Barthelona

Hey y'all,

Just sending a quick hola from Barthelona. Emily and I are here until Thursday! I love the city already and can't wait to try some sangria and if I'm feeling wild, some PAELLA!

Adios, folks

Luv,
Sarah

Eurotrip with the double Ds

Hey y'all,

So this past week has been a whirlwind. I left Lille last Saturday at 9am and met up with my parents in Brussels. Saturday we just toured around Brussels. 

Of course we went to a beer museum.

                                            

yum.

Here's a view of the city

Here's the Royal Palace.

Here's the church in Grand Place.

Brussels is known for its lace. Deb went CRAZY. 

Neat clock leading down into the old city. 

Notre Dame of Brussels

Manneken Pis.

Yes, that's a foot-tall fountain of a boy urinating. 

Sunday we took a day trip to Ghent and Bruges, two really cute towns in Belgium.

We first visited Ghent. I had never been there, but liked it. The weather was less than ideal though. It was super foggy, so it was hard to take good pictures. 

I had already been to Bruges, but not really as a tourist - merely as a beer festival drinker. Being a tourist here was a really fun experience as well. 

There were lots of swans here.

We went into one church and saw a relic that supposedly held the blood of Jesus Christ. I'm skeptical...apparently there's a lot of JC's blood floating around Europe. 

Here's a big building in the Grand Place. 

Then we went to Lille on Monday. My parents had a great hotel that looked out onto the Grand Place. There aren't a ton of tourist activities in Lille, but it was cool to show them where I live. 

Then Wednesday, we took a bus to Amsterdam. WOOP.

Amsterdam is the best. 

Our trip included a visit to the Anne Frank House (I'd already been, but enjoyed going again), as well as a trip to the Van Gogh museum. 

Here's a picture of one of Van Gogh's famous paintings "The bedroom." I know what you're thinking (because my mom said the EXACT same thing to me) - "I thought photography wasn't allowed?"

Long hair, don't care.

Today, we took a really great day trip through the Dutch countryside. 

Our first stop was in Marken and we saw where wooden shoes were made. Pretty interesting stuff, actually. 

This is a wooden cow.

With wooden clogs. 

Then we went to Volendam to see a cheese museum. Cheese museums and cheese stores in general in the Netherlands are the BEST, mainly because they have tons and tons of samples. Slurp. I can get on board with that. 

We then went to one last place, but I've forgotten the name. This was the coolest place because we got to see real windmills - none of this modern metal stuff you see nowadays, but real windmills. 

Now we're back in Brussels. Tomorrow morning, I'm taking a train back to Lille and mom and dad are heading to the Brussels airport to head back to America. This has been such a fun trip. We've travelled all over the place, eaten too much and shopped too much, but had a great time. I can't wait to go abroad again so my parents can come visit me again.

Hope things are well stateside.

Luv,

Sarah

Nous sommes les dogues

Hey y'all,

Last Friday, Emily and I went to a Lille soccer game and it was a blast. The name of the team is LOSC and their slogan is Nous sommes les dogues. Legit. They were playing Rennes, a team from another city in France. Here's what the stadium looked like:

The top of the stadium was open, so that was neat, albeit extremely cold.

We had great front row seats at one end zone (pardon me, I don't know soccer terminology...) It was a little tough to see everything happening on the other end, but when they were on our end - such as when LOSC scored their first point - we had a great view.

Here's a view of the whole field.

The other end zone was super rowdy. If we go again, we are definitely going to sit on that side.

Anyways, Lille won 2-0. holla.

Luv,
Sarah

Bad day turned good

Hey y'all,

So yesterday morning was ROUGH. First of all, I was super exhausted. Unsure why. Anyways, Friday is the last day of classes before the two week break. I for one am ECSTATIC. Unfortunately, the students are as well. Yesterday at my first school, the students were insupportables. They wouldn't stop talking, complaining, and moving around.

Here's the trifecta of the morning.

1. I caught one child on the verge of throwing a paper airplane at me. Do not worry, though. I immediately confiscated it and threw that junk away. Plus, it was such a poorly constructed paper airplane. He could've done much better. But that's beside the point.

2. I dropped all my papers and materials all over the floor. Winning at life, clearly.

3. A 6 year old corrected my French. OUCH.

Anyways, so comme d'hab, I went home for lunch. I was dreading going back to school, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do. So I went to my other school and my first class was with the equivalent of 1st grade in the US. The kids were coming in while I was getting all my materials together, and one of my favorite students came up to me, handed me this, and said "This is for you."

What is it, you might ask? I honestly haven't the slightest clue. Something with red, white and blue designs and pieces cut out of it. However, thank ya jesus for this little kid, because my day turned around immediately. First craft I've received from a student, and I loved it. Day made.

Luv,
Sarah

Belgian beer me.

Hey y'all,

So this weekend has been pretty great. Yesterday, Emily and I took a trip to a beer festival in Bruges. As we told some people we were chatting up while in line, someone said beer and we came running.

I had never been to Bruges and it really was a neat town. Very cute and quaint. My parents and I are going there when they come across the pond, so I'm looking forward to going back.

Anyways, the beer festival was magnifique. Tons of beer, people, and just an all around fun time. The bus ride was less than an hour so that was nice. This was with the same travel company that we went with to see the Christmas markets in Cologne, Germany.

We tried all different kinds of beers. My favorite one was called Malheur which in French means 'unhappiness'. A downer, but delicious.

Here are a few pictures.

The beer festival was in the belfry, which was really neat. It's a beautiful building in the center of the town. I was glad that it was inside because it rained on and off throughout the day.

Before the beerfest, we went and visited this church. Just a quick run through.

This joker was just chilling in the church.

We got cool glasses with our entrance into the beer festival. Will treasure it forever.

Tonight I think we're going to a bar to watch AT MOST the first half of the Super Bowl. It will be starting in France at about 12:30. Chouette. Emily doesn't have to work tomorrow, but I do. womp womp womp.

Luv,
Sarah