Monday, August 18, 2008

A Castle in the Hills

Yesterday was such a busy day that I didn't have time to write. I could have stayed up late to write, but it wasn't my night to stay up till one so I thought I would take advantage of the extra sleep time. I still haven't adjusted to the time change and lack of sleep, plus we have been going, going, going since we arrived. I thought that yesterday would be a relaxing day, but I was VERY wrong. :)

Since it was Sunday, we had worship services. First we had Bible class in English upstairs and then we went to the ground floor to have worship in French. It is a very small congregation and the people are so friendly. None of us could communicate very well with them, but we could still feel their warmth and excitement over having us there. It was really encouraging. I found out that the main reason that the church is still there is because of our group coming every year. Nothing was in English, though they did write the song numbers on the board and the scriptures in English. I really enjoyed the singing because I knew most of the songs, and it was easier to learn pronunciation because they sing slower than we do. I have to admit that it was quite hard to say awake, so I tried to pick words out of the sermon that sounded similar to English or Spanish words. That made it easier to know what was going on.

At around 3 yesterday, we went to Franchimont. It is a small Belgian town in the countryside and it was beautiful. We went because there is a castle that is in ruins at the top of a very, very, very (etc.) large hill. I believe it is called Le Chateau de Franchimont. We got off at the trains station and walked 15 minutes in the wrong direction. So, we turned back around and found the correct way. Unfortunately, the correct way was about 3 miles uphill. And it was hot. So we made it to the top of the hill after much sweating, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. When we made it to the top, we saw this BEAUTIFUL castle. Granted, there were giant cannon holes in it and some of the walls had fallen down, but it was just so gorgeous. There were stairs up to the "second floor" and the views of the countryside were absolutely exquisite. I can not believe how beautiful this little country is. When I chose Belgium over Italy, I chose it because it is cheaper. However, now that I am here I can't even believe that I considered Italy. We are in the perfect place for travel, we get to go to other towns several times a week, and it's gorgeous!! I know that I will love Italy when I go there on free travel, but I am so happy that I am in Belgium right now.

Today has just been a class day, so there is not a lot to write about. We had an Apples to Apples tournament which was so much fun! I actually won one game! After a long day yesterday though, it has been nice to just relax. :)

A tout a l'heure! :)

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