A Very Happy Birthday

Monday morning we began our travels to St, Peters-liew, which is a suburb of Brussels.  We when arrived into the city we had internal time where we planned our expression session, which is a chance for anyone in the cast to express themselves through song, dance, poetry, or whatever they choose.  We also had an education workshop where we picked five people in the cast that we wanted to appreciate and we got to tell them why we appreciate them. It was very heartwarming to hear the kind things people said to me.  Their kind words brought me to tears.

For the week I was hosted with Pedro again, from Cuba.  We lived with Sandra and Ivan and we had two younger host brothers Maarten, 15, and Nathan 10.

Tuesday we a had Community Impact day and I had the opportunity to go to an alternative school and help paint and clean the building. It was a very large building, so we only finished half the building on the first day.

Tuesday night we hung out with our family and laughed for hours in the living room.  Pedro is a phenomenal singer and we spent the evening listening to him sing and play the piano.  At one point, Pedro sang Piano Man in Spanish while I sang it in English for our host family. It was such a great evening.

Wednesday was my birthday and a show day.  When I woke up and came downstairs my family had all sorts of pastries for me and had candles on the table in the shape of my age, 24. They also had a very kind card waiting for me on my plate.  It was such a special way to start a very blessed day.

When I arrived to the show facility, I was immediately greeted with many birthday wishes. During our morning meeting, my closest friends put a skit together of things that I love.  Four girls began by singing a chorus of my favorite song, I Wanna Dance with Somebody.  Then, some of my friends impersonated me and went on about how much I love to plan things whenever we have a free second.  After the impersonation, the girls sang the same song again, but they changed the key on the song.  The quickest way to out a smile on my face is to listen to a key change.  My friends then continued with more skits about my love for water features and body rolls. Between each skit, the girls sang another chorus of the song in a new key.  Once they were done, people in the cast stood up and told me why they appreciate me, which again, brought me to tears.  Then, Brekken presented me with a large bag of donuts, my weakness.  I had never felt so loved and I could not have been more grateful to have spent my birthday with 120 of my closest friends.

During lunch, my host family came to surprise me with cakes that they had made for me and the entire cast.  There was a beautiful pond behind our show facility so, for lunch, I went with my friends to enjoy the beauty of the pond and wonderful company.

After a great show, my host family had birthday balloons and a huge bag of candy to give me. We then went out for a beer to celebrate such a perfect day.  I have never had a more perfect and blessed birthday.

Thursday I returned to the school for another CI day. We finished the other half of the building and it looked like a new school.

In the afternoon we had internal time with an education workshop.  Seven days prior to the workshop, eight students were chosen to live their life as if it was their last week. They were given challenges and things to think during the week that would help them live their life to the fullest. During the workshop the eight students got to give a last lecture and share with us how they changed during their week. It was so incredible to hear what my cast mates had to share with us.  They truly lived their life for the week. The one thing that stuck with me from the last lectures was what Simone from Denmark learned.  She shared with us how important it is to forgive ourselves. Like her, I am quick to forgive others, but I have never thought twice about being able to forgive myself.  It was such an eye opening workshop and I was so thankful I had the chance to hear their lessons.

Thursday night Pedro and I went with our host brothers to the swimming pool.  Both our host brothers competitively swim.  Maarten is the fifth best swimmer in Belgium for his age.
Friday was a regional learning day where we got to visit a brewery.  In Up with People, we are not allowed to consume alcohol during operational hours, which is any time that we are together.  However, as part of the Belgian culture, we were allowed to have beer during the day.  We first spent the morning visiting a castle. I had never seen a more perfectly preserved castle. I felt like I was walking into the set of a movie. It was this picturesque castle with gorgeous lakes surrounding it. Behind the lakes was this forest where the golden beams from the sun illuminated a blanket of purple flowers.  I could not believe what I was seeing. I was with three friends and we had to sit down and just take in this unbelievable experience we were having.  It will almost be one of my favorite memories from the semester.

After lunch and a beer, we headed to the brewery for a tour. We got to see where and how the beer is made. We then got to have a beer tasting where we tried every kind of beer they made.  I never wanted to leave.

After our beer tasting, we headed back to our facility for some old fashioned Home-team Olympics.  We competed against the other home teams in friendly competitions. We had to make a dress out of toilet paper in two minutes, we passed an orange around our group using only our necks, and we had a wheelbarrow race in the sand. My favorite challenge was the epic sock battle. Each home team sent ten players into the ring and the point of the game was to take the socks off of the other home teams.  Little did we know that this challenge would turn into a Hunger Games war.  It was like we all became savages.  All I can remember from the game is making eye contact with a cast mate from another home team. All of the sudden, like wild dogs, three of them came my way and attacked.  I fought to keep my socks on for ten minutes in a 3-1 battle.  I fought for as long as I could until I had no more strength left and I had to let go of my sock.  I cannot describe how much fun we all had watching and participating in the epic sock war.

Our home team did not win, but we sure had an awesome time with lots of great memories to share.
Saturday was another show day.

On host family day mom and dad took us to Brussels to explore.  We took a bus tour of the city in the morning and then walked around the city.  We stopped in the national cathedral and walked downtown to see mannequin-pis, the famous statue of the little boy peeing.  After lunch, we met up with the boys and we all went to mini Europe, which is a fun park that has miniature sculptures of famous buildings and structures in Europe.  We then went to the Atomium, which is where the Worlds Fair was once held.

After an eventful day, we returned home for a delicious dinner and laughed all evening.  Sandra, Ivan, Maarten, and Nathan have a very special place in my heart and I know I will return to see them again.  They made my week so very special and blessed.  I always ask myself how I get to be so lucky to meet such wonderful and loving people.