Un Peu De Lady Gaga Pour Ma Vie

Alors... Ça fait super longtemps depuis j'ai fait un post en français, et franchement, je vois ça et je vois toutes mes fautes et ça ne va pas. Alors, il faut que je fasse au moins encore un avant de partir la Belgique.

Comme toujours, il n'y avait pas de grandes choses qui se passaient hier ou aujourd'hui. Hier, je me suis réveillée super tard (11h30!! Oh mon Dieu!), j'ai mangé avec ma famille, et puis je suis partie en vélo pendant deux heures et demi. Il faisait beau, mais j'avais l'impression que j'allais contre le vent, malgré le direction. Je suis allée de Cras Avernas jusqu'à Hannut, j'ai fait un tour d'Hannut, puis j'ai fait tout le trajet jusqu'à Landen. Je ne sais même pas comment j'ai fait, comme c'est loin et pas super plat, mais je n'ai rien fait à pied. Je suis hyper fière de moi! En plus, j'ai tout fait accompagnée par Lady Gaga. Son nouvel album, "Born This Way", est génial! C'est un peu un mélange de Madonna, les années 80s, et du pop moderne. Je l'adore!!! Finalement, mon aventure a pris assez de temps pour écouter deux fois et demi l'album. Ça a mesuré 31 km (19.5 miles). Maintenant, j'hésite pas à dire que j'ai mal partout et je peux surement tout sentir dans mes cuisses et mes fesses. Mais c'est bien! Ça veut dire que je deviens plus forte!

Grâce à mon vélo, j'étais totalement crevée hier soir et j'ai presque rien fait. J'ai mangé avec la famille et j'ai fait un peu du Skype. Mais c'est tout.

Aujourd'hui n'était rien de spécial, comme d'habitude. L'école, et c'est presque tout. On avait les dernières deux heures de gym de l'année et on a fait du "baseball". Pas exactement comme le baseball aux States, mais bon. On s'est bien amusé! Et Lady Gaga restait dans ma tête toute la journée. J'ai chanté et dansé dans les couloirs en plein de bonne humeur! En plus il faisait méga beau aujourd'hui! Je crois bien que tout le monde pense que je suis un peu folle... Mais c'est vrai, je suis un peu folle. Pensez ça si vous voulez. C'est plus amusant comme ça.

Ce soir j'ai mangé avec ma famille et puis après, j'ai gouté une "boule de Berlin". Ça veut dire simplement un donut avec de la crème dedans. Et c'est super super bon. Avec plein plein plein de calories. Comme Manon dit, "La vie est rempli de calories". J'essaie vraiment de faire régime mais c'est plus en plus évident que c'est impossible en Belgique, surtout dans ma famille pour l'instant... Mais je profite, hein? C'est ça que je me dis tout le temps comme excuse pour mes habitudes de manger ici...

Vous savez quoi? J'ai super mal au dos... C'est pas du tout bien.

Ce soir je dors chez Talia parce que demain c'est notre aventure à Anvers! Je sais pas attendre, même s'il va pleuvoir. J'ai trop envie de voir la ville! J'ai congé pour la reste de la semaine en plus, alors pour ça, je suis contente.

Je pense que j'ai oublié une grande quelque chose, mais je sais pas quoi dire... Bref, c'est pas grave. Si je me souviens, vous allez vite savoir :) Bonne nuit tout le monde !

My Bike Ride Through Belgium

Today, since I was feeling a little nostalgic about home, I decided that it would be a good idea to just get away from everyone for a while. So I took the opportunity to bike the 14 kilometers Hannut, and take pictures along the way for all of you out there to enjoy.

I see this shack all the time because it is at the end of my run. I think it is interesting because I have no idea who it belongs to. It is not in a yard. It is just in the middle of the grass, with broken windows and no door.

I don't really know what it is about it... I liked this view.

Is this creepy? I don't really care. I think it's really sweet that everyone hangs their clothes out to dry :)

Cows. Everywhere. That's not an exaggeration.

This was the first thing that I came across that I thought was really picturesque. And there are nice bridges like this all over. And I had only been riding for about 10 minutes! There is a path that extends all over the place, sort of like the Metroparks Parkway at home.
Belgian graffiti. I just thought it was interesting.
My bike. Obviously. That little rack on the back is probably one of the most convenient things ever.
The interesting thing about Belgium: I'll be riding through forest that is so thick you cannot see past the first layer of foliage, and then out of nowhere comes a wide open field like this one. They are pretty in an organic, country-side sort of way.
The other interesting thing... One side can be like that, but then other can be the greenest grass you have ever seen... With the occasional animal taking an evening snack.
The sunset was gorgeous tonight. The sky was blue and the sun was shining so brightly, filling the air with warm light. But the few clouds that powdered the sky just made it perfect.
I don't know why, but it's just so calming. Granted, living in a little tiny town is difficult, and I prefer the big city, but riding through this today was exactly what I needed.
After a few more kilometers of trees and pretty green, there was more field. But this one was even more open, and something about those colors was just incredible... Almost surreal. It was like being in one of those movies where crop circles happen and aliens invade the small, unsuspecting town... For some reason that image intrigued me.
The colors... Oh my gosh incredible.
That sky with the dark clouds and the yellow field... It was the weirdest, coolest color combination...
That's me.
The sun continues to set...
Another cool thing: yes there is field and grass, but if you look just beyond what your eyes can easily see, you notice something else. More of a sign of life... A village. With a church and houses and buildings. And you know that there are people there and you are not alone in the big, vacant, open fields.

