Cotton Candy and Bubble Gum

Hello Everyone :)

Just a quick little hello before I jet off to Greece for a week!!
Tomorrow is Easter... and it doesn't even feel like it at all. In America, you would always have an Easter egg hunt/some family gathering or a trip to the church for a service (even if you don't go all year).... but here... I'm getting on a plane and going to Greece on Easter Sunday morning. I think that in itself... tells you something about the importance of the holiday. When I expressed my feelings to my brothers that it is kind of a bit weird we are leaving for a school trip on Easter Sunday they responded by saying... "Ya, that is Europe." So... Welcome to Europe my faithful followers! I will just have to wait until next year to celebrate this holiday as well :) Fine with me. I'm not complaining too much that I'll be spending the day traveling to Greece ... life is good.

My week has been full of sunshine and smiles! The weather is like summer here and everyone is outside enjoying it. It is more hot than it should normally be for the end of April... but nobody really cares! Seriously.... I don't know where all these people have been hiding during winter because I have never seen so many people out and about before. Everyone just knows how to make the most of sunny blissfullness in Belgium... since we have not seen the sun in an abnormal amount of time....!!

Wednesday I went to the mall to run some errands before my trip. I don't know what it is... but I love getting all cute and going places alone. I just love having that time to myself while being productive...it makes me feel so old and independent. Does that make sense? Before I left, Francois was like, "So, who are you going to the mall with?" And I was like, "Ummm me!" I don't care if it is weird... I love it :) I was so productive and spoke so much French!! I was so proud of myself! I got my hair cut and the man who cut it was Iranian and so nice. He kept complimenting my French and was really curious about how the Rotary program works. He told me I have to come back to cut my hair there before I leave... haha Meeting nice people is the best. After I cut my hair, I went shopping for a new swimsuit. And then I ended up buying a beach bag and a pair of shorts. They were necessary! Promise :) I normally wear Burberry perfume but I have run out since I actually where it to school instead of just on weekends like I did in America. So, I had to buy a new perfume. Here, they have whole stores just devoted to perfume! I was a little intimidated but the night before I looked up some perfumes so I had an idea of where to start. I found a nice lady who worked there and she helped me find an amazing perfume... that I love. She didn't even know I was American until I used my Visa to pay! I felt so Belge :) Turns out I bought the same perfume as my (great) Aunt! I knew it smelled familiar haha I love it and I'm so proud of myself that I did it all alone :) It was a good day!
Thursday I went into town around noon to meet up with my Belge friends to celebrate one of our friend's birthday. A lot of them have been out of town so it was fun to spend a few hours with them :) Miss them! It made me excited for this upcoming week! After lunch around 2, I met up with Margaret and Mollie who got back from their 10 day trip to Greece with Rotary. I hadn't seen them in so long so it was nice to catch up and here all the drama that went down on their vacation. After chatting for a bit, we went to the park in Liege and met up with some other exchange students. It was nice to just chill and catch up with cookies in the park :) I went home around 5 because my host-dad bought the boys and I tickets to a "football" game!! The team name of Liege is "Standard". Standard de Liege. The boys have never been to a soccer game and Alain the other day said, "My boys have never been to a soccer game in their lives and now a girl comes in the house and we are going to a soccer game!" It was cute :) Alain follows Standard religiously (so European) and the boys are pretty into it as well. In Europe, it is kind of weird if a girl plays soccer so I'm kind of weird for actually wanting to watch soccer games on TV with the boys and Alain and to actually want to go watch a game. Alain thinks it is great that I like soccer so it was one of the things I had to do before I changed families :) It was surreal... I have been wanting to go to a soccer game in Europe every since I got here... and here I was in the stadium in between my two brothers, behind the goal, and chanting french with everyone! It was a dream. We sat in the section that stands the whole game and waves flags and is just crazy singing the whole game. Francois helped teach me the chants that the crowd was singing and then Benoit would make fun of me... It was great :) I learned some new french cuss words! I loved every minute of it. The weather was amazing also! Like a summer night that you would go to baseball games in... it was perfect. I'll never forget how much fun I had. Anddd we won! 3-0! We got to watch the first goal right in front of us... so epic. It was one of those nights that just felt perfect... one of those nights I will never forget. I love my family :) We got home around 11 (the game started at 8:30) and went straight to watch the highlights on the TV... whenever the camera would flash across our section with the crazy fans we would try to find each other.... it made me smile :) Have I mentioned already that I'm going to be a mess when I move families?
Yesterday was great. I met up with Mollie at the train station around 1 and we went to Verviers to meet Margaret... then we all three got on a train and went to Spa. Spa is a city in Belgium that is the reason we call Spas ... Spas! I went here my first day in Belgium with the Gaier's (my first family) but I was so out of it I wouldn't even consider it a visit. Spa is about 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Liege and is the famed site of healing hot springs. Spa has been a popular watering-place ever since the 14th century! Although other sources of healing hot mineral springs have become famous throughout the world... it is the town of Spa which has become eponymous with any place having a natural water source that is believed to possess special health-giving properties...as in a SPA. The word "spa" comes from the word "espa" in Walloon (the old language of Belgium) which means "spring fountain". Spa is also known for the production of bottled mineral water that is very popular in Belgium and other countries of Europe. We went to the famous Spa at the top of the cliff called "Thermes". It is so legit and so Belge that they even have the King and Queen of Belgium's pictures to greet you when you enter the building.... classy. We were able to get 3 hours in the pool/sauna/steamer/outside pool for just 16 euros! It was soooo nice and soooo relaxing. We spent an hour in the outside pool in the beautiful sun and then some time in the inside pool. Have I mentioned that the water is not clorinated or salted? It was just the natural water of the area rich with minerals and goodness for the skin. How amazing is that!? We were all pruny and smiley as we just sat back and relaxed with good conversation and good friends :) I tried for the first time the saunas and steamers! The steamers were so intense! They smelled like mint and it felt so good to be sweating out all the toxins while breathing in the fresh smell of mint... I'm a fan. We might have even had a nice dip in the hot tubs in the nudist part of the building!! Out motto before we did this was, "Hey, It's Europe". No regrets... why not? So much fun with my girls :) I'll never forget how relaxing it was and how European we felt! After getting dressed we had dinner outside at a quaint, little restaurant. We felt so old with out glasses of wine and pizza just sitting and enjoying the weather. The town reminded me of a town in America that would be on the East Coast not far from the beach... but not big but definitely one of the older towns in America. It was so cute and calming. After dinner, we had 2 scoops of ice cream at the local ice cream parlor. I enjoyed a scoop of cotton candy and a scoop of bubble gum :) It was heaven. Classic Mallory combination :)
We hopped on a train back to Marge's house around 9 and got home around 10. It was a glorious day.
Today we went on a long run together and I got home around 1:30. It has been a good, sunny Belgian day. I think it is about to rain though... which to be honest I haven't seen rain in so long I think it would be a welcomed event here!! I'm going to stay in tonight and pack my suitcase for tomorrow... the boys are doing the same. So pizza again tonight!

