Addendum to the creepy basement....

I could not upload the picture so I will try again later!

Middle of the Week post..Boring..but Jen M. this is for you

Hi Everyone...not really much going on here during the week. I get up I go to work and then I come home. Talk on the internet for a while, maybe do some yoga and then go to bed. But...and I am not mentioning any times (see title) I was getting complaints that I was not updating my blog fast enough! = ) Anyway, I figured I could tell you that I tried to take a picture of the creepy basement to see. I am posting it here, but let me tell you, it looks a lot less creepy when the flash goes off and makes it look like it is lit up like a Christmas Tree! So let me set the stage. You have to take the elevator down to the sub basement where it is COMPLETELY dark when the doors open, then you have to hit the light outside the elevator locating it before the door closes! Even when the light is on it is dimly lit and then you enter this Nightmare on Elm Street hallway with all these creepy doors. When you move in no one shows you where the trash goes so you just have to keep opening doors and hope the light on the timer doesn't run out before you find the trash room or if you find a dead body. Which by the way is entirely likely if you meet my neighbors. There is a family living next door to me that first of all have to two loudest dogs I have ever heard and they seem to echo in the hallway in the middle of the night. As if that was not bad enough, the other morning this couple who usually confine there fights to in the apartment were fighting in the hallway at 6:30 in the morning! Since most of it was not in English, and i was not going to stand by the door because it sounded like someone was going to draw a gun at any second...all I got was i think the husband slept with someone else and then the wife did something in relatiation for it that he was not to pleased about. Interesting...I suppose I could pass the time trying to make up a story to go along with that but right now I am reveling in the silence of the last couple days! = ) I am posting the pictures of the creepy basement that just looks kind of normal so you can see that I did my best with that one. Happy almost Friday!

Another Weekend, Another Country!

So this weekend was another trek. My goal is to become as close to a world traveler as I can in six months, and I think I am off to a decent start. This weekend, my good friend Laurence and I went to Lille and to Bruxelles. Laurence has some things to do in Lille so I had to more or less entertain myself there, which is not a problem. I took the train from Luxembourg to Arlon, Belgium, where Laurence lives and then we drove from there. I was very concerned about the lines at the train station being the same as the post office which is more or less time consuming. The train station took about 3 minutes to get through so I had a lot of time to wait there. I ended up sitting next to a couple from Canada. They talked to me for a while, I got the impression that maybe they did not want to be talking the whole time, but they humored me anyway. Once I got on the train it was a quick ride and we were off. It took about 2 hours I think to get to Lille, France. The time passed pretty quickly because we were talking most of the way, or maybe it was just me...I had a lot of coffee that morning and I think everyone knows how I can be when I have had too much coffee!! When we got to Lille, Laurence pointed me in the right direction of the historical stuff and the shopping. I started out by taking pictures for a little while, but I was so hungry that I stopped for lunch almost right away. I went to a little bistro that served mostly gourmet pizza. It was very quaint and the people were really friendly. I was not exactly sure what I was getting because I did not know all of the ingredients in french, as it turned out I had a pizza with olives onions and tuna, which may sound disgusting but the combination of flavors was really good! From there I walked around and took some more pictures. As with every place in Europe, I had to go to the catherdral and to the center square to take pictures but the portion of Old Lille that I was in was beautiful and charming. I browsed in some of the little shops. Most of the places were out of my price range, but there were a lot of little original boutiques that you would not find in Luxembourg and these are the types of shops that I love to browse in. Once Laurence was done with her lunch and I was all pictured out until Bruxelles, we walked into some of the boutiques. I bought a necklace for myself that was very different and pretty, and description would not do it justice here so I will show you all when I get home. But is made in Marseille, different, and reasonable priced. I also got a present for my friend Maggie's baby because I know that she will just love to have something from France and I can't wait to mail it. That is definitely going out way before her birthday! From there we drove to Bruxelles. We stopped in a couple of cute shops that were also original and eclectic things. Laurence bought me the cutest little tiny rubber duck that I can hang off my cell phone or in my case I have clipped to my wallet. It is a pink GI duck, so cute! She also bought me some great spanish wine glasses, they are also very different and something that I can really keep and remember my trip every time I use them. I bought her a bracelet that she liked, and then we went to get her friend Alex. He is a very charming, smart, funny person. We hit it off right away. He is half Tanzanian and half Finnish, a different combination, but it works, he is a good looking person. We stopped a little outdoor cafe/bar. There are heaters under the awnings so that you can sit outside and have a couple drinks even when it is cold. This is the way with many of the cafes and it is a great idea I think! I sat with them for one drink and then I realized it was going to be getting dark soon so I went to take some pictures before we lost the light. I went to the Grand Place, which is the main square with the town hall and several grand buildings as well as chocolate shops and cafes. I took some pictures around there and some of the surrounging monuments but it was getting dark quickly by that point so I decided to head back. There were a lot of people around so I am sure it was safe, but Bruxelles is a real city as compared to the Village type city that Luxembourg is so it is better to be aware of your surroundings. We had a couple more drinks on the terrace. I actually had mint tea and Laurence and Alex had drinks. The mint tea was just hot water with a stalk of mint leaves in it. The presentation and the taste was really nice. I guess if you let it sit too long it gets bitter but mine did not sit long enough for that. Then we went next door for sushi which was also delicious. Unfortunately this was also the point that Laurence realize that she had either lost her wallet or it had been stolen. She took it amazingly in stride, but Alex and I felt really bad for her. We went back to the other place and looked around and asked questions, but it was a lost cause. After that we went for another drink, but Laurence and I were tired and wanted to sleep, so we took Alex back home and we went to check into out hotel. We ended up getting a really good last minute deal on a hotel right next to the Grand Place, which we were super excited about. The rooms were decent but the location was perfect. We walked to breakfast the next morning and Laurence left to file a report with the police. I walked around the Antique shops and the other shops which thankfully are all open on Sunday in Bruxelles, I found the cutest little dog sitting outside, I wanted to pick him up and take him home. I took his picture and I am including it here I am sure you would agree that I should have stolen him and brought him back to the U.S. with me. By that point I was tired and done with the wandering so I went to a cafe and sat outside with my cafe au lait to wait. Laurence and I enjoyed out hot drinks when she came back and then it was back to the almost reality of being in Luxembourg, still kind of a dream here too!
It was a fantastic weekend that made me realize how happy I am and how lucky I am to be having this experience.

