There are so many things I've been wanting to write about lately, and I will get to them. First, though, I have to address something that happened today very close to where I live in Brussels.
I live on Rue Saint Boniface, which is a very "up-and-coming" neighborhood with lots of restaurants, cafes, bars, etc. It also blends with the Matonge, which is the Congolese quarter. Many of the buildings are beautiful and boast Art Nouveau architecture. This area is also a real mixing pot of all different cultures, inhabited by immigrants, expats and even a few Belgians! It may have its faults, but I have really enjoyed living in such a dynamic and lively place.
Today, though, something happened that is making me consider moving to another area. I was just finishing lunch with Miguel, our friend Laura had just left with her little dog, Wilson, in tow. It was nice and sunny outside, so we had the window open. That's when we started hearing sirens. More and more sirens, prompting us to look out the window. Traffic was being re-directed, there were lots of police cars and some ambulances, then a helicopter circling. Miguel was about to go back to work, so he said he would check it out and let me know.
About 10 minutes later he called to tell me someone had been shot outside the jewelry store on Chausee de Wavre (just about a block from our apartment). He said they were blocking everything off and treating someone on the street, someone may have died. I went down to find the situation unchanged, I couldn't see much, but the helicopter continued to circle ominously.
I later came across this article (which can be translated via Google translate).
I'm still rather shocked about this. I know violence happens in cities, as do robberies, drug use, etc., but to have a violent crime happen just a stone's throw from my front door makes me uneasy to say the least.
UPDATE Both robbers in the Chausse de Wavre case were apprehended. Now, Brussels is dealing with another jewelry store robbery in Schaerbeek in which one of the assailants was killed and the other wounded by the shop owner. There was also a fatal shooting on the ring road as well as riots in Saint-Gilles.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Armed Robbery, 1 Dead, 2 Injured
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Today has been quite busy! Miguel's aunts and cousin are coming into Brussels tonight to stay for a couple of days!
I'm trying to be a good hostess and have the apartment clean and a nice dinner awaiting their arrival. The place is clean enough, I made brownies, coq au vin and I have a soda bread in the oven (it is St. Paddy's Day, after all!). So I'm finally having a sit while the bread bakes and the stew reheats!
Maybe it's time to start celebrating...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Stubborn, Optimistic American Abroad
There are so many differences between Belgium and the US. It's hard to know where to begin, it's also hard to stop myself from complaining sometimes. But...
I'm sure I've mentioned the lack of "service" in "customer service." Well, here I go again! On Friday night, Miguel and I went to the movies to see Shutter Island. The theater was packed and the movie was fantastic, but the problem came when I got home and realized I had forgotten my super-awesome Sigg water bottle in the cup holder of my seat. Miguel, being the wonderful husband that he is, and it being late (10:45pm, weirdos are out by then) offered to go back to retrieve it for me. So off he goes, braving the weirdos and clubbers on my behalf. Sadly, he returned a few minutes later, water bottle-less.
At first I thought he was joking when he said he had no luck. Apparently, the woman there said that he couldn't go up to the theater because there was a movie going on. Also, though he made it clear that it is an aluminum bottle (so I don't have to keep using plastic ones), she said it would probably have been thrown in the trash. Uh... what? She also radioed the clean up crew, who said they had cleaned the theater and found nothing. This was Miguel's report. He told me to leave it be and we could check again in the morning.
Maybe it's because I'm American, instilled with such values as optimism and stubbornness, but I was not about to accept that answer. I looked up the movie showings, and when Miguel had gone back there was no movie showing in that theater! Oy vey. So, to Miguel's protest, I equipped myself with my Swiss Army Knife and my cell phone and headed out to wage my battle with UGC Cinemas and retrieve my beloved water bottle.
I arrived (after talking to Miguel on my cell all the way there) and walked in feeling good. I explained in my horrible French that I had left my bottle there. She said yes, your husband was here, but there is a movie going on now. I said, in my stumbling, but forceful French, "No, there is no movie in that theater, I was in the last showing that ended at 10:30." She looked at her board and said ok, go ahead. Already I had done better than Miguel!
I schlepped up the stairs to theater 14, went through both sets of doors and burst into... a pitch black theater. I quite literally could not see my hand in front of my face (as Groucho Marx would say, "You wouldn't get much enjoyment out of that!"). I didn't dare to walk forward for fear of tripping over the seats, so I went back to the hallway. Luckily, I had brought my ipod touch, which has a handy dandy app called "flashlight" which is just a white screen that gives off just enough light to make a difference. With that on, I inched down the aisle seeing wrappers, plastic water bottles, etc. everywhere (they obviously had not cleaned that theater) until I came upon my very own light blue aluminum one! Triumph!
I went back downstairs thinking 2 things: How I won, and how I would gloat to the woman downstairs, but more importantly, to Miguel! The American way works! Of course, once I saw the woman again, I held up the bottle and said happily the equivalent of "I find it!" and then tried to push, rather than pull the door, looking more than a little like an idiot. Oh well.
So there you have it. Score one for the foreigner!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Ga Ga for Gaga!
So this is a blog normally devoted to the trials and tribulations of living in Belgium. Well, and my cats. But I feel the need to post a little something different tonight.
