Weird Brussels

So the other story I had to tell was about this picture. You see, behind this police car there is a garage for people that live in that apartment building (right across the street from ours). Now, people park there pretty frequently, and then when someone that can park in the garage wants to get in or out, lots and lots of honking ensues, which prompts us to look out the window at what's going on. Most of the time it's one of the Congolese causing the trouble. Well, when we got back from the movie on Saturday, this police car was parked there! Please note the arrow pointing to the no parking sign! So there you have it.

Saturday Night Movie in Brussels and Strange Occurrences

So Miguel and I decided to go and see a movie Saturday night, because there are tons out that we want to see. The choice of the night was Milk. It just opened here last Tuesday, so we were actually on top of it this time. So a Saturday night movie date was the name of the game. We got our tickets in advance this afternoon to avoid the queue, so we thought we were way ahead of the game. Ha. Ha. Ha.

So we set off with plenty of time to get a good seat and catch the trailers. To start out, if I haven't mentioned it before, we live in a great neighborhood in Ixelles, Boniface, right by the Matonge. This is a mostly Congolese (Afrikaan) area, and the people there tend to be a bit different from your average Belgian/Bruxelloise. They like to walk in groups of 2, 3 or even 4 people and block off the whole sidewalk. This reminds me very much of Siena on market day, so I've decided that playing chicken is a great idea, and now for the most part I don't move an inch. I've decided that I, too, am entitled to a piece of the sidewalk, and so, when confronted by these groups (several times a day) I square my shoulders and prepare for impact. And, unfortunately for my shoulder, I normally get hit pretty hard. So I got slammed more than a few times on the way to this movie mostly due to my own stubbornness.

So we get to the theater pretty much without incident, and go in with our tickets. I stopped to get some popcorn and Miguel went downstairs to get seats. You usually have to get there quite early to get a good seat. So I get my popcorn, and head down to meet him, and I see this huge crowd of people. Well, I thought it was huge at the time, but it was going to get a lot bigger. So I kinda push my way through, looking for Miguel, and he finally finds me and says that they've blocked it off and aren't letting anyone in. Ok. So at the time it was 6:50pm, and our movie was set to start at 7:10. As we wait, the crowd grows. It starts to fill up the entire downstairs lobby. If there had been a fire, most of us would have been trampled to death. We all stand around, wait, look at each other quizzically, tap our feet for ages. Then, a staff member comes out and called for all those going to "Salle 8" (we are 7, so it's a no-go). So by now it's 7:05, and everyone is antsy from all the standing around, my popcorn is half gone end everyone is fed up. Then, we see these people sneaking around the empty snack counter into the theaters. So the people at the very front of the line see this and get pissed off. It's now 7:08. Someone opens the velvet rope, and we all charge in. Luckily, miguel and I were near the front. We grab our seats, and watch the auditorium fill up. And it did fill up. This is a huge one, and nearly every seat was occupied.

So we settle in for the trailers. This is a weird thing about the UGC Toison D'Or (the theater we go to normally). They show the trailers before the start time of the movie. At 7:10 when the lights go down there are commercials. The same commercials. Every. Single. Damn. Time. The kind of commercials that make you mutter to yourself, I paid for a ticket why? Nevertheless, we got through those and the show started.

I'll say now, Milk was an excellent movie. So well done, well acted, etc. But I'm sure many of you have already seen it so I'll move on.

When I go to the movies I like to be transported. I like to soak in the film and, if it's good, stay in my little reverie for as long as possible. Well, this is not possible at the UGC on a Saturday night. We get out of the show (along with the mob), and we're going up the maze of stairs to the ground level, and a woman kicks her foot back while walking, and it connects, very painfully, with my shin. Now, had we been in the US, or maybe any other civilized country, this person would have looked back and apologized. Not here. She was walking in the middle of the staircase, so she couldn't have thought she kicked the railing. So, with the full knowledge that she just kicked someone, hard enough to give them a bruise, she walked on, talking to her friend. This made me angry. So angry that on the walk home I pity the people that tried to defend their 12 inches of sidewalk.

So that is why we don't go to the movies on Saturday nights.