I made it across the border!!!

So all week I have been telling people that I am going to Trier, Germany. My American friends were going away on seperate trips to different countries. I was sure that I would be here by myself and needed to plan a trip to take or something to do alone. I settled on Trier because it is only 45 minutes away by train. It has a lot of history. And of course, almost as important, the shopping is cheaper there than it is here!! :) Friday night, I went out for drinks and dinner with my friend Laurence. Laurence is from France, she worked two years in Boston and she is also a twin. We actually met for the first time on the flight from Boston when I sat in her seat by mistake. She asked me to move. She was very nice about it and I actually ended up with the better seat. I was in the first row before first class, so I had a slightly reclining seat and more leg room. Also, the guy that sat next to her had his shoes off when I sat down and his feet smelled so bad. All I could think was "oh my God, I am going to have to sit here for the next six hours! I think I am going to die". Then when Laurence came I was thinking, "Thank God, take the seat!". We saw each other again on the flight to Luxembourg. Then we met again when I went out to lunch with Manuel my boss. We went out for some drinks later in the week with other friends, we hit it off right away. We had been trying to set up going out a couple times but Friday it finally worked. We met at a bar called ZanZen, it was a mix between a lounge and a cottage feel. It was all white walls, wainscoating, with somewhat industrial style but comfortable furniture, from there we had dinner a a nice little italian restuarant and then went to another bar called The Secret Garden. These were all very nice, comfortable places, that everyone must love because they were packed. Laurence is redoing an apartment that she just bought, when we were finished with our dinner and drinks we went over to see it. It looked like it was going to be really nice, as much as you can tell with no lights but what was coming in from the streets! :) I am excited to see it when it is done. We were talking about taking different trips and had discussed going to Brussels on Saturday. I decided if I have the chance to travel with someone I like to hang out with then that was a much better option. When we talked the next day about what to do, we decided that Brussels was a little to far to enjoy for the time we had and Laurence suggested Metz, France. This is also pretty close to Luxembourg, I would say it took us about 45 minutes to drive there. The shops were all modern shops but it old european style buildings. Laurence picked out my first traditional french cookbook for me, which we laughed has also cartoon illustrations of the different animals and parts to identify them. It is the perfect french cookbook for someone who's french is slightly lacking. From there we walked to the catherdral and she indulged my while I stopped and took pictures every 100 feet! I lit a candle for my great uncle Reno, as he is having some health issues now and I wanted to say a prayer for him. from there we went into a little patesserie and bought some pastries and took them with us while we went to get coffee. In almost all of the bars they have both coffee and drinks. We sat outside and while we were waiting to order drinks Laurence left the table for a minute. She said if the the waiter comes back order me a black tea, please and then she reminded me of how to say that in french. When the waiter came back I said, "Un the et une cafe au lait, sil vous plait." He said to me, " Je ne parle pas anglais." and he was very impatient. Now I am thinking to myself, "No Shit, you don't speak english, but I was speaking french!!" It took me a couple of times of repeating myself for him to get it but he finally took my order and left. When Laurence got back to the table I told her the story and we both burst out laughing! She pointed out to me later that he was equally as rude to the french customers, so much for customer service! We drove back to Luxembourg Shortly after that and went to have dinner at a seafood restuarant at the mall, which was very good suprisingly for a landlocked country. We finished off the day by going to the movies. She went to see a french movie that she thought would get lost in translation and I went to see Untraceable. As thrillers go the movie was very scary, something I maybe should have seen with someone else but it was great. Now I am back to another lazy Sunday of laundry and cooking. Hope that everyone else had a great weekend!