Life is good :)
Life is cotton candy and bubble gum ... sweetness overload for some, but perfect for me.

All for now! Get ready for the next blog about the multitude of Mallory Moments in Greece!
Mallory

100 jours

Hello Everyone

I have come to the awareness that I led all of you on... and I'm very sorry. Belgium has surprisingly kept me more busy than I thought it would last week.... and now I'm just now getting everyone up to speed! Terribly sorry, and I have no other excuse than that life is keeping me away from my computer :) I actually turned down plans with my Belge friends to go into town today just so I could write this... now my brother thinks I would prefer to be on the computer than be in town! Oh the little sacrifices I make to keep everyone updated ;)

Now you must all endure a disgustingly, long blog entry about how happy I am and how the weather is pretty much paradise.... once again, very sorry.

April 16th was my 100 days in Belgium... which means that now I have less than 100 days in Belgium. How sick is that? It seems so short that I can now put my time left here in days!! 100 days is kind of a big deal! It is at the point in my year that my mom is now planning my first meal when I get back home... that just kind of freaks me out. Things are that close! This just means that things are going to go by faster than they already have been... which is just scary! How can thins go by faster than they already are? I have to live everyday to the fullest... even more. I think spending a week in Greece with my best friends from Belgium is the perfect way to embrace my final days in Belgium... :) and taking a trip to the North Sea...and Spain... and Ireland... and Prague?
Which brings me up to my next topic! I'm going to Greece for a week in less than a week!! I love my life. I still can't believe it is happening... that I'm just going to go chill in Greece (Crete to be more specific) with my Belge besties for a week. If someone told me I was going to be doing this a year ago... I don't think I would have believed them. Life is full of wonderful surprises :)

okokok
now the disgustingly, long part is about to come! I hope I don't bore you too much!!
Last time we talked it was last Wednesday... that sounds awful! I promise I will not go MIA like
this again!
Here are some quotes that are keeping me company these days... and might be a better transition than me apologizing again about my lack of attention to this blog :)

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. ~Palmer Sondreal

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Every now and then,
when the world sits just right,
a gentle breath of heaven
fills my soul with delight...
~Hazelmarie ‘Mattie’ Elliott, A Breath of Heaven

