Out of Loop, as usual

Mary's excited (so excited she's speaking in third person). Why, you may ask. Because I just bought tickets to this: http://www.hopfarmfestival.com/home.aspx#/home.aspx
I get to spend my last weekend in Europe at a farm on the English countryside listening to Bob Dylan. H to the Yeah. With the train/hotel/coach/tickets, it was pretty expensive. But I figure, I'm already over here! So, that's taken care of! And this is my birthday present to myself. Apparently I love myself a lot...
Just to get you as excited as I am, watch these. They'll all be there and then some:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fmFbzPjT-Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI-cuKKQrN0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HHnDEnsdno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4uLG_bGsLU
ANYWAY,
Fun experience of the day: for work I always get off at the Shuman stop, which is where all the businessmen and businesswomen get off to be important and fancy. There are two directions you can get off at the stop. Both are in the same vicinity but the Justice-Lipsus direction is much closer to my office, so that's where I always exit. Well, this morning, my exit was closed. Weird. And then I saw a bunch of police with dogs sniffing the platform. So, I went through the only exit that was open and noticed that there were about A MILLION people outside and there were barricades everywhere and helicopters etc. Apparently today was the day that the European Council was meeting. And I work in the heart of their business area. Glad no one told me. Glad I felt like an idiot, standing on the sidewalk with my mouth gaping open, wondering what was going on. Luckily, I was working in a different building this week because of our expert group meetings. So, I turned around and took the metro to a different stop.
This week has been really interesting. I feel professional and important (ish). I sit in on these meetings full of people from all over Europe. Then they say brilliant things and I write them down.

That Mary Hunt, she knows how to clear a room!

Awkward anecdote of the day:
It was one of my coworkers birthdays today and she brought a cake. So, everyone in the office gathered in the break room to eat it and drink coffee/socialize and such. Lots of rapid french, once again. And... once again I stood in the corner and pretended I knew what was going on. There was a lot of laughing. Apparently the man coworker is hilarious. I'm fine with sitting back and smiling. I really am. But, my brain is always like "Mary! You're being rude! Say SOMETHING." I know you who are reading this are saying "No mary, you really don't have to say anything. They understand that you are an american and that you speak very minimal french. Silence is fine." Ah but of course I decided to open my mouth. They're all laughy-laughy jokey-jokey and then they give the birthday girl a sunflower for this special occasion. There was a lull in the conversation and yes, those of you who know me, know that I must fill awkward silences. So I said, "Oh a sunflower? I'm from Kansas. It's called the Sunflower State! They grow everywhere! It's great!" Everyone just looked at me. So naturally I kept going. "Yeah, we have fields of them. They grow like weeds!" SOMEBODY STOP ME. PLEASE. They all just kind of nodded at me in an odd way and literally left the room without saying anything.
God, I'm an idiot.

Birthday and Internship

My birthday is always interesting. It seems that I am never at home for my birthday. I've had a Mexico birthday, a Chicago birthday, two Summer Choral Institute birthdays, and now a Belgian birthday. Except, it was a Belgian birthday on a weekday in which I am a contributing adult member of society, so it was less than CRAZY. It was on Wednesday. It poured all day. And I worked 8 hours with a group of people that I had met the day before. So me waltzing in and announcing it was my birthday would've illicited a "oh hey! happy birthday!" and that's about it. So, I decided not to tell anyone except the other intern Marcela. Funny story though, I was compiling contact information for the Commissioners of the EU (important, I know) and my supervisor Alice (pronounced Ah-lee-CHAY not "Alice") told me to find out their birthdays. So I casually added, "Oh okay. You know, it's my birthday today." She laughed because she thought I was kidding and then carried on with her work. Silly american girl, trying to make a joke. Later she called me from her desk and said, "Mary, I actually need to know your birthday because if you go to one of our conferences, we'll need to know your information." And I said, "Okay.... It's today." Then she was like "Oh my gosh! I didn't understand! Happy Birthday!!" Apparently June 9th is a popular day because the office manager and the AGE director's birthday were also that day. They came down and gave me two kisses on the cheek because that's what you do for birthdays. After work, my host family had this delicious raspberry pastry pie for me. They didn't make me dinner because I told them that my friend Maddy had made dinner reservations for me. After pie, I met Maddy and when we got to the restaurant, almost all the people from my study abroad program were there! It was very nice :) And this hobo man came into the restaurant with flowers to sell and two girls bought me a pair of roses. How thoughtful. I love hobo roses. We were going to go out on the town after that but dinner lasted until like 11 and man, I'm not a teenager anymore. I am tired and lame and I work 8 hour days. So I went home and went to bed. Perfect. Not quite the birthday bash as years past but nonetheless, it was pleasant. Plus, I was in Europe for it! So I'll always be able to say that.


