Greetings from Waterloo
I suppose now that we are living on a different continent and in another time zone from most of our friends and family, it might be nice to start blogging again. The summer came and went with a whirlwind of activity culminating in our big move from Woonsocket, Rhode Island to Waterloo, Belgium.
But the fun didn't stop there...oh, no, it didn't. The very first night spent in our new house, Simon climbed into bed with Leo and me absolutely burning with fever. Of course, our stuff had not yet arrived and a thermometer was nowhere to be found. Leo ran out to the pharmacy (one of the few places around here open at all hours) and thus we were welcomed to the Land of Metric. Turns out that 40 degrees Celsius is BAD and we were also about to acquaint ourselves intimately with the Belgian medical system.
With no primary physician and no SIS cards, the emergency room was pretty much our only choice, so we decided to take him to a children's hospital. Nothing like a little baptism by fire to make one feel at home in a new country. Simon spent 7 days at L'Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola in Brussels, overlooking Brupark, with the Atomium right out his window. He was treated with IV antibiotics for a kidney infection most likely caused by the same bacteria that had made all the kids sick earlier that summer.
The one good thing to come of all this was that Leo's mom got to come visit to help us out. As much as my mom wanted to come herself, she did not yet have a passport and instead very generously bought the ticket to get us some much-needed aid. By the end of her stay, Simon was well enough to get out for a bit and we even got to do some sightseeing. By coincidence, my friend Sonja was visiting some family in Germany and also came to stay for a few days...it was definitely a full house amongst all the boxes but under the circumstances it was actually a really wonderful visit.
With all that excitement finally over we are now settling into a new school year and starting to feel at home in our new surroundings. Elly and Simon are both attending a local school, conveniently located just steps from our front door. What a nice change that is from the 40-mile round trip into Providence twice a day! I have joined the American Women's Club for a little taste of home and have recently completed their "Hints for Living in Belgium" three-week course (more on that in a future post). We are getting by with one car and I have pretty much everything within walking distance - something I have always wanted. Leo has already started his Dutch classes and is picking the language up extremely fast. I'm still in the process of blowing the dust off my French and need to get back up to speed before taking on a third language, but I am at least trying to pick up the bits and pieces that he share with me after class.
All in all, I think living here is going to be an amazing experience and I am going to make a sincere effort to share at least a bit of it here now that I finally feel like I have a little time to spare.
Our new house:
Elly and Simon ready for school:
The Atomium:
Leo holding Sophie in three countries at once (Belgium, Netherlands and Germany):
But the fun didn't stop there...oh, no, it didn't. The very first night spent in our new house, Simon climbed into bed with Leo and me absolutely burning with fever. Of course, our stuff had not yet arrived and a thermometer was nowhere to be found. Leo ran out to the pharmacy (one of the few places around here open at all hours) and thus we were welcomed to the Land of Metric. Turns out that 40 degrees Celsius is BAD and we were also about to acquaint ourselves intimately with the Belgian medical system.
With no primary physician and no SIS cards, the emergency room was pretty much our only choice, so we decided to take him to a children's hospital. Nothing like a little baptism by fire to make one feel at home in a new country. Simon spent 7 days at L'Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola in Brussels, overlooking Brupark, with the Atomium right out his window. He was treated with IV antibiotics for a kidney infection most likely caused by the same bacteria that had made all the kids sick earlier that summer.
The one good thing to come of all this was that Leo's mom got to come visit to help us out. As much as my mom wanted to come herself, she did not yet have a passport and instead very generously bought the ticket to get us some much-needed aid. By the end of her stay, Simon was well enough to get out for a bit and we even got to do some sightseeing. By coincidence, my friend Sonja was visiting some family in Germany and also came to stay for a few days...it was definitely a full house amongst all the boxes but under the circumstances it was actually a really wonderful visit.
With all that excitement finally over we are now settling into a new school year and starting to feel at home in our new surroundings. Elly and Simon are both attending a local school, conveniently located just steps from our front door. What a nice change that is from the 40-mile round trip into Providence twice a day! I have joined the American Women's Club for a little taste of home and have recently completed their "Hints for Living in Belgium" three-week course (more on that in a future post). We are getting by with one car and I have pretty much everything within walking distance - something I have always wanted. Leo has already started his Dutch classes and is picking the language up extremely fast. I'm still in the process of blowing the dust off my French and need to get back up to speed before taking on a third language, but I am at least trying to pick up the bits and pieces that he share with me after class.
All in all, I think living here is going to be an amazing experience and I am going to make a sincere effort to share at least a bit of it here now that I finally feel like I have a little time to spare.
Our new house:
Elly and Simon ready for school:
The Atomium:
Leo holding Sophie in three countries at once (Belgium, Netherlands and Germany):
posted by Mamie @ 1:40 AM
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