Picture time!!! Just Germany

<-- The Queens have 'Kicked Off' the King!

This is just Germany here - RothenBurg and the Renny fest.

"Where in the World is 'Ausfarht' Germany" - Mom

Guten Morgen!!!
It is now 8:04 in Salzburg, Austria. I am with mom and she is complaining about the weather. Personally it is nice. Yes, it is rainy and a tad cloudy, but what can you do except to sit back and enjoy the smell of the rain. So far it had been an eventful trip, starting with the very first day.


12th - I brought a friend home from Schmally with me (Christy). She was supposed to visit her family in Switzerland, but she was never truly able to get a hold of them. So, I invited her to stay with me (I needed someone to help me cook and American Dinner - a thank to Pauling and her family for making Heiny and I a 'Belgian Dinner'). Okay, so I get a text late on the 11th stating that mom will be 3!!! hours late in getting to Brussels airport. So Christy and I slept in and hauled butt to get to the train station. Before I tell you what I did, please note that I checked and re-checked the train times, numbers, and what direction they were heading in. As you maybe thinking - YES, we got on the wrong train. Well more specifically, the right train going the wrong direction. You may now laugh..go on ahead...I did when I stopped being pissed at myself. So mom was 3 hours later for her flights and I added about being two hours because of my train mix-up. So, Mom was supposed to be in Belgium with the chocolate and flowers (that I would have given her in hand) at 8am, but what actually happened is me overlooking her (when trying to find her) around 1:30-ish?? Yeah, that is how the Euro trip started. "On a Great footing!!"

That night/evening, Christy and I put together our American Dinner (Mashed Potatoes, Pan seared & marinaded Chicken, and Veggy Salad) with dessert of No-Bake-Chocolate-Cookies - YUMM!!! Filling up all five of us (Mom, Christy, and Pauline's Mom and Sister and myself) we joked about each of our families and what each of our countries are like. It was the smaller version for the UN's Round table meetings - well minus a few countries.


13th- Was a LONG day. We got up, packed the VW POLO (our rental over here) and drove Christy to Frankfurt am Main Flugenhafen. It is about a 2.5hr car ride away in the rain on the Autobahn. (Yes, I have officially driven on the Autobahn and have gone FAST!!). Mom was asleep for the fast driving. Once getting to the airport and sending her off was an ORDEAL!! to say the least. I drove around the airport 3x before getting the right location and it just so happens that Christy was 7kg over max. Either she would have to pay for another ticket/suitcase or redistribute the weight (and get rid of items). So we all pulled her luggage off to the side and attacked the suitcase with ravenous hunger. We reworked the distribution and threw away items. I ended up receiving contact solution and a case - something I really needed! This tedious procedure took about 30 long-hard minutes. Now it was Coffee Break time for the two Schmerber Gals. So we hit the Starbucks!! And got coffee and snacks. Arguing with mom about not sitting inside to drink the coffee and eat, instead getting on the road; allowed us NOT to be ticketed by the airport cops. *They were just finishing ticketing the care BEHIND us!! Close call number one!

After breathing heavily trying to relax after the close call, we pull off somewhere to eat our sandwiches, lemon cake and leftovers from last night. Once done, I pull out the GPS and type in Ziggy's and Annie's Address. Come to find out we are only about a 30min drive from there, but I was missing a crucial part to my plan of visiting them. I knew they (Annie and her daughter Susan) lived in Haibach, Germany, I just did not know the exact addresses. So...yeah, I got lost and called them to get the addresses. Getting un-lost was interesting, but finally we made it there before Susan had to go to work.


13th-15th (morning) - Staying with Annie was fun and fattening - as usual. But the stories and getting to know a part of your family that is distantly related was the BEST experience ever. During our stay, we tried to help the family pack up Annie's mother's things (She has been gone for 9years). Since Susan's family is moving into the same house as Annie - safety reasons - everyone was in the middle of packing, moving, putting the house up for sale, and finishing up Ziggy's accounts. Which Annie is finding out are All Over the Place! But overall, even with the craziness, we both had a great time with them.


15th-17th - Rothenburg, Germany (city visit), Vilseck to visit friend I meet in Volos, Renny Festival, and driving to Salzburg.
Rothenburg is a beautiful city, it is known for its shopping (especially Christmas Shopping) and the overall atmosphere of 'Old Germany.' Needless to say, Mom had fun. I enjoyed the views from the city walls. First though I would like to point out to travels - NEVER take the Scenic Route on a GPS!!! It is a living hell! I had to get off of the back routes and 'toured' a small town just to be 'Scenic.' I was NOT happy about this, but it gave Mom a good view of the German country side and time for us just to talk.
After staying in Rothenburg till about 4pm (time which I was supposed to be in Vilseck - Oops), we start heading to meet my friends. In about 1.75hours we were making our way through tiny BFE towns in Germany to make sure we were on the right road to follow the military traffic to the base. Going through check-in and fun stuff like that, Mom and I make it to Christine's house.
We decided to relax for a bit then head out to visit a slice of America - yes fast food. Mainly Taco Bell! Eyes bugging out of my head, I walk into the food court at the Commissary. Still Mom and (I am sure) Christine will point and laugh at my face. I am pretty sure Christine had to shovel my jaw off of the floor. To just say I was overwhelmed on sensory overload is not the half of it. I just stood inside the place debating on what to eat. Finally deciding on T-Bell, I had the hardest time trying to figure out what to order. Finally choosing a Mexican pizza meal with a bean burrito with a drink, I moved onto pick up my hot sauce. And what do you know..there are TWO more kinds of hot sauce....I took a handful of each. :) Finding this seriously hilarious, Christine take me into the food market (the next day) and proceeds to show me 'American Food' - I swear I have not heard of some of these foods before. Seriously American....what has happened in the who knows how many months I have been gone????
Saturday was a fun day and a long day too. Christine's family and Mom and I met up with Shylee's buddy who is going to camp with her - "We like totally need to get clothes for camp..Like Seriously" - (blonde baby cheerleader in training). So making our way down shopping lane, we dash in and out of different stores, everyone getting at least one new item for their closets.

Well after the 'Women Workout,' we (as in 6 adults and 2 baby tweens) grab lunch - German style. Beer and Schnitzel (or a seriously loaded salad). To say I was yet again busting with food, is an understatement. Listening to stories from Christine's friends about how their marriage and life stories, we decided that it is time to start heading back to base so we can leave for the Renny fair.
- It wouldn't be a Schmerber Vaca without something going wrong - this time it was the banking and getting lost (or rather a back polo getting in my way and NOT seeing Christine exit the Autobahn). But finally we make it to the hotel out in BFE...it was debatable when we first got to the town, if it would not a scene out of a murder mystery blockbuster. But in the light of day the town was nice and the hotel was wonderful. Good selection Christine!

The Renny Festival was AMAZING!! I loved it! So many different things to talk about, poke fun at, and just wish you could do! And it does not help that you had nice (fit) looking guys without shirts on...any good choice Christine (2 for 2)! Drinking a liter beer walking around the place, taking weird pictures we just the afternoon the doctor had in order.
After saying our bittersweet goodbyes, Mom and I head off to Austria. Getting here was fun and seeing the Alps switch between the Austria and German border was fun.


Yesterday and Today: Yesterday, we took the Fraulein Maria's bike tour - WONDERFUL!!! If you ever get the chance to do it, please do! It is a 7mile bike and it takes anywhere between 2.5 - 3hrs. And definitely do the morning bike - less people, better tour! After doing that we attempted and failed to find bike bells for my little cousins. Scrambling to get to the Eagle's Nest in time for the last bus up the 'rest' of the mountain...umm....we missed it by 10 minutes..damn! Instead we ate lunch half way up the mountain.
After leisurely driving back to Salzburg Mom worked on her blog and I watched 'Sound of Music' now knowing where everything is and saying "We were there earlier today!!"

Today, is yet undecided. I still would like to go to the Eagle's Nest even though it is slightly raining with a bit of cloud cover, but how many times can you see a slice of history! Well now I am going to go and get some food in this system before I turn into a ...dare I say...'Female Dog???' :)
Anyways, the next post will just be pictures for you all to flip through. Until then, stay safe and travel, travel, travel!

Lights! Camera! ACTION!

Times of Change!

That is right! Tomorrow I leave to Germany for my two week German class. I am seriously scared that I will not measure up to the other students with my German. Because I have been surrounded by French and English lately, I do not use my German. Therefore I may have lost a bit of it. OUCH!

Anyways, let me tell you about May - I studied my life away for my test all month. There you go...all said!

