In Brussels

So there is a song called "When I Paint My Masterpiece" by The Band in which the third verse starts out "Well I left Rome, and landed in Brussels, on a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried". Though I didn't exactly leave Rome, but rather Geneva, and the plane ride was really quite smooth, it was the only relevant thing I could think of. I arrived last night (about an hour late, thanks EasyJet) and after grabbing my bags, was welcomed at the gate by the mother of the family I am staying with here in Brussels. Turns out Brussels is a big ex-Pat hub for both military and corporate officials, so there are several international schools all around the area. The family I am staying with are not only teachers at one of these schools, but also run a non-profit youth ministry here, and conveniently enjoy hosting sojourners like me in their abundance of free time. At any rate, they were the Young Life leaders of a buddy in DC when he was over here in high school, and he put me in touch with them, so big props to you Lide Paterno. Needless to say we hit it off pretty immediately with our Young Life backgrounds and what not, so Brussels has already bee a great joy. Oh and they have a hilarious dog named Goomie, pictures to follow. Today it sounds like I might get to go to Waterloo where Napoleon had his last battle and fell to Wellington, so that should be sweet. I'll report back on how that works out. If any of you know anything else cool about Brussels or Belgium, I am all ears. Hope all is well!