Belgium and Hot chocolate in a bar...What the hell?

Hey there guys, omigosh do I have a big post for you tonight, I think I might have to break it up a bit as I may get a bit bored typing it all. I don’t know where to start actually. I went to Belgium this past weekend as I said, and I'm going to be uploading a few pictures from the trip but the rest will be on my facebook page. It was extremely cold in Belguim the weather was windy and cold and wet. We were miserable and everything they wanted to show us, was of course outside.

The trip started off with Natalia and I getting a ride to Zuid about 20 minutes away where out Triple C leaders were there to pick us up and then we drove 2 hours to Rosandaal train station where we picked up the 6 other girls. I didnt really enjoy my ride there, I'm not a car person, every time I get in one I want to sleep. I get my best sleep done in a car, this was not to be the case when I was in the car with just one other person who loved to talk. But eventually we made it to the train station and my voice I swear was worn out.

Everyone squeezed into the two cars, I was in the front by default, I was taller and there first so I stayed where I was, and If you've ever seen Dutch cars, they are so tiny! We managed though but If there happened to be one more girl, it wouldnt have worked. So after we get in the cars, we head out in on the freeway to Belgium which was only like a 45 minutes ride away from us. We drove through customs they had no customs here, not between EU countries so even though I brought my passport it was uneeded, but I think if went by myself I would need it. I'm not sure though, but I'm not about to chance it.

So after we get to Belgium, we turn in the Antwerp direction as that was out destination and Nathalia(a triple c leader) Side note, there are two Natalias on this trip, but one is spelled with an h and one is not, you'll see the difference* But I digress Margo, the woman I was in the car with had a GPS in her car, and we followed it, and still got lost because in Antwerp they had redone the city and the gps didnt know. So we were driving around for a good half hour more lost, until finally we get where we are supposed to be, in a youth hostel.

Most of the buildings were like thiis

So we headed up the stairs to the hostel in a room with 8 beds, as it's 8 girls so its perfect and we all settle in a bit. Okay, here is where it gets weird. I know for a fact that I brough a new bar of Dove soap with me, but when I get there no dove soap. Seriously I left the room and left my soap on the bed, came back its not there. It was weird, I'm not pointed fingers...by why in the hell...take soap.. I'm still in disbelief, but I keep telling myself it could be worse, and try to forget about my poor stolen soap.

So after we all settled in a bit, we took a tram ride to the city centre in Belgium and walked around a bit, but by now everyone was starving so they only gave us a half hour to find food. We were...well we all didnt like that idea of course, as we wanted to sit and eat after that car ride. So we headed to an italian restaurant, and each chose something, I had a 4 cheese pizza, it was awesome, omg I don’t have a picture because I didnt want to be that person taking a picture of her food in the restaurant. Our guides Margo and Nathalia were a bit peeved that we took about an hour, but the trip was technically for us, so its not like we lost much time and we were all together.

The girls that went on the trip, I now know all of their names, but after getting an introduction in rapid sequence I didnt. And I was referring to them by their nationalities in my head, to keep everyone straight. I asked, because if you don’t ask you'll never know, I asked them to repeat their name to me, and they were laughing at my explanation why. I

'm like; 'I cant just say, hey Peruvian, to Selena, so let me give you a little bit of insight of the mixture of Nationalities on the trip. We had 1 Peruvian called Selena, 2 Colombians named Natalia, and Maria-Claudia, 2 Americans(including me) but another girl named Larissa, 1 Mexican girl named Claudia, 1 South African girl called Kaylin, and 1 Bolivian named Anna, See it was a good mix yeah, I thought so! And we were all Au Pairs from the ages of 18-26 and we got along great, it was amazing!

This is actually a giant stone Hand, we are leaning on

When you get a big group of Au Pair girls together, naturally you're going to get a lot of talking and talking we did. We walked around Belgium looking at shops and the likes until it got dark as Margo and Nathalia told us to meet them at 10pm at the Bonaparte Karoke and bar. You know because it's legal to be 18 and drinking here, it was weird seeing all those young kids, but anyway back to what I was saying. We walked around for a half hour or more looking for the perfect bar for 8 girls that we could all agree on, and it was hard. We dealt with snobbery from some bars and restaurants, but finally we found some cozy small place. Emphasis on the small, we managed to fit 8 girls into a booth meant for 4 people,

I sat on the windowsill with another girl and there were 3 girls in the booths on each side. It was tight and everyone was touching someone, there was no thing as personal space, but we didnt mind. So then everyone ordered their drinks, I'm not a beer drinker...I hate the taste of beer, but I was like when in Belgium and order one that was supposed to be citrus and fruity, but it tasted like plain beer, and a waste of 3 euros. So then one of my friends ordered a cheery beer,

I don’t like cheery but I drank a bit of it, and I could barely taste the beer. So I ordered that next, finished it but I didnt enjoy it you know? So when they ordered like a 3^rd round of beer I went for a hot chocolate with whip cream...in a bar lol. No one laugh, but they looked at me strange and the bartender had an expression on his face, but I always dare to be different. After wasting like 3 hours in the bar, it was 10pm and ready for Karoke, so we headed there, I was the only one in the frame of mind to remember where it was. So we got in there, and it was hot and sweaty, and oh my god, just not my scene?

At night in the City Centre

It was like a Karoke club or something, so we squeeze our way through the crowd and here they order ANOTHER round of beer, and all I'm thinking is since when is everybody an Alcholic? So I take a seat while they're all drinking and screaming at their top of their lungs. Finally Margo and Nathalia and our tour guide a family member of Margo, also named Anna, come and join in. They stay maybe an hour or so when the adults say they're done and for us to remember to be ready at 10 am the next morning. Before they go Margo comes to me, and is like did I want to come with them, at first I was like no, but after that hour I was like yeah. The whole party and drinking thing, is something i'm not into it. I've tried and god it's just not really for me.

After that we go back to the hostel, and I disappear into our room, thankfully one of the other girls, she hadnt been feeling so well and was losing her voice came with me. So we go in and lay down, about an hour or so later, theres a thump inside our rooms, half of the other girls have returned Natalia is drunk and is super loud and just fun, it had started to rain and her and the other two hispanic girls had taken a cab for 3 euros. The other girls decided to walk at 2am in the middle of Belgium while it was cold and rainy, I wouldnt have done it.

So they finally get in at around 2:30am I think and then we all sleep, more or less. The night was hiliarous thought. I was on the bottom bunk and Larissa was on the one above me. Sometime in the night, I was more or less asleep, I hear a bam, thump, oh shit and other noises. I'm sleeping ya know? So my first reaction is I kid you not a loud, “Whoa, whoa,” lol That was pretty much it, but it was enough for everyone who was still awake to burst out into laughter lol. Gosh that weekened was so much fun, I have more from Sunday, but this post is long enough. Until tomorrow I think.