Day 70 - Diamonds, Divas, and Drak

This week I got to have dinner with Craig and Lori - the wonderful people who helped me get my internship and who have supported me while I have been here. They are both consultants and have studied many of the same things that I am currently learning. Long story short, I found out that Lori went to grad school with my current professor - small world!!! It was great to see some familiar faces and hear about life in Nashville and get a few more tips on Brussels (they live half here and half there).

This weekend was a great one, just spent in Brussels relaxing a little bit. Actually, it ended up being much more exciting than I thought it would be. It all started Thursday night when we had an office girls' night. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with the ladies from the office and enjoy a nice meal and some drinks together. Friday night was another fun night with the office. Russell, our senior communications officer, had his last day on Friday, so the whole office got drinks after work, our managing director even paid for the first round! This is where the Drak in the title of my post comes from because this is his nickname in the office.

Saturday I went shopping for a little bit and decided to go to the Museum of Musical Instruments and pamper myself. I went to this crazy little health and beauty shop and got Queen Helene's Mint Julep Mask (Jennifer will know exactly what this is....) and some hair dye (don't worry, it's still the same color). Anyway, the Museum of Musical Instruments (known as the MIM) was pretty cool. They give you infared headphones when you go in, so that when you walk around and stand in front of certain instruments, you can hear them being played. And, there happened to be a harp concert going on while I was there, so I got to hear a harp duet for a little while too. There were all kinds of instruments in this place from big to small, ancient to modern. I'm sure that Jennifer and Linden could have spent a long time there. On Saturday night, I treated myself by making fried chicken with mashed potatoes and homemade biscuits, dying my hair (like I said, it's the same color - the dye didn't do much), and using my mint julep mask while catching up on my American TV shows and listening to a little Enya.

Sunday was a great day filled with surprises. I woke up a little early to go to the Market in Place Jourdan that Lori had told me about. I thought it was just going to be a fruit and vegetable market, but I was surprised to find that was not the case. The market filled the whole square and even ran down one of the side streets. There was everything from fruits and vegetables to clothes, suitcases, flowers, fish, and even a huge rotisserie stand full of chickens!! I hadn't planned on it being so great, so I really only got to walk through on my way to church, but I can't wait to go back a little earlier next time and explore around a little.

After church, I went to lunch with one of the men from the house group that I have been going to. His wife recently passed away and he had a few hours to kill while waiting for his son to get back from the youth retreat. While I love the people I work with, it is always great to talk to and be challenged by someone who is truly wrestling with the awesome power of God and the ways that he can work - those are conversations we just don't have around the lunch table at work. We also enjoyed talking about the hidden treasure that is Belgium and all of the little cities inside of it, and then he asked me to explain to him how US healthcare works - good thing I've studied it a lot! After lunch, Steve took me to the Arboretum, which, after some debate, we learned means "a facility where trees and shrubs are cultivated for exhibition," thanks to google. We then went to Tervuren Park - this great park basically right next to the church that I had not been to yet. It was gorgeous with great paths and lakes and the Colonial Palace and the African Museum. After walking around for a bit, I headed back towards Brussels or actually Park Cinquantinaire, where Steve told me he had heard about a St. Patrick's Day festival that was going on.

I ran into some co-workers while I was walking into the park, so I joined them and some friends at the St. Patty's Day festival. The parade had been much earlier in the day, but we still enjoyed some great burgers from Jack O'Shea's, a great Irish butchery in Brussels, and watched a little football. When it got too cold to be outside anymore, we went to a pub that had all kinds of Irish celebrations going on with live music, Irish dancing, and plenty of Guinness. I have to say, Guinness is not my drink of choice, but since it was an Irish celebration, I had to try one. As always, it was fun to hang out with some people from work outside of work - they are just such fun people.

On Monday, despite the forecast of rain, I decided to head to Antwerp. I had heard many things about Antwerp - some people really like it, some people think it's pretty lame, but generally, it's known for it's shopping and it's diamond trading industry. Either way, it's in my travel book that includes Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, and Ghent, so I felt it deserved a chance. The train ride there was very easy and uneventful...but I arrived in the Antwerp station and felt like I was in another world. It is a huge train station (4 levels of tracks) that is very pretty and almost seems more like a mall with lots of shops and things.

Just outside of the station is the zoo, one of the oldest in Europe, but I decided to save the 20-ish euro and head for the diamond museum next door instead. For those who are unaware, Antwerp is the diamond trading capital of the world. Something like 60% of the world's diamonds pass through there at least once, but usually more than that as they come through as rough stones and again as cut stones. The museum told of how the waterway and train connections into Antwerp, it's central location, and Belgium's stable political climate had allowed the diamond industry to flourish here. They showed how a diamond is cut and polished and described how diamond traders work. Apparently, when you go to buy diamonds wholesale, the seller puts the loose stones in an envelope and gives them to the buyer to look at. The buyer then writes a price on the envelope and passes it back to the seller - this begins the negotiation that may go back and forth several times. The interesting thing here is that once the negotiations have started, only the buyer is allowed to open the envelope and review the diamonds, the seller may not look at his stones again. All in all the museum was decently interesting. After I "cracked the code" to get my free "diamond" souvenir, I decided to walk around the rest of the town.

I went down the large shopping street (it was filled with lots of shops), saw the Cathedral of Our Lady (but didn't pay the 4 euro to go in) and the Grote Markt and walked along the river for a while. The forecast of rain turned out to be one of the sunniest, prettiest days I've seen in Belgium yet, and that always makes sightseeing just a little bit better. I even got to eat lunch outside at a cafe in one of the squares. I did stop in a few diamond shops, but didn't purchase anything because, well, I'm not getting paid that much. I think there must be a yearly limit on the number of Cathedrals and museums you can visit and enjoy, and I think I have nearly reached that limit, so it was nice to be outside a bit more and just enjoy a day of wandering around with no agenda.

An explanation of the name Antwerp and the statue you will see in my pictures, thanks to Wikipedia: "According to folklore, and as celebrated by the statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend involving a mythical giant called Antigoon who lived near the river Scheldt. He exacted a toll from those crossing the river, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands and threw it into the river Scheldt. Eventually, the giant was slain by a young hero named Brabo, who cut off the giant's own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen—akin to Old English hand and wearpan (= to throw), that has changed to today's warp."

Wednesday was St. Patrick's Day. Nothing too exciting here, but I did go out with Anastasia, Kate, and some other intern friends to an Irish Pub to celebrate the occassion. I also wore my green polo for the day, of course!!