Boxes, Balles and Baillet-Latour

Friday after school I got home mega late as I had caught the wrong bus and ended up in a town in the opposite direction. Waited at a bus stop only to be told by a small kid who was picking up litter that I needed to walk to another stop to catch the next one. When I arrived I realized I had JUST missed the bus, according to the signs and would need to wait 30 mins. ***MAJOR facepalm*** Though, when I arrived I was greeted with a package from home and a letter! Of course, when I opened both I was quite emotional (I'm sure most people who have been away from home will understand). The box was filled with Annie's macaroni, Oh Henry bars, many gifts for me to give to my family and friends for Christmas and so much more. Cheer up to a day gone sideways.

That same night, I had gone to a Mexican Soirée where I was able to meet with some of my exchange friends again. One thing you have to know about Belgians is that they have what they call a "balle" pretty much every weekend in different cities. It features DJs, drinks, food and dancing, also sometimes a theme. These "balles" go until about 2 am and features people aged (roughly) 14-35. And this night was no exception. Something I haven't experienced at home!

Saturday, I took a trip to Luxembourg with my host brother, Jordan and his friend (who took a year in Canada) to go to a "Best Buy" type store. This store happened to be in a well-established mall, a change of scenery to my small town. I even got a chance to grab a coffee and sit down for a bit, a small pleasure in life.

Sunday, I had a project to do with a classmate in my class for history which consisted of us visiting a museum in a nearby town called Latour. The museum is very small but well done, and the owner gave us a personal tour of the place. It includes the history of the Baillet-Latour family (the rich folks), the Battle of the Frontieres and the Olympic President, Henri de Baillet-Latour. Our project was centred around the events of World War 1, specifically the battle in which killed 71 male civilians and 35,000 soldiers in 3 days. An event hardly mentioned. We were able to visit the museum, church, cemetery, monument and chateau all in one day and featuring plenty of information! Before leaving for my day trip, my host dad brought me round to see the local "brocante" (community garage sale) and boy was it big! Families set up beside each other for probably 5-6 blocks to sell items of all sorts: video games, furniture, clothes, trinkets, jewellery, the list goes on. Sadly, I didn't get much of a chance to poke around but they said there's another one in spring!

Hope everyone is staying warm as the cool weather sets in!

All the love,

E

House I found on my bus adventure

Jessie, some classmate and I

Entry to the party

DJ and Mosh

Musée de Latour

Original WW1 uniform

Propaganda against the Nazis

Very deep in thought I guess?

My partner Jamy and I at the monument

Chateau de Latour

Funny book I found for Julia and I