Welcome to Barthelona

Well, I have arrived in Barcelona to meet my mom and Becky for our Christmas vacation. Only... my mom and Becky are nowhere to be found. My night went a little something like this:

Upon arriving to Barcelona on a flight that had been delayed about an hour, I expected to find my mom and Becky waiting, since they'd been expecting me earlier. When I didn't see them, I lingered around the airport for a while, and couldn't find them. So I waited a little more...

Eventually I decided they must have resorted to "Plan B," which was us meeting at the apartment. So I followed the directions that Becky had sent me, and easily found my way to our address. Only problem was, you had to have a key to get into even the front door. I hadn't thought of that, and in case you don't know anything about Barcelona, it's not exactly a safe street environment. Their pickpockets are infamous. I went into the shop next door to make sure I had the right street, and he offered me a seat while I waited.

And waited.

He probably hadn't counted on my staying from around 9:30 to 12 when he offered to let me wait in his shop. He was a generous host though, offering me everything in his shop as "his guest." We chatted a little, and he interpreted me saying I was from North Carolina as Canada, so I went with it. We talked about what a nice country Canada is, and I graciously accepted his praise of my adopted home country.

In case you've ever wondered how people who work in these simple little shops, which sell only soda and fruit and other basics, spend their time... it's almost as simple as the shop itself. My new friend started playing with the calculator, and typing in 9 + 9 + 9 + 9 ... + 9 ... + 9. On and on. And then, after that got old, he went from 9 + 9 + 9 to 9 ... - 9 ... - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 I assume all the way back down to 0.

It was an interesting experience, but I was freaking out the entire time about what to do. Finally, the shop needed to close (at 12), so I decided my only option at that point was to get a hotel room. I went to the closest one, and my new friend accompanied me. About 30 minutes after leaving the shop, I got a call to my room. My friend brought my mom back to the hotel, and she wasn't happy about searching for me in the airport the whole time I was waiting at the apartment. We decide that since I'd paid for the room I might as well sleep in it, so I'll meet up with them tomorrow.

It was a ridiculous night, but all in all it turned out to be ok. I just wanted to share this tidbit, and I will update again when I get a chance. I hope everyone has a

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Snow Delays

We got so much snow overnight and today that everything is delayed- buses, trains, airplanes. It's times like these learning a little Dutch would have come in handy for all the announcements...

And now I get to literally trudge through exams

Hasselt, Belgium

I spent this past weekend at my Belgian friend Véronique's house, in a small town called Lummen. Me and the other girls that went were very excited for the visit... The main reason being: Véronique is obsessed with a certain Belgian beer and everything that goes along with it. This beer is called Duvel, and when she isn't talking about the beer, she is raving about the "Duvel Club" in Hasselt, Belgium, and has shown me her membership card many times. After so much hype, I was sure the actual Duvel Club wouldn't live up to our high expectations. Turns out, it did! It wasn't what I expected, but turned out to be a really cute tiny Belgian pub.

Translates to something like "here we don't speak badly of Duvel"

The weekend was full of activity, and we also managed to visit Antwerp and Brussels while there. It was cool to see the local side of Belgium, with someone who knew what was going on to lead us around. Also, Hasselt and Lummen are much smaller towns that you wouldn't necessarily seek out, but have a lot of character.

The other main purpose for our visit was a huge techno concert in Hasselt, called Soulwaxmas. It featured Soulwax as well as other DJs in a huge venue. It was unlike anything you would ever experience in the US, and not really my type of "concert," but definitely worth seeing once.

We packed a lot of Belgium into three days, but it was a lot of fun. We managed to squeeze in a lot of sights, experienced some of the typically Belgian foods for the first time (namely fries and waffles), and finally went to the Duvel Club. Now I just have to get through one more week of school, to finish up exams and essays, before Christmas!

Hasselt Christmas market

Jenever - at the Christmas market

Friends, with all different jenever flavors

Belgian waffles

Soulwaxmas

Soulwaxmas finale

big square in Brussels

Dank je Sinterklaas

In honor of Sinterklaas' birthday today, I thought I'd share a few of the things that I've collected related to this strange holiday. In case you can't remember what all the fuss is about, I have mentioned it in a previous post. Here are some things seen around town to give you an idea:

Google today - because Sinterklaas puts presents in children's shoes. The first picture was this morning, empty... and the second is tonight's after Sinterklaas filled all the shoes with presents! When you click Google, it leads you to...

Sinterklaas kapoentje- the holiday song


Sinterklaas kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!


Sinterklaasje bonne bonne bonne,
Gooi wat in mijn lege lege tonne,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!

The only part I can translate, with the help of Google, goes:

Sinterklaas Kapoentje,

Throw something in my shoe,

Throw something in my boot,

Thank you, Sinterklaas!

In my last post about Sinterklaas, Ella commented asking if the people running around in blackface were related to the myth of Zwarte Piet, the helper who goes down the chimney to put presents in children's shoes, turning him black. I didn't realize then that this actually is the exact same in the Netherlands. 

There's (understandably) a lot of debate about "Black Pete" and whether or not it is racist. There's even talk of whether Zwarte Piet distorts Dutch children's image of black people. This doesn't stop him from turning up everywhere and handing out plenty of pepernoten, little gingerbread cookies. I've seen him everywhere, from the bus to on top of a zamboni at a hockey game. 

First Snow

The temperatures have definitely dropped over here. The "feels like" temperature for yesterday morning was -15 degrees Celsius. It was unbearably cold outside- so cold, that one of my friends went to unlock her bike and the key snapped inside the lock. Which meant her normally 10 minute bike ride turned into a 30 minute walk in conditions that snap metal. The good thing about these temperatures is SNOW! What was previously constant rain is now constant flurries, which puts me in a much better mood. 

Leiden

Beach by my house

It's been funny talking to other exchange students about the snow... a lot of them haven't ever seen snow. One of my friends from Cyprus is included in this group, and he just stands outside staring into the air in awe of it. Luckily for them it seems like there is plenty more to come. I'm just waiting for the canals to freeze over so I can ice skate on them and the pond in front of the Parliament building! I'm sure I'll have some more snowy pictures of Leiden to share soon.