Cinquantenaire

Yesterday was a great day!

First: I know I failed and didn't post pictures yet. I'm working on it (they were loading super slowly). And I don't have pics of my apartment yet, but they are coming, I promise!
Now, on to yesterday.
I had my first class at 8:30. Yay for class, blegh for 8:30. The class is about Nazi Germany, which I'm really excited to learn about (Strange? Perhaps. But remember, I am a cultural anthropology major. We have apaper to write, and I'm already trying to find a way to write about the affects of Nazism on German people culturally, haha). The professor seems really great (although he's fluent in German, so its really intimidating that he can pronounce everything correctly and I know I'll bungle it up. Oh well!), and Cameron, one of my roommates, is in the class. (Sidenote: I think I'm turning into Daddy with all of these parenthetical notes! He ofter has these sidenotes or parentheticals in his blog, which you can check out here. Like father, like daughter!)

After class, I ran a few errands on campus. Then Mary Grace and I met up! We explored our part of Brussels a little more, and then we decided to go to Cinquantenaire. Brief history lesson: The Cinquantenaire used to be a military exercise grounds, but for the world exhibition of 1880, the Arch was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Beglium's independence. The monument was not completed until 1905. So this park is pretty important!

Cinquantenaire!

Anyway, we walked about 20 minutes to get there through a beautiful neighborhood. We definitely picked out which places we wanted to live "next time we were in Brussels". Then we made it to the park! It was so beautiful and peaceful. We took pictures, grabbed some ice cream, and then mad eour way to a park bench where we just sat and talked. It was so perfect. Such a restful afternoon. It was one of those times when you think to yourself, "Wait, this is my life?" I told Mary Grace, "Sometimes I wish you could just capture everything about a moment - the smell, feelings, images, etc." This was for sure one of those days!

Jumping pic, of course! :) Makes having your picture taken less awkward, for sure.

So peaceful

The other side of the Arch. Beautiful!

Picture Post (As Promised)

So while there are no pictures of my apartment yet, I will be fixing that issue very soon, I promise! For now, enjoy these, Mama! :)

First day (thus the exhausted looks) eating frites in Place Jourdan!

Inside the European Parliament

First Belgian Waffle in Belgium! Yum!

The Palace

With Mary Grace at the Palace

Finally, this picture is mostly for my brother Roecker. We walked past the American Embassy, and I of course had to take a picture. It was such a beautiful sight, to see the flag waving! I may or may not have sang a bit of the National Anthem to myself while passing (Aren't you proud, Roecks?). And Roecker is now at The Citadel, preparing to serve our country after he graduates, and thus this picture is in honor of him. :) I love you, kiddo!

Benefits of Homesickness

I'm not going to lie, its hard being away from home. Even if I was in the States at school, I think it would still be hard. Living in another country for a summer will do that to you. But the fact that I'm not in the States (again) just makes it a little worse. And its hard to live in an apartment with no privacy. I think all of my roommates would agree - there are just times when you gotta be alone! Not that I don't love them, but you know. And I think things will calm down once we get in the swing of things here (school, work, etc), but right now, home sure does sound great.

But, as the title of this post suggests, there are definite benefits to the occasional feeling of homesickness. They are as follows:

1) Being homesick reminds you that you love your family! I got to skype with Mama, Daddy (sort of), and my grandfather (also sort of). My baby brother was upstairs napping (as usual, haha), and our dog even walked in! Now I don't even really like dogs, but I do love Leo. He's great. It was good to see their faces and hear their voices. I love them so much, and it makes me realize I love them every time I'm gone and go back home.

2) Being homesick reminds you that you love your home! Today I was talking about Alabama with Adair, a friend on the trip who is also from Alabama, and it reminded me how much I love my home! I love my state, and my community, and my church, and my friends, and my home! I will definitely miss football season (ahh! Roll tide!) and all the great things that come with being from the South.

3) Being homesick reminds you that earth is not your home. I know that sounds really trite, but every time I am homesick God just reminds me that Heaven is my home. That the longing I feel for my earthly home is just an echo of the longing my soul has for my heavenly home. There is a place where there is no more sin, no more shame, no more sorrow, no more hardship, no more pain, no more unrest, no more uncertainty, no more waiting for what is to come. There we will be fully satisfied, we will be living our complete purpose. I just cannot wait for that!

4) Being homesick reminds you to appreciate all that you have to be thankful for. God has continually brought to mind ways He has blessed me. I even have had conversations with people tonight while typing this post that remind me of how blessed I am to be surrounded by those who God has put in my life! I am truly so thankful.

Ok, that is all I can think of for now. And please don't think I'm dying over here wanting to be home. I definitely am not taking my time here for granted! Talking about Brussels and reviewing the pictures I am taking blows me away that I live here. It is beautiful and so rich in history. I really love it. Once I'm in my routine of life, things will just get even better!

Thoughts

I've been reading 1 Timothy, and I have been really struck by some things.

My first day here, I read chapter 1 where it says, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life." I was really struck by the idea of what it means to live with the knowledge that I am the worst of sinners. Because even though I believe all sin is equal (although if there is worse sin it is those committed after becoming a Believer - which is where the majority of my sins are committed, which makes me the worst of sinners), I also believe that I have to live with the concept that I am the worst of all men. I see that in myself, I feel that in myself, my failure, my guilt. Yet look at what Christ Jesus has done in me! He truly has displayed His mercy and patience for me. If I accept this knowledge of my human nature, how does that affect my interactions with those around me?

