First Blog of Europe

Tomorrow will be a week since I landed in Brussels, Belgium. It is crazy that I am actually here. After a year of planning and anticipating, I am here, and it feels really good. It was nice to land to a familiar face. One of my best friends, Chrissy Pepino picked me up in Brussels. Her and her host family has been so welcoming and gracious in allowing me to spend the last, and next week with them. I think that my emotions and fears would have been a lot higher had I landed to all new scenery.

With that said, leaving the states was hard. I had such an amazing holiday season in Boise, ID with my wonderful family and friends. I miss them a lot but know that every minute apart strengthens the bonds that already exist. The distance and time spent apart only makes the next visit even more exciting. Jenn, Mike, Mara, and Beth – I will see you in VEGAS! That’ll be a blast.

I miss my sister Francine; I had a lot of fun hanging out with her for almost three weeks. I hope my Flagstaff friends have a great time this semester and love all the wonderful snow that is being dumped on them this week. Snow is one thing that I do not miss.

I really enjoyed my time in D.C. even though it was cold and snowy. It was great to see James Atwater and Amy Liedy; two lifelong friends that will be in my life forever. Amy was so patient to put up with me for almost a week. I miss you a ton Amy, and I can’t wait to catch up in August on my return!

My original flight to Belgium was set for Tuesday, January 12, 2010. But because of bad weather in the U.K., my flight was canceled the Friday before. I was able to reschedule for a flight the following day from BWI Airport at 9pm. The flight was 7 hours, and thanks to Ambien, I slept the whole way. I arrived in London Heathrow at 12:15pm on Thursday, January 14, 2010. After a three-hour layover and an hour delay, I boarded the two-hour flight to Brussels.

Currently, I am staying with Chrissy on an estate that is situated next to a castle where the Prince of Zimbabwe lives. The grounds are home to a bird sanctuary and there is stream that runs through the estate. I can only imagine what spring and summer looks like on these beautiful and lush grounds.

The week I have spent in Brussels has been about relaxation and just going with the flow of things. For all of you who know me, this is something that I rarely afford myself. So far, In Belgium, I’ve traveled to Leuven (home of Stella Artois), Brussels, and Tervuren. In Tervuren, I went to Belgium’s Royal Museum for Central Africa. This museum had a lot of interesting exhibits. I really enjoyed the one dedicated to the artifacts of the Congo and the exhibit regarding all the animals, species, and plant life of the Congo.

The second exhibit, dedicated to the colonization of Africa, I found fascinating and

disturbing at the same time. The start of the exhibit provides a disclaimer that the story of colonization is told from two perspectives – both the Belgium and Congolese points of view.

The Belgium point of view is that colonization was a good thing and that bringing religion into an already sustaining society brought education, literacy, and a larger population. Through the sixty-year history of colonization in the Congo, it is known that this religious education did bring the benefit of literacy, but at the same time left a country impoverished and without the tools to survive after being removed from Belgian rule in the 1960’s. It was an interesting experience to read this sort of propaganda while inside of the museum. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my visit and the beautiful park that surrounds.

As far as my plans from here, I have officially booked my first solo trip. Next Tuesday, January 26, 2010, I am heading to Barcelona, Spain!!! I will be there through Saturday, January 30, 2010. I am planning on spending Wednesday taking walking tours during the day and doing a pub-crawl at night. On Thursday, I am going to take a train down to Montseratt, Spain. Montseratt is a mountain top monastery! I can access the monastery by cable car up the side of the mountain or through a train that runs through the town. I think I will go up on the train and take the cable car down. Friday, I plan to take a train down the eastern coast of Spain. I’ll stop along the way to get pictures and take in the beauty that is the Mediterranean Sea.

On Saturday the 30th, I arrive in Brussels at 2:45pm and Chrissy and I will be off to Ghent, Belgium for a party. Sunday, the 30^th, I will take a bus up to Amsterdam and meet up with Brittany, a girl from NAU, who is also studying in Groningen. Monday, February 1^st, I will head up to Groningen and move in to place. I am most excited to move in. It is going to be so nice to have a place to set all my stuff down after almost two months of couch surfing. As much as I have loved bouncing around, I am going to be grateful of my own space.

Now that I have filled all my friends and family in with my plans, I am going to sign off of this entry. I love and miss you all and can’t wait to reconnect upon my return.