Waterloo and Watery-Poo

Last weekend was beautiful. The sun was shining. The weather was a delicious 75 degrees. No rain was forecast. So a fellow intern and I decided to head down to Waterloo to check out the sites. In a fit of strange excitement and utter foolishness, I decided to bring Truman with us. First we had to take a tram, then a train, then two buses to get there. Dogs allowed on trams, trains, and buses? Of course! This is Europe, after all! It's necessary, and indeed would be uncivilized, to allow dogs anywhere in Europe. But you'll have to pay to go to the restroom...

We ran into a slight hitch on the train. It was supposed to be a 15 minute train ride, but it turned into 1 hour 45 minute train sitting because of a problem with the tracks. Poor Truman found the train so uncomfortable that he promptly started shedding. And shedding. And shedding. By the time we finally left, my seat was covered with a thin layer of dog hair. Oh well.

When we finally got to the city of Waterloo, Truman found himself with another small problem: diarrhea. I'm not sure what he ate, but the poor guy got his whole system cleaned out fairly quickly after arrival. It wasn't pretty.

Then we got to the Waterloo monument and found, to our surprise, the only place in French-speaking Europe that one can't bring a dog along to. Yes, an outside monument with my pocket full of poo-bags, and we weren't allowed in because other guests might have "allergies". If you're paying attention, you will note the irony in being able to take a dog into closed trams, buses, and spend almost 2 hours in a hot train with only 2 windows just barely big enough to fit a human head through (not to mention bringing Truman into the train/bus stations, restaurants, and clothes shops in Brussels and Waterloo earlier). And yet we couldn't take the little guy up the (outdoor) hill to see a stone lion. Whatever. Welcome to Belgium, land of idiocy.

So instead we went to the reenactors' camp a few kilometers away. I had actually planned to go here and stay for the battles after my fellow intern had to leave, but now we all got to go. The camp was very similar to Civil War reenactments I've witnessed before, only with slight differences. Practically everyone had an earring. Apparently the French used earrings to signify rank. There were tons of men running around with no shirt (a big no-no in Protestant America at the time). Lots of gypsies.

We also had the good fortune of stopping to talk to some soldiers in the French camp. I asked, very politely, "Pardon messieurs, combien de soldats est qu'il y a ici aujourd'hui?" (excuse me sirs, how many soldiers are here to do?), to which they responded "parlez-vous English?" (do you speak English?"). I laughed and said that I did. It turns out these two gentlemen were British but enjoyed playing the "losers". They play the British during American Revolution reenactments. And they were excited that my brothers played Confederates for the Civil War. They just liked being the losers for some reason.

There's more to be said, but this post is already plenty long. And now some pictures!

Book Update #1

As some of you will remember, I published a rather intense and ambitious list of books I intended to read this summer. Unfortunately, things are not quite going as I would like, and I haven't gotten as far as I should have liked. I have finished three books, and am well into another four. Here's a brief run-down and a brief statement about each:

The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom - I've already written about this one a few posts back.

Psalms: Prayerbook of the Bible, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Excellent short intro to the Psalms, placing them into a setting I had never before thought of. In short, Bonhoeffer suggests that the Psalms should be viewed as Christ's prayers, and our (or the original Psalmist's) prayers through Christ. This book is very short. I used it as my tram reading for about 1 week and was finished. I highly suggest it though.

For Men Only - An interesting glimpse into the minds of women. While I found it educational and helpful, it's probably better suited for men who are already married or in a committed relationship. This was my second "tram reading" book.

Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - I started this one (again) right after arriving, but have to put it down after every few pages because of one of two reasons: 1) It's so deep that I have to think about what has been said, or 2) It's so convicting I have to repent and rethink normal approach to Christian community. Again, an excellent book.

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - I'm almost 3/4 done with this book, and it's proven to be the deepest and hardest. One has to remember Bonhoeffer's setting, or one will be tempted to think he has crossed the line multiple times into heresy. But the book is still rich with deep meaning.

