Day 8- Groceries conquered.

Throughout my life I have heard people make fun of Walmart. I have made fun of Walmart myself…I have even visited peopleofwalmart.com and laughed…a lot. Because of yesterday…never will I ever ever again make fun of Walmart. It may just be the greatest thing that exists.

            Yesterday, Maddie and I didn’t have much to do , but we decided we wanted to pick up some school supplies and find more groceries. We have several markets that are located next to us, but only have a few options for food. We assumed a large market (Walmart kind of thing) would be close to us, so we started out on our journey.

            We left the house around 2PM in our Northface jackets, boots, jeans and longsleeve shirts. Who would have thought that at the end of August it would have been 50 degrees and raining out? I didn’t think I could miss St. Louis humidity…but again, I was wrong. Anyways, we were told that the large market called “Carrefour” was just down the street, two bus stops away, so we boarded bus #1. After getting off, we found the Carrefour and were shocked to see that it was a “Carrefour Express” which had nothing but local produce. We asked the clerk where the “large” Carrefour was in boken French. He then told us to go to the next metro station and take it to the “Delta” stop.  Excited we had new directions, we left quickly and forgot to ask where the next metro station was. We aimlessly walked about a mile to try and find a metro stop, stopped in a few stores…asked where the Carrefour was, and had a lot of people laugh at us and tell us we were very very very far away from there.

            By now, it is around 3pm, and we are a good hour and a half away from our house. We still have no idea where the next metro station is or where “Delta” is. Thankfully, my roommate Maddie has more direction sense than I do, and she actually looked at a map at the next bus station. I sat next to her practicing how to say “Where Am I”, and “Help, I just want to find some food” in French while she did the practical thing and got us to the next metro station. We ended up boarding bus #2 that took us downtown, another 20 minutes away from stop Delta. The bus stopped downtown close to a metro station. Next, we boarded this metro, switched lines and got off on stop Delta. By now it is around 4:30 PM and I don’t really remember why we went out in the first place. So 2.5 hours into our quick stop for groceries, we had taken two buses, two metro’s and walked about 3 miles.

            By the time we reached Delta, I was ecstatic! WE FINALLY DID IT. I just knew that Carrefour was going to be just around the corner because of course the guy telling us at the first Carrefour to get off at Delta was correct in his directions. We get off at Delta, asked one of the first, quiet, normal, non “Taken” looking people, for directions to Carrefour. And sadly we get, “Ohhhh I have no idea where that is, but it sure is a long way from here”.  At that point, I almost punched the woman and thought that the Lord must really want me to not have school supplies. So what do you do after that? Do you get back on the metro and try and go back an area you somewhat know? Of course not…you get off at the stop and walk. Then you walk. Then you walk some more, then you take a picture of a funny looking Belgian statue, then you walk. Then you ask the nice lady with the doggy where Carrefour is. Then you walk. Then you are afraid you don’t understand her directions so you ask her to walk with us for a little so we don’t get lost again. THEN YOU FINALLY SEE THE SIGN FOR CARREFOUR.

            After seeing the sign I almost starting doing backflips down the road. We were thrilled! It was about 6PM at this time and we had no memory of anything before this trip. We walk towards the sign and realize that the large Carrefour sign just leads to an empty parking garage. Before I almost sit down and cry, Maddie calmly leads me to the back of the parking lot, where a massive Walmart looking building, housing a PizzaHut, Burger place, grocery store, clothing store, and much more, is located. It was one of the prettiest things I have seen since being in Belgium.

            We walked in and began to look around…the first aisle I turned down was divinely the “soda” aisle that had sodas from each country…including the United States. And there, in bright colors was a sign for my first love, Dr. Pepper. And in that moment, I could see God looking down on me, chuckling but also smiling and saying…I’m still here Bailey. I know you, and I love you…even if you’re crazy sometimes.

            So I bought the largest bottle of Dr. Pepper I could find, as well as some ham, two types of cheeses, crackers, a few notebooks, highlighters, pens, cereal, juice, and a beautiful loaf of freshly baked Ciabatta bread. The bread aisle amazed me…for a girl who doesn’t like chocolate, but could eat her weight in carbs…that aisle was the place for me. Kinda looked like Disneyworld.

            We checked out, and headed back with our large sacks of groceries that we brought from home (thank goodness someone told me that they don’t provide you with bags…or I would have looked hilarious trying to carry stuff in my northface). From the grocery store we found a metro stop really close by…but it was not named Delta. So we took another metro, then switched to a tram, then walked another mile, up three flights of stairs…and sat on our beds and didn’t speak for about 20 minutes.

            Later that night, we were out walking around trying to meet up with some friends, and we passed a large super market located approximately three blocks from my apartment called DelHaize. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

            Even though, my day was long and a bit stressful, I got a great walking tour of different parts of Brussels, and got to drink a very large glass of Dr. Pepper in the end, so I must admit that all is well in the world.

