Shelby's Year in Belgium: 2 Months in Belgium!

My what a week I had! Monday I had the day off and had my first rotary meeting. My rotary club is the rotary club of Genval. Monday evening we met at a country club to listen to the rebounds (people who went on exchange) present their year abroad to the club. I love listening to them talk about their year because you can see how much the exchange meant to them and how it changed them. It inspires me during my year here. Then, the inbounds (me and 3 other students) presented themselves to the club in French. My club is really welcoming and very nice. I am excited to be a part of their organization for the year. Tuesday was my only full day of school this week. I got to spend most of the day in the kitchen. I made rocher au coco alone and did the dishes! Dish duty is definitely not the best but it’s part of the kitchen. After I cleaned about 100 dishes I got to help plate desserts. I think plating is fun because you can express yourself in the food. Wednesday was a strike with the buses, so I didn’t go to school. I only had 3 classes that day so I didn’t miss much. I worked on my project of France for my Touristic Geography class. I am going to present the gastronomy of the Ile-de-France tomorrow. I made a cute little brochure to be my visual aide. In the afternoon, I went to my host grandparents’ house for most of the day. I hung out with my little host cousins and we went to see inside out. I still love it even after the 3^rd time. Thursday was a half day at school for me. I went to my English and math classes then came home and finished my Ile-de-France project. It was really nice being able to come home early because I normally get home at 5/6 o’clock. Friday I had a field trip with the 6 TQ and P Hôt. We went to a vineyard in Namur (south of Belgium) and cut grapes for the vineyard. We also got to try wine and the juice from the grapes. It was really muddy and kind off a long day but with my classmates we had a lot of fun. There was a tractor and all the boys hopped on the back to ride in it and I got on it then fell into the grapes. Fortunately the buckets caught me before I crushed the grapes but it was a great laugh for everyone. We had fun dancing as we waited for the bus too. Friday evening I had a dinner with my host mom’s family. They are such wonderful people and the food is always so great. I was super tired from the vineyard so I went home pretty early. Saturday was one of my favorite days so far. Rachel and I went to Oostende, a city right on the North Sea (shout out to Aksel for telling me to go there). We had lunch and then went to the beach and took lots of photos. It was really windy at the sea but it was sunny (a rare thing in BelgiumJ). I was so happy to go to the beach. I walked in the waves and picked up a lot of seashells (#shellsforshelby!!). I am so lucky that the ocean is only a few hours away and I can’t wait to go back soon. It is for sure one of my favorite beaches I have ever visited. Saturday night Rachel spent at my house! We had pizza and uploaded all our beach pics then went to sleep because we were exhausted. Today we went to a cute little market in waterloo. I bought some dried fruit and chocolate and meloncakes (aka heaven) and little macarons. Then we dropped Rachel off at the gare and came home. I had lunch with Samantha and her brother and now I am going to skype my parents and clean my room. Next week, I should have a full week of school haha. Soon I will be leaving for Paris with rotary and I cannot wait!! Hopefully these next few weeks go by as fast as these last few months have.

Until Next Time!

Shelby