As for my internship, I started on Tuesday. There are two interns- me and Marcela (whom I like a lot). I work in this old townhouse just down the street from the huge glass buildings of the European Commission of the EU. It's funny, on the metro, I've started playing a game with myself to guess which stop people are going to get off at. I don't know what's at every stop but roughly, I have an idea. De Brouckere is the main shopping stop with Grand Place and there are always a lot of people on and off there. Parc is by a the Royal park, obviously, and the royal museums and the palace. I won't bore you with the details of the game because there are a lot of stops, but at the Shuman stop, where I get off for work, there are always lots of suits. LOTS of suits and briefcases. And fancy shoes. Anyway, my internship. Our office has two floors. There are high ceilings and creaky wooden floors. It's painted yellow and there are stacks of colored publications everywhere!- on desks, and shelves. You walk in and it LOOKS like what a non-profit NGO (non-governmental organization) should look like. The people are all very nice. I think there are something 11 people in the office. That's it. Plus, me and Marcela. I like that it's small because the things I do actually matter. I can see the point of them so it doesn't feel like grunt work. So far I've worked on updating our database a lot, figured out how to upload and write articles on the website (yes, some of the official website is my work now!), edited works in English, translated articles to french, stuffed envelopes and restocked our publication shelves (of course), and right now, we're preparing for these two meetings. One is on anti-discrimination and the other is on employment (of older people). Then later, we're having one on social protection. But, they're gathering all these experts from all these organizations and having dialogues and things. I get to attend! I'm excited. At first, I was kind of bummed about having to work 8 hour days instead of galavanting around Europe but, I'm beginning to see the worth in this experience.

Problem solved

Two nights ago I killed two mosquitos with my BARE HANDS. I bet my host family thinks I have very weird sleeping patterns if I'm constantly clapping in my room at 4 in the morning. I'm a freak. But, I have learned that if you have a problem, you have to be vocal about it. So, I informed my family that my flesh was getting eaten every night and they gave me this chemical thing you plug into the wall and it miraculously kills the mosquitos!! Science is amazing! I am learning so much here. So, I think I've got the mosquito problem under control. Hopefully.
Saturday, we took an excursion to Antwerp. I liked it but it's a bizarre city. The buildings are very mismatched. There are art deco ones and next to old ones. I saw about four bachelorette party groups, all wearing matching shirts and crowns. Weird. "Hey I'm getting married! Where should we go to party? ANTWERP." Not Brussels, no. I'll go to the wannabe town. Just kidding I liked it. We went to a few museums and churches. But, in the evening, we were in for a real treat. We went on a ghost walk. Yes, a ghost walk. I really have no words to describe how bizarre our guide was. He was wearing a top hat and tails and talking about the "myths and legends" of Antwerp. He smelled like alcohol. The stories were very randomly detailed. I suspect he was making it all up off the top of his head, which made it that much more entertaining. Oh and get this... it was a TWO HOUR ghost walk. Anyway, the next day we went to Malmedy, Belgium. Only half our group came because apparently they were all tired so it was a very relaxing day. I liked it better than Antwerp. Sue me, I like small towns better than big ones. Malmedy was a three hour bus ride away. It's in the country and it's where the Battle of the Bulge occurred. We went to a museum on that. And then we went to this Abbey and relaxed/hung out at a cafe all day. This is my kind of Europe.
Tomorrow my internship starts. I am nervous/excited.