And here's an odd story from Friday night. Miguel and I were walking back from happy hour with the American Club (which was fun) and Miguel says "Look, a guy peeing." Now, this was 9:30 on a Friday night, there were quite a few people walking around, and this guy (Afrikaan) was taking a piss on a white van while talking on his cell phone. As the owner watched in horror. Finally, his spoke up and told the guy to move off. The guy proceeded to walk around to the back of the van and continued peeing and talking on the phone. The owner then came around to tell the guy off again, that it was his van, etc., and the peeing guy was all apologetic, and patting the owner on the shoulder, etc., while we looked on, rather horrified/disgusted. So gross.

And there you have a bit of weird Brussels.

This gives a new meaning to the word "Pussycat"

So, as you know, my 2 lovely kitties are in heat, and have turned into little whores, sticking their lady-bits into whatever they can.

So, I'm n the living room, playing on my PS2, and I take a break after a level, and I hear from the kitching "I'm hot blooded, check it and see/I've got a fever of a hundred and three..." Cats cooing and meowing away. I go in, and say Miguel, what are you listening to? "Foreigner." So I said "I don't think I can take listening to "Hot blooded" while the cats are running around doing their kitty cat sex thing. So he went to the next song. The next song which I thought would be better. And what was it, you ask?

"I. Can't. Get. No... Satisfaction"

I groaned and said, "What, do you have it on your 'cats in heat' playlist??"

What a day...

So today was one of those doozies of a day when hiding out in the apartment and sending Miguel out for food seems totally acceptable.

This morning was fine, I bought food for lunch, waited for Miguel to get home, the usual. Just before he got there I was petting the cats and they were acting strange... they were over-affectionate, quite vocal and kept sticking their little butts in the air. My next thought: shit, their in heat. As soon as Miguel got in we called the vet and made an appointment for them to get spayed. So for the next couple of days we're gonna be living with those two little cats sticking their little va-jay-jays in our faces. Awesome.

So there really wasn't anything I could do about that right then, so I left for work, a little early because I had to get there before 3. No problem, I left at 1:45 (normally it takes about 40-45 minutes, I left extra time). I get the first and second train, no problem. I get up to the tram. Now, that station, Montgomery, is the beginning/end of the line for 2 trams, the 39 and the 44. I take the 44. The one up there when I got to the platform was the 39. Ok, I sit and wait. But there was some drama that I didn't understand, people that were waiting for the other one were getting on the 39 after the driver said something. What he said, I have no idea. I figured it didn't apply to me, because I had to get to Terveuren, the end of the line. So I wait, no problem.

The 44 pulls in, I get on, I sit down, put my ipod on and start to play solitaire on it. I get about halfway, and the driver starts herding everyone off the tram. Oy, what now?? I had no idea. We all stood around for a while as the tram went back the way it came. Then another 44 came up to where the last one had been. We got on. I realized as I got on... wait, this isn't a tram. This is a bus! Cue me paranoid staring out the window, looking around and back at my fellow passengers. (Some of whom were I think some kind of sports team, a bunch of guys, some in Jamaica colors, talking and laughing very loudly). We're stuck in traffic and I'm getting paranoid about the time, checking the time on my ipod. I also had forgotten my cell phone, so I couldn't call if I'd wanted to. Then, the bus stops and everyone gets off... but me. Then the bus goes again, and I decided to ask the driver to make sure it was going to the end of the line. It was.

We made it to Terveuren where Dana (Faisal's mom) was waited in her car. It was 3:01.

So that was it? That was the whole bad day? haha NOPE.

The first part of the day with Faisal was fine and normal, except he didn't take a nap. He was pretty wired, and Dana said it was optional. So I thought he would be fine. We even went for a walk to Aldi (kind of a discount grocery store), and that was fun. We got back and played, read, drew things, etc. Then we were talking about cats, and I was teasing him about his cat (my cats' mother) whose name is Duck-Cat (Duck for short). I was saying "you named your cat after a bird, how silly!" Which he loved, for the record! He laughed and said "tell it again!" Then he got another idea and said "Hey, look at this" and picked up 2 of his plastic dinosaurs and chucked them at me, one hitting me right in the nose. Now, I know he didn't mean to hurt me, but he did, so I explained to him calmly why we don't throw things and that it had hurt me. Then came the tantrum. Not screaming, but throwing his books on the floor, shaking the table, etc. Thank god it was 6:30 and Dana came up and helped me diffuse the situation. She helped me explain that I wasn't angry, I just didn't want him to throw things at me. Dana had to give him a little package of fruit snacks to get him to get back to normal. He's getting his nap next time. Oy.

