Flu (Boo!) & Tourists in Brussels.

So if you can't tell by the title of this post I got the flu, which was a major bummer! I spent the majority of my Tuesday evening, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in bed with a fever, aches, and a bad dry cough. Although my cough is still lingering it's definitely getting better and hopefully will be gone soon. Since I was gone from school for three days in a row on Friday I had to go to the doctor, per school policy. Let's just say that the doctor is a bit different here. After looking up English speaking doctors that were near by where I live I called Thursday and made an appointment for Friday morning. After successfully finding the place (I'm still not sure how I made it there) I was asked to sit in the "waiting room" which essentially was a living room area of this apartment that I was in. Once in the actual doctors office there are no nurses or anyone to take all the usual pre-doctor vitals and stuff, just the doc. After probably a 20 minute conversation about why I'm here for the year, where I live, where I was born, etc, etc. he finally checked all the usual things that could be making me sick. 

Regular cold: nope.
Strep: nope. 
Bronchitis: nope.
Sinus infection: nope.
Pneumonia: nope. 

Pretty much I was told exactly what I already knew which was that I had the flu and that it had to run it's course. Everything was just very casual though. Because of all the weird weather we've been having this fall 1 in every 5 people or so are getting the flu. Let's just say that I feel as though I've paid my dues in being sick for the year because being sick when you're away from home really isn't too much fun. At least now I feel like I've been through something pretty big (at least in my eyes) and know that I can handle whatever else the year decides to throw at me. 

In better news, my weekend was quite lovely. The Reids went over to my parents house on Saturday and I was able to Skype with Colleen and the kids so that was definitely a plus. It's so fun to see everyone like that after a few months. Thanks for doing that, guys! :) I spent the rest of the day relaxing and then went to my friend Jess V's house to watch a movie after dinner that night. Sunday was absolutely beautiful weather-wise here! It honestly felt like summer again, the sun was shining, and the skies were full of blue! Since there was no way I could resist being inside I propositioned my roommate Jess to go for an afternoon walk with me. Well, lets just say that an afternoon walk turned into a tourist-like adventure that consisted of us walking around different parts of Brussels for 4 hours. We figured since it was so nice out and we have only made a dent in the places to see in Brussels that we might as well explore a bit. We started by taking the metro to Trone (only about 10-15 minutes away) and seeing Park Leopold, the European Parliament, and Place Luxembourg. From there we walked towards Parc where we saw all of the beautiful fountains and green trees. After Parc we ran into St. Michels Cathedral, which is absolutely stunning from the inside out, and finally ended up downtown in the Grande Place where we helped a student from New Jersey who had just arrived in Brussels and couldn't find the place to meet his group. I love knowing where I am and being able to help people, it's great! Overall, it was a really nice day and it was definitely lovely to be outside soaking up my Vitamin D. Here are some pictures of some of the places we saw on our adventure! 

For some reason it's taking forever to upload pictures on here right now so here's the link to see the whole album from my afternoon out in Brussels! 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071696&id=59201520&l=136d95e668