I was kind of thinking about this the other day, and as I walked somewhere the Lord reminded me that He has urged me to treat everyone as though they are Him. That blew me away. I am to treat everyone as though they are my Savior. Obviously if Jesus were walking with me or talking to me or standing in the same room as me, I would treat Him with respect and love and would listen to Him with my entire attention (and I pray that I do these things even as He dwells in my heart). So that is how I am called to treat those around me. Wow. That means I don't get annoyed, I don't judge, I pay attention and show love and serve everyone around me.

I can't even wrap my head around that. It is such a difficult struggle to truly love others this way. It is hard and easy to get wrapped up in my own worst-sinner nature and conceit, instead of truly dying to Christ Jesus and letting Him live through me. There is an intense battle that goes on very frequently when Jesus brings this to mind. And I don't always do the right thing. But I pray that I learn to obey easily. To conceed with grace and respect and out of love for my Savior.

These are the things the Lord has laid on my heart. Very timely, as I am on a trip with 17 other people who I am called to love as if they were Jesus Himself! I almost hate to post this, because I know that I will fail. I know that I won't always live in light of this truth. But thankfully God isn't finished with me yet and I am still forever being molded and made new!

This Is The Life

So while today is obviously not like every day to be spent here in Brussels, it was a pretty dang good one. We had a leisurely morning, and then my apartment met up with Mary Grace and Adair and headed to a cafe in Place Flagey (sp?). We sat and read and drank coffee and tea and talked and people-watched (yes, I clearly have the right major [cultural anthropolgy] because I definitely have a page of notes on the behavior of the people we saw versus the behavior of Hungarians that I noticed this summer. Lame? Maybe, but hey! At least I know I'm studying the right thing!). It was so relaxing and nice and just the perfect morning.

Afterwards, we headed to our respective apartments and grabbed a quick lunch. Then we met up with all the EPA-ers (18 Furman students, 1 Drexel Student, and 1 Rochester student) and went to tour the European Parliament! A man talked to us about the role of the Parliament and then showed us into the meeting room. It was really neat to see! I have pictures, but again, I'm too lazy to hook them up to my computer. I know, Mama, but I'll definitely have time on Sunday night or Monday so I will do a post of just pictures if need be! :)

After Parliament, we headed to Grand Place and walked around for an hour or so. It is beautiful! I can't wait to go back and try the Belgian waffles we saw there -they looked incredible! The reason I didn't try them tonight is because we were eating at a restaurant called Cafe Leon. We had mussels (which I tried. I actually kind of liked them) and then more delicious food that ended up being a full four-course meal. Yum. Finally, we headed to the metro and wound our way back to our apartment and arrived around 10:15. It was a long afternoon/night!

We have our first class with Dr. Nelson in the morning, then our  official registration meeting with Vesalius in the afternoon. It should be an interesting day!

Brussels, Here We Are!

I'm in Brussels! Surprise!

After a hectic Sunday afternoon of packing and making last-minute purchases, I woke up early Monday morning and headed to the airport. It was sad to leave my family and my home, but once I got over feeling sad for myself, I had a great time. The flights were easy, and actually in the second airport I ran into two friends who had the same flight to JFK in order to meet the group for the Brussels flight.

Arriving in JFK, we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to figure out the terminal system, but we finally succeeded and found the right gate. It was good to connect with friends, and we soon boarded the plane. This flight was surprisingly short and easy! We had a slight delay, but for some reason a six hour flight is tons easier than an 8+ hour flight. Once we landed, we all headed through to our baggage without a problem. And we all received all of our baggage! Praise the Lord! And Mama, mine wasn't searched, so my sealed bags were all secure. :)

We were bused to our apartments, and my roommates (Allie, Cameron, and Theresa) and I began unpacking! So exciting! I'll include pictures of our apartment as soon as I take them. A little while later, we walked down to Place Jourdan and grabbed lunch. We had frites (french fries) from the arguably best place in Brussels (Dr. Nelson passed on this info; he added the arguably portion, but apparently this is said of the place). After we finished, some of us girls walked around for a while and saw the area.

The people living in my building returned for a meeting and now my lovely roommates and I are sitting in our black recliners (think boardroom chairs), scanning the internet, and watching CNN in the background. And yes, we do actually have CNN on - this is a political science trip, so its even more emphasized to keep with with current events!

Anyway, this post was to say we made it, we're alive and [mostly] well, if you discount the jet lag, and we can't wait to get going (after a great night of sleep, of course). I have pictures, and I'll try to post them tomorrow. Love to all!

Back to Europe!

I leave for Brussels in four days! I can't believe I'm leaving the country again. The past two days, I'm repeatedly said, "What the heck am I thinking?" But in all honesty, I'm really excited.

Anyway, I will be studying in Brussels until mid-December. There's approximately 18 students from my university going, and I'm thankful that I have some good friends who will be with me! The semester will consist of classes at Vesalius College, a course with our Furman professors, and an internship (mine is with the Lithuanian MEP at the European Union). Additionally, we're of course planning lots of traveling (include a trip back to Budapest!).

This blog will be a combination of reports of what I'm actually doing, what I'm learning (both on an academic level and a spiritual one), and where I'm going. I'm so excited! I can't wait to get started!