Ok, I know what I just said about not following themes but it’s been raining all day and this fantastic photo was sitting right outside the window, so I had to post it for you.  BUT, I’m using words so I’m not really being a slave to the wordless thing.

And no, you aren’t seeing things, there was a double rainbow over Gent this evening.

I think it was Earth Day when I mentioned that I would review my first usage of the Diva Cup for you. Did you think I was avoiding it or that I’d chickened out? I was actually due to begin the joy of menstruating on Sunday. But Sunday came and went with no menses whatsoever. Then Monday went. And Tuesday. And around noon today I started getting a bit nervous. I’ve had this insane craving for dairy products all week. I’ve been very hungry and the past few days I’ve been feeling kind of sore, especially in my chest and upper body. The nervousness was overshadowed by a tiny little bit of hope. I mentioned it to CB and we decided an EPT might be wise. Then as soon as I got up and left to go buy one, the cramping started. By the time I got home my period had too. Relieved? Yeah, but I can’t honestly say that I’m not a bit disappointed too.

So, for you, my faithful female following (I doubt dad, MAK, M. or any other guy that reads this is interested), I put off the moping and Ben and Jerry eating for later this evening and got right down to the business of washing and inserting my brand new Diva Cup. The washing went well, the soap-free wash is pretty and orange-y smelling. And who doesn’t love fresh scented nether regions? I do recommend that you wash it in warm water because cold water, while invigorating, is not always the best way to get your muscles to relax. Other than that, insertion was pretty easy, although the twisting of the cup once it’s inserted to make sure it is open fully…that I’m a bit sketchy on. If you’ve ever delved into that lovely, life giving region between your legs, you’ll already know that once inside, things get a bit slippery. I think I got a full twist in, but I kept slipping, so I’m not sure. I guess I’ll find out when I dump it before bedtime. Otherwise so far I don’t even feel it. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date on further Diva Developments.

Today started out quite nicely.

Then one small thing made me feel utterly useless.

Funny how that works sometimes, but then again I’m prone to some melodrama.

Let us examine Korie’s current state of mind by means of music:

Hello lovely readers! How are you all today?

“Where the hell have you been?” you ask?

Good question.

My last post was on Thursday and I actually missed posting on Wordless Wednesday and Flashback Friday. While this wasn’t entirely on purpose, it did make me realize something; I’m taking a little break from thematic days. It’s gotten tot he point where I feel like my posts are being dictated by the day of the week. If I had an insite on a Wednseday it would fall by the wayside because Wendesdays are wordless. I sat in front of the computer for hours on Friday and couldn’t think of a worthwhile flashback so I simply didn’t blog. So for right now I’m going on a theme hiatus. There will still be pictures and fun music and memories, but not on any particular day. I might link that particular post to the host blog but I’m no longer paying any attention to what day it is (I hope that makes sense). So let me tell you about the past four days. I’ll try to be brief, honest.

Friday: Basically a blow off day, Rex woke me up around 6 in the morning so I fed him, fiddled on the computer for a bit, climbed back into bed to wake CB and fell asleep again until 11 in the afternoon. Upon waking I promptly picked up Sarum, the book I’m reading currently, and had a blessedly uninterrupted 120 minutes of pure reading joy. In fact, I don’t even remember what we did after that, it was such a lazy day. But you need one of those every now in then. Well, maybe you don’t, but I do, so it was nice.

Saturday: We were up bright and early to tidy up the house before CB’s dad arrived to work on the bathroom. The menfolk installed most of the framework for the ceiling and then we went to Makro to look at toilets and tile for the walls. It was a beautiful day so after CB’s dad left we went to a few places to have a drink or two on the terrace.

Gildenbier, one of my favorites, tastes kind of like caramel and I call it “Robin Hood Beer” in my head

Sorry I’m not home right now, I’m walking into spider webs…

Silhouette on a beautiful day

Afterwards we came home, made some dinner and then headed upstairs for the night. But when I checked my email, lo and behold, we had been invited to the Brazilian’s place for drinks at 9:30 (in Europe that translates to somewhere around 10) so we showered and got dressed. I even wore my boots with heels (this comes into play later) and a semi-foofy shirt. We took the bikes over to Brazilian’s because it ended up only being about five minutes away by bike and we were led thorugh this huge, beautiful, fantastic loft-style thing (I don’t even know the proper housing term, but it was huge and very friggin awesome) out to the back deck where there was plenty of wine and some apperitief liqueurs (I love me some amaretto). Amongst the friends of the Brazilian and his roommate were my teacher from level 2 and 3 and her sisters as well as another teacher from the language center. The Dentist came a bit later with his girlfriend. I don’t think we’d been there longer than a half hour before my teacher looked at Brazilian and I and said, “You can relax, you passed. I won’t sit here with you and not tell you how you did.”

SQUEEEEEEEEEEE! I passed level 3!!!

So after that of course, much too much white wine and amaretto was embibed upon by yours truly (and CB too, though his poison is red wine). Relief, elation and booze all go straight to your head, let me tell you. We left around 2 in the morning, biked home (drunk at night and in heels no less, and I didn’t fall or cry or anything…it was glorious) and fell into bed.

