gent. is. amazing.

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we needed a break from the big cities. and gent was perfect. we were welcomed by lovely sisters jolien and cynthia. very friendly. perfect english. and of course they speak dutch and french as well. jolien showed us around her house, a lovely retro place. fleamarket finds in every nook. but tastefully put together. eclectic. i can see my place looking like this. she has an attic and a basement, a water closet. a BACKYARD. now that's a change from paris.
her beautiful cats alain and dalida. a famous french duet sung by the two. alain currently purring my lap. he's a handful.
our first full day jolien took us to the museum she once worked in. gave us a full-on tour. it was a great introduction to belgium, the peculiar traditions of its people. i want to tell you a few. the museum was set up in a way that went through the stages of a man's life. and it began with death. sort of a chronological theme but arranged in such a way that it coupled with eras. does that make sense? because death was so prevalent early in belgium's history... wars and plagues and such... the museum began with death. and there was a giant coffin in the middle of the place. anyways. just thought that was interesting for you future curators. be creative.
so the belgian men used to smoke pipes with little heads on them, pointing out their political affiliations and whether or not they were available for marriage (so the women could hit them up... they were called Jacob men). women wore black dresses to the wedding. because their feelings were so suppressed, they used to play games with their feet, affix stamps a certain way, and handle each other's gloves to express their feelings for one another. i will tell you more once i get a hold of the pictures we took

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