June has been eventful. Eleah broke her foot in the beginning of the month doing something stupid, but quite funny. The tree climber broken her foot climbing - insert irony! The first week I lounged around the apartment, the sun, basically I did anything that did not cost much. I went to the beach - which is located on the North Sea! It was COLD, but sunny! I naturally got burnt because I feel asleep in the sun twice - and now I am finally peeling! I went to Brussels again with Zsuzssanne and Heiny after their going away party! It was a very interesting night and next day, especially listening to Hungarian all day - it's very hard! The link at the top corresponds to this moment. It was raining really bad all day and Heiny and I were tired and a bit cranky..so we burst out into this song!! Oh yeah, who is still a little kid - ME!!! Anyways, at the big monument in Brussels, we saw a Chevy Car Show and a Harley Davidson show. It was quite nice to see American Cars! So far this week has been non-stop with events and seeing both Zsuzssy and Heiny off - which was very hard. You do not understand how much you start to miss your new friends until you see them go and you do not know whether you will ever see them again. Needless to say, it really stinks and I am planning a trip to Budapest in the next 5-7 years if possible (I would love to go sooner, but not probable). Tuesday, Eleah and Katie leave for the States. Not being able to see Eleah go will be even harder. I have grown very close to this girl. She and I are two peas in a pod. And again, this means I just have to make a trip to see her in TN - at least she is closer than Budapest! Besides that I am excited to see my other friends in Schmally (Corry and Marissa). Then come July 12th, I get to see my MOM!!! Get excited folks! My mom is coming here for a couple of weeks with me and we will see parts of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy!!

SO folks, I still have to finish getting packed - I wish I had space saver bags with me!! Oo well, such is life. Until the next post, be safe and Travel, Travel, TRAVEL!!!

The Unforgettable Spring Break of '11

Where OO where to begin - Its a big world!

(please listen to the song and read!!)

-Frankfurt Hahn Airport

The long journey just to start one long interesting adventure. Getting from my newly adopted

German Grandparents to Hahn airforce base was long, one ICE (Inter-City-Express) to Mainz then an hour long bus ride to the airport. Only to arrive 2 hours earlier than my friends from Schmalkalden. So, what is a girl to do in a small airport, besides checking - in for her flight...EAT!! I got to enjoy a good German meal - what it was, I do not remember anymore (but it was amazing)!

Okay, so finally I see my Friends (Cory and Marrissa) in the waiting lounge. Waiting in a overly

hot room with tons of people and a snotty attendant who is very strict about the one carry-on

bag rule. Let us just say that my stuffed backpack had to be put into the 'test carry-on box.' And it was harder then hell to get back out. Naturally, I threw up my hands in triumphant when I got it out. OO yeah, I am that type of person! The two army guys we meet laughed their butts off and so did my friends. You just have to enjoy making a spectacle of yourself. Remember - 'Just go with the flow, and make it roll.'

Okay, interesting fact about this airport: We have to walk on the tarmac to get to the plane to

load ourselves in there. So picture to lines of people pushing and shoving to get onto the plane as fast as they can. Yes, that is Ryanair for you. So, where the three of us got to sit - was eventful. We not only had a drinks, but a show too! The little Asian wife sitting across from us passed out on the plane and required medical help. So during out hour flight, we were sitting front row to a medical emergency. Yes, I know this sound shallow to say, but it was very fun to watch the language barrier between the flight attendants, doctors, nurses, and the husband. Needless to say it was a very multinational flight. Anyways, it was a unforgettable first Ryanair flight!

-Venice

In our room, we had a Canadian for a bunk mate. Who we found out in the morning was VERY FUNNY!!Getting to Venice was again an interesting journey. After frantically finding the right bus

to get us to Venice from the Ryanair airport was 'fun.' We had to

take an hour bus ride and we got off at the wrong stop. So it is about 23:00 and we are lost on the island of Venice trying to find

out hostel on the Mestre. Oh, the Mestre is NOT on the island! So after wandering around for a bit, we figure we have to take the LAST train back to the mainland. After getting to mainland, trying to find the hostel was an adventure. Asking a train conductor who did not speak English for directions and walking down a skechy alley, only to find out that our hostel has a curfew and cranky people staying there. So this crew was not able to go out and see the night life because we had a curfew. Needless to say, we felt like it was high school all over again. The next day/EARLY morning Heiny arrives from Budapest. Apparently she was not able to sleep on the train because each new country they went through, it would stop and do a customs check. So that made for an interesting day.

So what do four college students do in Venice for a day???

EXPLORATION!! I had a blast seeing

the sights!! I saw a Celtic wedding!! I saw an Australian man propose to his girlfriend on a gondola! The four of us, sat out on a random dock and enjoyed the only day with sun (during our entire trip!!). The day was filled with lazy walking around, gelato on the pier and drinking wine and eating pizza. Looking back I can recognize different movie locations now. What more can one ask for?

Horsing around attempting to find where the train station was our motto for the day.

-35hr Ferry

So getting up early to make our ferries to Patras (the port we have to get off of to get to Athens - 35hr ride!). This was interesting! It took Heiny and I an hour to check - in and pick up our tickets.

Corry and Marrissa booked to late to get on our ferry. After making the trek out to port, Heiny and I decided just to stay there - BIG MISTAKE!! We should have gone back to the main section of the island to see more of it. But that is water under the bridge now.

Ok so this ferry ride was...informative!

Since, Heiny and I booked cheap (deck seats), we did not have a room to stay in. And thinking it would be warm - since we are more south than Belgium, I was thinking it was possible to stay on the deck

to watch the stars at night - WRONG!! It was SOOO cold! In the

beginning we were on the deck where we meet some American Exchange students to Prague. Apparently they thought the same thing. Oops! So, we reserved our seats to watch Venice disappear as we sail out! During

the ride we all experienced very bad body odor from Germans and eat a lot, because what else are you to do?? I read my book I bought at Hahn. yep, there is not much to do on a ferry that you do not have to pay for.

-Patras, Greece

So after Heiny and I made port at 5am, we met up with Cory and Marissa who had an adventure of their own in Patras, we all took the next available bus to Athens.

-Athens, Greece

Once in Athens - it is not what you think it is! We attempt to make

our way to our hostel. Inside the bus station, wondering around like lost puppies, Cory makes a friend in the bathroom. Side note - the bathroom is a whole in the ground!!! Okay, so this friend is a Judge!!! Not only a judge, but a very open judge! We heard about his adventures in the States, including visiting a Texas whorehouse! Oh yes, we are definitely not in the States any longer! After his regaling us with stories of his youth and travels to the States, he highly recommends us to take a cab to our hostel, which is on the dividing line of Athens drug trade. This tid bit of information was not on the hostel booking website. Oh and our landlord looked like he was strung out! Yes, Welcome to Athens at 8am!!

Okay, after checking out our rundown room, we put together a plan for the day. We decided to buy a ticket for the Hop-on-Hop-off Athens tour. Using this as our own person taxi, we toured the city for a few days. I got to enjoy a local beer on the top of a mount adjacent to Athena's Temple! During our time there, we also got to experience a Communist rally, burning of ephagies, vandalism, and other things! To say we experienced

first hand the effects of the crumbling economy is an understatement! We saw all the sights and reminisced in the history of this place, but it is not what one would think of Athens to be. The historical places have been vandalized and neglected by the people who do not care anymore. Expect for a few, the history we have learned and the appreciation is just not existent in Athens. It is sad to see such a rich history go to waste.

-Volos

Getting to Volos was another lesson that was hard to swallow. We took the train as I had planned, except I had planned on taking the last train there, so we would be in Volos early in the morning. This way we would enjoy the sun rising in Volos at the port then hop on our flight back to Hahn (Heiny and I should have paid to fly back directly to Brussels, but we wanted to meet up with some friends on that flight - but no go). Anyways, we took the earlier train, thus getting us there that night. We did not have a hostel nor did we want to pay for one. Thinking that the airport would be open, we would just stay there. At this point I was no longer allowed to give advise - I got out voted. So the majority wanted to take a cab to the airport - a 50Euro ride and an hour outside of the city - awesome - only to find out it was closed.

So being young and stupid, we decided to sleep outside of the airport and wait till it opened. You may now insert you head shake, because I always do. It was SOO cold that night! I had 8 layers of clothes on and 2 pairs of pants on and my feet almost got frostbite! Oo yeah, it is an experience I will NEVER forget. This night we forged bonds of friendship that will never be forgotten! SO being college students, we made fun of our situation. Having a wild boar being killed by wild dogs all night, freezing, and just the overall hilarity of the situation sink in - what would you do??? I laughed so hard! So each of us had bet about what time the airport would open up, it turns out this place is strictly a Ryanair airport, so the only TWO flights our were ours! Ooo yeah, we are out in the middle of BFE! I know you are wondering about what time it opened up, it was 10am! So we were out in the cold for about 12hours! At least, we were not the only stupid ones, there was another group too. And of course Cory was the protector boy who acted like an animal marking his territory! Which was nice, but extremely annoying, but boys will be boys!

