Au Revoir to Belgium

Well, we’ve said goodbye to French-speaking countries for this summer. And. We. Loved. Belgium. We got a very comfortable routine down over the 2 weeks we spent in and around Namur.

We figured out how to stash our grocery bags when we go shopping. We learned the names of the 3 most common bourdons here (bombus terrestris, bombus lapidarius, bombus Pepsi cola — ok, we almost learned 3 names).

We got used to saying bonjour to every person we passed on the street, and started replying merci even to each other.

We can recognize a patisserie a block away, and no longer raise our eyebrows at 2 dudes having beers in the park at 10 AM. Tall skinny houses with long skinny walled backyards could be apartments, doctors’ offices, or fiduciaries, no matter what is next door.

We got used to river traffic: taxis, tour boats, pleasure craft, barges flying international flags with dogs and kids and the family car on board.

Tessa made friends with some kids within 5 minutes of arriving at a playground, language differences be damned. And Maggie discovered a new burgeoning obsession with comics and role-playing games (if she asks “please can we learn Warhammer” one more time…).

Mostly we just felt healthy and happy and welcomed. Merci, Belgium. Until we meet again!

P.S. There were things we didn’t like as tourists, and no country is perfect to its residents either. For one thing, there was a ton of litter, despite there being an enormous number of available trash cans. The river constantly had trash floating in it, and playgrounds seemed almost perilous at times. Also the traffic noise was great. Unmufflered scooters and sirens and trash trucks combined with narrow canyons of brick and asphalt created a definite and close to constant din. No sleeping with the windows open. And bathrooms: where do Belgians pee besides their own homes? Thank goodness our town had a university where we just occasionally let ourselves in. If anyone asked, we could just say Bill was a professor on sabbatical. Generally speaking, though, it was easy to travel and assimilate into the culture for a short time. I guess we were just a good fit!