It seems hard to believe that I have been back in the United States now for almost 4 months now--hard to believe that I haven't been here for the last year. It is as though time stopped here when I left a year ago and re-started as soon as I got back continuing to play the old favorites, same beat but with different words perhaps. Every now and then I will get a back flash of the life that I have trouble believing I lived just a few months ago. The excitement is beginning to fade from my stories about the past year as the emotion attached to them is hard to capture. It has become a memory, and like most memories, it is fading and losing credibility. I almost don't believe them myself. The question I get the most now concerning the job is, 'was it a good experience?' or more commonly the comment, 'I bet it was a wonderful experience' which I make into a question. A question I feel I struggle to find the answer to and maybe even change depending on my mood. The simple answer is, 'Yes'. But if simple questions don't exist then simple answers don't either. Yes, it was a good experience, but it was a challenging one and one I would not do again. Let me rephrase that...if at the point I made the decision to go I would have seen what lay ahead I still would have went, however if anyone asked me to stay a second year I would have said no (which I did when asked). Being an au pair creates great experiences, but it is also a very challenging job as afore mentioned in this blog.
Hard to believe that I have been traveling now for nearly 2 weeks. I have lost track of time. Minutes, hours, days disappear quickly when you are out of work traveling and experiencing new places and things every day. So much has happened already that I could write about in detail, but time is of the essence right now and I don't want to spend all my time merely reflecting on what has happened yet. I spent 5 days in Switzerland where I enjoyed the mountains, the lakes, and the lush green colors. I went on a boat tour, spent time soaking up some sun, ate a fondue, and enjoyed good company. I spent 5 days in Madrid where I played on natural granite rock waterslides, celebrated the 4th of July with peanut butter pie and hamburgers, saw an ancient Roman aqueduct, and spent more time in the company of good friends. Now I find myself in Barcelona wading through rain water on the ground and wishing for the sun to come out. The city has a charm that I am falling in love with despite the dreary weather and lack of sun; perhaps even the weather is adding a new charm to the place. So far this trip has been amazing and I am not sure that I could have imagined a better one had I tried. So I apologize for not yet posting the remainder 3 things about Belgium that I love. I unfortunately cannot at this point because all of my things are packed away and all of my photos deleted off this computer. I am getting ready to leave my apartment to go spend the night at a friend's house who is driving me to the airport tomorrow morning. It is so crazy for me to think that here I am on June 26th getting ready to start a month long adventure. The past 10 months have flown by and as I look back I can't believe all the opportunities I had and all the exploring I got to do. I hope to write and post some pictures in my blog as I travel, but I can't make any promises as I am relying on the kindness of my friends. For those who don't know I am traveling to Switzerland, Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Portugal, and Sweden. Quite the adventure.
I suppose it would be a complete shame if I wrote about the wonderful places of Belgium and neglected to mention the town of Brugge which seems to be one of the most visited towns in this country. It's many canals and ancient buildings make it a desirable place to see and photograph. It is like walking back into time and seeing things as they once might have been--complete with modern day burger j
oints, french fry stands, and hordes of confused tourists. While I tend to be somewhat annoyed and overwhelmed by tourists, I can't help but see the reason this town attracts so many of them. I would not want to deny anyone the chance to see such a beautiful town and take such a unforgetable boat ride. Also, one of my favorite statue is located there. It consists of two monks holding one another up and is outside some buildings that used to be a religious hospital. I love the emotion that it captures, and it just reminded me when I saw it that as humans we are forced to rely on other humans. We all tread similar paths and it helps if you have someone to lean on along the way.
Literally right across the street from where I live is a garden and an old abbaye. From what I can gather the garden has been there for a long time , founded by Cisterian monks in the 13th century, and was originally surrounded by forests instead of the homes and apartment buildings that now surround it. It is a quiet escape from the busy city that surround it and it seems to almost have a peace left over from when the monks spent their time their in devoti
on and diligence. There is an art school in it's buildings now, and one buiding houses the Belgian branch of National Geographic. I still have not had a chance to go into the church itself as it has weird hours and I always seem to arrive at the wrong time for entrace. Hopefully I am able to do this before I leave. I have spent a lot of time though wandering around its gardens though, by myself and with Clarence playing ball and running up and down all the stairs. It also has a fish pond and if the weather is nice after his school we go and look at the fish and sit in the sun.
Those who know me best should know that I am obsessed with flowers. I love the vast varieties of flowers that exist. It is amazing to me that there are so many possibilities out there. So many colors, shapes, and smells to admire. They never get boring to me. The Royal Greenhouses in Brussels holds a fascinating collection of flowers and plants. The collection is truly fit for a king. The greenhouses are only open for a few weeks in May when everything is in bloom and at it's best. Because of this the greenhouses tend to be overly crowded which was somewhat obnoxious at first, especially since the only time I had to go was on a weekend when it was especially busy. The walk takes you through several greenhouses on the royal property as well as outside to view the beautiful palace and lake and also the Japanese pagoda. I cannot imagine being able to spend my days wandering around all that beauty with a book and a notebook. How special it would be to throw your parties inside the greenhouse; eating, drinking and socializing among such gorgeous flowers. The gardeners who tend these greenhouses 
truly are artists as everything is arranged in such a way as to compliment every flower and it's color and shape. I am really sad that I only got to go once to such a beautiful place and it isen't very likely that I will get to go back since it is hard to go in the few weeks that it is open. Still I have over 100 pictures from my day there to remind me of all that beauty.One of the things I have been most impressed with during my stay in Belgium is the escalators here, a wonderful advancement in procuring a green environment. If you walk into a metro station in the States you will hear the buzz of the escalators going up and down. If you walk into an empty metro station at night you will hear silence. How can this difference be? It is not that the Belgians do not have escalators, it is just that they have rigged them to only go when someone walks onto a platform in front of it. What a brilliant idea! Escalators that go on and off with only the light tap of a foot. Why can't we have these in the United States? Probably someone will try to burst my bubble by saying that it takes more energy to turn the escalator on and off then it does to leave it on. Don't do it. I prefer to be bumbiling happy every time I walk onto an escalator pad to turn it on.
