First Week of Classes.

(Still have no computer, see my facebook for pictures)

I have to remind myself that I´m not completely on vacation, and that I actually have to go to school. Classes are really boring, mostly because they´re four bloody hours long each. My professors are really cool, though, and speak pretty good English even though one is German and the other is Italian.

I don´t have much homework yet, but I have to do a presentation in both of my classes sometime this summer. Boooo.

I feel pretty confident about the metro now, I don´t know why I had so much problems in the beginning, it´s a very simple system.

The other night, Helene made us a traditional Belgian dish that sounds disgusting, but was actually pretty good: Peaches stuffed with tuna. I hate peaches. I hate tuna. Tuna reminds me of cat food, and tastes like cat food. I tried to tell Helene that I dislike both peaches and tuna, but she said, `Nono, you try, yes?´´ I begrudgingly took one, and it wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be, but its not my favorite meal so far.

On Thursday, I visited the small village of Han-sur-lesse, in the south of Belgium, in the region of Wallonia. Really adorable town. Lots of farm animals, and there was about ten buildings total there. So cute. I visited the caves there, and they were pretty, but there are so many caves that look exactly like it in the area where I live, I was fairly unimpressed.

After eating lunch, I went to the city of Dinant, to explore the citadel there. Four hundred and eight steep stone steps up a cliff, I finally arrived. It was the most grueling physical task I have ever experienced in my young life. Of course, I´m so out of shape that you could, well, anything, really. I´m a fatty. :3

The citadel was really cool, and the views were worth the climb. I could barely understand the tour guide in English, so I just listened to his French. Sadly (or, should it be happily?), I understood more in the French. My favorite part was getting to see all the medieval and World War I weapons that were used in the citadel. There was a large array of crossbows that I squealed over. Honestly, I squealed.

Then there was a World War I "reenactment". You walked through trenches that they set up and there was gunshots playing through the speakers. Not that realistic, but my history-dorkness got the better of me.

The citadel was hit by a bomb in World War II, so the walk at the end was slanted about 40 degrees which gave the sensation of being really, really drunk, or perhaps on acid. Later, I got icecream and took a riverboat tour of the canal in Dinant, then returned back to Brussels. My host mom´s boyfriend (who I´m starting to like - he has sarcasm, which is rare here) was grilling outback and we had grilled chicken, with potatoes, and andolousse sauce (I need to get a recipe since it´s not sold in the US). Other than the sauce, it felt like a dinner back in the States, which was a bit comforting. I felt like I was home for a little bit.

Today, I had no class so I went to the Cathedral of Saint Michael and Gudula which is my new favorite place in Brussels. It´s a beautiful cathedral that took over 300 years to complete, and is used for the royal weddings in Belgium (Belgium is still ruled by a king - King Albert II). It´s one of the most beautiful places I´ve been to in my entire life. The gothic architecture is breathless and there is gorgeous gold statues in it. It had a very..I can´t think of the word..saint-like feeling to it. That´s not the word I´m looking for, but it was so quiet even though it was packed with tourists. You could go downstairs and see the crypt of an arch-bishop or a martyr or someone, but it was two euros, and I´d rather spend that on a sandwich or waffle. You can tell I´m not a religious person, but I might return, just to see the architecture. (By the way, if you are going to Europe, you must read `The Pillars of the Earth`. I reread it on the plane, and I´m glad I did, because it made all the beautiful architecture here have so much more meaning, and a story behind them. It´s also just a fantastic book, so read it anyways, going to Europe or not...).

Tomorrow I´m going to Gent, in Flanders, and I won´t be on the internet until Monday, so au revoir, my friends!