Real life.

Brussels, Belgium.

I realize I’m probably being unfair. That all I talk about is how hard things are and how miserable I am and how lonely I am. And how much I just want to go home.

But, really, I know my life right now is pretty amazing. And I wish I could appreciate that more.

But every time I think I’m coming around and am happy with how things are, something happens to deter me. Like when a man comes up to me on the street at night and asks a question and then won’t leave me alone and follows me and tries to put his arm around me. And then I finally get rid of him and just want to go home and cry.

And I shouldn’t let such things get to me so much.

I should think of the ways this is a good life. Like how I wake up in the morning and think “what do I want to do today?” instead of “what do I have to do today?” And usually what I want to do involves wandering around a park or a castle or an art museum or eating a lot of ice cream. And I eat out for almost every meal. And my tough decisions include such difficult choices as “should I go to Italy before I go to Spain?”

So yes, I am having a hard time adjusting. And yes, you can’t just take a girl with a whole lot of issues out of Chicago and expect them to go away. And you can’t take a girl who really likes just curling up on her couch and watching TV away from her couch and TV and expect her to know how to function. And I know for sure that this isn’t something I would want to do for the rest of my life or even for a whole year. But for now, I suppose, it is a wonderful way to live.

 

I spent my first full day in Brussels just walking around. Most museums are closed on Mondays so I went through a park, saw some buildings.

And then I had fries topped with mayonnaise for lunch.

And then maybe a cone full of Godiva chocolate covered strawberries…(it is a Brussels-originated company…)

And yesterday I got a cappuccino and then spent the morning at the Magritte Museum. Which was pretty amazing. And then I went to the City Museum where I paid 4 euro to see a bunch of stuff I didn’t care about up until the third floor where there was a room full of the Manneken Pis’s wardrobe collection.

The bubbly one reminded me of Lady GaGa.

And his America outfit was Elvis.

And then I went back to my hostel and spent the rest of the day in bed, with a sore throat and a good book. Because it’s nice to just be able to rest and have time for all of the things I don’t have time for in real life.

And this morning I…found a Starbucks… And got a white mocha. That came in a mug. They don’t do that at home.

I went to another art museum and looked at paintings so big I couldn’t imagine how someone actually painted them.

And then went to all of the different chocolate shops and bought myself a treat. And I retired in the most cliche way to read On the Road and eat Belgian chocolate…