We had nothing in the way of food, so breakfast was a no go. However, today was also the first day of class so I was more or less just making sure I could get there on time, etc. Gareth's words to us yesterday: "you will get lost, so leave yourself plenty of time." We must be super-stellar or something because we didn't get lost once, and even stopped for a cappuccino along the way. Granted, it was the most confusing set of directions ever--the building we were to pass was not pink as Gareth thought, but rather a sandy brown. A beautiful building. Tomorrow I'll try and get a picture of it.
For those who don't know, I am taking classes in the International Press Center...directly in the hub of activity in the European Union District. It's exciting to be there, for sure, but even more so because we arrived in Brussels the very day after the EU elections wrapped up. This is a pretty monumental time for all of Europe.
Class today was a history lesson of Europe: 5,000 years in 2 hours. It focused mostly on the EU, particularly over the last 20 years. My four pages of notes range from the Greek and Roman roots to the Ottoman Empire to the Powder Keg of the Balkans to the installation of the Euro as the universal currency of all nations in the European Union. Pretty interesting to get it from a European's point of view, in the Capital of Europe, and even more since he's in fact a Brit and a Welsh one at that. He certainly likes to contribute his personal ideas about the EU as a generic British opinion. Likely they are very valid for the entire United Kingdom.
Class ended with the four of us very hungry, but more than anything curious about our surroundings. We spied an Arc in the distance and took off for it. Turns out, although we didn't know this at the time, that this is the Tunnel Belliard, flanked on either side by museums.
The park was incredibly beautiful and there were some school kids playing frisbee on the lawn, a man playing fetch with his dog, people walking around in both business suits and in casual dress, and thankfully very few cars. The nice thing about this city is that the volume of traffic is minimal at best. And walking around this town is very European: unlike New York, LA, Washington DC, and certainly St. Louis. It was made for pedestrians, not for vehicles, not even taxis.
We wandered around past the Belliard Tunnel (which is most likely the traffic running beneath the park, arch, and museums) and discovered the row of foreign embassies. For reasons unbeknownst to us, we couldn't find the US embassy, but we'll look to locate it and then go to find it. With any luck, it'll be as pretty as the Brazilian one. [note: just found it online and looked at pictures. Brazil wins.]
On our way back home we stopped for lunch and it was so delicous and not even that expensive. Lunch under €5 (about $7) is a great deal around here, so I'm content. We stopped at a grocery store to pick up things like pasta and quick in-home foods that don't require a great deal of preparation. We have no pantry--so we created one--and our access to spices and normal, everyday things in the States is somewhat limited. I think I'll be making a $6 pot of spaghetti on Thursday for the four of us.
Tonight we're going to a welcome party at Gareth's house. Since Gareth isn't the best at giving directions, we really hope we make it before it's over. None of us has a phone, but Nicole and I are still looking. We found one today for €29, but with credit, it was still €.79 a minute. That's about what we'd pay in the United states, so completely not worth it.
Mission phone is proving harder than we'd thought. We'll live. I signed up for Skype calls to landlines worldwide and mobile phones in the US. Lizzi did as well and we're researching to make sure this doesn't cost people anything when we call them. Mom, you might be getting a call as soon as we figure out the answer to that.
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