So then we go to the car (by the way, I usually leave at 6, Fridays 6:15, so 6:30 was late), go to the tram station, I get on, and settle in for the ride home. But there is something up with the stupid tram and the driver gets everyone off at the SAME STOP as on my ride there and we all got on a 39 tram to get back to Montgomery. I get on my first train, and THAT is messed up and only goes half the distance I need (2 stops!) before they announce end of the line, wait for the next train. So I was extra-super late getting home around 7:45, and hungry, tired and grumpy.

AND the cats were in heat and acting kinda nuts. But Miguel, being the great guy he is, went out and got me take out and made me feel better. So for now, the stupid transport system here can bite me.

The end.

PS. the good news is, my computer is now fixed, though going to get it is a bit of a story. Not for now though, for later.

Weird Belgium

So we have tv that we don't pay for. We get a good few channels including BBC1 and 2, some Dutch channels with subtitled English programming, etc. I can't really complain. But we were doing a bit of research to see if there was any way we could watch the Oscars. It turns out one company did buy the rights, and it's one of those premium channels, etc. We don't get it. That in itself does not bother me. What does is that, even if we wanted to switch companies and pay, even if we wanted to order that fancy shmancy movie channel and stay up all night watching the Oscars, it wouldn't work. They don't offer service in our area. They offer it in other parts of Brussels, no problem. But Ixelles, nope, it's a no go. That particular telecom company only offers mobile phone service in Ixelles.

That would not happen in America. It would be like HBO saying, ok, you're in DC, but, oh, in Northwest, sorry. We don't offer service in Northwest. Can I interest you in a keychain instead? Yeah. So there you have my rant.

Congrats Miguel!!!

So this isn't about me at all!! Miguel found out today, not 10 minutes ago that he will be getting an indefinite (so, basically permanent) contract at Eurocities in June when his old one runs out! Job security! Yay!!! So that is the news, real update later.

Oh, Belgium

So this isn't a full update, but just a bit of complaining about Brussels in a humorous way. 

So today Joan and Maureen (Miguel's aunt and cousin) got here from Dublin. It was my job to go out and collect them at the airport. I checked the bus schedule and thought, heh no problem. The weird thing was, I knew the bus I wanted, the 12. The 12 is the express to the airport. The 21 is the non-express to the airport. Hence, the 12 is the one I wanted. I decided on that, checked the times and where it went (Place Luxemburg), and thought ok, that works. Miguel said I could pick it up in front of Fat Boy's (the American burger place in Place Lux).

So I got up this morning around 7:30 and got ready to head out to the bus stop. I got there, and in front of Fat Boys there are signs for the 21 to the Brussels Airport, with a separate tariff (price) to go to the NATO building. It also lists the 12 in the schedule, but not in detail. Ok... A 21 comes by and it says NATO, I ask, and it does not go to the airport. I looked all around Place Lux for other signs, but nothing. So, fine, I go back to Fat Boy's and I wait. 

And wait.

And then, there's a 12, but it didn't stop! So I start chasing it, like a dog, through Place Lux. And out of Place Lux. And away I go, catching up at stop lights. This goes on for a while, but finally, I lost the bus. Shit. 

I start walking back. to Place Lux, coughing and sniffling and sweating away despite the chill. All of a sudden, there is another 12! Shit. I ran again. I chased it a slightly shorter distance back to just at the corner of Place Lux where it stops, lets people off, and I get on. 

And wait. For nearly 10 minutes. Where I was, where I had chased the bus to, was, in actuality, the end of the line! So there I sat as my breathing gradually slowed waiting for the lights to come on and the engine to start. About 10 minutes pass. Finally, we got going. 

