Top Ten

Top Ten Things that I Miss the Most
1. A bubble bath with a gossip magazine
2. A walk around the Horizons lake at dusk with Paul and Huck
3. A vanilla latte from Starbucks (paid for by KP)
4. My mom bringing me lunch to work, complete with cutlery
5. Lunches/coffee discussions with Myra at KP
6. My going-away parties (can we start planning the welcome-home ones?)
7. A non-virtual newspaper, complete with ink on the hands
8. Along those lines, a crossword puzzle at breakfast (and coffee refills)
9. Shopping for bargains with my bestie-Liu
10. Happy Hour at Wahoos with THE Truth Serum Margarita


(my dog, my car, my wardrobe, cell phone usage, dressing up, plucking my eyebrows (really, I see no need), the flatirons, libraries full of english books)

These are a few of my favorite things....
(I guess I am a little more materialistic than Julie Andrews-Sound of Music)

I would even say I miss a TV and wish I had one with french channels! Movies! (I know, Paul, I know)

Long Overdue

Well, long overdue: my account of the Strasbourg trip...
I hadn't slept well the night before, so I started out the (long) bus ride with just a few moments of lucidity (oh, we are in Luxembourg now? Welcome to France?). What little I saw was beautiful landscape... Once we arrived in France, we went to the concentration camp Struthof-Natzwiller. It was really terrible to see for myself the places and the explanations about what went on there. Then we went to Obernai, the town in which we were to stay. I decided to room with Britany, an american girl interning at the EU parliament. It was a really nice hotel room with wirless (yes!) and one bed (gasp). Yes, mom, two teeny beds pushed together doesn't two beds make! So we got cozy, she snored, I laid there in despair, etc. That night we went to a restaurant and a bunch of us tried "tarte fambe" a sort of really thin pizza that is typical of the region. That was day one. Day two we went to a beautiful village, Riquewihr (the germana influence is everywhere here in this part of France). It is called the most beautiful town in france, and i would believe it. it was completely picturesque and adorable... then we went to 'Les caves de Beblenheim', which included a wine tasting. The lady kept giving us rounds so quickly that soon I was talking loudly about Obama and the day i met clinton... Imagine that. 6 rounds of a (not small) glass of different wines. after a while we were like "oh la la , oui c'est tres treshhhh bon!) needless to say i thought i should buy three bottles and i hope they are of the best one that we tried. Then we went to Strausbourg, which after the quaint village seemed dirty and boring... But that could have also been the hangover. So we went and ate a tarte flambe, just in case this was the last time that we would have the chance! Then a borrring boat ride took us through the city explaining what each and every bridge represented... The cool part of that is that we passed through a key and had to change levels to be brought up to the upper level of the river. Then we had dinner with Said, the EU Parliament Member (MEP). And, you guessed it! had tarte flambe (plus salad, cheese, wine, cake and bread...) It was nice! The next and final day we saw the plenary session of the parliament, which was really cool! That day they gave out an award for La silence de Lorna, a french movie that is apparently good, so rent it if you get a chance!
This saturday I am going with Francis and Tantan to Luxembourg to see it properly and then in 10 days paul arrives and we go to pareee!!
BTW, for those of you coming (really this is just to quiz you and make sure you read the whole entry. Yes, mom, i know YOU do!!) you should bring gloves, hat etc... it is getting cold!
Kisses, e

HAPPINESS

I am uploading just a few teasers from Strasbourg and my celebration of life pictures1 I will make a proper blog on the trip during my next week, since I have it completely off of school and I dont work. I may have a few minutes in there between my jaunt to Luxembourg and my musings at a cafe! I wish you were all here. Anyway today I am the happiest ever and I hope that you all know how much you mean to me and that we all need to take care of ourselves and enjoy life fully! HERES TO YOU!

Ardennes

I went to Ardennes, a region in the south of Belgium (that extends into Luxembourg and France). It is in the french speaking part of the country -which was NICE- and I was only 10 minutes from France! I would have been sad but turns out that I am going there on Monday for a three day excursion to Strasbourg to see the EU Parliament, wine taste, cave dwell and boatride and then see a concentration camp. Should be intense!Anyway, back to today. We went first to a cave (do you sense a trend?) which was really cool with some humongo stalag-whatevers... see pics. In the middle of the cave excursion we were treated to a lights and music show in a huge cavern and then were taken out by boat. BRR. Then we went on a 45 minute hike where I ended up walking with an italian girl and practicing my italian. That was cool and all until I realized that she kept surreptiously taking pictures of me. I am scared that she thought I was really really cute. Anyway also met a Canadian boy who is really smart about history and spoke 5 languages. So we were alternating between french, english, italian and spanish. What a mess! But really fun, although, mamma mia, il mio italiano e miserable! So the hike was beautiful and it was nice to see some form of elevation again! Then we went to a really cool castle that may or maynot have the cross that Christ was crucified on...
That is all I have time to type for now, Myra is IMing me, Paul texting me, Myra wanting to skype... AYAYAY.
PS. Those beautiful gloves are from my mom and they radiate the love of a mother.
XO

Francis' BDay

Hi! Quick post to show the pics from last night. We went out to Mexican and then dancing. Talked about the Gaza strip, Bush, Saudi Arabia and oil etc... My friends are really interesting. Today I went to STUK (means peace in Dutch, apparently) and is a coffee house/bar with music and fast internet. Watched two episodes of The Hills, in order to make sure that I dont get too too smart with all this philosophising and what with me becoming a theologian and all... The pics are of downtown Leuven (as downtown as a small town can have) and the Mexican restaurant and of the subsequent dancing... XO

Esther's kindness

Hello all!
Just poping in here to send a shout out... Today I am feeling blah after kicking it at the bar last night with three friends from class. It was a new group, sort of. Francis, of course, but then an Ethiopian doctor and a Puerto Rican girl who is craazy. It was fun and I learned the roots of the Rastafarians and that in PR they can caucus but not vote. Today I am sitting here with my book open in case of osmosis and Esther knocks on my door. She wants me to come down and hang out with her friends. I lie and say that I am studying. So she gives me this plate of delicious food (the empanada looking things are full of beef and onions) and tells me that she is like my mothers younger sister, trying to take care of me. Isnt that the nicest thing you have ever heard of? I want to do something nice for her when I leave... Suggestions?
Oh, and today I went to the train station and bought tickets on the Thalys to PARIS for when Paul comes (35 days!)
Kisses

Mussels in ... not Brussels but Leuven

Today I went to the square to have coffee with Francis and Gaston at 12pm and... left at 12:30 am after one coffee at cafe 1, lunch at cafe 2, coffee/soda at cafe 3 and dinner at cafe 4! We were chasing the sun aroung the plazas and talking, talking talking about politics, bidets, movies....
Francis is eating kangaroo in that pic! I tried it and it is pretty good, although it made me feel jumpy!