Thursday was not the best school day for me. I left at 1 (even though my french class doesn't start until 4) just because I literally could not sit in class any longer. It was bad. I just had this image of me sitting in the square in the sun before my french class... and I had to do it as soon as possible :) Totally worth skipping math. I got home around 7 from my class that night and my brother had his 2 good friends (my friends too) over. After school, they made their costumes for the 100 jours together so they decided to stay for dinner. It was fun to hang out with the boys. It reminded me of when I was growing up ... always being the only girl with the boys. It made me happy to play basketball with them and laugh along with their jokes... in french! Things have changed so much... when I first met Thibault and Constantin they didn't really talk to me because of my lack of French and now here I was playing basketball with them and making fun of their jump-shots...Does that make me fluent? Anyways... I forgot how well I used to play basketball! The boys were really impressed by it too :) They were like... "If we would have asked another girl from the neighborhood to play with us she wouldn't and if she did play she would suck." I think they were impressed that girls can actually play sports! Oh Europe... please let it be socially acceptable for me to play field hockey, soccer, and basketball like a normal teenage girl should be able to! Despite a few sexist jokes and bruises ... it was a fun night. Almost felt like summer :)
Friday was our 100 jours!! Ah!! Big deal! We couldn't wear out costumes to school because we had to go to our first class but then after our first class we all went to change into our outfits. Totally stupid... and weird. But I just went with it. All the girls got ready together in the gym. We were all doing each others make-up and helping making things run smoothly if something went wrong with our fairy wings or ballet shoes or a run in our tights... it was a happy buzzing of excitement. Everyone's costumes were so intense! My costume fit in perfectly :) Around 10:30, we all went to the little open area in the middle of the school and had a time where we called up the younger kids and teachers to do silly things and take pies in the face! It was crazy and reminded me of Sion. Then all the girls did a dance to a few songs ... and when the song ended the boys all went crazy shooting the audience (younger kids) with water guns and shaving cream. It was hilarious! The kids had no idea how many water guns we had prepared... so everyone was drenched! Even I got sprayed and hit with some shaving cream. It was great... you had a feeling that the rhetos (seniors) have wanted to do this so bad since they first go sprayed their first year of school. So great. Then after we cleaned everything up, we had a little barbeque. It was sunny and everyone was happy. It was one of those things I'll never forget. I was on this "Belge High" of happiness to be sharing this experience with my friends. After the barbeque, the whole class and I went to the park in Liege to continue the festivities. I love this park and it was great to be in it with 200 of your classmates all in costume. Pure happiness. Things even got crazy with shaving cream! Around 5 we all headed into town and stayed until midnight. It was great :) Such a great night! My friends and I all stayed at a friends house and just had a great night together. I'll never forget how much fun I had. It is days like this... that remind me why I came to Belgium.
Saturday was rough. I was completely exhausted. Marge and I had planned to hang out Saturday night ... so I took a shower and a nice nap and I was ready to go again! On any other occasion, I would have told Marge we would have to reschedule but she was leaving for Greece with Rotary on Sunday so I wouldn't see her for 10 days. We had to have one last sleepover - even if Mollie couldn't come. She came over around 4, and we went shopping for dinner supplies. We made an amazing salmon and veggie pasta... complete with brownies! I am happy to say that I could make an icing that Chef Margaret didn't know how to make... I mean it was just powder sugar and water but STILL. I'm really coming along as a chef :) We both ate so much but it was soo good. Even my brothers admitted that the brownies were good! Finally, we redeemed our cooking skills since the last few times we cooked something at my house it has always been a failure. After dinner, we watched 13 Going on 30 and painted our nails :) Such girls. It was the perfect, chill evening I needed after my ridiculous Friday.