The upsides to all this were: 1) Starbucks at the airport (the only one in Belgium that I know of) and 2) On the way back, I was THE expert on the bus. I was trying to get Maureen and Joan tickets for the bus, and the machine wasn't working (it's a euro more expensive when you buy on the bus). There was a queue that I supposed was angry at the hold up. I eventually gave up on my transaction, and when the man behind me had trouble, I explained it to him. Then the rest of the line started to ask me questions about the fare, the bus itself, etc. After explaining everything to about 10 English-speakers and taking control of the situation, the bus arrived and we got on. The came the questions about where the bus stops, and if I would tell them when we were in such-and-such a place. All of this I did until we got off the bus where I had got on. So I came off as an expert, having nearly failed to ride the bus once. The airport should totally hire me. 

Long overdue...

This post is dedicated to Tracy, who reminded me that I need to post more. I know I should, but time seems to pass too quickly!

Work has been ok, my little charge was still recovering from the flu last week, and so wasn't terribly energetic and was even less able to communicate. He had a tantrum last Friday that started before I got there. It turned out he was hungry, but unable to say it, and so lots of tears and screaming ensued. Thank god his mom was able to help me for the first half hour or so. I'm going back tomorrow, so I'm hoping he's all better and ready to play.

The other thing about work is, it feels great to finally be earning some money, even though it's not much. It makes me feel a bit more like a functioning member of society.

In other news, I finished another book this past week! Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach. Great book, both hilarious and educational. If you haven't done so, go get a copy and get reading. The book I read before Stiff was World Without End by Ken Follett, which was so much like Pillars of the Earth it was almost annoying. Still, totally addictive and wonderful. Right now, I'm on Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik, which is such an inspiration to me. It's about an expat American in Paris, there are so many things I can relate to, and I just love it. Thanks for the recommendation, Kathleen!

So I suppose I should take this opportunity to talk about the weekend, which was really fabulous. Friday night we were totally lazy, but we made up for it on Saturday! Between cleaning, grocery shopping, baking and partying there was almost no time left to sit down! After grocery shopping Miguel and I went to this awesome store, HEMA (kind of like a Dutch Target). I got this great fish sticker book and a kinder egg (chocolate egg with a toy inside)... And yes, I am still about 5 years old. After all the errands I made chocolate chip cookies, we ate dinner, and set off for the party and Fionnuala and Siobhans'!

I don't really know where to start on the party. I'll say this, the beer and wine were flowing freely, as was the conversation in at least 4 different languages. The cookies were a huge hit. We tried to do some group Irish dancing at around 1 or 2am, which I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled about. Chocolate was hidden in bras. There was an argument about which TV show was better, Married with Children or According to Jim. Classical music came on the ipod, and we all decided it was too posh for our party. And the rest was just general nonsense. Fun was had by all. Almost the entirety of Sunday was spent recovering.

Sunday evening we had people coming over, Rachel and Chris (Rachel works with Miguel) and I got it into my head to cook! I made sticky chicken, rice and green beans! The sticky chicken was pretty awesome. I haven't had it in years, and it reminded me of when I was little and ate it, and would have a plate full of bones and soiled napkins. We ate it in a more civilized (or should I switch to UK English? civilised?) way that night, but Miguel and I ate the leftovers the next day and had sauce from ear to ear.

By the way, sorry (esp. sorry to Anna Cima) for the lack of pictures in this post. I don't have the right pictures to illustrate things, my camera has been used mostly for photographing the cats. I swear I'm not obsessed...

Oh! I totally forgot the biggest news of the last 2 weeks! We got new heaters!! Ones that really work, and are cheap and keep us warm and are not smelly! Our apartment is almost too warm!

Now, I don't know if I've talked about the ordeal it's been getting these heaters, but it's been insane. I started trying to obtain 2 new ones (out of the 3 in the apartment, the one in the bathroom worked, the one in the kitchen would be on for about 10 minutes, and shut off and stay off, the one in the living room gave off a horrible smell) in October. We had several visits from Fernando, the building maintenance man, who then got the flu. A couple weeks later he says he can't fix them anyway, we need to call the gas company. That appointment took over a month to get, and then they said well, we won't have new ones for you until late January or early February. Great. That's winter. So we had to get these electric heaters that the landlord paid for, but they cost a pretty penny to run, but we have yet to get that bill.

