...And then we went to Belgium to check our e-mail

Thank you, Kenny, for crouching behind me so my shoulder didn't fall off

Ever since the netbook-left-in-taxi catastrophe of April 2011, I've spent a small fortune in internet cafe time to do my homework and read Brooklynn's e-mails (you're welcome to e-mail me too, if you love me).
Paris is sooo expensive that a 10 euro lunch feels like a triumph (that's almost $15, by the way) while in Provo I would cringe to pay $6, or (oh, the horror!) $7.


So, the other day Gracie said, "Hey do you want to go to Belgium?" And I said "Yeah, sure." And she said "waffles and frites!" And I said "and we can check our e-mail".  
Because, heaven knows we aren't getting enough starch in France (this is very untrue. We're eating so much bread we're becoming bread-- white and puffy), and Brussels may just be a land of promise (no cats and the streets paved with cheese and all that) where maybe, just maybe, internet is a right and not a priveledge for ardent World of Warcraft fans-- and poor little students like Nina and Gracie-- who are willing to pay.

And so we took three (not one. missed that one) trains to Belgium on a lovely Friday morning, and I wore a bit too short of shorts (exposing my monstrous, stilt-like legs), which turned out to be an inconvenience by about the eighth uncomfortable male encounter ("MADEMOISELLES! HELLL-LO!""Laissez-nous tranquilles.").

But when we got there, our excellent, comic book-loving friend Kenny enthusiastically greeted us on the escalator with waffles and chocolate! I'm convinced no one should be welcomed to Belgium any other way.

Other great things about "Hey, we're in Belgium today" day:

-Trying on armor (even if it's awkwardly chained to a table and intended for small children)

-riotous football celebrations

-Pralines

-Taking ghostly black and white Holgas (which I'll add to this post if I ever get them developed)

-Beautious architecture. Really, so lovely. The city is very clean and happy.

-Talking to a beer expert who allegedly once drank a cup of cherry beer straight from the Mannequin Pis

Then we took a nap in a park with an old man sunbathing in a speedo (thought I was in Paris for a second) and young men playing pétanque in scarves. Lovely.

But did we use the internet? Good gracious! My tab was .25. And I got to wish that Ryan Hall fellow happy birthday.

Belgium, then, is indeed the promised land, with Brussels its holy capital, and I forgot to mention Speculoos, which tastes like Teddy Graham paste and oh wow it's so good.

Love, starch, and cacophonous Japanese raiding of the chocolate shop,

Banana