Sunday started out by being a failure. When we looked up bus times for Marge, apparently we forgot to look up "Sunday" bus times. Marge and I literally waited at the bus stop for like an hour... classic. I felt so bad! She missed her train home and only had like 2 hours to pack for 10 days in Greece! Classic Fail. The rest of my day was pretty chill. It was so nice and sunny that my family and I had the first barbeque of the season together :) It was cute. We ate outside and it reminded me of what my family does in the Spring/Summertime. Benoit wasn't there... but it was still a nice family bonding moment. We figured out a move date for me to change families. It looks like I will be changing families on May 7th. Which is like the only reasonable time I will be able to! The next weekend (May 13-15) I will be at the beach with Marge and Mollie. Then May 23-29 I will be in Spain with Marge and Mollie. So that is the only date I will have to change families... but it seems so soon to me! I'm getting excited for a new experience but I always get a little sad when I think about not being at this house anymore... :/ bittersweet.
Monday I enjoyed my first real day of Easter Vacation. It was glorious. I went on a run and did nothing. A package from my mommy came :) Europe is a beautiful place but it is very expensive when it comes to clothes and food... and I have realized that every time the seasons change here I end up spending all my money! So, my mommy sent me some cute, spring clothes from America along with some Easter goodies :) It was the best package to open and have amazing, cheap clothes along with Whopper's Robin Eggs - my weakness. She also sent t-shirts for the boys (with the word "America" on them = cool) and Gate's barbeque sauce for the family to try. I was so happy the rest of the day and was already planning my outfits I'm going to wear in Greece! I have the best mommy :) That night the family and I (minus Francois, since he is studying for his exams... in a month) went to watch Benoit play tennis with his friend in a doubles tournament. It was cool to watch Benoit play a sport... other than ping-pong! The boy who Benoit played with was supposed to be ranked really high in Belgium and Ben was kind of nervous to play with him since he isn't that amazing of a player ... but it was actually the other boy who lost the match! Benoit played better than his friend did! We were all really impressed by him and you could tell that even Benoit was impressed by how well he played and how awful his friend played! Oh little, happy surprises :) I pulled a total Mallory Moment.... after the game we had a drink together with the opponent. There was this dog ... kind of like a pug but brown and had long hair around it's face. It was one of those dogs that "are so ugly they are cute". I love little dogs with faces that looked smashed in so I leaned over to Isabelle (host-mom) and said in French, "He is so ulgy!" I was going to follow this statement by saying that he is so cute... but the owner heard me! She was so offended and kind of gave me a lecture about how he is a rare breed, very nice, and not ugly at all... I was literally red for the whole car ride home from my stupid mouth. I felt so bad! The worst part was that I was like "Oh, no! I meant he is really cute!" She was like, "So he is a really ugly cute?" She was so offended! I really need to learn how to whisper when I'm talking about people right next to me!! Oh Mallory...
Tuesday I got up early to go on a run and then I met my friends from school (Louisa and Tersia) at the mall to go shopping. Tersia was a bit late so Louisa and I just sat and talked for like 30 minutes and then when Tersia got there we talked for another hour! It was funny. We had lots to talk about though! 100 jours was a big day! The day was spent with us gossiping instead of trying on anything... which was fine with me :) It was nice to sit and talk with my friends... in French. We enjoyed a nice ice cream along with good conversation. So Belge.
Wednesday I again got up early and went for a run and then met up with a friend in town. We had Liege's best ice cream and then went to all these amazing places of Liege that the average tourist doesn't know about. Back in the middle ages, Liege had a "citadelle" (huge walls for protection) built around the borders of the city that are still in contact today. My friend knew this secret garden hidden but open to the public until the sun goes down. You can see all of the city but you don't know it is there when you are in town because the buildings block it. It was literally amazing... full of green grass, blooming flowers, tall trees, and historic walls melting in the sunlight. It was a beautiful day :) We had good conversation and beautiful views that kept us smiling all day... When the sun went down we had pitas at the best restaurant in town and I took the last bus home. Great day. I was planning on writing my blog on this day but that damn sun always wins ... especially when mixed with secret gardens and pitas.