Lazy Sunday

Today was a beautiful day outside, not that I spent much of it out there. I had to run to the grocery store twice in the morning, good thing it is almost across the street. I made Shrimp Creole and everytime I looked at the recipe I realized I forgot something else. I guess a list is only as good as the person who makes it! Last night was fun. Jim, Kathy, and I went out for a while we had some dinner and some drinks at Chi Chi's. Who knew I would come to Luxembourg for Mexican food? And there was also bad karoake..that was more fun than anything. It is always fun to rank on others..I have to give them credit though. I can't hold a tune and I wouldn't get up there even if I could. I tried to take pictures of the creepy basement so that everyone could see. It looks a lot less creepy in the pictures because when the flash goes off everything is lit up and looks bright and I guess as cheerful as a basement can look. I guess I will have to work on that one. Sundays here are great. The grocery store is open until noon and except for that everything is closed. there are some pubs and restuarants open at night, but in general there is no reason to feel like you need to do anything but lay around and chill out. At home I always feel like there is something that needs to get done or some place I could be. Today I was perfectly content cooking and reading my book. Hope all is well with everyone. I miss you all.

The Internet has finally arrived!

Well, two week in Luxembourg and I finally have internet at home! I am so excited about that. Last night I had a drink with my colleagues at work. Here it is customary when someone leaves that they offer a drink for there co-workers. Once I am settled in my group, my colleague Jeff is moving to another group so he brought in drinks for everyone. Since I had someone else in my group leave last week, it kind of seems like this happens all the time! I had my first full fledged conversation in French. My internet installer did not speak English. I probably sounded like a little kid but he understood me and I understood him so I guess that is all that matters. I am sittting here drinking my coffee and planning my day. I have to get my shopping done today because everything is closed on Sundays. I am going to get some things to make the place a little more homey, and groceries of course. I also need to start planning some trips. My family is coming the first week in June and I was going to plan some time with them. I think they all wanted to go to Paris and my sister wanted to go to Germany. Off to get ready!

I have arrived

I arrived in Luxembourg about a week ago. I have no internet at home so I have been putting off updating the blog because I feel a little wierd about updating it at work. I should have the internet at home starting on 3/28 for all of you who are anxiously awaiting it's arrival. I landed on Sunday 3/16 at about 10 in the morning. Although I was suffering from jet lag and annoyance at not being able to use my international cell phone (thanks Jenni for helping with that!) I was anxious to see the town and my apartment. My apartment blew me away. It is like an IKEA showroom that you live in. I am the first person to live there. The only drawback is that the sub-basement that I need to bring my trash to looks like something out of a horror film...Do you think it would be sanitary for me to let the trash pile up until my father arrives in June? After getting settled, I made my way around town. It took me a couple hours to find someplace where I could by a phone card as everything is closed on Sundays in this town. I did manage to get a phone card and call the few people that I knew in town. Kathy agreed to come and meet me at 2:30 instead of 5pm. for the hour while I waited I enjoyed the St. Patricks Day festival . There was an awesome U2 Cover band, sounded just like the real thing. In case you do not know, Luxembourg has many festivals. This past weekend was the New Orleans festival. Unfortunately the tent was not heated so I did not stay too long at that one. I met Kathy's friend Jim who helped me this weekend to find a place to get the things I desperately needed like a coffeemaker, a hairdryer, and an iron. Thankfully BBH let me expense these items. There is no doubt that a coffeemaker is a necessity! How happy was I to finally get that. I also got my bus pass. I have walked pretty much everywhere but it is nice to have to go to the mall or other places that are a little too far to walk that I have not found yet, lke IKEA. Other than that it has pretty much been work and sleep. The past weekend was a 4 day weekend. Because Lux is a very catholic country we not only get Good Friday off we also get Easter Monday. I spent Easter Monday doing laundry. This is the longest process ever here. I have a wash/dry machine in my apartment. This makes it very convenient but each load of laundry takes about 2 hours and to say that your laundry is dry after that is more of an estimate than an actual fact. The machines are also smaller so one load at home is like 3 loads here. I guess it is good I am not letting it pile up yet! Other than that this weeked was mostly walking around and taking pictures. Jim and I were pretty much the only Americans around so we hung out together for the most part. We went and took pictures which I will post as soon as I have the internet at home and then we mostly sat at the bars since that was all that was open on Sunday and Monday. Monday I opted to stay in all day. Work has been long and busy, no different than home. I really like my team here...I miss my team back home. Easter made me miss everyone, but I am having a great time so far. Hope everyone had a wonderful easter and I will update you again soon on my life. Pictures to come over the weekend!