Hey Everyone!!!!
It’s been a long time since I last updated and I super sorry! Life here is super busy and when I do have free time I usually spend it skyping or sleeping! I am definitely going to commit to updating this at least twice a month as of now and also I want to start posting an instagram photo a day so follow me there if you desire to see that (meaghanjp). Despite it having been so long I will not forget anything because of trusty mac stickies app which has my back through and though here! SO I will dive right in! I think I might separate this up into a couple posts as I am sure it will get super long super fast with all the news I have to share with you!
To start I have been going to Rotary meetings every thursday at lunch time. I miss a bit of school for these but no big deal :p I get picked up by my parrain (this translated means godfather…. I have been “baptized” in to rotary) and we go eat a shit tonne of food and listen to some speeches. I have done two presentations so far one about just my basic life and the other about my autumn conge ( I will tell you about that later). My rotary is all male but the three YEP myself Luisa and Ana Lucia are all girls. I really enjoy my rotary meetings because everyone is kind and they all make jokes! All my rotarians are supportive and encouraging!
Speaking of an amazing club my rotary bought all of the YEP and our parrains tickets to a drop n’ rock music festival the 4th and 5th of October! It was amazing! The bands were great like Joyce Jonathan and suarez! We got to meet and chat with Citizen Jack and the “ambiance” to use the french word was fantastic! I went the first day with Danica and Luisa, then the second day with Luisa and my parrains daughter Yveline! It was her first concert! The festival was in Dison about a half hour out side of malmedy and I slept the night a Luisa’s because she lives in Verviers which is much closer!
Saturday before the second night of the festival I went to Liege with Maddi, Collin, William, Matheus, and peter. We had a great day and explored liege a bit! Sunday Morning after the festival was finished Luisa’s host dad Robert took us to Spa for the day! We saw a big flea market and tasted the iron rich spring water the town is famous for! It was cool but disgusting…. It tasted honestly like blood!
A few nights later I went out to a big farmers field with my host family to ….. wait for this….. listen to elks bram!! Hahah but honestly it was AMAZING! It was pitch black so I couldn’t see anything (also the reason there is no picture for this portion :p) and all I could hear were hundreds of elks bramming loudly like 10 feet away it was honestly fantastic, and beautiful! I could have stayed all night but we left after about an hour. You can only experience this in the fall during mating season and I was super lucky to hear so many at once! It was magnificent!
On october the 12th was my next rotary activity it was a journee in Namur. Namur is one of the bigger cities here in Belgium and it is so nice!!! I really like it! During the journee we went to parliament (which is always 50% interesting and 50% playing with the microphones and creeping through the little drawers in the desks) to listen to a bunch of speeches and talk about upcoming BRESA stuff. Afterwords we all waited a strangely long time in a cute courtyard with glass walls barring us from the plates of chips and soda pop that were our snack. After taking a few group photos where once again despite our best efforts the Canadians ended up at the back (darn our kindness) we ate a few chips had our drinks and were set loose on the town. I went with Maddi and Will (he’s from Minnesota :o) uptown to grab some lunch at a sandwhichery. I had poulet Hawaii which is actually really good and I will for sure be making it back in Canada. It contains just enough mayo for my family to love it 😉 After lunch we all headed to the harbour and got on a little ferry and did a cruise on the river! It was super pretty and the riverbank was lined with mountains and chateaus! Everyone on the boat was having a great time dancing goofing off and singing exchange songs! (chape?) After got the signature waffle and orange juice for the road and were set free. All of the exchange students hung out a bit before heading home!
But I didn’t go home I went to Dan’s (she’s the one in the picture with me above) with Connor! We then all ate a german stype supper of sausage and sauerkraut with some wine. Now during this meal I had an idea of champions. I was like hey self wine is fruit I bet it would taste super good with the multi vitamin juice. The others were like no Meaghan no that will be so gross. So I did it and made them all try it and drink mixing master I was because it was so good! After supper we all went to a mousse soiree with Lucas and Mauro as well. So Mousse Soirees are probably the sickest thing to exist and I honestly do not understand why we don’t have them at home. So, basically a mousse soiree is a huge rave style party in a huge salle but the shoot bubbles like buuble bathe bubbles out of a huge gun at the front and fill the salle with bubbles! Everyone gets covered in bubbles and is soaking and there is lots of music, lights and dancing! It was an amazing night!!!!!! After we all squeezed into the back seat of a tiny car and headed back to Dan’s! my clothes smelled like bubbles for a good three washes after!
