fun. A friend of Hary and his wife invited us all over to their house for raclette last night. Now if you don't know raclette (as I didn't) it is kind of like fondue meets a Japanese grill experience. There is a machine, which looks about like this:

You can grill little pieces of cut up meat on top (we had chicken, beef and little kebab/sausage patties) and then you place thick slices of the raclette cheese on the little paddles underneath. There is a boiler over the cheese that transforms it into melted goodness. After a few minutes you pull out the cheese and pour it over whatever else you are eating. We also had potatoes, broccoli and brussels sprouts (!), mushroom sauce, some kind of spiced up salad, and bulgur with vermicelli. And lots of it.

The couple was there, along with her father, two of her brothers, their two children and some random friend who stopped by. All of the family mixed with the overflowing food gave the evening a very Thanksgiving-ish feel. This also could be because I was sat next to the host who felt the need to dump cheese and potatoes on my plate at will. It's just a good thing that none of the food had tryptophan in it or I would have been out for days.

Between the 9 adults there were probably 10 languages...most of which I can only muster up a few phrases in. (A fun aside: even though they are from different countries the family (and Hary too) are all Syriac and speak Aramaic--you know, like Jesus!) Anyway, language wasn't a problem and one of the brothers made sure there was a translator so he could tell a bunch of slightly off color jokes...half of which he forgot the punch line to. He did bring me to tears on one that involved Michael Jackson and Barack Obama...but I think you just had to be there for that one.

And then, because no evening would be complete without it, one of the brothers, who was sitting across the table, was offered to me to marry. Awkward!

After dinner tea, brownies and Syrian cookies were brought out. And then, when we were quiet for a second she asked if we wanted ice cream. No!!

Overall it was a great evening.

And I am still full.

Living Quarters

In case you were wondering about where I am living...

I live in the Laken area of Brussels. It is a mostly Moroccan neighborhood not too far from the Atomium. The bottom floor of our building (there are 3 floors) is used as our English classroom as well as a few other random things--like an African church and a school. The second floor has most of the living space and then my bedroom is up on the third floor. A few pictures:

(And...I didn't bother to pick up before taking pictures...so just ignore the clutter.)

I've almost bit the dust on these stairs about 17 times so far.

My bedroom

A look at the other half of my bedroom

The toilet is in a separate room (closet) from the bathroom and bedroom.

The bathroom is huge though!

The other half of it (it's even bigger than it looks)

And the best part...the view!

Hello New Shoes, Bye Bye Blues

Before I left the for Brussels I had to buy a few colder weather layering items. I also decided I needed to buy a new pair of tennis shoes. You walk so much in Europe and with it being cold and rainy here I knew I had better buy a pair before I left.

It has been a really long time since I bought a new pair of tennis shoes. They feel very back-to-school-ish. And...I really like them. I know that I am very easily amused, but I can't help it. I partially am just enjoying having something new. I find myself being a bit poetic about it--thinking about all the places I will walk in these tennis shoes--but then again, I just mostly think they are snazzy. And so far my toes have stayed warm and dry. Unlike these guys.

So as I put Paulo Nutini on my September playlist I thought I would share them. : )

In a semi-related note, I also heard a French version of "These Boots Are Made For Walking" today...

Week In Review

Welp, I have finished my second week in Brussels! A few random bits from the week:

• Today (Saturday) we fed the homeless--we made at least 400 butter and ham/cheese sandwiches and a giant tub of soup then fed almost 200 or so people at the main train station. I had a blast.
• It was nice to do something where language wasn't an issue.
• Afterwards we ate Domino's Pizza, which tasted almost exactly the same as Domino's stateside.
• Ta Sharafna--That's Arabic for Nice to meet you, but it's so fun to say it that I like to use it as an exclamation and/or insult.
• Friday I helped with the youth. For fun I gave them a random assortment of items and told them to build something that could transport an egg safely to the sidewalk from the third floor balcony.
• They were 2 for 4. I was surprised no one used the pillow case or trash-bag I gave them to make parachutes.
• By Tuesday I was really fed up with French.
• By today I had reconsidered. I also realized I have already picked up a surprising amount of French (at least when it comes to understanding).
• Probably the most used French word I have learned so far is méchant which translates more or less as mean, or mischievous.
• Hary told me I seemed older than 24. Why? He said it was because of my big head. Janee tried to persuade me that he was trying to say it's because I had such big (mature) thoughts.
• Méchant
• After dinner conversations have ended almost every night since I got here with Hary trying to persuade me to marry some random Arab guy or another.
• We registered 29 students for English classes. We are offering 2 grammar courses and a conversation class. Students range from Moroccan, Belgian and Brazilian to Congolese, Syrian and Sri Lankan.
• I adore our Moroccan neighbor's tiny 14 year old son Houssin. He even offered to bring over tea for us when we were doing inscriptions (registration).
• Actually, I pretty much love the entire family.
• The African church that meets downstairs in our building is LOUD. I mean, crazy Hell-fire-and-brimstone loud.
• I have started thinking through travel plans for after the beginning of the year. Very exciting.
• Greetings I have received so far: wave, handshake, head nod, one cheek kiss, 2 cheek kisses, 3 cheek kisses. It is incredibly hard for me to judge what I am supposed to do. Needless to say I have already created some awkward moments.
• The songs/instruments/rhythms of the Arabic music last Sunday made me feel like I was going to church where they were singing flamenco

OK, that's probably enough to give you a taste! I should probably also mention that I have been tasting Moroccan/Turkish/Syrian/Iranian/Iraqi sweet after sweet. Life's not too terrible these days! : )