So long, Goodbye, We'll see you soon

My Darling Reader,

Four months have come and four months have gone, and in two and a half days I will be heading home to America. I know I've already touched upon this in my previous posts, but wow...

...wow.

You will likely never know how much it means to me that you were right here the whole time. I can't wait to give you a hug and bake you a fine looking dessert. For real. You think I'm kidding. Just wait and see. Do you prefer chocolate or fruit? No bother. I'll bring both.

These past few weekends, which typically would have been dominated by M.S.U. studying and preparing for term papers, were spent lounging in luscious Belgian parks with my friends. This understandably led to last-minute panicking attributed to lack of study time and insufficient paper drafts.

Whether you want to call it a miracle, fate, or just dumb luck, I finished my semester today at VeCo, and felt confident about the work I submitted, as well as the effort I put into each exam over the last few days.

Wait, did you hear that? (For those proper-English folks... "Did you read that?") I finished my semester at VeCo. Done. Finito. Holy. Crap.

Holy crap. These last days flew by so quickly, I didn't even have time to repost an entry mysteriously similar to this one...

Reader, this may well be my last post before I leave beautiful Brussels. So let's make it a memorable one, eh? With lots of photos... last post I commented on how I would surely write up about Car-Free Sunday - aka the kick-butt, kick-off event to my final week abroad. I shall not disappoint, my friend.

The day started out like any other Sunday... a pleasant trip to the ginormous flea market at Gare du Midi. Surely you've heard of it. If you don't recall, here's a quick summary:

Gare Du Midi:

Home to infamously enormous fresh produce.

(That's Garrett's fist next to steroid-popping grapes.)

Home to deliciously smelling bags of spices I like to shove under my nose.

Home to magnificent looking gummie snacks... yum.

Home to strange, strange homemade contraptions.

Home to strange, STRANGE fashion statements.

After Ashley, Garrett, Priya and I returned from the market, it was only a matter of time before we ambled out into the streets. Literally.

I knew I loved Car-Free day for a reason. The only threats on the road were families of bikers. And, perhaps, tripping over one's own feet (equal likelihood).

My friends and I rendezvoused at the ever-popular American Embassy (aka: McDonalds) and worked our way over to Grand Place for what may have been our last time together in the magnificent square.

There were (most of) the boys...

And (some of) the girls...

And me, somewhere in the middle...

We mosied on up to le Petite Sablon, a charming statue garden on the upper side of town, but were suddenly distracted by a raging techno dance party in the courtyard of the Museum of Fine Arts. What were we to do? Hippie dance, of course. On squares of unrolled sod! (like at the May Day celebration)... check below for dirty proof.

The lot of the Museum of Fine Arts was positively packed with smoking, jiving, crazy cats cutting loose and enjoying the sunshine. I'll miss that... the jarring combinations of old and new - whether they revolve around clashing architecture or clashing cultures. I mean... here we were, amid...

After the mega dance party, a few of us recharged with some Chinese food on the steps of the Beurs stock exchange, and eventually we went up to the free concert...

... got there just in time to catch the tail-end of a Beatles rock cover band. They finished with an intense "Hey Jude." I was sad to see them leave the stage, but they had to... gotta make room for...

Lycra-clad Abba cover band members!!!!!!

We all sort of hung around as a joke, but this band was pretty fantastic. Their wardrobe and costume changes perhaps outnumbered that of Cher's. Maybe it's because we were all tipsy, but we were jumping around and dancing and waving our arms and shouting, "There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright, Fernandoooo!" perhaps a little louder than necessary. Desperate to hear "Dancing Queen," (which, of course, was saved until last, unbeknown to us), we ended up staying up at the stage until about 11:30 pm. That's a lot of Abba.

*Exasperated sigh*

So we come to the end. How to wrap up this post, Reader? What do you think? I'll poll the audience. No, you can't phone a friend to ask his advice. Tell me what you think.

A) Cut it short
B) Drag it out
C) List some things I'll miss about Brussels
D) Shut up and make me a sammich

*elapsed counting of votes*

Survey says, C. But D was a close second. Too bad.

Here are some things I'll miss about Brussels:

1) Taking creepy photos of adorable children:

2) The street corner fish restaurants:

3) Strange happenings in the courtyard of St. Katherine's:

4) Partying outside of ancient buildings and works of art:

5) Strangers so willing to let you take their photo:

6) Super Sweet Graffiti

7) Abba Cover Bands singing outside the Palace of Justice

Oh yeah, and here's that aforementioned dirty hippie proof:

What can I say? Heather and I had a nice time in the sod.

Oh yeah again. Tonight was the second to last Kathleen-cooked meal: a Belgian "crock madame." Mine got a cool smiley sleepy face with yellow peppers.

Yeah, it was pretty delicious to say the least. I cleaned my plate. Mmmmm.

I don't mean to drag this out. You guys obviously chose option C. Alas, Reader, I do report that I just finished packing up the room with Priya. This feels strange.

I hope all is peachy sweet in your life. Since I'm finished with finals, I plan to explore last minute nooks of the city over the next few days. Any suggestions? Things you'd like to see? Take a number and let me know. There's some complimentary coffee and donuts behind you.

With last minute but long-time love,

Lauren E. Litwinka