My brother came to visit!

Dan got to see all that Brussels had to offer:

plus some historical buildings, peeing boy statues, parks and churches.
The Belgian weather showed off its ability to be absolutely horrible for days at a time, but we didn't let that get us down! He even got to come to school for a bit to meet my fabulous first graders** and see how much fun I have on recess duty.

We also trained it to Paris for a 12-hour whirlwind tour! We rode the tour bus around and saw the major sites - Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc d-Triomphe, etc. We went to see St. Sulpice, which is a fabulous church, and ended the day up on MontMarte. Here's Dan with the view from the Eiffel:


The visit was over way to soon, but it was really fun to spend some quality time with my "little" brother and show him around the place I've been calling home!

**Last week the 1st graders put on plays, which were completely amazing and adorable. It made me start to miss them already!

Zinnke Parade

Brussels keeps the surprises coming....

This Saturday I expreienced the Zinneke parade. Full of crazy and colorful floats, costumes, music, dancers.... and everything was made of recyclable materials. There's an agreement among several large companies to donate their extra/unused materials to the organization that runs the parade. Groups, schools, individuals work to create parade entries with the materials. Here are a few samples:












And these two guys had great seats...

Summer has arrived in Brussels! Finally, warm and sunny. We're talking 25 Celsius! Although it may not last long. I'm just enjoying it while it's here!

Two cool things happened this weekend (or should I say, two things worth commenting on. Weekends in general are great and therefore bring many great things)

Today, I ran in a 10K, put on by the American Women's Club of Brussels, to support breast cancer research. It was cool and cloudy (perfect!) and the trail was beautiful, going through the woods. I had my doubts, but I learned that I can indeed run 10K (about 6 miles), and also that I can do it in 54 minutes and 33 seconds. The presence of hundreds of other people running in front, behind, and next to me added a great deal of motivation and kept me moving much faster than I could by myself.

On Saturday, Cassie and I went downtown for a wander. It was a beautiful day, and we saw some beautiful tulips:


and we found Jannekin Pis! This is the female counterpart to Brussels' famous peeing boy, Mannekin Pis. She is in a dead-end alley right off the crazy, restaurant-lined Rue des Bouchers, behing a gate. No signs, no nothing. Yet there she squats. She was put there in 1985, according to the sign, so she hasn't been there long. Here she is:

There are moments when all I can do is smile and think that life is great... and they happen at the most random of times...

standing by the computer writing an email, jamming out to "Summer of 69" as my crazy roommates wash dishes and dance around...

even cleaning up masses of dishes, pots, pans, glasses and bottles... all somehow splattered with barbeque sauce, wondering how we managed to use every single piece of silverware from our drawer...

or huddled under a blanket with friends to escape the cold night air as the candles on our fireplace mantel glow amidst the flowers we bought at the market....

or warming my hands above a grill on our balcony as the sun sinks, full to the brim with good home cooking, amongst my favorite people in Belgium...

or laughing with disbelief as the sky starts to spit hail as we start to assemble the barbeque grill...

or chopping, mixing, stirring, boiling, and baking - disproving the theory about too many cooks in the kitchen...

or buying fresh produce in the market across the street...

or simply realizing that life is wide open with possibilities and amazing moments... even on cold, rainy Belgian afternoons.