The next day Dan, Conner, and I met up with a bunch of other exchange students and went to Aachen a city just across the german boarder. We almost missed our train and were sprinting like crazy people across the platform and yelling at the conductors to wait for us! Luckily they did and we made it to Aachen! It was so interesting to see how the architecture changed almost instantly when you crossed the boarder! I did not expect such a difference! I was such a good day! there was a market and we explored 2 cathedrals! At lunch we went to a little german restaurant out of the main square where no one spoke english or french. Seeing as non of us spoke german really this was a bit interesting. Most of us just pointed at pictures on the menu but Connor being Conner had to have the exact right thing. So and hour and one gross accident 0% beer later he had his chicken schnitzel :p The town itself was super lovely! It had tonnes of little stores and a cookie shop! Yes a whole shop dedicated to cookies… and they were huge!!! Some almost a meter tall!! and in every shape you can imagine: owls, homes, the catherdral next door, animals, shapes, EVERYTHING! After visiting the town we all headed home!
On the 17th of October I went to liege with my school to visit a “huge” library. It was actually about the size of the Trenton library for those who are from home :p They taught us how to find an sign out books for research and pleasure as well as articles and magazines. After we had two options….. stay at the library or go out en ville and faire de shopping…. Take a wild guess at which everyone chose? We walked around the center of Liege and shopped. I had quick for the first time for lunch and it was …. not the best…. but I am not a fast food person to be fair. After shopping till 4 we all went back and got on the bus to head home! It was a fun day with all my school friends.
Then on the 19th of October I went to Brussels with a big group of exchangers to see the street art the city has to offer. Mary one of the America exchange students had organized this amazing day with tonnes to see and maps and so much organisaition… unfortunately things did not go at all as planned and after being lost for several hour and laughing our heads off for hours we found the first statue! It was a great day though and we did see murals, metro art, statues and a church as well so success quand meme. Also I came home on the train with Eric another Canadian from NS and we had a great chat and I think it was one of the starting moments of our friendship.
Then the next day Eric, Peter and I went to Liege for the mother of all Canadian Days. We started with skating at the patinoire in Media Cite which despite having the shittiest rental skates I have ever experienced was amazing! We all agreed it had been far to long off the ice and that this is what we missed most about Canadian winters… Then after we headed to trusty old pizza hut for super and stuffed our faces with the cheesy mass produced north American goodness and the bottomless soda pop as well. After we met up with Diego (Mexican) and Frannie (American) and went to a hockey game. The teams were not as good as at home but Diego got to experience his first chuck a puck and we cheered with the best of them! Liege won!! Then since we left after the buses we had to run the four k to the gare which is always a joy but me and peter made it with time to spare….. Eric and Diego on the other hand got super lost and were two hours late getting home… shittttty.
Then the next Friday at my school was the big cours…. Basically the athletically inclined people run the eight km between l’Athenee de Stavlot and L’Athenee de Malmedy… And the rest of us walk like the lazy people we are. It was strange for me though because it felt like the type of event that Blue Dragons would go WILD for with costumes and craziness but in fact any sort of costume was prohibited and I really didn’t understand why… Some kids dressed up as a sort of rebellion and they got in a tonne of trouble …. I guess school spirit isn’t really as much of a thing here. Any how once that finished we all took the bus home then to the salle in Xhoffraix because that night was our Halloween Rheto Balle! We all wore our rheto polos and makeup drank beer and ran the soiree! It was a tonne of fun! I stayed till four am…. And my bus to paris left the next day at five…. #exchangelife
Alright I will cut this post off here and put paris London and what happened in between in the next one 
A bientot…. Like in two days max!
Peace out scout
Bisss
Megg
Meaghan's Adventures 