It's harder than it seems...

So clearly i've been slacking.

Its been way busier than i expected and I am incredibly sorry for the lack of posting... Day 4 consisted of a day 100% without technology...we were heading to NATO and there was a zero technology rule, so we went without, it was really weird for most of us, i mean we were somewhat used to not using too much technology, most people did not have international plans on their phones, so those were out, but ipods and cameras were just like putting underwear on for most of us. The day started at the Belgium Parliament which was quite interesting and fairly "good looking" although you wouldnt know because we didnt have our cams, Lunch consisted of a day at Rue Neuve, where there was shopping galore and an organic restaurant type cafeteria called Exki, we did our best to get some shopping in, i made 2 purchases at Zara of the same "pocket skirt" in Red (for my Canada Day outfit)and a light "perriwinkle" type blue. 7.95 euros each, great find girls. We took the metro (which did i mention was "free") back to the Parc stop, and met the group at the Opera House where we waited for the Nato Bus to pick us up, it was a bit late, but gave us some more time in the sun. We got to Nato and went through the normal security procedures, then made our way into a boardroom where we were given the luxury of water, which we ALWAYS appreciate. The speakers went on for quite some while, and I must say that I did doze off just a little bit, but was woken up by Georgies AMAZING comments. it was a Long day and the night was even longer...

Wednesday night was our first real "night out on the town" we pre drank in our room, which has been designated the "party/pre drink" room. Everyone was getting ridiculous tonight and it was completely alright, we finally decided it was time to head to the square, which is each and every university students dream, a square 100% full of bars/restaurants, packed with patio space, there are prolly close to 50 bars? and they are obviously all in walking distance! so we headed out and met the few that had gone ahead and Yas bought the class a round, from there on it gets a little blurry... there was some dancing, grinding, drinks, lap dances, table dancing, possible kareoke, some almost fights, and angry walks home...

Overall a great black out night, as usual.

The next morning was not a pleasant one, we all slept in a little bit later than expected, missed breakfast and had to get ready quicker than a rabbit, Dr.Brooks was waiting for us...

Day Four was our first "cultural day" the majority of us decided that a bike tour with Dr. Brooks was the wise choice. Yas and i ran ahead of the group as we were going to pick up our rented bikes, and got some Pannos for breakfast, great choice. We then got our matching rented bikes and re learnt how to ride them. It wasnt quite the nice leasurly bike ride i was expecting, we couldnt stop at our first destination for lunch because it was closed, so we biked for another 15 minutes to the next lunch time stop. This would have been fine if my bike hadnt lost its back light and wasnt getting caught in my wheel , i ended up having to tie my sweater around the light so that i could ride the rest of the way. Thank goodness for Yas and Valentina, the stayed with me and helped figure it out, we had been away from the group for at least 15 minutes and no one had come back to look for us, this was a little concerning to us. We ate an interesting and very traditional Belgium lunch there then continued on our way back. As we were biking back we stopped at a homemade ice cream shop where we all had something to cool us off. This is where the video blogging started, Yas has been the news caster since this trip to the ice cream store and they are incredible and hilarious! on the way home we were video blogging while biking, there were VERY VERY LARGE COWS, VERY VERY LARGE TRUCKS, some bike racing, dust in Magda's eyes and some epic biking accident consisting of a fall that took talent. luckily i happened to be video blogging at the time of the fall so it is all fairly evident that it happened.

The rest of Thursday was fairly quiet due to the fact that we had NO sleep and had biked a total of 24km's. we all napped and did some relaxing activities. Eventually we made it out to dinner and stayed out for a little bit then headed home where we puddled around for quite awhile and then Magda and Victoria went to bed and Yas and I , for some unknown reason stayed up until 5am, when we showered (as the sun was rising) and we were freshly showered and ready for a couple hours sleep. those hours saved our life...

as much as i would like to continue blogging about the other days that have passed, since it is june 24th already i am losing power in my computer, and everyone is getting ready for another night out, one of the last in Belgium.

Until tomorrow!

xo