Later in the morning, we met some other American traveling, a couple of them are now some good friends of ours! In fact, I am blessed to be able to visit them before I leave in August.

By now, we are all in Hahn, and Heiny and I have missed our train. Since our tickets were on sale, we could not refund them. So buying more tickets - this was the time I decided I cannot found a entire year in Europe - we finally got home after SEVEN hours in training!

-3 Day Pull for Advance Operations Research

Getting home to a huge headache and a dirty/nasty apartment was wonderful! I had to finish a major project in 3days. This project was over a subject matter that I am not familiar with - SciLab computational analysis of a production schedule. I know that is a mouth full, but I understand the theories, just not how to put theories into a computer language and making a program to fit my theories. Needless to say, I was depressed. So I recruited one of my friends (not my partner because he was still on vaca) to help explain all of this to me. Spending many sleepless nights with a Spaniard who loves to repeat every little thing, will get on one's nerves. Even though I am grateful for his help, I got really sick of being yelled at, "Bekah, BEKAH, why Bekah, why BEKAH!!" Since I have some love loss for the Spanish here, this was not what I wanted to hear 3days in a row at 4 in the morning.

So after finishing what I had - which was not complete by any means - my partner and I turned in our project and are STILL hoping of the best.

As for my German project, it was bad. After being mentally tired and stressed for 3days/nights straight, I could not fully concentrate on this project. And let us leave it at that.

-2 Projects = One massive headache-

After that Hell Week was over with, I just slept. I still can not remember what I did after I finished all of that. Maybe started studying for my tests, but I do not remember.

Oo well it is life. Anyways folks that was my Easter/Spring break. A lot happened and I learned a lot more. I am grateful for all of the experiences because it has shaped me in how I view the world and world events. I now truly understand the frustration of the people in Athens about their failing economy. In addition I am grateful to learn more about my family history and see life of an aging German couple and see how extraordinary things in life stem from the simplicity of life and being content with what God gave you. I would like to thank Ziggy and Annie for letting me stay at their house and treating me as their long lost granddaughter, it meant the world to me and I will never forget it. Thank You!

And for now folks, I will be signing off for a bit and will continue to update you later!

Until then, stay safe in this world!

I has been a long long time in the coming.

Upon reviewing the last blog...wow that was a long time ago...I figured out where I should start....Spring Break with some spice of Schmalkalden (aka: Schmally).

Ooo good lordy, planning spring break...wow. It was an experience that will teach patience to anyone.

First let us start with the fact that plan always seem to change, mold, and evolve the more aspects you add to the problem. And being the only one who is creating a two week vaca under quite a lot of stipulations, it can drive you mad. Now that we have that established, we can start.

The first plan was to go to Rhodes, Greece for at least 5days. But that fell through when one of my traveling companions could not get there from Budapest, Hungary. So we altered plans. Finally deciding upon both of us going our separate ways in the beginning then meeting up in Venice, Italy then proceed to a 35hr ferry trip to Athens, Gr - Athens for 3nights and Volos, Gr for 1night to complete our vaca. My beginning started in Brugge, Belgium with a friend. After about 24hr there, we meet up in Amsterdam with Heiny (the traveling partner going to Budapest) and a couple of my other friends. After these two cities, I headed out to a small town in Germany to visit some family. After a couple of glorious days getting to know family and acquiring my new 'German Grandparents' I headed out for my arduous journey to Frankfurt Hahn airport to meet my new friends from Schmally that I meet 3 weeks earlier when I was looking at FH Schmalkalden University for the fall semester and summer internship. Making fast friends and gaining more traveling buddies, they readily agreed to come with Heiny and I on our unforgettable adventure.

****Next post is strictly Vaca alone - with pics***

Just a Walk in the Park

Hey Gang,

I just could not wait to tell you all about the wonderful day filled with SUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

After sleeping in till....nevermind the time...and eating Oranges trying to get better, we feel this hot, glorious heat on our faces....SUN!!!! And not just sun...but NO clouds in the sky! I cannot describe how happy I was!

Dressed in our prescribe seasons (Eleah is Spring and I am summer), we walk out the door to enjoy a leisurely walk around Liege. And to our surprise...we found GREEN! A nice little park tucked behind some buildings on the island I call Manhattan. Enjoying our walk, we see cute couples enjoying the sun, older couples just happy to hold one another hands watching the world go by. It was so nice the see people relaxing, soaking up the sun. And just being. It was so refreshing just to enjoy humanity without seeing the under belly of it. As I turn to Eleah, I begin to describe this place as a Drifters song, "Under the Boardwalk."

As we keep walking, talking about memories that somehow involve being around water. Then I remember another song that would just make us smile, "Build Me up Buttercup."

So after walking to...I have no idea, we come across the mall. Yes, they are everywhere. Grabbing some ice cream, we start on our way back. In total, I believe we walked somewhere between 2-3miles without realizing it. It was soo wonderful. After getting back home, I got to witness a St. Tore parade that stretched on for 20minutes (they were escorted by police), oo yeh it is that type of city. Anyways, here are some pictures from the day.

Long time no Post

Hey Gang,

Sorry I have not blogged in a while, I was waiting till I got back from Berlin to share. Then the week got away from me and well here I am sitting in my kitchen cleaning dishes, making lunch then off again to the races. So while I wait for the concoction I will be making...I am here to share my past week-ish experiences.

So after I got back from Paris, it was only a matter of time till I had to be at HEC at midnight to catch the bus to Berlin (8hours on a cramped bus with about 80 people...who are drunk). It was an "interesting" bus ride. Needless to say I needed a pillow, blanket, and earplugs! Havinf Katie D. drunkingly talk to you at 4 in the morning...well...it is not good for her or me..let us leave it at that. So, finally arriving at Charlottenburg Castle at 10-10:30 am....breathe a sigh of relief that no heads rolled :). We went for the tour of the castle.

The castle is very nice, but I love Versaille A LOT better..sorry. After touring the grounds and sneaking pictures, we head out for the next destination. Okay, here I must give you some background about ESN (because they suck at planning trips).

--We were told that, "You MUST stick to the time schedule...we planned this carefully!" Ok, I do not doubt that they worked hard on this, but they pushed back the "time schedule" more times than I can count. I was on time and running with the predetermined schedule just fine, but the ESN team leaders were so lost they could not tell if they were in Berlin or Timbuktu. Ok for a person who has always had her father drill in how to get around and spot things from a distance or just plain (common sense about directions)...it would drive that person fruit...right?!?! Yeh, that was Berlin for me! I was so frustrated with the leaders, that I told my followers around and played tour guide. Granted we made Alexanderplatz our new home, but whatever. We were warm and always knew where we were. I cannot say that much for the ESN leaders. Sorry, this situation was stuck in my craw for a long time.--

So Friday was Charlottenburg, Reichstag, Brandenburg Tor, Berlin Dom, Fernsehturm Berlin, and a nice coffee shop that has Baileys in it. By the end of the day, Heiny, Paolo, Zsussy and myself hop on the free metro and go to the hostel. Getting there 30 minutes ahead of the group, we scout out interesting places around our hostel. After settling into the hostel, a lot of the people go out to a 1950's- 60's bar (I stayed in with a migraine).

The next day was the DDR museum and something else. My group just stayed by our mothership - the Mall and Alexanderplatz metro station. After getting annoyed with something katie said, we took off. That night we dressed up and went out to Quepasa...that's right TexMex in Berlin!!!! Let us just say it was a tequila night for all of us. We all needed to unwind from our day and week, so we did. I was perpetually just happy all night, Paolo, Zsussy and Heiny got bad. At the discotech we told...insert any number above 10...tequila shots. Let us just say, by the end of the night there was no more money on us (mainly Heiny). It was a good night with very great memories! Ones that each member of our group will never live down...and only us understand the inside jokes from that night....Pappa Paolo, Momma Heiny, Auntie Zsussy and Auntie Bekah!

Sunday was another very LONG day: Checkpoint Charle, Boat ride to see the city, insert 5 hours of free time to blow and a LONG bus ride back to Liege...getting in at 5-5:30 Monday morning. Ooo yeah, one long day.

Monday I slept like the living dead...really!

Tuesday, my group and I were going to go to Carnavil in Blinche or Maasterick, but that fell through. So we went to the mothership (mall) by me to shop. And found out I killed my SIM card. Count on SIM cards - #3!!! I paid for the first and got the rest for free...thank you Lord! Do not ask me how I killed a SIM card, but yes it is possible to do. The rest of Tuesday was a lazy day since we had no school due to Carnival on Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday - Friday = School :(

Saturday, the group went to Maasterick for the day to have some fun and get cheap groceries.