            I’ m about to head to my first class in a few minutes…a little nervous, but kind of excited (being the nerd I am). Anyway…thanks again for reading this! Hope my life can keep all of you entertained for a few minutes each day. Remember that your heavenly Father is always watching and with you (Isaiah 41:10), and that even if you seem lost, He will lead you in the right direction and the reward will be great (maybe even better than a Dr.Pepper haha). Love you all!

Bails 

weird statue thing we saw on our five mile walk

Just part of the bread area :)

finally have food and school supplies!

So thrilled! 

Day Five- Bailey has infiltrated Belgium

Day 5

Alright, so let me apologize that this post is not sooner. But I have learned that the time I have available to me in my apartment to write this blog is usually the time I am using for sleep. Needless to say, I have been out and about a lot.

To introduce my first event since my last post…let’s start with a question. Who hear has seen the movie Taken? Ok good. So have I. Multiple times. It was one of the things everyone and their mom made me do before I left for Belgium. So over the past few years I have seen that movie a lot. I know I’m not supposed to talk to any “Peter’s”; I know I shouldn’t ask any foreign boys on the street to take a picture of me; I know not to ride home with anyone but people from my program.

            Obviously, this message of being safe has been drilled into my mind. Unfortunately on Tuesday this safety kind of backfired. And those of you who know me understand that I never overreact about anything, so this next story should complete shock you.

            Well, on this evening (my second day in Brussels ever), my roommate Maddie and I were walking home from dinner. It was only about a two block walk and we felt super confident out on our own. We passed by some African American teenager boys who started shouting at us and whistling (surprisingly normal for men of all ages to do this here). We ignored them and continued to walk rather quickly down the street. We knew they were right behind us all the way to our apartment, so we did not go in, we just continued on the street and stopped in a small shop on our corner. We stayed in there a few minutes, and then saw that the coast was clear. So we ventured back home…a little shaken up. As soon as we get back up to our apartment, there is a loud knock on our door. A very loud knock. Maddie and I both stared at each other while having scenes from Taken run through our mind.

            I remember hearing one more knock and then peacing out…which meant I ran to the back window of our apartment which is kinda large and opened it, climbed out onto our ledge and kind of leaped over to the next door neighbors’ balcony. Yes, that is correct…in probably a 10 second time frame I sprinted to the back window, opened it, climbed my five foot eight body out onto a tiny ledge, three floors up, stretched my legs over the closest balcony and then kind of hopped over. As I was doing this, I kept thinking “Ain’t gonnaa HAPPEN” (for those of you who know Glozelle. Ain’t no way I was just going to stand there and get taken. This skinny girl was going to fight, and by fight I mean climb like a monkey onto rooftops, balconies and ledges.  And I left poor Maddie there defenseless and in awe of her absolutely psycho roommate.

            So Maddie continues to stand by the window which she migrated to after I literally leapt out of it, while I panic on the next door balcony. Maddie remains calm, while I convince her that the people are going to break in, steal all our things and then take us. We might as well get ready. Well after a while, I persuade Maddie to come out on the balcony with me so we can be panicked together. The knocking by this point has completely stopped, but I am still 100% convinced that we are about to get taken. That’s what happens when American girls go to foreign countries.

            Fifteen minutes go by; we try and send a text message to our Resident Director Sabine on a European phone we had just bought that was in French and still using T9.   You try texting your brand new address that you don’t really know on a European French phone that is using T9 (auto correcting messaging thing). It’s super fun and really helps relax the tense situation.

            Alright, so what about the neighbor whose balcony we are standing on? Of course she comes into the picture….it wouldn’t be a proper Bailey freak out story if the poor Belgian neighbor who can’t speak any English doesn’t come into the story. So, this poor woman comes home. We see her light come on…so Maddie and I discretely try to climb back over the balcony and hop back onto our ledge. And then we realize we must have had super human strength and adrenaline to get over in the first place because we can’t get back. So the only option I see…is to waive frantically to the poor Belgian women and shout “Bonjour Bonjour” at her. Which is exactly what I did. She threw the stuff she had in her hands up, looked like she might have had a heart attack…and slowly came outside. After about five minutes of broken French/English…we get her to let us go downstairs so we can go back up to our apartment, which I am thoroughly convinced had gotten broken into. As soon as we get outside our Resident  Director Sabine is standing there looking so confused. She helps walk us back up the stairs and then introduces us to the lady living below us…..who is the landlord and whom we are borrowing internet from. The landlord wanted to introduce herself to us, which is why she was knocking on our door. The poor lady knocked for 20 minutes while we scooted out the window ready to fight to the death. I’m really glad I don’t freak out about anything. I think God about peed his pants watching that whole situation unfold.

