Belgium called loudly and we answered with vigor!!! We ate, drank and were very merry!

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Belgium called loudly and we answered with vigor!!! We ate, drank and were very merry!

We had every intention to visit Ghent, Antwerp and Bruges, while in Belgium. After all, the country is small and the train provides great, easy transportation throughout. Our hub was to be Brussels, and we booked our stay at the Stephanie Home Suites hotel. We had read several blogs about Belgium and were ready with our busy agenda, intent on seeing it all, drinking the beer, and eating the waffles and chocolate for which Belgium is so famed. Maybe it is the fact that we are Moroccan now and we have learned the skill (and it really is a skill) of being on a “no plan” plan, or maybe it was the unexpected wonderfulness of one of our now favorite places, or maybe we were just hungry for an adventure in a country that offers more of the conveniences of the US. Whatever the reason, we came to love the city of Brussels so much, that we did not find the need to travel from it, and we didn’t even eat the waffles.

A month or so before Ramadan started, we decided to plan a European adventure for two weeks into it. Being in Morocco, we knew that Ramadan would give us a truly new and unique cultural experience in this 99% Muslim country. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of the religion of Islam, so it is not optional and is one of the most important commitments to being close to God. During Ramadan, Muslims fast (no food, water, smoking, gum chewing, cussing or sex) from sunup to sundown. This year, the number of hours from sunup to sundown is the longest in the last 30 years. The time of Ramadan during the year depends upon the lunar calendar, so where it falls in the calendar is different each year. On top of that, it is very hot. Summer here means bright, unforgiving sun and we are told that it does not rain until October. Good for laundry, bad for personal hydration. We wanted to experience what our community experiences, so we opted to follow the custom of fasting until we left Morocco for Europe. All we can say is that it is really hard to stick to it (especially for a non-Muslim without the same religious commitment), and so easy to see why there is less motivation to get up early in the morning, and go about the usual activities of one’s day. Nothing has happened in our town until at least noon during Ramadan. Even bread is not available to buy until about 4 pm. This situation also means that our work here is slow and on the good side of that, it provided us a great time for us to travel with no impact on our mission here.

Why Belgium? It’s hard to say really, but it had to do with multiple factors, the biggest was traveling. We had decided on Belgium after we looked at the cheaper airline options, flying out of Tangier (the closest airport to us). We looked for places that were cheap to fly to, plain and simple. Ryan Air offers a few flight options and Belgium sounded intriguing, plus, neither of us had ever been there (our other choices were to Dusseldorf, Germany and Paris and Marsailles, France which may be in our future). Once our vacation was approved by Peace Corps in writing (yes, we do have accountability now and it is strange not to be our own bosses anymore), we bought a rolley suitcase to meet the Ryan Air strict dimensions and weight standards. It cost $10 at our local souk market (which Clay bargained down from its original $14 price!). We packed lightly, knowing we might bring back some goodies.

We boarded the train to Tangier. The 1 ½ hour trip does not seem so long as it used to. When we arrived, we got a grand taxi to the airport. We have been in a grand taxi twice in the big city of Tangier, and by some freak of nature, we got the same driver we had had on one of those occasions. Tangier has now provided us several Twilight Zone encounters with people.

Our flight was enjoyable and our attendants were from Spain, Morocco and Poland and all males. It is interesting to note that English is the language most spoken on these international flights, because it is the most common to people. Announcements were in Arabic, French and English. It is not at all weird now to think about how the U.S. has many things provided in both Spanish and English. The rest of the world has been doing this for a long time. It is also interesting to note that most of the world seems to think it normal to learn two, three or even four languages. We cannot even imagine the advantages that would be provided to our youth in the U.S. if they did the same. As an aside, it was interesting to note that where we had the usual fun but challenging struggle with not knowing the language in Belgium (Flemish), we realized just how much we can communicate in Moroccan Arabic! The Arabic words came so naturally in our heads, but were useless in Belgium.

We landed in Charleroi, Belgium, the closest airport to Brussels and got a taxi to the train station. It was immediately apparent just how much more things cost in Belgium than at home in Morocco (Euro used in Brussels). There is certainly a direct correlation between a society’s conveniences and money. The train to Brussels was super easy to figure out and different from Morocco. For instance, the train actually announces the stops and has an electronic sign inside the train that flashing where you are and the next couple of stops as well… very, very nice.

Our hotel room was a two room apartment with an incredible layout. We realized how much we have changed, when we both liked the apartment enough to say we could actually live there. The amount of room we perceive we need to live in, has drastically changed since living in Morocco and we are strangely used to being in each other’s faces now. We were also excited to have a kitchen so that we could have fun with local ingredients. What we did not know was just how completely wonderful the food, and the choices of food, would be in Brussels. Each day we did research to find the perfect place to eat lunch out. We generally will eat lunch out while on a trip and eat a picnic for dinner (this makes much economical, sense).

We ended up ditching the other cities we had planned to visit and staying in Brussels. We had nice weather with a cool breeze. There was so much to see and do. We walked at least four miles every day, in both the touristy and non-touristy areas. Brussels is a VERY walk-friendly city and cars actually stop so that you can cross the streets in the cross-walk, no walking man flashing signs needed. We ate bacon and drank wine. We had a slow cooked ham shank and fresh lobster. We had foie gras and drank some beer. We had fresh mushrooms (we have seen no mushrooms in Morocco)!! We saw the Grand Place and the Mannekin Pis (which is a famous little boy peeing statue). We had a Chinese massage in Belgium (with Clay having to COMPLETELY disrobe right in front of his and my female masseuses). We met several cool people and they were so happy when we complimented them on their beautiful city. Clay got to see women in short shorts rather than robes. Ann had a big bathtub. We smiled and laughed. We were able to hold hands in public. We tasted the most wonderful chocolate and their advertising about it is NOT hype. We brought some home to brighten a day when we might need it.

When we arrived at the airport to leave for Morocco, although it was a rough 5 a.m. after not sleeping well the night before because the hotel AC was broken, we immediately felt at home hearing Arabic from the people who would be getting on the plane with us. Women in robes and head scarves do not seem foreign to us anymore. We recognize that we are not just acclimated to our new home, but in fact, comfortable. Belgium was wonderful, but Morocco is home now. Since we have been back, we have purposefully discussed our love of its uniqueness, from the attentiveness to strong traditions, to the donkey poop on the streets, to the butcher whose eyes light up when he sees us coming, to the simple way of life, and to the love of the friends we have made. There are those conveniences of the U.S. that we certainly miss (that were also available to us in Belgium), but the richness of this Moroccan experience has been, and continues to be... priceless.



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Photos

The famous statue of "Manneken Pis"
which literally means Little Man Pee in Marols, a Dutch dialect spoken in Brussels

Famous Belgian fries are fantastic!
We can't explain this creepy fry guy... but I made Ann take a picture with him! LOL!