Bruge

Today wasn't bad.  I woke up before my alarm miraculously, took a shower and got ready to go.  We went to Bruge today, and had to be at Central Station by 8:40.  Due to the sheer number of girls staying in our apartment, we didn't leave until 8:30 or so.  We went down into the metro, and only two of us could physically fit on the first metro.  The rest of us waited for the next one, which was nearly as crowded.  I'm not sure what was wrong, but we ended up waiting for the metro to move for nearly 10 minutes. 

We did finally make it and about 20 of us went to Bruge.  It was a wet and windy day, not very warm, and we had another walking tour. We saw some cool buildings and went in some churches.  Our guide was the same from when we toured Brussels.  He's very interested in the architecture and I can now (kindof) distinguish between Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Gothic and "modern".  It was interesting, and we saw a couple of cool churches.  One had tons of statues in it that were all expertly done.  I even saw a Michelangelo. 

Another church we went to was the one that has a vial of Jesus's blood.  We went in during services (the end, actually) and it was an incredible church.  It was gorgeous.  I got a funny feeling, though, and everyone else in my tour group (out of 10, there were 6 or 7 Catholics) was kneeling and crossing themselves and I had to step out.  Had a delicious hot chocolate instead.

I think it's interesting because I've heard multiple times, "There aren't that many Catholics at Clemson." And yet, there seem to be a whole lot of them in our program.  I find it annoying because I was asked the other day if I practice and why don't I wear a Star of David.  She, of course, flaunts her cross necklace and is one of several to preach about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.  I have no problem with others having their own beliefs and following them strongly.  I am very strongly attached to my youth group and temple family, so I completely understand.  But I would like to think that I don't press my religion upon others.

I've found more prejudice and commentary on my religion from the members of the program than I have from the locals I've met.  Of course I don't go around talking to everyone, but I struck up a conversation with the lady in front of me at the grocery store because she was buying matzo.  I see Stars of David in jewelry shops on a regular basis and have either passed or heard of a Jewish community in nearly every city I've been to.  I was terrified when I left the States that I would have to really not make it known that I'm Jewish, but I'm more concerned at Clemson, to be honest.

Anyways, that's off topic.  After the tour, we walked around and went shopping.  We got lunch at this little hamburger and fries place that could be equated to high-quality fast food before going to a chocolate store and hitting all the shops on the main drag.  H&M is popular for everyone, and we seem to stop in one in every city.  We also stopped in some local stores before catching the train back.

I would like to actually explore Bruge a little bit more.  I was swept up in the shopping and stuff, and didn't actually see much of the city.  But it was also bad weather, so I plan on going back when the tulips are blooming.  Next time I also hope to get a pair of wooden shoes.

When we got back, we headed to the grocery store.  I feel like I go every other day.  I got raspberries because they were on sale for a euro each (the little pint containers) and also got the ingredients for brigadeiru.  I'm super excited to be making it, because I know it will remind me of home.  We have four people spending the night here tomorrow, as well as a group project to work on and some other people coming to visit.  It will be a full house.

Then I took a nap, woke up, had a bowl of cereal for dinner (topped with yummy blueberries and raspberries) and wrote this blog.  Now it's time to go back to sleep.

Goodnight, world.