About 4 months ago I remember looking at the calendar that I had received saying all the trips that Central had planned for us. I thought the trip from Belgium was so far away, but before I knew it, it was already here!
On Wednesday, everyone in the Central program hopped on a train to Brussels, Belgium. It was a 2.5 hour train ride. I read my book the whole time and just relaxed because I knew I was going to be on the go a lot for the next 3 days. Once in Brussels, we walked to our hostel and dropped off our bags. Our hostel was on a side street from the main shopping streets—great location. We had time to get some lunch before our first activity. For dessert I had my first Belgian waffle with just chocolate! YUM!
Central had planned for us to go to the U.S. Mission building to meet with a U.S. diplomat; however Vice President Biden was in Brussels visiting the EU Parliament and ruined our plans. The U.S. diplomat came to our hostel and talked to us. He told us what a “normal” day was for him (saying there really is not a normal day) and then we got to ask him questions. It was cool to talk to him, but I was very tired after his presentation.
Time to walk around Brussels. I was surprised how hilly Brussels was. I have become so use to how flat the Netherlands is. Good work out climbing the hills. For some reason Brussels has a famous peeing boy fountain. We went to see it and I was surprised how small it was. You can get a chocolate replica of the peeing boy, a key change, t-shirt, you name it. I then had second Belgian waffle of the day with strawberries, chocolate and whipped cream. That night a group of us went to a bar that hold the world record of the most flavored beers—2,004. I had a strawberry flavored beer and it tasted pretty good. I only had one beer while some had several. One girl got a little out of control and some not so good things happened that night… All is well now.
Everyone, including myself, was very tired Thursday. Someone brought up the fact that I only had exactly 2 weeks from Thursday before I was back in the States. WOW. We did another city tour of Brussels that day. First stop was to a memorial for the unnamed soldiers of Belgium. Some French veterans were there honoring the loss of some of their allied men. We got to see the U.S. Mission building and the Royal Palace, which are on the same block. After climbing a huge hill we arrived to a church and listened to some really nice organ music. Steef gave us 3.5 hours to do whatever we chose before we had to go to the EU Parliament. I had some lunch, another waffle (again with strawberries, chocolate, and whipped cream), did some clothes shopping (got a shirt, t-shirt, and a tank top dress), and bought some lace.
The EU Parliament building is HUGE! Once inside we had a information session. We were informed that we had just missed seeing Vice President Biden because he spoke at the EU meeting that morning. Oh darn. We then got to go into the meeting hall to see where the action happens. Pretty cool. That night some people went out again to the bar. I stayed back and hung out with Melissa. We watched TV, played some games and just relaxed.
Next stop Brugge. Brugge is very lovely and I would live there except there are too many tourists for my liking. We stopped at some wonderful churches and just walked around. I bought some Belgian chocolates to bring home for everyone to try. Before I left Brugge, I had one last Belgian waffle with caramel and whipped cream. I am going to miss those waffles. After a very long train trip, we finally were back in Leiden.
I had a great time in Belgium and hopefully I can go back there someday. I was tired and ready to relax! My days here are coming to an end. Papers are due this week and then time for finals. Please pray that I am able to balance school work with my last to-do lists. Also pray for my travels home—that my flights stay on schedule and for safety. Thanks 
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