Sunday: After two whole slovenly days of doing basically nothing, I got my shit together and CB and I cleaned the house (not just straighten up, no, we cleaned), got the laundry done, cut the cat’s claws (my arms look like I had several encounters with a small velociraptor, so we figured it was time for a nail trim), went to CB’s parents’ house for waffles (and also to meet some of his other relatives), hung some fencing on the garden wall so the clematis could climb up something instead of choking the life out of the grass, and then I skyped with my mum and dad. They’re about to get two brand new kittens. I’m sure my mum will post pics on her blog as soon as they’re home and settled.

Today: I got a waaay too late start this morning. I went to the town hall for my working papers. They were on number 47 when I got there around 10:15. My ticket was number 130.
Yeah….so I went to Kruidvat and picked up some pictures we had printed, did some other shopping, went back to the town hall, saw they were only on 64, walked up to the language center to see my score and also to see who’d be in my class in June, tried to get a book for level 4 (I have to wait a week or so, there’s another group taking level 4 this month and they need to make sure they get books first), stopped by the Oxfam to get a notebook (I wrote half of this post in the town hall), and then went and sat to wait my turn at the town hall. Fortunately someone I knew from level 2 was there and for some reason or other (there are times for asking questions and this was not one of those times) he had an extra ticket. It was 100 and he had already gone so he gave it to me and knocked off about an hour’s wait for me. He is definitely my hero today. Unfortunately though, I forgot my passport photos for the working permit so all the waiting was kind of useless. However, the lady at the counter was very very kind and told me to be there tomorrow at 8 am and come straight to her counter. I won’t have to get a ticket or anything, just go straight to her. So that’s the plan for tomorrow. Get my working papers, go to the Poezenboot for an hour or two and head back to the student area to start looking for a job. They only open in the afternoon so I can’t kill two birds with one stone. That’s something I can’t stand about Belgium…office hours here are somewhat sporadic and definitely limited so it’s often hard to do everything you need to do all at once in one area of the city. But hey, I passed level 3 so now I have the whole month of May (don’t freak out CB, this is hypothetically speaking) to do whatever I want. Well, within the constraints of when places arbitrarily decide to open.

You’ll never guess what I did today people!

I socialized!

Outside of class!

For an extended period of time…AND I got phone numbers!

Today was my final exam for level 3.  There can be two outcomes and whether or not I pass will basically determine the month of May for me.  If I do pass (ohpleaseohpleaseohplease) then I have almost the entire month of May to do as I please.  A whole month of no class.  My student working papers are already in the process of, well, being processed and I have a volunteer opportunity lined up at the Poezenboot, a combination houseboat/cat sanctuary for abandoned or abused cats and kittens.  All I have to do is pass and I’ll have some more options available to me, some things that I enjoy doing, rather than waking up every day and going to class.  I’d say that learning another language is fun (at times it really is) but the speed and intensity combined with the circumstances if I don’t pass make what I’m doing right now more difficult and stressful than fun and informative.  So let’s all cross our collective fingers and hope that I did well on my exam today because if I fail I have to repeat the level.

Yeah, how many big hairy goatballs does that suck?
Well, I dunno, but even one big hairy goatball is too much for most people’s tastes.

If this second outcome occurs it means I’ll be spending the month of May repeating level 3 and taking the exam again on May 27th.  Working will be difficult and limited.  Volunteering will be almost impossible because they need help in the mornings, not the afternoons.  I’ll be trapped inside a classroom during one of my favorite times of the year.  Grades will be posted at 10 am on Monday…I really hope I passed.

Aherm, but allow me to rerail this train wreck.

After I finished the exam I stepped out into the hall and almost turned to leave when the Brazilian guy caught my eye.  He had finished first and was waiting for other people to emerge from the classroom.  I headed over and while we were discussing the test more and more people came over and joined the conversation.  They were all people that I’ve been in class with since level 1 and after a while we decided to go play some pool at the pool hall down the block.  Normally I would have politely declined and headed home right away but it’s a beautiful day, we were all smiling and talking and having such a good time, that I got swept up in the whole “ooh look, people want to talk and do stuff together in a big group…I remember this..I think it’s called ‘hanging out’, yeah that’s it…I used to do this once upon a time” atmosphere and went along with all the guys to play pool.

And this is the truly beautiful and unique thing about my language class (or any language class that does the same thing I suppose); there were about eight of us all there: from the United States, France, Malawi, the Congo, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Turkmenistan.  We were all playing pool, laughing, joking talking, having drinks and enjoying the day together.  None of us from the same place or the same culture.  The oldest was 28, the youngest 18.  We were every different shade possible.  We have so little in common aside from one goal: learning Dutch.  But it is bringing us all together in such a wonderful way.

If you would have told me last April that in one year’s time I would be living in Belgium, learning Dutch and hanging out with a bunch of guys from Africa, South America and Eurasia in a pool hall I would have kindly patted you on the head, given you the number to the nearest rehab center and told you to just say no to crack.

But look at me.

That’s exactly where I am and exactly what I’m doing.

And it feels fantastic.