Blogs from Leuven, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, Europe - page 2

Well after Wilm and I retired for the night, I had this plan where I would awaken at 7, grab breakfast with the other Hostel patrons, and head out to see the city. Wilm was going to wake me before he went to work and I was going to use the facilities after he was done. However, that plan fell apart when Wilm decided to call an audible and take the day off. I overslept and barely made it out of the room in time. Starving, I hit the streets and came across my first taste of Belgian waffles and yes they are everything they are cracked up to be. Picture a fluffy waffle that you eat like a sandwich with a crunchy sugary shell. You can opt to add chocolate or fruit to the treat ... read more

Well after our eventful afternoon in Brussels we hopped on the metro and landed in Mike’s home city of Leuven known for its University and the home town favorite brew of Stella Artois. We took a short tour of the city where I familiarized myself with the culture and surroundings and after a successful day I retired to the hostel... The hostel was everything I thought it was and more. As we entered the complex we were greeted by a Flemish hostess - for the lack of a better term - as the word hostess is too good for what she provided. Think of a person who handed me a sheet and key in a deep Dutch accent. As I arrived to the room it was empty, I threw my belongings into the locker and relaxed ... read more

4 Dagen voor vertrek Jambo, Karibu! Deze blog is om de geïnteresseerde op de hoogte te houden van de avonturen in Tanzania! Er wordt geprobeerd wekelijks/tweewekelijks iets te posten zodat jullie allemaal kunnen meegenieten. De komende 3 maanden gaan Bernd en ik ons laten onderdompelen in een nieuwe cultuur, de pest bestrijden en hopelijk data verzamelen om een pracht van een thesis te schrijven! Een sprong in het onbekende. 3 2 1 Weg zijn we... ... read more

+ J.M.J.T. Dear family and friends, Tomorrow morning I leave for LONDON! with my friend Astrid from school. Astrid's dad lives in London and we are going to stay with him. I am going to be there until Thursday afternoon; then I leave Friday morning for Paris with my host family. Needless to say, I am sooooo excited!!!!!! Remember those days, dear family, when all I would do all day was mope around the house, clean if I was in a nice mood, read a book, go on the computer, and complain that my life was boring? Remember, too, the idea that "when God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." And God showed me that I wasn't meant to be an actress (except perhaps in community theatre) or a whiny youth forever, but a ... read more

Beste familie en vrienden/Dear family and friends: One of the nice bonuses to this exchange is having the opportunity to do things like catch up on my reading and exercise for fun--things I didn´t have the time or motivation to do last year. I have read Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, the 2nd and 3rd Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books by Ann Brasheres, Adrian Mole: The Lost Years by Sue Townsend, Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman (I don´t know if that´s been published in America) and I´m in the middle of The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Our school library has an extensive English section, for which I am very grateful. As for the exercising, well, I have been taking very fun group figure skating lessons once a week at a rink nearby. We ... read more