Thursday I hung out with the same friend again and some other friends from my french class at the University. It was another beautiful day and we ended up going on a 2 hour walk along the rivers that run through Liege. It was so much fun to just walk and talk about whatever was on our mind :) I ended up spending the night at my friends and we just watched youtube videos, played poker, and just talked. It was a surprisingly, fun night spent with friends I would have never met if I didn't come on this amazing adventure... :)
Friday I was beyond exhausted and just stayed in with Alain (host dad) and Francois. I watched a documentary on the marriage of Kate and William. I'm kind of obsessed with this beautiful, British couple so it was fun to watch a program about them. My host dad saw that it was on the TV Guide and was like, "We know what you will be watching tonight!" They know me so well :)
Saturday was such a great bonding day :) I went for a run and then had lunch with the family. After lunch, the 3 of us (Alain, Isa, and I - since the boys were too cool to come along) took an hour and half car ride to the South of Belgium bordering France to visit the famous Abbey where they make the famous, trappist Orval Beer. The Abbey of Orval was founded in 1070 and became a Cistercian Order in 1132. The Abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution (you can still see the ruins of the old church) and then rebuilt before the Second World War in 1926 (finished in 1939) in an Art Deco and Romantic Cistercian style plan. Around 1076, the Tuscan Countess Matilde visited the valley and loved to take strolls along the spring that ran through the valley. She some how lost her engagement ring in the spring when she was getting a drink of water. She went to a nearby chapel to pray since she was so desperate and sad that she lost her late husband's ring to her. While she was leaving the chapel and passing the spring, a trout came to her and gave her ring back. She was so overwhelmed with joy and the power of God that she said, "Oh! This really is the Valley of Gold!" Now, for those of you not up to speed.... "gold" in french is "or" and "valley" is "vallee"... and that is how the region became known as Orval. The trout and gold ring are now preserved by being the symbol of Orval and to this day, the spring that Matilde lost her gold, engagement ring in is still used as the source of water for the Abbey and the Brewery. Not only is the Abbey famous in a religious and architectural sense, but the Abbey is also famous for it's trappist beer. The Brewery of Orval was created in 1931 in order to finance the reconstruction of the Abbey... and to this day the revenues of the brand are used to finance social works of the monastery and maintain the buildings. There are only 7 trappist beers in the world still in operation... and Orval is one of them (in order to be called a Trappist Beer, the beer must be brewed in an Abbey by monks -or some religious order)... so it is kind of a big deal. The monks are also kept busy with making cheese in the "fromagerie" or cheese factory. The Abbey of Orval has been making "Port du Salut" cheese since 1928 from an ancient, monastic recipe from 1816. The cheese is made from fresh, whole cow's milk from neighboring farms. The neighboring farms are in a part of Belgium called Gaume - which in the heart lies Orval. The cheese is known for its smoothness and is washed by hand in order to obtain a rich taste and soft texture. Not only was this Monastic visit so interesting but it was so beautiful... I couldn't stop taking pictures! I even got to see a monk :)
I loved spending time with my host-parents and visiting a beautiful and interesting part of Belgium. We have not done tons of activities like this together as a family (since life gets busier as the days pass) so it was even more special that they took me to do this :) I will never forget my sunny Saturday spent with my parents at a interesting, old Abbey in southern Belgium.
Yesterday (Sunday) we had a barbeque to taste Kansas City's famous Barbeque sauce :) It was so cute! They planned a barbeque just so they could taste this concoction that my mother sent from America! The boys didn't even try it since they are kind of picky ... and Isa thought it was too spicy (which after being in Belgium for 8 months... it kind of was a bit spicy for me too!) ... but Alain loved it! I think he had half the bottle! I love this sauce and it reminded me of home so much... I love how certain tastes or smells just remind you of home. I'm trying to figure out if it is bad or good that 'home' is brought to memory by barbeque sauce.... I'm such a mid-western girl sometimes. Even if the family doesn't end up using the sauce on a normal basis.... it was still cool to share a part of my life in Kansas City with them :)
Today I went on a long run and the sun is shining... yet I have decided to spend a majority of my day inside working on this blog! That is what I get though for putting it off so late... no complaints from me! I just hope I summed up everything in a respectful manner, full of some humor, and thoughtful insight from the American in Belgium.... :)

