Mussels in Brussels: The Adventures of Rohan Sment

I just moved into my new host family. They seem nice enough, though I haven’t met everyone yet. But I talk more about that later. Saturday I spent the day in Antwerp with my Rotary district. We sang for a bunch of old dudes.. ohh I mean Rotarians. Then took a boat tour of the port of Antwerp. The port is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen but it was cool to chill with my amigos and we had hot dogs for lunch, they were delicious. I got home crashed for a bit, skype for a bit, and then went out for a bit.

Sunday was nice I got to sleep in. Then Dennis took me on his motorcycle through Brussels, Waterloo, and La Hupe. We got home about 3 or 4 hours later and had steak frites for dinner.

Monday I had no school so again I slept in. Then I took a bike out for hours just enjoying the day. After that we had a sort of good-bye dinner at a mussels restaurant in Waterloo. I had moules-frites and a Leffe. If this meal was anymore Belge it would have divided its self in two and lived in anarchy. It was a good evening.

Tuesday I had no school. So I used that time to pack and what not. I also went to the gym a bit.

Today I went to school finished at noon and went home to eat and finish packing. Then we loaded the car and I was off. I got a warm welcome from my host mom and sister. I’m still not sure how many siblings I have.. but I guess I’ll find out later tonight. After Vero left, Chantel (hmom) and I went for a bike ride to familiarize me with the area. Also my room here is by far the best of the three. I walked in and it looked small but quaint. I walked further into the room to discover a loft complete with bean bag chairs and a stereo system that can hook up to my phone. I’m excited to meet the rest of my family and I’ll post all about it later

SOO life has been superb the last couple of weeks. The weather is incredible nothing makes you appreciate sun more than going 4 months with out. Today was mid 70’s, sunny all day and a nice breeze to keep it from getting too hot. I am out with exchangers again and things are SO cheap when you can just hang out in a park. Last Sunday I saw one of my friends who is from NY and went to Poland on exchange. It was cool to see a familiar face. This weekend there is a district meeting in Antwerp on Saturday and a rope course with Rotex on Sunday with parties happening all through out. No school on Monday and Tuesday so I get two days to recover. Then Wednesday I switch host families. Also exciting, Sunday the 1st I will be leaving for Spain for 11 days.

So today was whack. It was going pretty good for a bit there.. went to school, went to starbucks, went chilled in town and ate with ma frand emma… and then got my gray military jacket stolen.. some asshole just jacked my shit while I wasn’t looking. SOO ima bit pissed right now.. sorta kinda wanna pummel somebody. I gave my contact info to the place we were at but I’m not that confidant they’ll find anything. I guess all I can do is wait… It was snow today too.. whack.. at least it wasn’t my pea coat

So tonight I have a scout thing until Sunday. I am not really looking forward to it  normally they would be awesome except the Latours are bringing me with their troop. With my old troop we just played capture the flag all day in the woods.. and I’m not sure its going to be that way now… Also I have to meet all new people.. in French and I just don’t have the energy or the will to do that. Plus I haven’t had a week end to just chill and party in like a month and haven’t been to crew since before Christmas.. An all weekend scout thing has effectively snuffed out everything I wanted to do. But I am trying to go in positive

Last Friday I left for the French Alps to ski for the week. I got back in at about 1 last night. It was a great trip and an awesome place. I’ll break it down day by day.

Friday- We left at about 5 and drove to Lyon and slept there for the night. The back seats in Dennis’s car are sooo uncomfortable… seriously I’ve sat in more comfortable crew boats.

Saturday- We get on the road at about 10 after a bit of breakfast at the hotel. I didn’t feel very well I had the chills and a throat ache. It sorta made the ride unpleasant. We arrive in Val Thorens at about 5 and get settled. The mountains were incredible. I took a nap on the couch before we went to dinner. We ate at a nice little restaurant in town. After we went home and went to bed.

