Sixth Week

My sixth week consisted of five days at school and one of the longest Saturdays of my life.

(unfortunately, a lot of these pictures failed to turn when I told them to, so they will stay horizontal. I apologize for any neck-aches I may have caused)

This Saturday I woke up at six in the morning to jump in the car and ride for two hours to Dinaint. Dinaint is a town with a wide canal that leads into the river, La Lesse. I kayaked all day (about six hours) on this canal with friends from the Rotary in Belgium.

There were gorgeous views almost every corner we paddled around.

I know it seems as if it was perfect weather and sunny and warm. These pictures or misleading. It was FREEZING. And WET.

I swear I've never been so cold for so long in my life.

Nevertheless, despite the cold, I had an awesome time.

My day didn't end there, though.

I still had "Décrocher la Lune" (which literally means "to unhook the moon"). This is a major spectacular in La Louvière that is based on dreams and reality and inspiration and imagination. There is a church in the center of La Louvière with a crescent moon on the top where this festival takes place.

This is a picture of a woman literally walking up the side of the church. It was an incredible thing to see.

This is a man who danced in the air, held up only by balloons. Those ropes you see are actually holding him DOWN. Incredible.

Here is a great shot of six percussionists who were raised in the air as they were playing. This was very exciting to watch. you can see how high they are when you compare them to the stage that they are just in front of.

This is another picture of the performers.

This was the climax of the show. The man who reached the moon.

(He's an extremely well-made giant puppet)

Here you can see the man held up by balloons and two other performers who are dancing around a moon in mid-air.

These are two more giant puppets. You can see all the details included in their design. Magnifique.

After the show, my family met up with some friends. My host brother was so excited to show me something new that I hardly had the heart to tell him we have cotten candy in America too. In Belgium, it's called a "Barbe à Papa" ( Dad's beard). Super delish.

This is me eating my dad's beard, my host brother's friend François, my host brother Olivier, and my good friend François.

And again : )

This is the church where the spectacular took place.

This is me with François (right) and his best friend Gaëton.

The folowing Tuesday, I made Challah (a Jewish braided bread) for my family. This was an adventure because 1) this was the first time I attempted using my mom's recipe all alone 2) I had to convert everything to grams. This is harder than it sounds.

Olivier helped me out with kneading the dough.

: )



It ended up turning out great!








The next day, I took the train into Charleroi to spend some time with some Americans from the Rotary at an Irish Pub. It felt great to speak English with some friends my age.










You can see my school in this picture. It's the darker brown one. This was taken during our luch period. We are allowed to leave school during the hour-long break.










No one was ever ready at the same time for this picture, so I chose the best one. Poor Sophie is hiding behind her hair, my good friend Hélène, and me.

I've had a great week and can't wait for the next!