I Love Letters......

Pictures above are just examples of how I enjoy Rotary events, not because of the activity itself, but because of the fun things exchange students do with their spare time.

This week I recieved a package of LOVE from home. My amazing mother sent me a coat, among other things to my house. Kayla, my sister, bought me a Tulane hoodie, which she sent me and I am currently wearing because it is -3 degrees outside (Celcius). I also got two letters from friends at home. If anyone has spent time abroad they know how amazing it is to recieve tangable letters (hint, hint to all those reading this). I promise I will write back. I tend to write letters in my math class. It keeps me awake and it appears as if I am paying attention. (shhhh....don't tell my teacher)

So this has been kind of a normal week for me in the great city of Liege. Last wednesday I went with Rotary to a Fort somewhere (i forgot already). It was a military fort built after WWI in order to be prepared for the Germans in case they invaded again. It was supposed to defend Belgium against trench warfare, but by the time it was built the Germans had invented better war tactics. I am not really sure of all the details, I'm not really that into military stuff. I do like hanging out with all the Rotary kids though, and after we took a tour of the fort we got to eat delicious pie, which was quite nice. Rotary does that a lot, sends us on tours.....then makes up for the non-exciting things by feeding us. I think they want us to get fatter than we all ready are getting. Ha.

Saturday I helped my Rotary Club, Herstal, set up for a big fundraiser. It was nice to feel involved and great to help out the best host-club ever. Sunday I attended the fundraiser, which was a giant feast. It was called Le Fete de Gastronomie (I think that is how its spelled). We had lobster courses, champagne, wine, and yummy chocolate. The lobster was so good, we had three courses of lobster, each cooked and served in interesting and unique ways. I guess lobster is very very expensive here in Belgium, and the tickets to attend the event were 80 euros a piece. The Rotary Herstal raised over 2,500 euros for a homeless organization. The feast was attended by hundreds of people. It was really fun because I was able to eat with both my current and second host families.

In other news, I finally got a new camera. Its the same style as my old one, which is nice because I am already familiar with it. So I look forward to taking lots of pictures this saturaday when I go with Rotary to Namuur for the day. What else? Nothing much is new. My french is improving little by little, so hopefully i will be making conversations more fluently pretty soon. Also, I actually helped someone today with the bus schedule. That was cool because I happen to get lost all the time, although somehow I always manage to find my way home. That is strange, to consider this my home. I guess when I leave Belgium I am going to have four homes.