Once Upon a Time...

And so it begins! Daniel, Nancy, Victoria and I are here in Brussels staying in a temporary business flat (fancy word for tiny hotel room with a little kitchen with a dishwasher otherwise known as Afton and housekeeping only when officially requested---playdough + no vacuum + European carpets = bad idea).

I will try to just hit the highlights as I don't want to bore anybody. Daniel is enjoying his new job....though it is more in Dutch then in French. But as expected everyone speaks English so he is ok, just not able to practice as much French as he thought, but that seems to be dependent on the day so we will see. I on the other hand get lots of practice! After five years of studying French the only thing left post Spanish-speaking mission and two pregnancies is a somewhat fabulous accent...thus everyone THINKS I speak French and do things like keep speaking even though it all sounds like gibberish to me and assign me a Primary lesson next week in church after speaking to me for two minutes. But at least they don't switch to English, so I am very slowly learning little by little.

We found an apartment, more on that when we have pictures of it to post. So I’ll just end with some fun cultural differences I’ve noticed. Basic assessment: you can do just about anything you can do in the states and find just about anything you can find in the states, but it will either take you about twice as long or cost you twice as much. There are two exceptions. I cannot find minced onions, though there are ten varieties (no exaggeration) of ground garlic with varying degrees of how ground it is. I did find fried minced onions…ironically in the “American” section of the store, though I’ve never seen anything like it in the states. The second, I have found nothing remotely close to a Jo-Anne’s, not even an itty bitty mini version. A friend said there is somewhere for some scrapbooking and a couple of places with a small selection of fabric, but that is it. However, there are also a few things that are easier and cheaper here or not found in the states, usually involving travel or some form of hazelnut heavy chocolate.

Other interesting notes: Stores are only open until 6, maybe 7:30 for a couple and often closed 2-3 days a week (including restaurants). At least that is what I am assuming, because right now ¼-1/2 of all stores are closed for vacation, from July 27th-August 28th or so…according to the signs, “Aubien-tot!” Some people ignore me completely, and others (especially older ladies) will come into the laundry mat just to admire my girls. The one there found out I was from America and said, “wow, how different. It is so much bigger there,” and she motioned making a tall building with her hand. If she was referring to how spread out it or size of items, she would be right. But coming from Idaho the fact that I’ve only seen a few buildings under seven stories tall since I got here I feel Brussels may be a tad bit bigger. And the only way to tell where one of those buildings ends and the next beginnings is because the brick changes color…no alleys or yards or anything. But I’m also more in the city, we’ll have to explore suburbia.

Families here are small, average two kids and I’ve seen maybe three native families with more. There are many parks, but more for adults. But when there are play places for kids they are fenced in and very safe, though I don’t see why they need to be because the apartments themselves are like toddler death traps with the wide opening windows with no screens or bars and the psychotically suicidal stairs that are ridiculously steep, windy and narrow…the railings if there are any are straight up and down! So no sleep for me for a couple of years…or some very creative window locks!

So I’ll end with a Nancy-ism. I shaved my legs and told Daniel, “Well, I guess I’m not very European,” and Daniel says, “no, not European.” And Nancy, mid diaper change, says, “I’m not “pe-an! You’re changing my diaper. Mommy, are “you-a-pean?” When potty training and world travel collide!

Check out my other post for a few pictures!
Until next time! (which should be shorter!)

Afton