Weekend in Brussels

My time in Aix has been fairly typical, nothing too out of the ordinary or particularly interesting to mention. I've found some people who I enjoy hanging out with, and who I'm making travel plans with. I feel traveling will help me pass the time here. As such this past weekend I travelled with two friends to Brussels. I had been told that it was a rather boring city but we had a great time. I was oddly surprised at how it actually fit the stereotype of people loving waffles (similar to France actually fitting the stereotype of loving French bread). They actually have waffle stands on the road, and you see people walking around the streets eating their waffles. And I must say, they are some of the tastiest waffles I've ever eaten!

Also, though fries would typically be thought of as French (or perhaps denote "freedom") they actually originated in Belgium as well. So there were probably just as many fry stands as there were waffle stands, and they're served with a little skewer and typically covered in mayo. Again, I must say that they were some tasty tasty fries. And of course they are also famous for their beer and chocolate. So the entire weekend was very food oriented. All the meals were hearty and often greasy, which was a nice change after being on a consistent diet of vegetables and olive oil - which, don't get me wrong, I enjoy immensely. We visited the Magritte museum, a surrealist painter, and probably best known for this piece:

We also saw the EU capital building. We happened to show up right as a protest was being set up for the dairy farms of Europe. They were prepared for it to get violent and had razor wire set up, riot police, water canons, etc. It was pretty intense. Here is a news article on the protest. We left before anything started, and by the looks of the article, it seemed pretty peaceful. In all, it was an enjoyable weekend.

Also, a friend from Gordon, Amy Bither, happened to be visiting France and we met up in Marseilles on Friday. It was really nice to see a familiar face from Gordon, and have some really good discussions (which have been rather lacking here). I feel like it made me even more homesick for Gordon, but it was still a great time nonetheless. We went to the beach, explored the town a bit, and then just hung out at the old port and at a café.

I got the chance to do a lot of reading and reflecting on the train back, and am almost finished with the book My Name is Asher Lev. It's been really good, and given me a lot to think about. I'll probably start some Kierkegaard soon. And I also brought some Dickens with me; maybe this semester I'll finally be able to finish David Copperfield, a book that I've tried to finish since freshman year. In general I spend a lot more time alone than I normally do. Most weeknights I just go back to my house, hang out with my host mom for a bit, watch some french TV with her, and then read for the rest of the evening. It's a good discipline which I've always admired, but never really been able to do. I must say, it's nice, but having substantially less significant and meaningful human interaction like I'm accustomed to has been difficult and rather lonely. But like I said in my previous post, it is teaching me how to stand on my own two legs. I'm just glad that I brought a mini-library with me.