more than waffles: spring....there it is!

Hello, world. First off, it's been a while! These past few weeks have been nothing but great and filled with new things. This post will just be a giant blob of end-of-winter/spring madness. March wasn't the most exciting month, but I did little things here and there that were a lot of fun. For example, I went to a concert with my friend Callie, went to some nice restaurants with my host family, went on some walks, etc. I also took two exams right before Easter break and I got back an Easter report card, which is one thing that is kind of different in Belgium than in the United States. Weather-wise, March was a very cold month. It almost felt like we were stuck in February. In the beginning of the month, we even got about 8 inches of snow, so that was a little depressing. It's been a long winter to say the least! But the warmer weather is slowly approaching, and we are all waiting attentively for it!
April has been (and is continuing to be) one of my most favorite months so far in Belgium. At the beginning of the break, I got to travel to Paris for my first time! What's even better is that my sister came with me. My sister Lindsay lives in Oslo, Norway, so she flew down to Brussels to visit me in Belgium. She visited me at my host family's house, we ate a traditional Belgian meal (meatballs from Liège) and then we headed on our way! I showed her around Namur and we climbed the citadelle to get a better view of the city. After that, we headed to Brussels for a night. We visited some of the famous spots, like La Grande Place, ate some traditional Belgian food, and had a great time. We stayed at a youth hostile (even though we had a bit of trouble finding it), which was my first time doing so. The next day, we took a coach bus to Paris. Once you're in Europe, it's fairly easy to travel around for a low cost, so I had to take advantage of that this year! In Paris, we visited quite a lot! For example, the Eiffel Tower (of course), Notre Dame, Montmartre and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica (my personal favorite) and the Louvre Museum. Paris is a recommendable city and I hope that you will one day have the chance to visit it!
This past week, my second week of Easter vacation, I went to the city of Liège with my organization (AFS) to do something called a "Semaine Intermundo". Basically, it was a week where a bunch of students and volunteers got together and we each worked in different groups, either theater, percussion/singing, or dance. I chose the percussion/singing group and learned how to play the djembe! It was one of the most fun weeks I've had here in Belgium so far this year and I'm sad that it is over. I got to meet other exchange students, play some music, and laugh a lot.
Tomorrow is Monday, which means that the 'ole school routine starts up again. Although school is not my favorite thing, there are only a few weeks left. Whenever I think about this year ending, I have mixed feelings (as I'm sure every other exchange student does). While I am excited to return home and see my old family and friends, I am going to be extremely sad to leave Belgium and all of my experiences behind. However, I know that this will not be my first time traveling and that there will be many more experiences to come in the future. (Sorry, mom.)

Belgium and Pennsylvania have their similarities.

(March 3, 2013)

The opening band (Lylac)

(March 8, 2013)

My friend Callie took this picture.

(March 8, 2013)

Callie and Melody after the show.

(March 8, 2013)

In Belgium, there is this "field day" for the seniors of the school called 100 Jours. Our class theme was hippie.

(March 24, 2013)

I thought this costume was awesome! Normally in French, you would write this as "J'ai faim", which means "I'm hungry". She dressed up as a hobo.

(March 24, 2013)

We played some trivia/relay race games...

(March 24, 2013)

My friend Kaari from Finland on the day that we took a walk with my host family in a local village.

(April 1, 2013)

Little animals

(April 1, 2013)

Do you see the egg?

(April 1, 2013)

Some new buds.

(April 1, 2013)

Random mansion that nobody uses. What's up with that?

(April 1, 2013)

The Namur Citadelle with Lindsay!

(April 2, 2013)

Brussels at sunset.

(April 2, 2013)

La Grande Place at night.

(April 2, 2013)

If you look closely, you'll find Lindsay.

(April 2, 2013)

And...we are at the Louvre!

(April 3, 2013)

Little cafes everywhere! The myth is true.

(April 3, 2013)

And there she is.

(April 3, 2013)

One of many.

(April 4, 2013)

My sister and I got caught in the rain so we randomly decided to go into a cafe. About 5 minutes later, these guys start playing live music. It sounded similar to Django Reinhardt, one of my favorite musicians, so it was a great time.

(April 4, 2013)