Sunday- We get going about 9 and get our rental gear from the pro shop downstairs. I felt a little worse chills, headache, and my throat was on fire. Veronique chalked it up to altitude sickness. Which makes sense but I had doubts. We get skiing and we climb all the way to the highest peak in the park at about 12 thousand feet. I am thinking take a green or a blue, start easy, and warm up a bit… nope.. they decide to take me on a red.. whats worse is the modules as big as a car  (here they have green, blue, red, black. instead of the american green, blue, black, double black) I have only skiied four or five times before this. So I fall and slid a lot and end up walking down. We climb back up once more and ski down again. The second time was better but I still felt off.. We climb a third time and by then the visibility was about 10 ft. so that was the last run. We go back home and I collapsed on the couch and wake up with a nasty fever. Which tore me outta any afternoon skiing I thought I had planned. Everyone got back, we ate, we chilled, we slept.

Monday- Still feeling sick. I asked to see a doctor but Veronique said it was prolly just the altitude. I wasn’t really satisfied with that but I didn’t really have a choice. I chill at the house for the morning and ski a little in the afternoon. Dennis signed me up for lessons which were at 2h30 everyday. They were alright.. everyone was older than me but there were a lot of English speakers. We had to stop a lot to help people up. But I learned a bit about skiing and the slopes. But I was in the back of the chain and there was a giant accident in front of me that cut me off from the group and by the time I looked up they were gone. So I did some solo skiing on a quite blue slope and had it pretty much to my self. The mountain closed at 5h30 so I after that I went home. We ate though eating hurt my throat. We chilled and we slept.

Tuesday- You know when you sick and you think you feel better but you’re not actually any better? That was Tuesday. I get up nice and early eat and get on the slopes by 9. I skied a bit in Val Thorens before switching valleys.(With the pass we had, We had access to 3 valleys.. This is the largest ski domain in the world) I got some really nice skiing in. I stopped for lunch at a restaurant I got a burger, fries, and a salad which is the most I had eaten all week. After that I headed back out skiing like a fiend. At 2 I headed back to Val Thorens for my lesson which I left about 20 mins early because I wasn’t feeling well again. I almost passed out getting back to the cabin but I made it safe. Got in the house and then passed out. We ate, we chilled, we slept.

Wednesday- I was feeling the worse I’d felt all week it was really taxing on me. I skied with Veronique and Dennis and learned a bit from them. we skied until about 12 when we found a place to chill and eat. we left after 1 and hit a few more runs before my lesson. I went to the lesson learned and left. I got home with out a problem and was chill at the house. and I started having problems breathing that went on for about 20 mins which sucked.. at this point five whole days after I started having symptoms.. Vero decides to schedule an appointment… smh. we ate, we chilled, we slept.

Thursday- I got up Vero brought me to the doctor. The doctor said I had severe strep and proscribed 2g of antibiotics a day. So I took those and went to my lesson. I came back and by then I had figured a way to ski close to my cabin instead of having to walk up the entire village with my gear. We chilled, we ate, and then we watched the Caesars which is the French movie awards. It was kinda fun to watch. We slept.

Friday- I woke up feeling awesome I got up early took my shower ate and was on the slopes before anyone else. I got hours of really good skiing and then went to my lesson. The mountain closed and I went home and gave my skis back to the pro shop and then went walking in town for a bit. I came back, we ate, we chilled, we slept.

Saturday- We packed up our stuff and loaded the car. Then chilled in town for a bit and just enjoyed the day. We left Val Thorens at 3 and drove straight through We got home about midnight and unpacked the car by 1. We slept.

So that is my adventure in the French Alps. I will post pictures in a bit and I think I will make a post of all the things I noticed and learned.

Tomorrow after school I am heading to the French-Italian border for some skiing with my hfam. By some I mean all week haha. I was just informed that there will be nowifi, prolly better that way. Anyway I just finished packing everything and I’m ready to go. I can’t wait!! ..so excited. There is some concern there won’t by any boots in my size =/. I think it should be fine there isn’t much I can anyway… other than cross my fingers and hope for the best. But I guess that’s all you can ever do. I think I will be back on Sunday not quite sure of the details. I am going to try and get some sleep. I’ll catch ya later.