Hope everyone has a good week full of sunshine and laughter (was that too hippy for even me?)
All for now :)

Bonjour April, you're very pretty.

Hello Hello Hello

Where the heck did March go?? Seriously... is this a joke? It is already the first week of April... and I hadn't even had time to accept that March was here....and now it is over?

I have decided to spice it up and put some of my favorite quotes at the beginning today... with a picture I took yesterday morning. Once again, I woke up to this and had to go searching for my camera at 6:50 in the morning. I love it :) I love how now I search for the sunrise ... I look out the window every morning hoping that one day I will see a beautiful sunrise beaming through the trees over the fields...I guess that is the optimistic person in me :) I like that I take every day ... as every day. I like that months fly by when you are living like that. I like that a friend in my french class at the University was noticing that I don't wear a watch... and he said, "Do you not wear a watch because you don't like to know the hour? You don't want to know what time it is?" I didn't know what to say ... but I guess it was true. I don't really want to know the time or the hour... I am here now and that is the moment I want to know. I like living that way... I think the word for it in Greek is living in "kairos" not "kronos"....
but when you snap out of it it is weird. Is it really April already? Are you sure?

"All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that."
- Baltasar Gracian

"Calenders are for careful people, not passionate ones."
- Chuck Sigars

"Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated by a watch."
- Jane Austen (Mansfield Park)

I have been so busy lately, I have hardly have time to look at the time. Like... really. I can't even functionally keep up with facebook at the moment (that is saying something) nor my e-mails. While I'm super busy at the moment... I have a feeling the next 2 weeks I have off for Easter break are going to be spent by me wishing I was more busy. All my Rotary friends are going to either Italy or Greece for a week ... and I'm not going. Along with all my Rotary friends being gone a lot of my school friends are going on vacation during this time... so I'm going to be so lonely!! And bored! There might be more than once a week updates during my Easter break... to encourage my productiveness. I think I'm going to be spending my free time : running (still need to get into bathing-suit-ready-body), reading (my book for my presentation in French class at school), doing my paper for Science Sociales (over healthcare in America vs. the system in Belgium), blogging (I kind of like you, my faithful followers), going to the park (basking in the sun), and sleeping (since I don't remember the last time I felt like I got enough sleep). I guess I won't be that bored... I mean how bored can you really be when it is sunny and springy outside :)