            In conclusion, please do not encourage over dramatic American girls to obsess with the movie Taken before going abroad, because then they will climb out of windows when anyone knocks on the door.

            Well that’s the main story of the week…besides that I have done a lot of touristy things. Belgian drivers are absolutely crazy, and everyone drives an Audi, BMW or a Mercedes. The trash trucks are Mercedes. Makes me want to vomit. It’s been interesting getting used to the food too. I tried a sandwhich the other day with this pink kind of sauce on it, didn’t realize until tasting it that the pink stuff was raw beef. No big deal. I’ve decided with the amount of walking I’m doing and the lack of snacking I am doing there will be no reason to fear the multiple fry and waffle stands.  

            I have interviewed for two internships here, hopefully I will found out if I have received one in the next couple of days. I’m really hoping to intern with this European law firm that focuses on international law…had a skype interview with them this morning, crazy stuff.  The rest of my classes are international political classes which I am really excited about. I am also enrolled in an intermediate French class which will really help me out while I am here.

            I’m making a ton of friends, but its really weird because we hardly ever contact each other by phone, because it costs a couple of cents to text each other on our fancy 20 Euro European phones…so there is a lot of…Uh well I’ll meet you outside your apartment in ten mnutes…ok GO!  Our phones are made by BIC who makes pencils, pens and lighters as well. It’s kind of funny because we all have the exact same orange and white phone that we cling to. So BIC has become a noun, verb, pronoun, place and thing, all at the same time. I am currently BIC-ing someone as we speak.

I am really excited about getting to know a lot of these girls better and to travel around with them. They all seem so excited to be here and it is a lot of fun comparing hilarious stories throughout the day. We have been really lucky to get to know some of the locals that go to our college through one of the ISA staff members. They have shown us around really well and are always helpful when we have no idea what we are doing or how to get there. I’ve literally never felt so much like a freshman in my entire life.  Guess you gotta go through it somewhere.

Anyway…I’m off to BIC some more people and then hang out with some other Vesalius college students tonight! Please keep me in your prayers! I am constantly reminded of God’s protection, grace , and HUMOR while being here. Remember that as well as you go throughout your day today. If something funny happens and your all alone, know that your creator may have just wanted to make you smile J

            Lots of love!

Bailey Jo 

Day 1, and so it beins

Well, as I type this, on my bed, in my apartment, in Brussels, I am kind of in complete awe of my surroundings. The past two days have been a complete whirlwind, full of every emotion possible.

            I arrived at the St. Louis airport around 9:00 AM CST for my 10:55 flight. I think my parents knew that I was a bit nervous because of my lack of speech. I would smile or nod, but big sentences just didn’t seem to come out anymore. One sentence kept running through my mind….You are absolutely, 100% off your rocker to be doing this. I could not seem to grasp why someone who loved their family so much, and really loved America, would have all these desires to go away for such a long time. It’s funny how sometimes when you get close enough to a big event or big change in one’s life, the human reaction is to run screaming and kicking back to the easy and comfortable nature. In the back of my mind, I knew that I needed to do this…. I needed to see the world for my own, push myself to experience so many new things, and develop my own views about what is really going on in this crazy thing we call life. As I hugged my mom and dad goodbye, none of these legitimate reasons surfaced, and all I thought was…it is impossible to love two human beings more than I love these two right now. And I’m flying an ocean away from them, real smart Bailey, real smart.  Fortunately, As soon as we ended our tearful, heartfelt, prayerful goodbye, some of those legitimate reasons resurfaced, and I nervously walked down to my gate.

            The rest of the day was somewhat a blur. My flight got cancelled, I got scheduled for a new one, I got on and off planes, etc. As I look back, I realize that I waited for hours for these planes, but not once did I get out my laptop to watch a movie or get on the Internet. I remember sitting in the St. Louis airport and letting my mind literally RUN for a few hours about what was happening. I think that was entertainment enough for my brain.

            I got to Chicago a few hours before my plane for Brussels took off, and I sat down next to two girls who looked around my age. I then called some of my close family and friends to say goodbye, and afterwards got around to meeting these girls. They happened to be a part of my program, ISA and were extremely sweet. Little did  I know, God was about to give me such a sweet surprise. One of the girls, Ellen, asked me what I did this summer. I proceeded to explain that I worked at at a summer camp as a counselor for a good chunk of time. (For those of you who don’t know , I’ve worked at a Christian sports camp called Kanakuk for the past two years and absolutely adore it and the changes it has brought to my life). Ellen proceeded to ask, “Well what camp was it?” I was hesitant to answer knowing she was from Chicago and the chances were slim to none for us to both know about kamp. But nevertheless, I told her it was called Kanakuk. Her eyes immediately lit up and she grabbed my hand and said, I went to Kamp! I was a Kiowa and I went to K-west. Not only did she go to kamp, but she went to the kamp that I worked at! Only the Lord knows the special place kamp holds in my heart, and how comforted I would be by hearing of someone traveling with me who knew of that special place. How Great is our God? He is so faithful, even in my doubts, nerves, and fears.