Now today...I am going to Pauline's (a friends) concert..need to catch the ride in about 1.5 hours. Then the wonderful world of doing my Taxes and FASFA...I swear the US Government can find you anywhere....sneaky little suckers :(

News: I will be transferring to Schmalkalden University for the fall and will probably get FREE housing because of a scholarship!!!! OOO yeh, another reason to leave Liege!!! Count me in Germany...I am coming!!!!

The Welcoming Committee from Berlin!

Wow...I haven't done this in a while :)

Hey yall,

Sorry I have not written in a while..life has been a bit chaotic. Since I do not know exactly where I left off, I will hit the highlights.

-Yes, I do have a new phone (world phone) and I will be positing pictures from my trips from it.

-I attended a Belgium Beer party, where students could buy tickets (indicating what level you

wanted and what type of beers you wanted to try) a couple of

Thursdays ago. I bought a 15euro pass where I was able to try seven Belgium (dark) beers. Keep

i

n mind dark beer here has a much higher alcohol contain than that of the State...hmmm.

Anyways, Mr. Bennjy Bear wanted to "pre-game" at the apartment with a few Jupilers (very blonde beer) and a couple shots of

Peach Peche. At the beer event, I did get a little "loose." Full story another night and for those

that ask. But I did tell Paulo (back story - he is attempting to find me a "Good Boyfriend" because I "need a boy") after many times of dodging the bullet, that he was the only guy for me and kissed

him on the cheek. Yes, I have not had any problems from him since. SCORE!!!! After that night, Friday was hard...so hard I just bought a phone and went home.

-On Saturday was the one day trip to see Brussels - COLD! Our tour guide sucked butt and I did

not learn anything, but made new friends from Canada and Mississippi (both have been here

since August 2010). Talking and walking, we do not see much. Jumping ship, Heiny Laura (MS girl), and I go on the search for food and a memory card for my phone...then home. Sometime that night my dad calls me and leaves a message worrying about where I was. (Please pause for Irony) Yes, Eleah and I were tired and sound asleep in our beds at that time of the call (from the

States). A call wondering where I was because I did not check-in while I am abroad in Europe,

weird and slightly humorous I cannot help but wonder what could dad

have done if something

was wrong. Again please pause to help me answer

this question. Yes, I am thankful he does care

(unlike other parents I have heard about), but really?!?!

-Anyways the rest of the week, I stayed in and saved my Euros for.......PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PARIS!!!!!!!!!!

Heiny and I were able to stay with Laura's boyfriend and friends at their apartment for the weekend. This past weekend was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!

Since I cannot put into words how wonderful it

was...I will just show pictures as I list our events (these are some of my favorites).

Getting off the train and to the City Center....

Yes, I saw the Gate and the Eiffel Tower at night and did you know on the hour every hour (till four am) it sparkles for 10-15 minutes. Yep, I had a Hollywood moment! And it was wonderful. Cross off one thing off of my "Bucket List."

The next Day was a full one (well the entire weekend was full), but Saturday we had wonderful weather. Just do not ask Heiny about the weather that day or ..well...any of the weekend. BUT it was nicer than Liege by a long shot!

So we saw the Catacombs.

This is where many people are buried, mainly from the French Revolution, but also from many other events that have transpired in France since the Revolution. Walking through here is very solemn, but very informative (if the people behind you would walk past you when you stop to read information plates.) This place is literally located behind your feet when you walk around certain sections of Paris. I really enjoyed doing this tour (self-guided). I have also (on and off) reading a book that has part that actually take place in these catacombs and make reference to them (the Revolution).

Next (after Thomas left - the boyfriend), Laura, Heiny and I

headed to Sacre-Coeur Basilica. At this place you can see a very beautiful skyline of Paris. The church is wonderful, filled with love and history. In getting up to this church one can walk up the stairs...the Parisian thigh and butt master. (P.S. All of this pictures were taken on my phone!)

After the Sacre - Coeur Basilica, we went shopping. Shopping in the touristy shops. Here I found something for mom and dad and a silly/cute Raspberry Beret. After our collective moments we went on to find the Moulan Rouge and stumbled upon, well some more interesting stores. After our find, we rushed home to shower off the Paris tourist's grime and headed back on out to meet up with Thomas' friends for dinner and drinks. That was also fun, interesting, and very hot (at the club).

-Well Saturday was a full day and Sunday was another. Heiny and I headed off (late) to see Versailles by ourselves. Now that is an adventure in both traveling and in history. Check out some of my favorite pictures. I have a lot but will again just select a few (the entrance, the hall of Mirrors, and lastly where the "main" lake).

Versailles was a very full day and both of us enjoyed it immensely and we only got turned

around twice once there and one on the way back. But me made it back with Tex-Mex in our little tummies and sleep on the brain.

-Monday was the day we went back to our personal torcher called Liege,

Belgium. It is so cloudy and well just depressing. I want some life in this city - besides drinking like skunks. This day we saw Notre-Dame and the outside of the Louvre, then walked around findin

g food. After napping for a bit we headed back towards the train and towards home.

And this is where you find me, tired after stressing over a project that my partner and I did not get done (but got an extention) and finishing my German homework for tomorrow...OOO and getting ready to leave for Berlin tomorrow night. OO yeah, I am a busy body! :)

So until the next time I am free to write, I thank you all and be safe in this uncertain world.

Free Travel Guide,

~Bekah

Thus far..What a Week?!?

I am starting to think that there needs to be a running tally of how much I lose in Belgium. For you all understand this, let me recap my Monday.

MONDAY:

You now know Eleah's and my drill for Mondays...be lazy. Which we were doing, however we were attending the "Love Boat Party" that night sponsored by Liege's Erasmus. In other words, I did not heed the advise of my mother in packing one of my dresses from home....and well.....I had to buy a dress or something "nice" to wear to this party.....GREAT?!?! So off to the mall Eleah and I go. Upon finding this wonderful dress at H&M (side note....I will probably be a walking/talking H&M add when I get home) that I have been watching since I left the States. So needless to say after trying on 4 (yes FOUR) dress, I picked the one I have wanted for a while. Okay, deed one is done, now to meet up with Heiny and Kaite to buy our tickets to: the Love Boat Party, Beer Tasting Extravaganza, and a weekend trip to Berlin. So after about an hour Erasmus and convincingly taken a lot of my money. However, I have and will make memories that I will never forget (good or bad). So meandering around town buying little things that will finish out our outfits, Eleah and I decide it was time to go home for a much needed nap. Deciding it would be easier to get ready at City Living (plus we still did not have internet) we packed up our equipment and lugged our way to our Mecca. Wasting time skyping and just being lazy, we start to enjoy our evening. To throughly describe this evening, I will explain it like a roller coaster ride. I was climbing the big hill, so sooner or later I will eventually hit a major slump. After a couple of hours, we start to get ready. You all know the drill, curling the hair, applying our goop to the face and checking ourselves out making sure there isn't anything too bad staring back at us. Once through the ordeal, we start pre-gaming downstairs. I was splitting a bottle of good red dry wine with Zsussy. Again documenting the night, we all do the signature "beginning" photos. Clumsily carrying a roommate to the boat (in high heels on coble stones - please insert applause), we finally arrive at the party. Okay, in my mind I was imagining a bigger boat like the Casino Queen in STL, but no it is more like a converted shrimp boat - strike one in my book. But still enjoying the evening, I play on.

Throughout the night, my group start to disintegrate around me - not cool. Apparently Katie was not even there for more than 30minutes (I am sure you can guess why). Eleah flitted off with a couple of guys and unbeknownst to me, Heiny lost her keys (she went in search of them without telling me). So, when I was more than ready to leave, I had no one around me. NO ONE!!! I found Eleah's shoes and coat, but no Eleah and I had no idea about the other two till later. So, needing to get out of the sardine can called a club, I sat topside on one of the "seats" available to drunks or people like me. Calling and calling people, I finally get a hold of Katie. Who now tells me at least one piece of this seriously disturbed pie. About 25minutes later I see the other two come wondering back to the boat. By this time I was a little panicked and when I finally saw them - I loosened my grip on my phone and yes you can guess what happened. My phone took a nice dive into La Muese. (PAUSE - CRY with me please) Yes I said it, my phone is gone. All I wanted to do was dive into the water; not to get my phone, but just to feel numb. I just wanted to be in the water. Through this experience I have realized that being by water when I am pissed, makes me feel better. But now I am on the river, so logically (at the time) I wanted to be in the water. Yeah, thank you Lord I did not go in.

