So from the title you already know that I'm in Belgium!! This is the first time I've been in Europe so there's cause for lots of excitement on my part. When people say good friends are a treasure, they truly are. It's because of a good friend of mine that I'm here and I conquered everything that the embassy threw at me. Because of her and God working through people, I'm enjoying experiencing a whole new culture.
Naturally, most accounts should start with 'Day 1' but I'm going to mix it up a little. ;) It may also have something to do with the fact that I'm beginning this account on the second day...maybe just a little bit.
So today being a Sunday, I went with my friend and her family to church. They go to IBC which happens to be the same branch of church that my family used to go to when we lived in Dar-es-Salaam. I was so glad to hear that IBC was in Brussels too! The service was great and for the first time in my life, I was eager to stand up and introduce myself to the congregation, as is custom for visitors in most churches. I was eager to represent Kenya :) turns out though that I didn't need to do it for Kenya, just for myself because the moment I said I was from Kenya, the pastor remarked pleasantly ,"It looks like Kenyans are going to overtake us!" (or something to that effect)
Later, we went for pizza from 'Pizza Hut' and I got to see coupons in use for the first time with my own two eyes! That is definitely something we need to think introducing in Kenya...it can cut your purchase cost almost in half!
Being summer, the days are unusually long (unusual for me) so after playing sports games on Nintendo 'Wii', my friend, her siblings and I went to the nearest park in the neighbour hood. We played the traditional 3 sticks and had a great time chatting with a 6 year-old girl in a mixture of Dutch and French. (Thank you Alliance Francaise de Mombasa!!)
My day yesterday was more eventful what with it being a national holiday when there's a parade in the capital city. I know Kenya has its own parades but I'd never actually been to one until yesterday. Oh, the waiting was definitely tiring and seemed almost futile but it paid off. More so for the activities the military had organised than anything else. There was rock-climbing on an artificial rocks, lots of food stands and other things related to the military like looking for land mines and camouflaging...awesome experience for little boys. You know how boys get with military-related things...
And I got on a metro for the first time in my life! For those of you who don't know what a metro is, its pretty much like the American subway. You buy a ticket which gets you through the gate of the station, then you check to see what time your train's coming and wait for it to arrive. The metro has automatic doors and the driver's in a cabin by himself. Absolutely zero contact between the driver and the passengers. SO different from Kenya. Even the buses here have no conductors. You just get on the bus and slot in your bus card and take your seat. Easy peasy!!
Being in Europe is definitely an experience I'm going to cherish for the rest of my life. I can't wait to make more memories tomorrow!!! :) Photos will be coming soon.
Till then, a bientot!
No comments:
Post a Comment