Belgium So Far...

I know none of you are used to getting more than one blog update a week, but after my day in Belgium yesterday, I knew I couldn't wait or I would forget all the things I experienced.
I arrived in Antwerp around 11pm on Saturday night after 11 hours on the train. It was an exhausting trip and I spent the last 4 hours next to 10 cyclists who hoped on with their bicycles and almost immediately took off their shoes to let their stinky feet dry out. Yuck! I arrived in Brussels (1 of 4 station stops, very confusing) and hoped on a small train to get to Antwerp. This was clearly the party train of Saturday night because everyone near me was drinking and smoking and they were all very large black men. A little scary, especially because I couldn't understand what they were saying so half the time it sounded like they were going to kill each other, and the other half they were laughing like baboons.
When I arrived in Antwerp I realized that you can't use the pay phones unless you have a phone card that is pre-purchased so I couldn't call Liesbeth's cell phone. It took about a half hour but her mom spotted me and I vaguely recognized her from a distance without my glasses on. Lies and both of her parents were there to greet me. It was a fun drive home with her entertaining dad rambling on about traveling and drinking wine. We got a little lost in the city but I was just thrilled to be with fun people I knew and trusted, and who didn't smoke. We stopped for Belgian fries (of course) on the way to Lies' apartment and when we arrived around midnight we hung out another hour reminiscing about my last visit here about 6 years ago.
Liesbeth has her own apartment in Pulle outside of Antwerp and it is very nice. It has a huge bedroom, separate dining room and office, full kitchen and living room and a washer and dryer. A place like this would be at least $2500+ in Cali. She only pays 450 Euro a month!! Its decorated very cute with furniture she purchased from second hand shops and restored and painted herself. Being here really makes me want to move home and get my own apartment in the city and make it all cute.
Liesbeth had prepared a little bed in the living room which I assumed was for me, but she informed me that I would be staying in her room and she had already moved her things into the living room for the next few days while I would be staying. The hospitality in these countries is unreal. I only hope I can return the same kindness someday soon. When Liesbeth's mom was finally too tired around 1AM, we all said goodnight. I slept for many many hours, and it was much needed.
The next morning Lies had picked up croissants and sugar bread (another Belgian specialty). Then we picked up Lies' boyfriend who speaks no English and we headed out to the small local train station to reserve my ticket back to France. Little did we know there was a triathlon going on and it took over an hour to get there instead of the 15 minutes it should have. Of course when we arrived the man couldn't even help us, but it was an adventure none the less. In fact I saw the headquarters for Duracell batteries, which they are so proud of that there are statues of batteries all over that part of town.
Afterwards we went to Lies' parents house which has been even more remodeled since the last time I was there. Where there used to me piles of dirt in the backyard there is now a deck above a koi fish pond and a huge garden surrounding it. And the already very modern and trendy inside has been redone again with fancy new wallpaper and furniture. I can't seem to get over how great the houses are here. They look so old and unique from the outside but inside they are some of the nicest places ever. I got to see her brothers and their new dog named the "Phonz" (which I found thoroughly amusing), and then we went to her grandparents house down the street. They warned me that the family is very loud and large, and I told them it would be no problem and they would understand if they ever met my family.
Every year in the tiny village of her grandparents there is a little street carnival or "fairy" as they called it. It is about one street block long and all the grandkids go to play the games and ride the 2 little rides. Lies' dad made me shoot the BB guns with him to win a prize. I picked out a stuffed hippo from the movie Madagascar, but since I hated its name, Gloria, I changed it to "Poepenolleke" (poop-en-oll-ekah). This is a name I learned earlier in the day. It is what they call these little candies that look just like Dots but they have a funny design on the top that makes them look like "poop holes" (their words not mine). Lies' grandmother always keeps a jar of them on the coffee table and they think the name is so funny! I thought it would be a funny name for my hippo. While we were there we ate Smoutbollen which are fried balls of dough covered in powdered sugar. It takes like funnel cake but gooeyer, and when you pull them out of the bag you have to blow the powdered sugar all over someone, so I chose Lies' dad but I think he saw it coming.
While the kids kept playing we went and had a beer with Lies' grandfather. I drank Westmalle brown, a very good Belgian beer of course. Lies' grandparents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this week. In Belgium when this happens the mayor comes to your house and gives the couple a present! Isn't that great to reward what we see as such a rare occurrence in the states? We headed back to the house for dinner (finally!!) and we all sat at a long table and ate turkey and mushroom sauce together. Although I couldn't understand everything, I really felt at home with the loud family and good food. And surprisingly I could understand more than I thought. English and Dutch really are very similar; some words are almost exactly the same: milk=melk, thank you=dank u, yes=ja. We even got in a big discussion about movies. We were trying to remember the movie with Tom Hanks and the volleyball. They yelled out Castaway and then Lies' brother said "Oh ya, Spalding! His friend the basketball Spalding!" I had to correct him of course, since it was a volleyball named Wilson, but everyone was laughing pretty hard. They were surprised how much of their conversation I understood.
After dinner they served coffee and they served it with chocolate sprinkles called "Muizenstrotjes". Again, this is not the real name, but it is what they call them and it means "little mouse shits". "Shit" is also the same in English and Dutch, and they use it a lot!
All in all it was a wonderful night spent with her family. It really helps to not be traveling around like crazy, and be able to actually enjoy the people and the culture. This is the part of traveling I really enjoy because you really become a part of how others live. Doing the tourist stuff all the time never lets you feel really integrated.
It is now the next day and I just had another wonderful breakfast of croissant and sugar bread, and we are watching the rain outside. It is a little cold here, but I don't mind too much since its better than Sacramento heat. I wanted to go buy a sweater today since I don't have any clothes for the cold weather, but today is Belgium's National Independence Day so everything is closed. I have now celebrated 3 Independence days in one month! We are going to see the Sex and the City movie in a little while, and then to her uncle's wine shop, which should be really great cause he has done Sommelier courses like I hope to do in the near future. I will write more soon. All my love to everyone at home or wherever else you may be!