Host Family Day: Tielt

We didn't really have a plan going into our host family day on Sunday. We knew 2 things: 1) we were going to sleep in and be lazy and 2) we would have to pack and be back at the Europahal by 9pm that night for our cast sleepover! But, the rest remained a mystery!

We stuck to having a lazy morning. I slept in, worked out, uploaded pictures, and showered before having a yummy breakfast with freshly baked Sunday pastries. Fun fact: Sundays in Europe are a BIG deal for bakeries. No other place is open, but you wake up super early and go get all the fresh treats at the bakery before they close. Apparently showing up at 9am is considered "late," according to An. Such a different culture than America!

Then Bettina and I spent time cleaning, organizing, and packing. We had to have our suitcases International travel ready and at the correct weight, so we were very meticulous in our packing! It was a very successful morning and Bettina and I did a fantastic job making everything work! Hooray!

We kept trying to get a hold of An's boyfriend, Robrecht, so he could join us for the day's activities, but he wouldn't pick up his phone! We took off for an adventure to the highest point in Tielt...aka this tiny little hill - I burst out laughing when we saw it! So diminutive in comparison to the mountains in Denver! We ran into Maddie and her family and we enjoyed a nice time in the old Catholic schoolhouse turned into a restaurant. I ordered the best hot chocolate ever and had my last Belgian waffle!

 Robrecht showed up eventually and brought handpicked flowers from his garden for An to celebrate Mother's Day - sweet!

 After we finished eating, we went out to explore the fields, the sights, and the windmill!

Aren't they cute?

Climbing up the steep stairs to see the inside of the windmill

We met a doggie on the road!

And a cow

 Then we played in a park!

Later, we went out to La Vita e Bella for some yummy Italian food! We had some SLOW service and some interesting (rude) reactions from our server, but we still enjoyed our night out for one last supper together! That was always something I really loved about staying at An's house - we had fantastic meal conversations that kept us at the table for quite some time! =)

After dinner, we went home, said goodbye to An because she was headed to Antwerp to spend time with her son and his family, and then finished packing up our things and headed to the Europahal with Robrecht to be dropped off for our 1st cast sleepover!!!

Tielt, Belgium

What a great last week in Europe. I had such a wonderful time in Tielt - it was one of my favorite cities. We arrived Monday after our free time in Bruges and had our host pick up. I was going to have a roommate, but she was currently with the rest of the second semester students on their mini-trip to the south of Belgium, so I had host pick up alone! We had all sorts of crazy Flemmish words as our host codes, and I had no idea what my code meant until a Belgian Alumni told me it meant Wheelbarrow! I waited and waited and never saw a wheelbarrow, but then a woman came up to me and said she was my host mom! She didn't have her wheelbarrow because she brought it to the wrong location and then biked over to the Europahal. Whoops! An was very sweet and very nice. One problem - she only had her bike and I had a TON of luggage to lug back (since I had Bettina's luggage, too!) She left me to go get her car, and then we were off!

 An is ALSO a music teacher - in fact, she teaches teachers how to be healthy with their voices. Perfect for me? I think so! It was so great staying with her because she always had music playing and she understood my passion for teaching! She was such a sweet lady! We had a fantastic week, and An's house was in the perfect location! We were able to walk to everything - in fact, it wasn't until Sunday on Host Family day that I got in a car again! I absolutely loved walking through town every day and REALLY getting to know the city.

My amazing backyard for the week. It was unreal!

I had a great CI on Tuesday at the Sint Andreis Hospital working with some nursing home residents. We went for a stroll around Tielt so the residents could have a morning out in the wonderful weather! In the morning, I got to push Christiana around and I learned so much about her life! She was wonderful and reminded me a lot of my Grandma Stewart, so that made my heart happy! She was born and raised in Tielt, and we got to see the Catholic church that she was baptized and married in, as well as the cemetery that many family members are buried in.

 That evening, Kevin (who lived close by, yet again! haha) and I went for a lovely walk around town. I had a little fun on the train tracks...

 We also discovered that An had a HUGE world map in her garage with pinpoints of all the places she and/or her ex-husband traveled to. It just confirmed I want one of my own someday!

We had a good study abroad day on Wednesday and welcomed the 2nd semester students back.

The morning after Bettina showed up!

On Thursday we had a cool opportunity to go to Gent to see the Belgian National Special Olympics! Our sole purpose of the visit? To cheer on the athletes! We had a great day enjoying the sunshine, each others' company, and supporting the great athletes. 

photo credit: Ambrea Peterson

 That night, we had a wonderful dinner with An, Robrecht, An's daughter Analies, and her fiance (I forget his name...oops). After dinner AND dessert, An heard the ice cream truck drive by. She dropped everything, shouted, "WHO WANTS AN ICE CREAM?" and went running out the door saying, "YOOOHOOOO!" to flag down the ice cream man. Even though we were stuffed, we enjoyed our 2nd desserts of the night and had a lot of laughs over how cute An was! I hadn't had ice cream truck ice cream since I was little living in Naperville, IL! Yikes! =)

We had our shows on Friday and Saturday and a lot of us went out after our show on Friday night to a bar in town called La Terraza. It was fun spending a night out in town with our Uppies! =)

Me, Simone, Amilee, Dylan, and Kevin

They had a cool section in the back that was all a lounge area. They were like big beds!

We celebrated Tori's 19th birthday out!

We had a great host family day! I'll do a separate post for host family day because it was quite the adventurous day! We had to prepare to depart Europe and leave for Mexico.

Regional Learning: Bruges, Belgium

So much to update! Sometimes I look at my life in UWP and think "HOLY COW! How is this possible?!?" Last week I was going from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw to explore the historic town of Bruges, and now, one week later, I've lived in Tielt and drove to Frankfurt to fly to Mexico! ALL IN ONE WEEK! Time in UWP feels so funny because things fly by, but at the same time, we pack so much into one week that it feels like so much longer!

Let me try and recap all that's happened in the last week! On our travel day from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium to Tielt, Belgium, we took some time to sightsee! Our cast's 2nd semester students took off for their mini-retreat-type trip to the south of Belgium, and the rest of us were able to spend the gorgeous, sunshiney day in Bruges, Belgium - a super historic old town built on canals.

Things we did:

• Shop for souvenirs
• Sample chocolate
• Watch lollipops being made
• Ate fries (with curry ketchup - strange)
• Explored
• Ventured on a canal tour with 25ish of our closest friends (note the sarcasm...they were complete strangers)
• Eat waffles and ice cream
• Enjoy the gorgeous weather, architecture, and flowers!

Front: Brian, Diana, Amy, Linnea | Back: Sage, Tara

Happy Mother's Day

Here in Up with People, I learned that the world celebrates Mothers on different days of the year, but that didn't stop our International Cast from taking some time to send our moms some love! With the help of my friend Mallory, I made this Mother's Day video for our moms worldwide to let them know just how much we love and miss them!

To my mommy - I can't wait to see you! You've given me so much and I simply wouldn't be the woman I am today without your love and support. I am so thankful you are my mom! I love you!

What It's All About...

Friends posted this video on Facebook, and I clicked out of curiosity. Little did I know this was EXACTLY what I wanted to see. This sums up what we challenge ourselves with in UWP every. single. day!