The Four Loves, by C.S. Lewis - This book has easily become my favorite Lewis book (no easy task). I'm always amazed how a non-theologian English professor could have such insight into theology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc. Convicting but excellent. A perfect companion to Bonhoeffer's Life Together.

The Politics of Repentance, by Andre Trocme - I've only read the introduction, but already I'm fascinated by some aspects and concerned by others. Trocme was a French pacifist. However, unlike most pacifists, I think he has earned the right to be heard because of his amazing ability to live a pacifistic life during WWII while still resisting the Nazis' rule. Indeed, perhaps he did more for the Resistance (or at least the Jews) than most French (or Dutch, or Belgian, or Danish, or Norwegian, or Polish, or....) militants.

Meet the Neighbors/Faire la Connaisance de mes Voisins

I think I've mentioned, but I live in a fairly nice suburb of Brussels. It's called Ixelles or Elsene, depending on if you're French or Flemish. There are a lot of embassies and missions in the area, as well as docteurs et advocats (doctors and layers). Today Truman and I took a walk, and I wrote down the embassies and took pictures of some of them. Here's what I found:
I'm within walking distance (less than 4 blocks from):

• Embassy of Equatorial Guinea
• Embassy of Monaco
• Embassy of the Philippians
• Embassy of Algeria
• Embassy of Slovakia
• Embassy of Portugal
• Embassy of Latvia
• Embassy of Belarus
• Embassy of Burkino Faso
• Embassy of Zambia
  
• Mission of he African Union
• Official Residence of Turkish Ambassador

In addition, I think I've seen in my wanderings around the area the Embassies of Hungary and Tunisia.

Here are some pictures:

Embassy of the Republic of Belarus, the last dictatorship in Europe. They are fond of reminding us that, if they had oil, they would not be considered a dictatorship but an "international ally".

A shot just down the street, where the Slovakian and Portuguese embassies are right next to each other.

This is the complex I live in. We're the 2nd floor (3rd for Americans) with the window boxes outside. Someone that visited the other day asked why we had the only ugly building in the area, and I told them it was so we didn't have to look at it.

The Phillippino Embassy, which is literally right across the street from where I live.

Of Holidays, Tractors, and Dinners of Joy

Yesterday I found out I would have today off, but still be paid for my hours. "Why?" you might ask, and I will tell you. As you may know, I'm working for the U.S. government. The U.S. government offers its employees 10 paid holidays, even if one is working in a country that doesn't recognize those holidays. So, for example, I was paid for Memorial Day even though I didn't work it, and I'll be paid for July 4th, even though I didn't work it. Here's the beautiful (if you work overseas): U.S. government employees stationed overseas also get local holidays off. This is Belgium. Most European countries have at least 10 holidays as well, and only a few overlap. So that's at least 15 paid holidays that Americans working in Europe will be given (my next one is July 21st). But interestingly, today is not a European or Belgian holiday.

Anyone who watches European news will have heard of the protests and demonstrations going on here in Brussels. Mostly they are either fishermen, truck drivers, or farmers protesting high gas prices. Contrary to what the news wants to imply, the demonstrations are usually quite peaceful and not violent at all. Today the city of Brussels has been invaded by thousands of tractors and semi-trucks as a protest to high European taxes on petrol. While we don't expect these demonstrations to be dangerous, the Embassy felt it wasn't worth us trying to make it into work today since most traffic around the city is blocked. And so we all have a non-holiday holiday. And it's an excused absence (since public transportation is most likely disrupted), so we all get paid for it as well. I love Europe.

I have a theory as to why the governments of European countries are in favor of the EU: They get tired of demonstrations in Paris, Rome, Madrid, London, Berlin, the Hague, etc., so they've decided to export these demonstrators to Brussels. And the Belgians are just stupid enough to agree to it (I'll do a post on Belgian idiocy sometime in the future).

