Daisy Magaña

College of Communication

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WARNING: Reading This May Cause Severe Chocolate Overload. Some side-effects may include but are not limited to: amazement in the art of displaying chocolate, bewilderment as to why such chocolate shops are not conveniently located in your neighborhood, sadness at the fact you can't simply reach into your computer's screen and take some, and a slight avoidance to any and all chocolate products & aromas...If a chocolate covered dragon is encountered PLEASE DO NOT panic, you may be experiencing slight hallucinations due to all the consumed sugar aka Sugar High. But in case such an event would arise, DO NOT lick it. Licking it may result in expulsion of shop and/or permanent banishment of town....

Greetings to all once again! Where else have my trusty comfortable Pumas taken me besides roaming the streets of Paris and the scenic visit to Fontainebleau and Chateau Vaux le Vicomte? Why to the cobblestone streets of Bruges and to Europe's "capital"--Brussels.

This past weekend, I made my FIRST trip outside of Paris and France for that matter. It was also my first night away from my Parisian "home". I'm not going to lie, after almost two months of being surrounded with Paris and all its loveliness, it was a nice change of pace to leave the city's limits and go venture off. But, of course, one can't always expect things to go perfect. One must learn and come to terms with the fact that some things are out of our control and while yes, I would have loved for it to have been sunny and beautiful (although I did get to see two rainbows!) during my visit to Belgium--it was cloudy, cold, and rainy, I know ideal travel weather, right? Not quite but the weather added a different type of "beauty" to the experience. Not to say I wasn't wanting the non-native French tour guide to speed it up in Bruges. I sought to keep myself dry using my little colorful hood. haha.

However, I am a person that enjoys a cloudy day here and there and the muggy mistiness of that day matched the feeling of the little quaint village--like it made it that much more authentic.  Nonetheless, I could have done simply well with only the cloudy & chilly factors (and all who know me are familiar with me not being fond of the cold Chicago winters) but c'est la vie! "Rain drops keep falling on my head" were the words that eventually came out of my house mate's mouth and silly us: no umbrella.

Funny enough after the tour was done the weather "cleared up" although it would drizzle here and there but it was nothing compared to our traumatic morning experience. We found ourselves walking out of one specialty chocolate shop to the next. They were left and right, side-to-side, some shops even gave sample, but all we wanted to do was go over the counter and help ourselves. My self-control kicked into high-gear not only in Bruges but in Brussels as well. "I feel like a kid in a candy store...oh wait...haha...I am." But after this weekend, I officially won't be (moment of silence) but hey, we're young at heart, right?

Brussels, on the other hand, has a very different feel from both Paris and Bruges. Perhaps it's because we visited there on a Sunday but it was pretty "dead" until noonish/1pm (at least in the outskirts of the main city square)
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We arrived there in the night and we were able to see Grand Place Grote Markt lit up in all it's beauty!

While in Brussels, at the hostel I stayed in, I started talking with the people I got paired up with, and it turns out that two were from Chile! One lives in France while her friend was simply visiting. When I asked her what brought her to Paris (the one who lives here) she said, "Oh I was offered a job here and I accepted...without knowing a single word of French." I was speechless! If I'm having my little battles here and there (sometimes even wonder what exactly I'm doing here haha), I can't begin to imagine what it feel like "erasing" the six years of French grammar and linguistics I have "under my belt"--very structured learning but knowledge nonetheless! I told her I'd be here for about eight months, and she laughed and told me that even without doing anything I'd learn it--that's reassuring. But don't worry...I won't just coast...more like I'll kick and push.

I don't think I'll be eating nor wanting chocolate for awhile...