I just bought my tickets to see Lady Gaga in concert in Antwerp! Love her or hate her, most people know of her, and have heard at least one of her songs or seen one of her crazy outfits. Some people dismiss her as "too weird" while others are of the opinion that she is, well, not all woman. Me, I find her (and her music) fascinating, intoxicating, bizarre, fun, addictive and just plain genius.
Her latest video if for the song "Telephone" which is featuring Beyonce. It is some kind of crazy mashup of Tarantino (Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill), Thelma and Louise, Michael Jackon, Madonna and of course, GAGA.
Just watch it. Trust me.
I also really liked this break down of all the action and themes.
So that's it for now, I cannot WAIT until May! Gaga, here I come!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Jobs!
The time has come to find a job! A real job. Not just a lesson or two a week along with baking a couple batches of brownies for Ulric. Both of those things are good for an extra couple bucks, but the fact is, I (we) need more, and I want to be busier. So, since I got back to Brussels after the holidays I have been on a quest for the right job for me. Here in Brussels. Those 2 things don't seem to converge very often here, so this is a challenging project!
Option 1:
Teaching English at a school or getting jobs through a company. At this point, teaching at a school is MUCH more tempting. It would mean regular hours, not having to register as an independent (which would mean having to pay for insurance, pension, etc. out of pocket and in advance). I have applied to a childrens' language school here in Brussels, and have an interview on Friday! That should be interesting, and could be really good for me!
Option 2:
US Gov't. There are a couple of openings there that really interest me, an events coordinator and the other is to handle logistics for visitors (to Brussels or Belgium, I'm not sure). Both require someone who is detail oriented (definitely me) and someone who wants to deal with people a lot, and all different kinds of people at that, which sounds awesome. Not to mention that they pay generously, and I could get in with the American community there! So I need to get the info on the positions and get cracking!
Option 3:
Internship at the Radisson Blu (hotel). I'm not sure if the position is even paid, and I wouldn't be able to start until July, which is definitely a downside. The internship would be for 4 months, with the expectation that I would be hired when it was over. I can't say that it's something that really interests me, but at this point I suppose I should keep all my options open.
I am also totally open to other things that come my way, or at least I'm trying to be. I'm not all that interested in getting in with any of the European institutions, lobby groups or consultancies, and unfortunately that makes up a lot of the jobs here. Still, though, I'm trying to think outside the box and do whatever I can. In the meantime, there will always be the brownie baking and a couple individual lessons.
In other job news, Miguel has something big coming up, but I hesitate to give details, just in case I jinx it. So... more on that later!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Totally looks like...
Miss Cleo (TV Psychic) vs. My cat Cleo
Pictures from our (not ver costume-y) Halloween Party!
Me singing! (Yay, PS2)
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Wilco at Ancienne Belgique!
This week I discovered Ancienne Belgique!
Ok, so I knew about it before this week, but I kept forgetting about it, and thinking it was farther away than it was, and I didn't check the website. This week, however, I got a copy of The Bulletin, a weekly magazine for English speakers in Belgium, that lists all the goings on. I happened to see a picture of the Flaming Lips who are playing at the AB next week, and so I immediately went to their website to see if there were any still available. (Of course not.) I also saw that Wilco was playing the very next day (Friday the 6th), and that show was also sold out. Bummer... right? WRONG!
Under each concerts there were comments listed, and after checking a few, (I had to translate many of them from Flemmish to English) I discovered that there were still tickets to be had! I used google translate to compose an email in Flemmish to one guy, Christof, who had one ticket to the Wilco show. At this point I doubted I would get it, but hey, worth a shot! A few hours later he notified me that indeed, I had the ticket! And for the original selling price! HURRAH!!
A few clumsy emails in Flemmish later, we switched to English and had decided upon a meeting place and time. I must note here, what did we ever do without cell phones??? Anyway, we met up without a hitch! He was a youngun (well, 21 yo) from Ghent (about a half hour from Brussels by train) who was a huge Wilco fan and who reminded me a bit of Mike Zeifang. His brother was supposed to go with him, but canceled at the last minute. Lucky me!
We put our coats into a locker (I'm telling you, this venue was amazing!), checked out the opening act (who we agreed was a bit too "experimental"), got BIG glasses of Stella (for a remarkably low price) and proceeded to get standing places about 5 people-layers from the stage.
I'm not even sure how to describe the concert. It was totally awesome. It was a sold out crowd (approx. 2,000 people) that obviously LOVED the band. They played a fantastic set, with an encore of roughly 8-10 songs! Jeff Tweedy had some fun talking to the crowd. He asked us why in the world would the Belgians vote themselves the most boring people? (Did they really??) He complimented the excellent health care system, as 2 band members had to use it! He teased a guy about double-fisting (holding 2 drinks) the entire concert, and got us all to sing along to "Jesus, etc." (He said we did the best of any "second language" crowd, YAY!!! hahaha, I say yay, even though I don't count in that group...)
I left Christof with 3 cheek kisses (I don't think I'll ever know the right number, it's different with everyone I meet! And it's hard to play it off if you go for an extra, or don't go for it, oy! The stress!) and "Handshake Drugs" stuck in my head. A short 15 minute bus ride and I was back home! I think I will be going to the Ancienne Belgique a lot more in the near future!