So feeling less than stellar, our friend Reuben offers to drive Eleah and I back to City Living. Thank you Reuben!!!

Somehow I got back up to Katie's room. Then the two drunkies went out to get food and I literally balled to my mother via skype. I have to say that losing two important/expensive technologies within one month (and put the regular class stress as whip topping) why wouldn't one cry like a baby to their mother, just want to go home. I am not ashamed to say it, I felt like crap...and worse.

So feeling depressed yet again, I rally Eleah back home.

End Monday.

TUESDAY:

I bet you can guess what happened that day....I slept and slept. Then I skyped my dad to talk and help me with a major computer problem, and attempted to do Advance Operations Research homework. So the computer problem took over 4hours on skype not to fix it, thus a fried brain does not help when doing homework.

End Tuesday - very unproductive and I am very okay with that.

WEDNESDAY:

Waking up as early as one can without an alarm, I start on my homework. Only to find out that I had to be at school early and had to do the homework in a group of 4. I was doing it by myself...fml! So this homework and subsequent class will probably be extremely homework and self study intensive - WONDERFUL!

Remember that computer problem I was having, that problem is a result of my Windows Installer not working - thus I do not have the program I need for Adv OR. Again not at 100% I grovel my way to the GA office to help me with my homework. And YIKES!! was I not prepared for the math intensity of this class. But I will overcome this class!

After class I go upstairs to find the elusive IT Department that Liege has..go figure. Wasting more than a few hours of them attempting to solve my problem. I leave feeling exactly how I was on Tuesday. Crawling home to lick my proverbial wounds, I settle in for an evening at home. (Remember I still do not have a phone yet.) Watching some American TV shows, buying my ticket to Paris, and making dinner just about wraps up my evening.

End Wednesday.

THURSDAY:

OOOO goodness its German class today and I still do not have the books needed for class. I would like to give my thanks to the European Post service and Intercopy on Sart-Tilman's campus for making me look like a baby. THANK YOU!

So German class, about that....I did participate thanks to another student that let me look off of her book. But I still am not sure on the homework. And on top of that I still have last semester in that class to make up so I can get all of my ECTS credits to transfer. Yep, isn't my life easy. To top off the self-pity, Eleah tells me the other day to drop all of my hard classes so I can entertain her. If anybody knows me well enough....I am attempting to let it slide. I know it was made in jest, but my college career is not funny....yes I am a tad serious on this point...so shoot me. But at the end of the day, Life is what you make it, and I am blessed with a good Heavenly Father to give me the Life that I can handle and excel in.

So, what am I going to do today?? See if the IT department can give another shot at my PC, maybe get a cell phone, French Class, beer thingy tonight and review International Logistics for tomorrow. OOO YEH, I am living the dream! :)

The Week that didn't end

WOW…what a week!! Well I will do a brief recap of the week (Sunday to Sunday).

****Eleah and I do not have any internet at our place the entire week! ***

Sunday (2/6/2011):

The day started out with a blissful morning of sleeping in till mid-morning. Slowly we pull ourselves out of bed and make some coffee to enjoy the morning. This is starting to be more common place now because last semester I was at work at 10:30am – 6pm. Waking up to our Ethiopian coffee, we decide it is time to explore our side of town. So getting dressed, we put on our exploring faces and head out into the mild February weather. Basking in the slight windy weather and scouting out places we wanted to frequent on our side, we stroll down the street till it becomes less than desirable. With our stomachs complaining of the lack of food, we put our noses to the ground to sniff out some good food. And what do you know; we found a Pita place we like... (double whammy) we meet some Americans! I know it sounds great, but these three men we some of the most ignorant people we had ever met. They stroll into the place acting like the own it. I know we Americans tend to do this, however on top of this they treat the owner with distain. Apparently these men were never taught the lesson of respect. Respect for another’s customs and culture and attempting to speak (albeit broken) the language of the country. To finish it off (after introducing ourselves), these men turn their noses up at us for whatever reason. I know I was warned about the change in my attitude towards Americans, but this was insulting even to me. How rude can a person be to belittle another person (whether or not they are of your nationality)?

Question: Do all Americans do this??
Answer: NO!! It is just the stupid, insulate **wholes of the people who are not taught to be kind and considerate!

Okay, enough of that! Anyways after getting our pitas, we stumble upon this interesting looking bakery. So like any female, we crowd around the chocolate baked goods. Upon spotting a chocolate covered waffle, we purchase it. However to our dismay, it reminded us of a chocolate Hostess cake….YUK! But still being girls, we finish the chocolate waffle while we watch “V for Vendetta” back in our flat. After being little fatties and watching our movie, we decide to meet up with the girls at City Living. Hanging out for a while creating our school schedule and whatnot, Eleah and I decided to head home. And that is the end of our lazy Sunday.

Monday:

Since I just put my schedule together the night before, I decided Monday morning is my sleep in morning (again). Having no class on Monday, Eleah start to repeat our Sunday process. Enjoying some coffee, our new theme song (Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine), and staring out our window (over looking the river) Eleah and I start our day. ****Pause, you may now be jealous! ****
After some time has passed, we get dressed and go shopping at our mall. I have been keeping my eye on this shirt dress at H&M for a while…and I just wanted the dress. So making that one of our stops, we pick that up and enjoy walking around the mall for a while. As the hours pass, Eleah starts to not feel that great. So walking to the grocery store inside the mall to pick up something to settle her stomach; we go home to munch on our “lunch” before we go to City Living to steal the internet. During our down time, we read our books that we brought with us or just sleep. Hours later, we are desperate for some internet. So packing up our gear, we head out for our beloved connection to the world.
Finishing our trek through the concrete jungle of Liege to reach our Mecca, we hop on the internet and surf to our hearts content. Once I put on my cyber bathing suit, I hop onto Facebook and Skype (my local crack currently) to see what is going on. And what do you know; I have received a nasty gram from someone close to me. So taking a tailspin right out of Happy Land and straight into Depressedville, I make a Skype call to my mom to discuss the situation. Upon finding myself setting residency in my new home, I decide it was time to get off of the internet and head over to ULg for our French test (this one is to place us into French classes for the semester). After breezing through the test (I wonder why??), I boot up my computer to find one of my best friends on Skype. So naturally I complain about my problem, getting all of my pissed off feeling out. (Yes later I understood the situation and respected what was said, but not at that time.) Feeling like I have a kindred ear miles and miles away, I start to feel a little less hurt and…well more mad. Trying not to let it consume me as Eleah, Katie D. and I walk back to City Living, I decide it was better just not to talk.
Letting my new besties get my mind off of my anger, we decide to go out. We went to Cuba’r again (ugg!) and Pot au Lait. I had a good time, but I believe I would have been more fun if I was not on edge from my anger. But life does not always go “Hunky – Dory” so I picked up my toys and went on home with Heiny. Waiting for the younger girls (Eleah and Katie D.) to get outside, Heiny and I just talk. (I think that was probably the best thing I could have done…just talk the hurt out.)
Guiding our little drunkies back to City Living, Heiny and I continue to bond. To end the night yawning and wishing for my own bed, I drag Eleah out of City Living and back home. OOOO!! Not to mention I have an 8am German class the next morning!! Can you say…SLEEP!

Tuesday:

