Belgium!

Well, what DIDN'T I do in Belgium?! There was the day where my host, Edwin, took me to the trenches in which the Belgian troops held off the German troops for four years in WWI and other war sights like the biggest cemetery where most of the commonwealth soldiers were buried. Then there was the day in Bruges, but I already told you about that.

There was the day I went up to the North Sea. I just walked and enjoyed watching the families on the beach like this one where the father was teaching his son to fish - VERY cool set up they had with 4 lures all along the line. After my walk, another couch surfer came to stay with Edwin. Her name was Sara. She had played as an extra in a film that Edwin's son had produced. That evening the movie was premiering at the local theater, so we all went into Oostend for the event!

The three of us (Edwin, Sara, and I) walked around Oostend for the afternoon as there was a carnival going on. We ordered hot fresh sea snails right on the water's edge (YUM!) to munch while we wandered. The show was quite an event! Red carpet rolled out to the street, exclusive guest list, and they closed the entire theatre complex for the event. Big reception with wines and hors d'oeuvres afterward. Of course I didn't understand the words, but it was a zombie movie and rather easy to follow. Zylkon Zombie it was called.

Sara and I figured, since we didn't know anyone, we could sneak out of the reception (after a couple glasses of wine, of course) and continued exploring the town. Then we met up with Edwin and his whole family (two sons +girlfriends and his siblings) at a jazz bar where we spent the rest of the evening tasting even more Belgian beers and dancing.

The next day was Brussels. Very interesting city. Dirty, but cool! After checking out the market and enjoying a tour of the town, Edwin decided to try and find this little back area of town he'd once wandered into. We walked down some SKETCHY alleys until we came up on this little row of African restaurants. I sat down at a table outside (Edwin went in for the toilet) and within seconds, a really nice guy came over from the other table and asked if I liked peanuts. He had just come from Senegal the day before and had a backpack full of fresh, raw peanuts. He gave me a HUGE pile and said to just ask if I want more. Edwin came back out, and soon our table was full of Congolese, Nigerians, Kenyans, you name it! We ordered dinner and a reggae DJ from Somalia and I shared our meals, eating with our hands. Soon a big man with dreadlocks came out of nowhere with a bongo drum and sat down in the middle of the street. He started playing, and we all danced like crazy! GREAT last night in Belgium.

Of course, now I am in Holland. Oh, what a country. Very wealthy country so everything is very clean and beautifully kept. I am going to wait to post about Holland though because I want to make sure I put up some pictures.
Thanks for keeping up with me! See you soon!