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