Now, the arrival of these new heaters was a much anticipated event, the only problem was the installation itself. Service here in Brussels leaves something to be desired. The guys smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke and BO, were noisy as hell and made a total mess of the apartment. I was asked to help them break down a box (I'm pretty sure it's not my job...) and they left another huge box in the kitchen for me to deal with for myself. They didn't do a thing with the old heaters and left them in the hallway. They scared the shit out of the cats, and even let one out who I had to chase down the stairs. The heaters also smelled awful when first turned on, so I had to open all the windows. But I will say this. All of that doesn't matter now that I can be warm. I love them and would go through it all ten times over to have these heaters.

Anyway, I should probably wrap this up. To those of you that have made it this far, kudos to you. To Anna Cima, who I'm pretty sure hasn't made it here... for shame. I will try to post more frequently from here on out. :-)

This guy is comfortable with himself.

Ya gotta love seeing people like this.

Bagels in Belgium, Fire, New Job and New Rug

So I suppose the first thing to report is the existence of a bagel place here in Brussels. One within walking distance. One that makes them fresh. Not only that, but the place itself is comfortable and homey. They play great music, encourage hanging out with a shelf full of books (most of them in French, some in Dutch), and offer a full menu of lovely bagels. In other words... I am very happy.


Miguel and I went last weekend and during a long chat I've decided to add a new segment to this blog. "Weird Brussels." Look out for it.

So last Sunday night we were settling in after going to see Burn After Reading and we heard sirens. Normally, this is no big deal, but they were louder than usual, so we went to the window. Outside 3 fire trucks and an ambulance were stopping just outside our building! We immediately ran downstairs to see what was going on. After being joined by other neighbors we asked a fireman who said there was smoke in the building next to ours (they're connected) and the floor above ours (we're on the 3rd). We stand and watch as the cherry picker (no idea what that would be called here) went up to the window. They had to use force to open the window, and when they did the smoke started coming out. Miguel said "We're not ready for a fire!" I looked at him, trying to suppress a laugh and said "No one is ready for a fire!" After standing around a while longer to make sure things were safe we chatted with neighbors until it was definitely safe. So that was the big news for that night!

The other news of the week (other than having a new president) is this: I started my job! Granted it's very part time (9 hours a week), but it's something, and it's something I enjoy! I am babysitting/working with a 5 yo American boy who has special needs, most likely autism. (Interestingly enough, this is the same American family we got our cats from, so I hang out with our cats' mother while there.) Anyway, I spend 3 hours a day, 3 days a week playing with Faisal and getting him to communicate with me. We play with play dough, read, play tracks (build train tracks), color (I drew an awesome killer whale for him and he scribbled over most of it), and watch the killer whale part of Happy Feet. So far he responds really well to me, imitates what I do and say and seems to have a great time. So I hope that will continue to go well.


Oh, and starting a couple nights ago there was a smell of gasoline in the apartment, coming mostly from downstairs. Awesome. So we called our maintenance guy, who couldn't find any problem, but opened the stairwell windows. So we decide to check that we're not getting an pigeons inside and sure enough, not only was there a big fat pigeon on the stairs, but there was also pigeon poop/pee over 2 stairs! And of course, WE had to clean it up. Stupid bird. As if the noise they make outside the bathroom isn't enough.

In other news, we FINALLY bought a rug! No more hard, cold, wood floor for us. It's as much to keep us warm as it is to make the living room look nice. It's a great rug, and it was VERY much on sale. I really wanted a Persian-style rug, and am quite pleased. The cats are obsessed with it, and therefore it had to be vacuumed today, not even 24 hours after the purchase had been made.



Speaking of the cats, Cleo had a little accident today. She hasn't learned that fire is painful yet, though she has gotten too close to the heater or a candle in the past, because some of her eyebrow-whiskers were curly/singed about a month ago. This time, she got the rest of her eyebrow whiskers, and also her paw. One of the little tea lights was flickering, and Cleo thought to bat at it/teach it a lesson, resulting in a slightly burned paw. She tried to play it cool like she had known what she was doing all along, but some of her fur on that paw was blackened. Poor kitty. Too bad it was also really funny.


And to end on a fun/cute note, here are a few of the cats being, well, cats. Enjoy! Oh, and please note, anyone can comment on this, even if they don't have blogs. So, Mom? Dad? Jake? Anyone?