Leaving

I spent the last two days in Brussels numb. Numb because I allowed my heart to freeze rather than feel the pain. I did not want to leave. It was a hard week of goodbyes.  My closest friend and I planned to fill the weekend with the things we hadn’t done. But we spent most…

Look inside

I am still in the thick of study abroad. Only a month to go. But when I look at how much I accomplished in the first month of my studies, it doesn’t look so short. Living in Belgium has taught me so many things. Here is the spiritual update. I have questioned God and been…

Autumn

I know that it is Autumn. I have been looking forward to a cold Christmas. I’ve told myself 100 times that I will get two winters this year and so miss Spring… But my brain doesn’t understand. I am looking for the new flowers. My church choir started practicing Christmas carols and all the songs…

Friends from a different land

Tonight I went to help give food and clothing to refugees at one of the trains stations. It’s called Food4Friends, cause it doesn’t matter why they came here, they are people who need friends and food. The refugees arrive at this station and then have no where to go. I met a man who had…

Partying Studying

The weekend before midterms. How is it the middle of the semester already? My host family all abdicated the house. So two of my friends came over Friday night, bringing study snacks and brownie cake for desert, while I manned the dinner. We chatted and slept very deeply. 8am this morning, it was up for…

If you are wondering….

Life in Brussels has engulfed me. I have fallen in love with the city (predictable, I know, but it really is wonderful). Here is a synopsis of my first four weeks in my new home spread over two posts. Week 1: I arrived. The first three trains that could have taken me to my new…

Trains and bookstores

Today I caught a train in Brussels. Everyone said I never would. So, of course, I should. The vines hung down the stone walls like goo seeping towards the shower drain. Drawn by an invisible force – the chasm through the heart of the city, from which the city cannot be seen, what the city…

Days without rain

This is Belgium. This is Brussels. This is my uni. This is my home. The two and a half weeks have been magical. I have not written sooner because at the end of the first week it felt like I had only been here two days. The week went slower, but still I feel like…

Decisions

The long story short had to come to an end yesterday. Last Friday, I had the interview with Make Mothers Matter. It was a much more formal interview in comparison with Serve the City. What an incredible organisation! I heard their challenges, successes (such as getting an amendment approved by the government a few weeks…

Long story short

Yesterday the reality of going to uni in Brussels began. I had an interview with a lady from Serve the City, one of the options for the internship I hope to undertake as one of my classes. It was a very relaxed interview as she was an intern herself! It is a crazily cool charity…

This is my city

We spent the day in Brussels. I already feel like I own the city. We went on a Viva Brussels walking tour (I highly recommend them), hearing the local legends, seeing the important sights and overlooking the city centre from some high streets. A drinks brand were giving out free soft drinks in the park…