J'ai Mal Aux Pieds!!!

Grrr Blogger isn't being dumb and won't let me upload pictures. Regardless. Today was my first full day in Belgium. And I learned a lot!! I spoke much more French than yesterday. I spent pretty much the whole day with my host mom. First, we went to my future school and scheduled my classes. I am going to be starting every day with a French class, and then I have religion, math, science, English, more French, social science, history, geography and physical education (:P). For the first time since like, 6th grade, I am excited for school to start. But school here is very different. We start at 8:25 in the morning and go til about 4:30 on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, we get the afternoons off and on Thursdays and Fridays we finish at 3:40. Also, there are no options for arts classes. Academics and arts are kept totally separate here. But luckily, I will still be able to dance while I'm here :D

After finishing up at the school, we went to a little grocery store on the way home and got things for lunch, which I will talk about in a minute. Then we went home for lunch and I finished up writing some letters. Then the real fun began! My host mom took me to a bigger city in the area called "Huy", which is what I have pictures of. And what we think (in America) is big and what Belgians think is big are two totally different bigs. There were a lot of cute little shops, but nothing like what we're used to in the States. But I have to say, a lot of me likes it better here. Everything is old and cultural. We visited this huge church and it was absolutely gorgeous. The stained glass windows were incredible. There was a little carnival going on too, on the riverside. Yes, there was this big beautiful river that was running through the center of things. Lovely. Then began our search for a post office. We asked three different people and finally the third knew about one. And we found it, bought some stamps and my letters are now on their way to the US! On the way home, we stopped by a different little grocery store to pick up some other things and then it was time to head home for the evening. But this is where it got really good for me. I spoke so much French with my host mom! While we were walking around Huy and in the car and such I tried really hard to speak French. But the real French conversation began once we got home and I started talking to both her and my older host brother. Then he left and the mom was making a pie and I stayed downstairs with her and just talked. And we both learned a lot of new things! Then my host brother came back down and we were talking and eventually I was talking back in English because we were talking about American things and words and such. There were some really funny moments. It's funny how amazed this family is with the word "zucchini". It's like the joke for everything now! Which is cool cause it's like an inside joke with the fam :) And then there was this word that my host brother kept trying to get me to understand but I couldn't and then finally I figured it out and just blurted out, "OH, parking!!" And we laughed for about 5 minutes and even brought it up a couple more times which led to more laughter. My host brothers joke around with me a lot. It's weird. I have a sister, which you know, but no brothers. So it's different. But not bad. It's fun!

Ok so today's food. Oh em gee. Breakfast simply consisted of bread (pain) with Nutella and café au lait. But there is something about Nutella that just makes everything 100% amazing. (If you don't know, Nutella is like this chocolate hazelnut spread that is very common in Europe) Lunch was baguette with ham (jambon) and cheese (fromage) and I put mustard (moutarde) on mine. We had yogurt too. Then I got some Belgian chocolate (:D) in the afternoon and then there was dinner. Zucchini (courgette) stuffed with seasoned meat (viande) over rice (riz) with a tomato (tomate) sauce. YUMMMM! And the pie for dessert. The pie was made from flour (farine), eggs (oeufs), butter (beurre), and a little water (eau). Then she filled it with this little fruit called "mirabelle". It's almost like a grape but it's yellow and has a pit. They are delicious! So she cuts them in half and layers them in there and covers it in sugar and cinnamon and bakes it and WOW is it good. Honestly, the food is rockin'.

So basically today was a great day and I'm happy :) I have letters on the way to my friends and family, I ate great food, learned a lot of French, and had great conversation!! (Lot's of walking. Hence the title) And tomorrow should be even better. Tomorrow I am supposed to go to the administration to get some stuff checked out with my visa and such. Apparently it's standard procedure? Anyways, it's been a good day. My body is even pretty adjusted to the time already, which I didn't expect at all. So it'll be a good night's sleep tonight. Until tomorrow! (A demain!)