Waking up to a blaring alarm, I roll out of bed and drop to the floor. Haggled, is an understatement to how I felt. Slowly coming around, I start to get dressed and packed for school. Stumbling into the bathroom to scrub the sleep from my face and apply very minimal amount of makeup to the face (so I do not scare people), I run smack into Ben. Ben is the guy Eleah and I share a flat with. Remembering that we both have German class today at 8am (two different classes), we get ready together. Run a tad behind on my schedule (meaning we were early on Belgian time) I push Benngy along. (Benngy is the nickname we have for him...Sorry Ben.) Rushing along, we cross paths with Benngy’s friend named….well I do not actually know…he will now be referred to as Mr. Awkward. Apparently Mr. Awkward and I have class together. Okay, that is fine. But I have one slight HUGE problem, unbeknownst to me my German class is a yearlong class…WONDERFUL! So sitting through a bit of it, the teacher pulls me aside and we start to talk about what I am doing here, why I need this class, and whether or not I should talk to Muriel (my coordinator over here) about me dilemma. Right at my breaking point, my phone rings! OO yeh, apparently my phone is trying to inform me that I have to wake up…convenient right?!?! So feeling terribly awkward and out of my element, the teacher mentions if I wanted to go see Muriel. Naturally I jump at the opportunity to get out of there, but again I did not know that Muriel was not in yet. So sitting around upstairs waiting for her, I start planning out a solution to my problem. On the bright side, I am now out of the room. Twiddling my thumbs for a good 25minutes, I finally see Muriel. And guess what….I continue to sit for 15minutes as I listen to rapid fire French from Muriel on the phone with whoever. Thoroughly tired (mentally), I start to explain my problem about the German classes. Upon finding a solution to that, we move onto the other classes I had chosen to take (Advanced Operations Research and International Logistics)…ooo yeh I am so BA! However, Muriel does not share my same opinion. Informing me about how many international students fail Advance Operations Research, she sends me over to talk to the Assistant for the class. Quizzing this poor man about the class, it sounds like a class I can handle. Knowing that I will probably be putting in a lot of hours to prove I can do it, I decide to stay in the class. Now completing one thing, I have to wait around for the German class to end so I can talk to that teacher. Discussing my issue and the proposed solution to it, the teacher accepts and gives me the homework and book titles that I will need for class. Okay, want to hear the solution…you will just love it…I have to do last semester’s course work along with this semester’s in order to receive full credit for the class on top of the two business classes I am taking. Can you say, CRAP!!!!! Yeh, I started to feel a little depressed.
Leaving HEC with my head hung, I decide it was time for Heiny to get to know the city a little. But when I got to City Living the little lady did not answer my 3 calls up to her room. Tired of trying to be nice (about anything at this point), I go to Delifrance for breakfast, where not only am I identified as being Dutch or German, but the electricity goes out on me while I try to pay and while I am eating upstairs. Already not in the best mood ever (because of all the details thus far this week), I leisurely walk around the cathedral until Heiny texts me. Picking her up, I start walking around showing her the city for a bit. By this time it is around, we both found a cheap place for lunch, a couple of cute clothes, and finally found ZARA where I got some adorable heels for 10Euro. After compiling our trophies, we head over to ULg to do our speaking test for the French class placement. Completing this, I meet up with Eleah and Katie D. at City Living to bum some more internet. Sending out some emails and researching BJJ classes in and around Liege, Eleah and Katie go out to see a friend of ours practice their upcoming show. This friend is actually Heiny’s buddy (a buddy is someone who are given to incoming international students to help them get around and situated in Liege), Pauline, who runs a chorus of 10-15 people. While they are enjoying the impromptu performance, I am attempting not to fall asleep on Katie’s bed back at City Living. After texting Eleah to find out they will not be back for a long time, I decide it would be better if I just headed home with our stuff.
Back home safe and sound, I get ready for bed…I tell Eleah to call me when she needed in (we still only have one key) because I was going to take a nap. Yeah right a nap?!?!?! No I went to sleep and literally jump a couple of feet off of my bed when my phone rang. So groggily I stumble down the steps to let Eleah in; then proceed to fall back into bed. Good night world!

Wednesday:

Starting off another day like Sunday and Monday, Eleah and I listen to Louisiana Gumbo and try on our new clothes. Wearing my new shirt dress, I head out to Advance Operations research (a three hour class). Heading to HEC early to jump on the internet, I receive another unpleasant gram…wonderful. Deciding it would be better to save that for later, I do a little more research on classes and send out responses to other emails. Going back downstairs early for class, I find a locked door and on the schedule outside the door I see the time for my class has changed. Panicked that I am not 20minutes late for class I run upstairs to Muriel’s office for help. Stressed out, we find the time on the HEC website. There has been no time change online. Calling the teacher’s office, we confirm what the website said. And what do you know, someone at HEC had put the wrong time of the sheet outside of the door. GREAT! We will now deduct one point from me and give it to HEC for making my life crap this week.

Score: Bekah = 0 HEC = 2.

Sitting through the first lecture of Advance Operations Research, I feel a little over whelmed but not enough to drop the class. However as the evening goes on, I take a hard look at my class load. After debating with myself for hours, I decide it would be better to drop the level 3 German class Tuesday mornings at 8am. I knew International Logistics would be hard, but attempting to do these two hard Business classes, learning a new language – French, and relearning German and making up fall semester in two German classes, I just felt dead already. But I did not want to make anything final till after my German class on Thursday.
So the rest of the night was obviously spent at City Living doing something, but I do not remember. However upon closer inspection, I am pretty sure we enjoyed a slight burnt cake. While doing this, I Skyped my brother about a computer problem and watched a couple of TV shows. But overall, Wednesday was the day that I started to get over any hurt or overwhelmed feelings that I was having at the beginning of the week.

Thursday:

Another bright and sunny Liege day! Okay it was slightly cloudy and breezy, and I had another German class (without any material because I could not get a hold of anything yet!). Sitting through German level 2 class and understanding everything felt wonderful, up until the point where the person next to me would not share his book. So needless to say I was lost, but I understood everything. Just not in the right context. And since I could not follow along (thus keeping my mind on the subject) I started to day dream in German…something I have not done since high school. At the end of that class, I tell the teacher my situation about classes and inform her that I will be dropping the level 3 class. Feeling better, I head upstairs to meet Eleah before we go shopping with Pauline and the girls. Attempting to reload our phones and failing miserably at it, we decide to go on ahead and get the girls. Waiting around for the girls to get pretty, I rack my brain to remember where the “Center” is located. Let’s just say we could not find it after 15minutes and decided to get lunch (it is about 2pm at this point). Now that we have found Pauline, we all meander around the city and shop. About 3-4hours later, we all are getting tired of shopping and how convent that we all need to go to ULg. Heading there, we all get lost from one another. Heiny and I tried to wait around to find the other but gave up 15minutes of not finding them. So walking back, I start getting chilled. All I am wearing at this point is a long sleeve shirt and a sweater (because it was nice that morning) and now it is misting, windy, and just plain nasty. So popping into a store to find a cheap jacket, Heiny and I move on to City Living. Both of the Katies were not feeling that great, but Eleah and I desperately need some of our crack. So deciding on downloading movies while we had internet then going home to watch them sounded like a plan made in heaven. But there was one problem in that plan…the download takes a long time. So catching up on some shows or skyping we settle in to be there for a while. Finally tired of sitting there, we head home. But before we roost, we had to get food. So trekking home in the misty nastiness, we find some pitas and get our butts into bed for a movie. Enjoying our Girls Night In, we slip into a very relaxed state, and then sleep…yum.

Friday:

OOO lordy it is finally Friday!! Starting off our morning like Wednesday, Eleah and I get ready for our 1pm or 1:30pm class. Leaving for City Living early we find out that Eleah actually has her class at Sart-Tilman, which is a 20-40minute bus ride away. Deciding that she was going to skip class and email the professor and Muriel about the mistake, we part ways (Heiny and I to our 4hour International Logistics class and Eleah back home).
After our brains are mush, Heiny and I head home…or rather in search of some food. We found CHINESE!!! Granted we have still not found Crab Rangoon yet, but we found a cheap priced place that tasted wonderful! Now full and ready to be lazy, we head back to City Living. Enjoy my dose of crack, I skyped my daddy bear. Talking for a while about…whatever and watching Heiny and I MacGyver a wine cork (we are all going drinking) dad and I had a great 2 hour chat. This is something we have not done since the first couple of days that I was here. Hours later of skyping and being lazy, I finally (mentally) prepare myself to get dressed. Why can’t people wear “fat pants” to go out??? Anyways, I shimmy into something cute that I had Eleah bring from home and having a couple glasses of wine from Portugal Heiny, Katie, Eleah and I get ready to go out. Enjoying some “pumped up music” (like songs from the Burlesque soundtrack) we drink and have some fun.
Finding Reuben (a guy from our French class) and Paulo we head to an Irish pub to enjoy some drinks. Talking and taking pictures, we all enjoy one another’s company. Getting a little tired of being in one spot, we move onto a bar with swings instead of stools. Again taking incriminating evidence, we enjoy each other’s company. Then finally the last stop (as always) was Pot au Lait. However, something interesting happened here (yes we still took pictures), but Paulo (quite out of the blue) asks me about what type of guy I like. Totally blown off kilter by the question, I stumble through my answer. And wonders of wonders, he looks hurt (why I do not know) then he claims he will search out for the perfect guy for me. Point: Has the search to find me a guy gone transatlantic…YES!! I cannot help but be completely flummoxed and… (Insert eye roll). Still taken aback about the question, I attempted to move away from the subject. But bless his little heart; he just would not give it up. Just like all of my friends back home when they proclaim this fact, I get a little pissed. But what can a girl do??? Ask the guy about his girlfriend back home??? Yeah, I thought so too.
Moving on, Eleah asks Heiny and I if we are ready to go home (this is a first). Obliviously I was ready to go; we head back to City Living (to change into something more comfortable for the walk home. Watching my surrounding, Eleah and I make it back home safe and sound, only to get up Saturday morning early for our day trip. UGGG!!!!