Last time we talked it was Wednesday. Sooo... Thursday I went to french class and that was pretty much the most productive thing I did. Benoit and I made a cake for the girl's (Noemie, Delphine, and Louisa) birthdays. It was cute...:)
Friday was the girl's birthday... and everyone from the Dutch class went to Ghent (in northern Belgium) for the day. So, Benoit and I couldn't bring our cake we made to school because we forgot they would be in Ghent - and neither of us are in Dutch class. It was hilarious. So, instead the family and I enjoyed the cake during the weekend. Friday was so long though! We went into town to do a little celebrating after school and then went back to Delphine's house around 11. Her mom made us all pasta ... and it was pretty much epic. I think I ate way too much... but it was so good! Everyone was really tired though after a long day of school and a day in Ghent so it was not as exciting as I thought it was going to be... and I was beyond exhausted myself. Benoit and I left around 1 and didn't end up spending the night at her house like we thought we were going to. Oh well... it was still a good night spent with friends :)
Saturday I went around 5 to help Noemie get ready for her party. I was the official butter spreader for maybe 200 cheese/ham sandwiches. I wasn't really needed but it was nice to help out since Noemie was really stressed out. I got to meet all her family and friends - they were all so nice and friendly to me. Noemie is the girl that I'm going to be living with when I change families in a month. All night she would introduce me to people as "her future sister". It made me smile. She is one of my good friends at school and I love her :) Noemie had her party with her best friend (Kat) -who goes to another school... so the party was huge because it was both my and Noemie's school and Kat's school. I met so many new people and had a great time with my friends :) The theme was such a success!! It was "chic" and "shock" - so it was so fun to see what everyone interpreted the theme as! I ended up wearing these crazy bright, blue feather earrings with bright colored bobby pins in my hair and bright pink sneakers with a black shirt and skirt. I thought I looked so cute :) It was a great party and I didn't get home until 4 in the morning!
Sunday I got up wayyy too early to catch a train to Verviers before 1 to go to a carnival. It was a rainy Sunday morning so ... I was really not in the mood. A lot of cities have carnivals a month or so after the carnivals in March because more people will come... so it was one of those carnivals. Every carnival though is different and this one was in Stavelot (about an hour and half from Liege). The Stavelot carnival is known for having incredible costumes and the "Blanc-Moussis". The Blanc Moussis wear white robes with masks that have outrageously huge noses. The costumes are mocked after the religious wear of the monks (of an old Abbey founded in 648 near Stavelot). The monks used to mingle in with the commoners during the town's festivities (in white robes) during the Middle Ages. In the 1500's, strict sanctions were made on the monks leaving the Abbey during holidays and enjoying life... so the Stravelotians put on their own white robes and caps in memory of them. Of course, this independent act by the commoners was banned in 1502 and so the Stravelotians fought back and replaced it with a different style of a white robe and added a mask with a hilarious nose. The mask hides the identity of the the person and when they wear the robe they are not allowed to talk... in honor of the monks (and their identities). They had these balloons that had pig intestines in them... they reaked!! The Blanc-Mouissi would come up to the people in the audience and hit them with their rank ballons. It was gross. I'm not sure if the monks used to do this... but they have had this tradition since the 1500's ... so everyone is cool with getting wacked by disgusting balloons full of pig intestines. It was a bit bizarre. But the parade was so intense! Every costume was crazy good and intense... I was shocked at how much attention was given to each costume. This was another interactive parade... and Marge and I were once again very popular! Marge got stolen to go ride a "magic carpet" and I got stolen and attacked with confetti and hay! It was hilarious! One thing was different at this parade though: for your spirit in participating in the interactive parade you would be rewarded with a shot of alcohol. Hi, Welcome to Belgium. Marge and I kept being like... "This would never happen in America!" Which is true! It was a great, Belgian carnival :) So glad I got up early to go enjoy it!
Monday came way too soon.... and it was a rainy, gross day. I was really stressed out all day because I had to do a huge presentation for my french course at the University over America (yes, how do you sum up America on a slideshow?), Missouri, and Kansas City on Tuesday. I hate public speaking... and it is even worse when you do it in French because not only are they listening to what you are talking about but listening to your french. I was stressing and I also had to write a paper for my school's newspaper. I guess every year students submit writings done in their second language as a way to show how well they write and stuff... so my English teacher asked me to write a paper in French. I wrote a paper about the differences between America and Belgium and what it is like for me to be an American in Belgium. I thought I did really well :) I wrote a good closing paragraph on how the Belges know how to live life. They live life like they deal with their weather... Belges make the most of every sunny moment because they all know that tomorrow will definitely not the same. I thought it was a cute comparison :) The teacher that asked me to do the writing is also my German teacher... the one I handed in a paper to that I "wrote" in German but really my German friend pretty much wrote it. The teacher totally knew I didn't write it and called me out in front of the class... so when he read what I wrote in French he was like, "This is really good, are you sure you wrote this?" Hahaha It was funny and I was happy to say that the really, good French writing was mine :)
Yesterday (Tuesday), I had my French presentation.... and I did really well :) I wrote everything I wanted to say down so it went smoothy and my slides were good! I feel good about it and I'm glad it is over!!
Today was sooo nicee!! I had two tests in my Science Sociales class today... over Freud and nurture vs. nature. I think I did pretty well! It feels good to be able to actually try on a test and do well! I love it :) Then I came home and went on a spiritual/nature walk... it was glorious. Judge my spirituality and love of nature all you want :) I actually passed up a day in town shopping to spend time with myself and the sun. I was just walking in the meadows with the cows, sun shining on my skin, and iPod on. It was something I'll never forget. And now I'm working on this blog... !!
Such a wonderful day
C'est la vie!! (That's life!! )

all for now ;)
another busy weekend coming up! 100 jours this Friday!! 2 weeks until Greece and 2 weeks to lounge around in the Belgian sun :)

i love life.
Mallory