My last days of hanging around...

My internship starts the 8th of June and I only have class on Fridays so this week I've been getting up and going to Le Grand Place with my good friend Maddy and shopping, walking around, enjoying life. It's been grand. And the waffles are stupendous. But, I am aware that it must come to an end. Because once I start working 8 hour days... it'll be a little less easy breezy. Which is fine because I'm actually very excited for my internship (though I'm still unsure of what exactly I'll be doing). I've only had two classes so far. It's an 8 hour art history class. BUT we travel around and actually see what we're discussing so it's really interesting. The thing is... it's an EIGHT HOUR CLASS. Today, we went to the Royal Art Museum in the morning and were assigned a painting to analyze and present to the rest of the class. Then we took a train to Bruges (Bruges? I love Bruges!) and went to a few museums there. I'm beginning to get into the analysis of art. It's kind of psychologically draining because you have to try really hard to interpret what may not be written out for you but it's cool. Though after about four hours of in depth Biblical Triptychs... I'm beginning to thank my parents for not raising me catholic. Lots of suffering. And beheading. And skinning! Like, the REMOVAL of the skin from your body. They do not mess around!
Tomorrow is our excursion to Antwerp!
Also, just one note. I love my host family. Love them. And I love the apartment we live in and Anderlecht, the commune we inhabit. I'm establishing that first. But I am getting EATEN ALIVE. We leave our terrace doors open at night and the mosquitos viciously seek out my blood. I think it's because my bedroom window is right by this big tree that must be like the breeding ground of all the mosquitos in Belgium. Before I go to bed, I have to sneak around my room with my shoe in one hand and kill all the buggers I can see. But then I still wake up in the middle of the night to incessant buzzing and ticking/biting of my flesh. I understand that mosquitos are creatures too... but they are mostly just creatures that should die.
I'll be okay though.

Back in Brussels

So, this weekend I traveled. On Friday, I had art history class from 9 until about 4:50pm (it will be interesting) then two people and I caught the train to Amsterdam. We got there about 9:30 and realized: hey, we are in the Netherlands and have no idea where we're going! There were people from our group that had already been there that day because they didn't have class on Friday so we called them. The directions we received were... unclear. We ended up walking aimlessly around for a half hour. I was freaking out, needless to say. We bought a map, made some decisions, and figured it out. So, that was that. We found our hostel, checked in. Then we got some dinner in the square by our hostel. At one point, we were just sitting there, and this guy sprinted by with about eight cops sprinting after him. I wonder what HE did... not much is illegal in Amsterdam. The next day we went to the Anne Frank House (which was very powerful) and walked around more. Then, I felt that I was done. I was in Amsterdam less than 24 hours and I feel like I'm satisfied with the amount of time I was there, for the rest of my life. There's trash on the ground and prostitutes/"coffee" shops everywhere. There were some sketchy characters... Not really my scene. It made me bond with Brussels though. I was happy to be back.

The next day, we took a day trip to Bruges. Bruges, I kind of loved. It was quaint but there was a lot to do there. We went to an art museum and climbed the 366 steps to the top of the famous Belfry. We saw the famous Michaelangelo's Madonna sculpture in the Church of Our Lady. I like Brussels. But Bruges is more of my kind of town. Brussels has SO many people and it's SO big! Bruges is about 100,000 people with suburbs but gets 4 million visitors a year so it's by no means boring. Plus there are chocolate shops EVERYWHERE. Anyway, to summarize, I liked Bruges. I hope you caught that.