Saturday:

OMG why must one wake up early after a night of drinking to a very bright room?!?! Anyways, Eleah and I hurry to get dressed and packed for our day trip to Mastrick, Holland. Texting the girls to make sure they were up and to know that we would be late. Eleah and I inhaled some food and coffee.
Dashing to the park to get the girls, we sprinted to the train station, brought tickets, and then climbed onto the train seconds before it left the train station. Tired, thirsty and no room to sit, Heiny and I end up standing on the train watching the country side pass us by. Once in Mastrick, we hit multiple little outdoor markets. All I can say is I LOVE Mastrick! Not only can I actually understand more of what is being spoken, but the city is much more organized and cleaner than Liege.
Around 1pm, we are all starving. Deciding on making lunch our big meal of the day, we stop into this restaurant. Not only was this place cozy and quaint, it was perfect and the food….yum!!! I give this place 2 thumbs up and a very satisfied smile. After feeling like we all gain food babies, it was time to pay and move on to better things.
Somehow we stumbled upon this wonderful looking cathedral, taking pictures like any good tourist we start exploring the tastes and smells of Mastrick. After a while, we decide to shop more (plan was to find an outfit for Monday’s Boat Party). Getting some munchies, we pick up some waffles. Discussing the obvious difference between Liege waffles and Mastrick waffles, we move one. After goodness know how much freaking shopping, we go in search for the grocery store (this was one of the main reasons for going there – cheap groceries). Walking and walking some more, we finally find this place. Picking up food (all this week Eleah and I have not had food in the flat) for a while, we all crawl back to the train station on the other side of town. Upon finding that our train back to Liege is leaving in seconds, we make a mad dash for the train’s platform in time to watch the back of the train leaving the station. If you are thinking ahead, the next train will not arrive in Mastrick for another hour.
So making ourselves comfortable, the girls start reviewing pictures from the previous night. So say that Eleah and Katie have some interesting pictures is an understatement (I do not have any incriminating pictures – Point for me). While cringing at their picture the girls start munching on their food, while I inhale an energy drink. Thank the Lord, when the train finally pulled into the station. I must say a cushioned seat is very nice, especially being able to put your feet up – sheer bliss! Well minus the fact that a guy who was seriously tweaked out sat down next to me and perpetual kept asking Heiny questions. Naturally I switched to speaking German (thank the Lord this crazy guy did not know the language).
Want to hear some of the crap this guy pulled – I knew you would. Okay this guy basically stripped off of his shirts to change his top, showed Heiny and I a pamphlet of marijuana, offered us Kit-Kat bar (three times) and wanted to know where we were from and why we went to Mastrick. Naturally I give Heiny a death stares so she would not answer any question, but instead put him off in French. (My knee-jerk reaction was to let him have it in English and maybe something else. But using my head, I realized it was better to ignore him and give him the stare – one that says leave me the hell alone. Needless to say he did not bother me on bit.) So here I would like to thank my mother for teaching me this stare, because it just got some practice and it worked beautifully.
Finally off the train, we all head back to City Living, thinking that Eleah would be on the computer for a bit, I put in some laundry. Well I thought wrong about that, ooo well. After waiting around for the clothes to wash and dry (dry to the point where I could let it finish drying at home). Finally my clothes decide to get dry, we pack up and boot scoot on home to a wonderful, comfortable bed, a beautiful end to a wonderfully long day.

Sunday (2/13/11):

Sleep, Sleep, Sleep and sleep some more. My alarm for 10am woke us up, but instead of getting up we lay in bed a bit longer. Finally pulling our lazy butts out of bed, we fix some coffee and listen to Louisiana Gumbo again. The game plan of the day, Eleah and Katie were going to go to the market and I was going to go for a run/walk. But what actually happened. Eleah did go to the market and got a sensory overload then got Chinese (at the same place Heiny and I went to on Friday) and I worked on my BJJ technique and worked out, cleaned the flat. Shower and some lunch, I sat down to write this very, very long blog post. Just to give you an idea how long I have been sitting on my couch listening to music and writing this guy, I started around 12:30-1pm and it is now almost 4:30pm here in Liege. Yeah that is a lot of writing and to top it off, this will probably not be posted till Tuesday or Monday because I do not have internet still. I heard a nasty rumor that I may not get it till Tuesday, but we will see. So this blog post takes up about 8pages on Microsoft Word. OOO Yeah, I am just that good…and tired. So what is the plan for Sunday night…reading?

So until this get posted, good night and farewell.

Welcome to Liege!

So that past couple of days have varied so much (like a menopausal woman), I can hardly keep track but here I go.

After I last posted, I had a couple of days where I did not feel quite whole. Some are welcome to say that it was self pity that made me sick or that I am not adjusted to the variety of food, but whatever the cause I just did not feel well. So on comes Wednesday afternoon, the group decides to skip the second half of French class to study by ourselves (insert nap time in between). However, things did not go according to plan for Eleah and me. After dragging my tired butt over the bridges and to the grocery store, we debate about what food we should get and what milk we should try. Fact: The milk is not in the refrigerator like the USA, it is on the

shelves at room temperature. Interested??? Yay, I was too. Anyways after hauling our loot back to the apartment, unpacking and putting on the fat pants (really large comfortable pants) we finally sat. What time was left for napping was nonexistent for this kid; instead I study French and German. Upon making the decision not to go out that night with the girls and after we all "studied," the girls leave for some more shanagans while I enjoy a nice bed and German. Come that morning and still feeling like some lovely puppy presents, I snooze the alarm and roll back to sleep. Thursday was wonderful even though I could not focus at all, it was nice to watch some

American show and just relax. During my "me time,” Eleah rushes home declaring she is going to Mastrick, Holland for the day to help a friend move his belonging to Liege. Fact: Mastrick is only a 20-30 minute train ride from Liege and they have SUN!!! (Sorry, I am in desperate need of vitamin D.) And again I go back to enjoying being lazy.

Friday

Friday, yes I was planning on going to the last session of the French class till my appointment with Liege's Exchange Student Coordinator ran later than 30 minutes past the hour. So what is a

girl to do in Liege in the morning???? I don't know, eat breakfast!!! I go to Eleah's and mine breakfast join - Delifrance. The first of many memorable moments to come, the power goes out while I am trying to pay at Delifrance. Since I did not have exact change thus needing to break a bigger bill, I waited till the power turned on. All of 10 minutes later, the power turns on again till I get upstairs and it turns back off. One would wonder why the power kept getting switched off, until one looked outside to see City of Liege van parked outside. Apparently they need to work on that side of the streets power, however they could not see that Princes Bekah was hungry and requested a quite time. Hmmm....I guess not. My diligent secretary must have forgotten to send that. Oh well, life goes on and it leads you one amazing clothing sales block away from breakfast. So I will not complain, because I found I good sale, got an amazing waffle and a good jump start with espresso.

Getting tired of clothe shopping (about 15 minutes in and because I knew I should not be buying anything), I start to shuffle my feet towards the University. Once I found the room where the Erasmus Welcome Day would be held, I finally meet Kaite H (here on called Heiny) for the first time. (I am going to lightly touch on all of this section because A LOT of information was given to us in French and I was not paying attention and you do not really care what is was.) So Heiny

and I are gabbing away waiting for the other girls to get there, the show to start and when to get out. After a lot of French and one headache later, we all leave for a "Traditional" lunch and waffles. At this point, Heiny is disgusted at the food; Katie, Eleah and I are just cautioned. Knowing that we will be going on a walking tour of the city, I eat enough to fill the stomach (and not be to sick from the food). Number Two of interesting points, my French teacher comes to our French group and starts asking for me. Okay that was weird, however it is weirder that when you go to stand up he is there looking at you. A little creeped out, I ask him what he needs. Apparently, he sought me out to help him learn English and in return he would help me with French. Sounds great, right?!?! Yeah I thought so too, however I made sure he know it would have to include my friends or it was not going to happen. What college girl in her right mind would agree to meet up with a teacher (who actively sought you out) to study with him on a weekend (evening), think about it...not many. Moving on, the massive collage of students got broken up into different groups for the tour. The English speaking people got into my group and off we went with our camera happy

photographer. Point Three, I now have a camera happy photographer who stalked my steps on the tour....literally. Every time I turned around, he was there snappy

another photo. It got to the point where I would purposely stand behind everyone and would not move till the group had disbanded. (I have to ask...WHY ME!!!) Why do old men feel the need to attach themselves to me in a slightly inappropriate manner? I just do not understand. I know Katie D. mention she get a lot of "Creepers" back at her home university; did she pass off the disease? Because if that is the case, Katie D. is more than welcome to have it back!