Today I took a quick trip into the supermarket in downtown Ixelles, a superb of Brussels. There weren't supposed to be protests out this far (I didn't think), but hundreds of tractors were driving through the main street today. I don't think I've ever seen that many tractors, not even in my dear Kansas! I couldn't help but laugh because most of these were from other countries: France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. They were protesting the high prices of gasoline. And yet these farmers could afford to drive their huge tractors all the way to Brussels from, say southern Spain or eastern Germany, to prove their point. How much did that journey cost in petrol? I couldn't help but laugh at their absolute stupidity.

In other news, I also stopped by McDonald's (or McDo) while I was in town. It was a nice little respite and a great place to watch and laugh at the tractors rolling past. I ordered a Happy Meal (or a "Dinner of Joy") and was surprised at the price: 4 euro 30! That's $6.15!!! For a Happy Meal!!! But my shock soon turned to amusement as I realized why: This is French-speaking Belgium. Most of the culture here is, despite what the Flemish want to think, French. This was no ordinary American Happy Meal with a drink, toy, fries, and hamburger. Oh no! The French would, of course, consider that silly American Happy Meal a 2-course meal (fries and burger): how barbaric. That simply wouldn't do for a French child. They must have, at the very least, 4-course meals. Even at McDo. So my Dinner of Joy included the customary toy (choice between boy or girl), drink (bottled water, soft drink, or fruit juice), fries, an entree (hamburger, cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, or chicken nuggets), crudite (raw veggies), and a dessert (cake, fruit smoothie, fruit or chocolate milk, or fresh fruit). I could have also taken a balloon, but I declined. I was a little amused that the meal didn't include a cheese-course. The sucker filled me up. If American Happy Meals included 4-course meals, I would gladly $6.15 for them. If you're interested, you can check out the Belgian McDo's site for Happy Meals at http://www.mcdonalds.be/fr/index_FR.php?page=menu:happymeal

Strange Boys in a Strange Land

A friend of mine, Jeremy, told me awhile back that he would be visiting Europe this summer. But he had no plans to visit Brussels. I was glad for him that he could make it to Europe, but sad that I probably wouldn't get to see him. This is the friend that I have taken many adventures with in the past. The two of us visited Boston on a road trip last Thanksgiving break and the Christmas before we went to pick up his brother, Sean, from college in Minneapolis, MN. We've had a lot of great times together. So I was elated when he sent me his itinerary and it included Essen, Germany, which is just north of Cologne. Jeremy and Sean were traveling with one of Sean's friends, Bryan, who knew some Germans. So we stayed in the home of a wonderful German family and got to experience the essential German life. So many sausages... And beer (but not as many as in Belgium)... And this amazing chocolate candy called "Marzipan" which I had never heard of but fell in love with.

I had never had any real desire to visit Germany again, but something about being shown the country by real life people who really live there helps the experience a lot. I suppose that's true of any place though. One doesn't learn about France by visiting the Eiffel Tour, or about England by visiting Buckingham Palace, or about Italy by visiting St. Peters anymore than one learns about the U.S. by visiting the Statue of Liberty. Honestly, those things I can take or leave, but the people in all of these countries (as well as dozens others) fascinate me. In each, they have their beautiful and ugly. And it shows me the beautiful and ugly in my own dear Kansas/Oklahoman culture too.

Essen used to be a huge coal industry town. In the 1970s, all the mines were closed down. They tried to tear them down but the biggest one was preserved and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. Below are some pictures.

Outside the coal mines. Jeremy, Sean, Bryan, and the German family.

Inside the mines. Scary huh? Actually it's face light.

We had a near miss when part of the building started to fall down. Fortunately, Sean was there to save the day and pulled the steel beams of of us. Jeremy would have helped more, but his hands were fully of (English!) materials about the museums.

It was so sunny and warm in Germany. Well, compared to Brussels anyway.

So that's my adventure in Essen. The family has asked me to come back, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to. The eldest son (Hendrick) wants to visit me while I'm in Brussels, and I've assured him he's more than welcome. So you may hear more from my new German friends!