belgium post numero uno

ok...another detour post.  In order to find another excuse to avoid having to fully get my blog up to date, I decided to go to Belgium this weekend.  Oh yeah...and I guess I also wanted to see my college baseball teammate Ethan and all the sites Flanders could offer me.  Ethan's playing professional baseball in Belgium until early October, at which point he will pack up and head to Perth, Australia to play in a winter pro league there.  Not a bad deal if you ask me.  You should definitely check out his blog (http://willplayballforfood.blogspot.com/) since he has infinitely more interesting things to say than me. 

Back to Belgium by way of Spain: so even though Madrid is host to some of the rowdiest, latest nightlife in the world, for some lovely reason the metro stops running at 1:30am and doesn't open up again till 6.  This was REALLY convenient for me, since my flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30am.  I live just about as far southwest of the Madrid airport as you can possibly be while still living in the city, and a 50-ish euro taxi was not gonna cut it.  So what did I do?  I took the drunk bus.  Err...I mean the night bus.  Called "Buhos" (spanish for "Owls"), these special night buses run from 1:30am until 6, when the metro opens again.  Since I didn't get home from dinner until around midnight (thanks libby and kelsey!  that lomo was BALLIN) and still had to pack, I ended up taking a one hour nap instead of going to sleep.  I then caught the 3:45 buho, which after one transfer eventually got me to the airport.  Free sure beats 50 euros!  After tons of fun waiting in endless lines for my Ryanair flight, I finally boarded the plane...only to be informed that due to a strike by French air traffic controllers, we couldn't leave for at least an hour and a half.  woohoo transportation strikes.  didn't bother me too much though...merely some more time for shut-eye, right? 

After touching down in Belgica, I struggled through ordering a ham and cheese croissant in French, then waited in another lovely line for the hour long shuttle to Brussels.  Even though two of my roommates in Madrid our French, I still haven't a clue about that language.  Funnily enough, my final roommate moved in today, and she happened to be from Belgium.  Quite the coincidence...perhaps it's some sort of conspiracy.  Anyway, after leaving the bus station, I wandered around the nearby Islamic neighborhoods, scouting out plenty of clutch-looking Kebab places along the way.  Islamic-European and/or Mediterranean-Magrebi relations have always really interested me (Germany vs. Turkey or Spain vs. Mauritania, anyone?).  There are numerous parallels to the immigration issues about which people scream unintelligently at each other in the States.  I won't get into any of the particulars now so as not to set off a firestorm, but have you all noticed any other parallels or sharp contrasts between European social issues and those in the US of A?  I'd love to hear them.

Anyway, after that I made my way to the Grand Place (Plaza Mayor) of Brussels, which was truly a sight to behold.  I have pictures to put up I promise!  Essentially, the Plaza contained a truly breathtaking mix of Baroque, Gothic, and Renaissance architecture, complete with gi-normous statues that appeared to be solid gold (I couldn't exactly climb up to have a look-see).  I made a point to "hitchhike" onto a tour being given in Spanish in the plaza just to feel like a cool Spaniard again.  After those shenanigans and a bunch of picture taking, I walked over to the Flanders tourist office to use their wifi and write this post while I waited for Ethan.  Since he'll be here in 15 minutes or so, I should probably go, but until next time: BEER, WAFFLES AND CHOCOLATE!!! i mean...art museums and culture, mom and dad!  hasta luego