Anyways, on the tour we see a lot of the sights Eleah, Katie D. and I already know about, except

for a few. Point and Case, the famous Belgian Stairs (Mountain of Bueren).

I made it up in about 15 minutes with my knees about to give out. Personally I thought I did well, all things considered. After completing the hike (literally) we sit, breathe and take in the sight. From the top, you can see almost all of Liege. Beautiful!! It is well worth it but I would probably not do it in a St. Louis summer though - OUCH! Even though it was beautiful, we all did not want to go back down the steps because all of the steps are slanted down, are not even (or broken), and we just did not want to. Begrudgingly the tour guides inform us that we are going down a different way. This was nice even though the steps were just as bad, it was nice to see a different section of the city.

Finishing out the tour, our group head to the rendezvous point for free drinks before the movie. (All this time we are about 45 minutes ahead of schedule.) So we just sit and talk for a while till we can drink for free. Upon deciding what to drink Zsuzsanna (new friend from Hungry) and I both get a cappuccino and Peket (which is a shot). Enjoying the good cappuccino and a shot of Peket, the group settles in and we begin to chat. Feeling antzy and ready to leave, I join Zsuzsanna outside while the girls chat it up with our new Greek friends. Again, enjoying new friends (from Italy, Germany, and Romania) we stand around and chat about ourselves and our families. It is starting to become a known fact that my parents are envied after parents. (I like having this Ace in the Whole...just in case I need brownie points withe the parents.) After years, centuries even, the girls are finally ready to leave. The Gang with Zsuzsanna travel to get 3Euro subs and beer for later tonight. Munching on a Curry Chicken baguette sandwich, we go pick up our pre-game items. Finally I start thinking; I can finally get in a shower! From hiking those stairs to being around smoke for a while, a girl just needs a shower.

Once dispersing from our location, Eleah and I start our trek back. Taking a few touristy pictures (Eleah) while I stand on alert for strange people (it is late, dark and we are walking in an unlit section along the river). We get back to the apartment. Cracking open the computers for some business emails and talks with friends and family, Eleah and I get ready. Question, what kind of hair style does a girl do when she is in a time crunch???? Of course, wavy curls!! I braided the hair and spray the crap out of it with curling spray, only to complete the first round by blowing dry the braid. Intermission was doing the bangs. And finishing out with round two, I undid the braid to blow and scrunch the hair into curls. And what did I get one big wavy/curly hair that had some volume to it. It works, right?!?! Well it had to at this point because we were already late and we still have to find the landlord to pay rent. Upon completion of apply our respective goop to our faces, we set off to find our landlady. Who would have thought, that two girls could not find the landlady when there is only so many rooms in the entire building - hint she was not there. Hmmmmm?!?!?! Seriously! So tramping back up the stairs to replace the money, Eleah and I dash off to City Living. Booze walking there, yes I know. I probably broke a couple of laws, but it was all for the sake of having a good time. Point about the beer (few many enjoy), it was 12% alcohol! Seriously??? You ask, yes and it taste nasty (label states "XXX-strong blonde beer.") It was under 2euros, how could I go wrong??? By mixing a very strong red wine that our resident Italian brought (yes the wine as wonderful!!).

Realizing that we are all late to our party (Erasmus party for the exchange students), we leave City Living for the bar. Enjoying the crowds of people (or the mass horde of dance college students), we nudge our way to the back of the bar. This is where our group spent out time for the night. After a while of dancing and drinking, some of us decided we should stand on the chairs so we could have more room to dance. (Chairs were similar to a wooden box.) Again after a while of dancing on unsteady ground, my body ate major bar floor. And like any other professional clutz, I jumped right back up and continued to dance my heart away. Hours later (of having fun), I start to realized the Katie D. and Eleah were no longer at the bar. This was confirmed when I realized my pants were vibrating - from my phone. Stumbling out of the bar, I set off to find the girls at another bar a bit away. But thanks to my dad for making me studying roads and land marks to make sure I do not get lost, I made it there safe and sound (well minus my old sweater I wore over my shirt - I remembered that the next morning). Gathering the girls or vice versa, we get off to get food. The girls went to this pita bar (it is a sandwich bar) and a road side vender for frites (locally loved - fries). Graciously accepting one of the frites, we head off to City Living so Eleah and I can deposit Katie D. (Heiny was walked home earlier by a new German friend). Depositing Katie D. Eleah and I clumsily make our way to our side of town, only to drop (literally) into bed for the night. (I am being evasive with the night because I know some people do not want to know and to keep myself in check.)

Fact: It is now a game to write down (during the semester) how many things Bekah will lose when drinking.

Saturday

After waking up early to crusty contact eyes, I wash my face and am relieved that we are not late for the HEC Welcome day. In fact I had woken up before my usually alarm. Finally I am starting to adjust - with the aid of late night wake up juice). Checking my emails to confirm the time for the HEC day, Eleah and I go back to sleep (or just Eleah). I do not know why I could not go back to sleep, instead I just enjoyed my cozy cave under my comforter (sucking down water as I go). When I could not stay the agitated feeling any more, I got up and took a shower. I had so much "crap" in my hair from the night before (curl spray, sweat, probably beer, sweaty bodies, and just generally bar crud). Needless to say a shower was needed and a few shampoos to the head.

Feeling refreshed, I congratulated myself on standing by my roots and dressed very American...big college shirt, jeans, and comfy shoes. I know I suck out like a sore thumb, but I have been dressing the European part for a while, and I just need some American college grunge dress for a while. Revisiting the mirror for a lighter layer of our goop, Eleah and I run out the door for HEC (we were already late). Getting to the HEC campus later then I would have wanted, we wait for the massive decent of information to begin. Did you know that I am currently not registered for classes? Yeah, it freaks me out to...AND I can only (currently) find HEC classes. Ummm not all of my classes are through HEC. For a control freak or a girl with such tendencies, I started to flip out about orientation and the fact of how little I know of this school. Fact: HEC is a hard business school, their building designer was on crack when building the structure of the building, and in the cafeteria there is a bar. I personally do not understand how European college students can handle this much partying and drinking and still maintain their grades....HOW?!?!?!?!

Anyways, about half way through the information session, tour, and lunch, I start discovering aches and pains in my rear, knees, and shins. What do you think that is from...falling off of the chairs last night? OOO yeah, I have a running tally of two on each leg and a very sore rear and lower back.

City of Liege = 2 points Bekah = -5 points

Back to the point, after the presenters finished their song and dance and feed the wild pack of hungry college students, we opted for going home and meeting late to buy Heiny a straightening iron (she blew out her chi last night....lol). Once home, I attack my computer with vengeance to figure out what classes I need and how it will transfer back. And wonders of wonders find new classes and hope they will transfer back to my hopefully selected class. (We will see about those ones in a year..uggg.) Sorry off track, while Eleah and I are doing this, Eleah is perpetually distracted. And being the task master that I am, I yell at her to focus on her stuff so she can get the right classes and get into them. I do not believe I have ever roomed with a more ADD person, but I give her points for putting up with me and my task master personality about homework and school. She lets me yell at her to focus, that is roomy love right there! :)

So here we are picking classes, skype calling parents, waiting for the girls to show up to shop. While I waited and waited for the little dears to show up, dad skyped called me while I was sending out emails back home. Blah Blah Blah, family talked, I jested (made dad pissed and wish he could come get me and lock me away :), the girls show up. Talking and skyping a bit more...we finally leave to buy a straightener and window shop. While at the mall FOREVER!! Heiny and I decide dinner was in order - noodles in a Styrofoam cup. Katie D. got Haagen Dazs ice cream and Eleah an espresso from there also. Munching/sipping on our respective items, we chat some more - go figure. Finally complaining too much we go back home, the Katies to City Living and Eleah and I to our apartment. After lounging around, Eleah starts to get ready for her "date" with her sexy Canadian friend. Sneakily asking me about safety tips (because I was not going out with her..ice the knees), I crawl out of bed to show her some very basic self-defense move that I was taught late last month. Enjoying the light come into Eleah's eyes, knowing that she could now "kind of" defend herself if need be (or at least scare them), Eleah proclaims that she wants to take Ju Jitzu with me. Excited to have a buddy to practice on, I start describing some other moves that I could show her later. Describing some of the flood moves, I saw Eleah become a little be more apprehensive as I go. I started to think, "Well crap, there just went my grappling partner...crap!" But I swiftly changed her mind, by telling her I would attempt rock climbing with her. We will see how that goes..mmmmmmm.

So now here I sit, writing this massive blog to my friends, family, and readers for a couple of hours now. And I do hate to say it, but my delicate, little fingers are tired and my eyes are crying for some "good" sleep. So I wish you all a good night!

See You all Later!