Hannut. I made it. 14 kilometers! Which is really nothing... In the States, I went 25 or 30 miles with my buddies. Again, just look at those colors...

I love how people just randomly have horses and cows and other animals in their yards...
The path extends forever. But this is where I stopped to turn around, deciding that it was time to head home, as it was about to become nightfall.
After looking at the quaint houses, I decided that it was time to go back. Next time, I will venture further into the city. The ride back was nice because it just got a little bit darker every couple minutes and I just enjoyed the wind in my face and the beautiful weather. It was warm, but not too hot and the sun was keeping everything just right.

What really made the ride special, though, was my music. I had my iPod going and you know how people always say that life would better with a soundtrack? It's so true. I decided to listen to all of the new music that I have added since I have gotten here. Which wasn't much and the majority of it is in English. But the mix was great because some songs were nice and slow and contemplative, letting me really soak in what was around me, while others were upbeat and gave me a burst of freedom and energy. Here is my playlist:

1. We No Speak Americano - Yolanda Be Cool

2. Here It Goes Again - Ok Go

3. Stop For A Minute - Keane

4. Mad World - Gary Jules

5. Alors On Danse - Stromae

6. The Day I Died - Just Jack

7. Me & My Guitar - Tom Dice

8. Allez! Ola! Olé! - Jesse Matador

9. Sky And Sand - Paul Kalkbrenner

10. Human - The Killers

11. Waka Waka - Shakira

I have to say, this ride was so freeing. To be able to just go and go and not worry about anything... Just the path ahead. I felt so alive today. That may sound corny, and weird. I mean, it's just a bike ride, right? But it was exactly what I needed. I let go of all inhibitions. At one point (and this is kind of embarrassing now that I think about it...) "Waka Waka" came on, and I don't know what it was... Maybe the combination of the sun and the empty field around me and those colors all just flooding my brain... But when that song came on, I listened to the lyrics and I was just so empowered by it for some reason, I just let loose. I pedaled as fast as I could and threw my head back, singing and dancing on my bicycle as I sped through the deserted landscape. I felt, like I said, so free.

How lame does that sound? But it was great. Today seems to be all about freedom...

(P.S. That feeling kind of died when I wiped out about 30 seconds from my house... I skinned up my knee pretty bad. Whoops!)

Day 3 Is Exercise Day?

Today I woke up to the sound of a rooster "cockadoodledoo-ing" for the second day in a row, no joke. And I decided today that I would be good and go for a run. So I ran on this nice little path outside the house. I have no idea how far I went, but my host brother says it was about 5 kilometers which is roughly 3 miles. I say that's not bad considering I swear I could hear my body saying "Why are you trying to make me run at 4:30 in the morning??" You see, it was that time in the States, and my body is not completely adjusted yet. Then I took a shower, changed, and made myself some breakfast: Nutella sandwich. Yummm.

But then I had nothing to do... And when I have nothing to do I think. And when I think, bad things happen. Ha not really. But it definitely started to get rough and I began thinking about how much I miss my parents and family and friends, and I got a little upset, but I didn't cry! Kudos to me! That's when I decided it was time to do something productive. So I pulled open my lovely SLR camera (Canon T1i, fabulous) and did some picture taking. I took pictures of the house, the garden, the garage, the kitchen, all kinds of things (some really awesome edited ones are on my photography blog, check it out!) And perfect timing, that is when my host mom came home and we all had lunch together. That was followed by some quiet reading in the garden (cute, right?) and then the main event of the day: bicycle riding. My host mom went with me down the same path that I ran this morning, but we went much farther, into different cities and took the roads back home. Everyone is Belgium is so kind and friendly! Everyone that we passed greeted us with "Bonjour!" and a smile :) Belgium really is beautiful. Where I am staying, Fumal, is much more rural than what I am used to, but all the greenery is just lovely. There was a point where we were on top of a hill looking over the small town, with the trees and the hills... Oh how I wish I had a camera at that point... It was wonderful.

When we returned, we drank milk. The reason I bring this up is because it's very different here... Milk is not refrigerated until you open it. Which I find weird and I'm not sure I like it... Because when you first open a new bottle, obviously the milk is room temperature... Yuck. And it's not like in the States where there is skim, 1%, 2%, and whole. Here the milk we drink is "half-creme". Which means that there is less fat in it... But I don't think it's comparable to 1 or 2% because it's still quite thick and creamy... But it tastes ok when it's cold :)

I attempted to drink wine at dinner with the family today... It didn't go well. I don't know, I just don't drink! I don't like it and I am sorry, but I can't help it... Oye :/ By the way, we had zucchini soup for dinner. They really are completely taken with this whole zucchini thing...

This evening, my host brother and I spent a lot of time comparing music. It was a lot of fun because I learned about a lot of new bands. But it's very interesting, because the majority of Belgian bands sing in English. And A LOT of the music that he had was American. Actually, almost all the music I have heard here has been American music. Like Rihanna's "Umbrella" and such... C'est interessant!

I know I've been posting a lot these last few days, but everything is so new!! There's much to tell :)