            I soon boarded the plane with a new sense of calm. God was going to take care of me every second of the way. The second I left St. Louis he placed people in my path, so I would know He was there. I still knew that some parts of this trip would be hard, but that He was going to be standing next to me during every second.

            I sat next to an older Belgian man on my way to Brussels from Chicago. He was very kind, and spoke a lot of broken English. He helped me practice some of my French and I helped him practice some English. He also was kind enough to give me a list of different things he would do if he was in my shoes. He told me about different restaurants, and cities in Belgium that a lot of tourists overlook. Meeting him was a wonderful first taste of Europe.

            I slept for a good chunk of the plane ride (8:30PM-12:30AM). Thanks to my college sleeping habits, I can fall asleep almost anywhere and basically on command. I was roused at around 12:30 when the flight attendant brought us croissants and juice for breakfast. I looked at her stupidly when she tried to hand me my breakfast. I asked her what time it was, thinking she would realize her mistake. And she smiles as she says, “It’s 730 in Beligum!!” I wanted to vomit and tell her that to every regular person it was really just past midnight, and she needed to be nicer to us and let us sleep. Thankfully, the Lord stepped in before I opened my mouth, and I just took my croissant and sipped some tea before we landed.

            Getting through customs was not near the hassle I expected. They merely glanced at my passport and said “Ok”. I wanted to stop them and be like…Are you sure…you don’t even know me. Fortunately, the crowds pushed me towards baggage claim. There, me and two of my new found friends waited patiently for our luggage while silently praying that it wouldn’t get lost. Through it seemed like years before it got there, all of our luggage arrived safely. We next went through some more doors and found our Resident Director, Sabine, waiting there for us with a few other students from our program who had arrived that earlier morning. She seems really kind, funny and mom-like. I am really excited about getting to know her better.

            Sabine led the way to our bus, which is where we met our bus driver, who she introduced as “the short man with the imposing mustache”. Needless to say, it was imposing. I literally thought that I had traveled back in time when I saw his mustache. I have uploaded a picture of him to my Facebook page for your viewing pleasure. I don’t know his name yet, but he takes us on a lot of trips throughout this program, so I am pretty sure we will get to know him better.

            As we drove through the streets of Brussels for the first time, I only thought, “who knew such a short man with such an ‘imposing’ mustache could drive like a beast!” The streets here are hilariously narrow and every time we turned down a new one, our whole bus would gasp and almost hold our breath…making us feel like we were helping the bus squeeze through these impossible alleyways they call streets. They are adorable looking; I feel like they are out of a movie, but I just have no idea how people drive on them.

            Anyway, my apartment stop was the last one on the bus. I had met my roommate earlier at the baggage claim area. Her name is Maddie and seems super awesome. I think we were both excited just to be rooming with someone who for all intensive purposes seemed completely normal (sadly not the fact with me). We are living in a temporary apartment until September first when our real lease begins. The apartment is small, but clean and comfortable enough for two. Supposedly our next one is really really really nice according to Sabine.

    Well I think I have taken up enough of your time for now…thank you for reading, whoever you are. I am getting ready to shower for the first time in 24 hours and then me and Maddie are meeting some of the other girls for dinner. After that it is back to bed and orientation at ISA bright and early tomorrow! Remember as you go throughout your day today that the Lord is always with you, guiding your steps (I have to continue to say this to myself as I go throughout this journey). Even when your next step in life seems daunting, He always goes before you! It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” ...Deuteronomy 31:8

Here we go....

Well...here goes my futile attempt to record my next couple of adventures in life while I study abroad in Belgium.
As I get ready to leave, I am continually reminded of the things I am going to be leaving behind.
1. Goldfish
2. Fruit Snacks
3.  A lot of the clothes I wanted to take
4. My family
5. An incredible semester at Evangel University
6. probably most importantly.....my dog blue


But I am most certainly looking forward to
1. My new apartment
2. Seeing Europe for myself
3. Making new friends
4. Crazy amounts of traveling
5. Seeing things I have read about in books since I was 8
6. Eating lots of new things, while missing my goldfish and dr. pepper
7. My internship (hopefully)
8. Getting horribly confused a lot :)
9. Depending on my best friend and confidant, Jesus Christ for a whole lot.


So...the plane departs in 36 hours :) Here goes nothing! I guess me and Jesus are going to Brussels!
Love always,
Bails