Carnival jusqu'au 20 Fev.

Hi ,

So here is an update, when I last left off I was about to head off to Amsterdam for the last three days of Carnival Vacation. The 8,9 and 10th of Febuaray: I got up early friday morning and got onto the train to Brussels where I met up with 50 other Rotary exchange students, got on a bus and headed about 2 and a half hours to Amsterdam, Holland. We stop for the afternoon in Delft where the famous blue china is hand made and which is also the home of Vermeer, the famous painter known for his painting "The girl with the pearl earring". Allowing us free time in the afternoon me and my friend Audra from California, sat in the beautiful sun, walked around the canals and took advantage of Holland. We also went into one of the only Catholic churches left in Delft because when the Protestants came they forbid all churches of Catholisisme. So this church is hidden, and cannot be seen from the street and when you enter you follow a small hallway and then arrive in this huge beautiful sanctuary. All hand made and still in use today. Usually the huge Cathedrals amaze me but just this simple sanctuary was so beautiful. After a wonderful afternoon in Delft we arrived in Amsterdam where we stayed at a Youth Hostile. It was the first time I stayed at a hostile and I would have to say it wasn't too bad. Later that night after we had eaten we went to the Van Gogh Museum, which I would have to say is by far one of my favorite museums. Early the next morning we ate and then went to Anne Frank's House which was sensational especially after reading her diary and studying her, just to see her very diary and see the house she lived in was amazing. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures so I guess you just have to go see it yourselves. After that we walked through a Saturday market and then took a boat ride through a lot of the canals in Amsterdam. We really lucked out because it was sunny and quite pleasant for our whole stay. After eating lunch on the grand place where they make coins, we walked across Amsterdam to the Rijks Museum where we saw Rembrandt, and Vermeer and other artists. They gave us the early evening off and Audra and I walked around and found an American Store ! It was so cool seeing all the American items like mac n'cheese and yummy peanut butter. But boy was it expensive, 3,45 euros for a box of mac n' cheese are you kidding me! Then in the night time we all went and walked through the famous red light district and after that all of us even the Rotarians went to a bar/club and danced the night away ! The next day we all packed our bags then we went and visited the flower market, an old movie theater and a 1860's house and also saw the Jewish museum and a synagogue. Then we returned back to the hostile ate a quick bite and left for Brussels. All in all it was a great trip.
The first week back was ok, on thursday it was Valentine's Day, so happy late Valentine's Day to you all, and I made Valentine's for everyone in my class. Here it's only really done between lover's so everyone in my class was surprised but really appreciated it. Only Ylsa another exchange student at my school made valentine's for all her friends. The Senior class handed out pre ordered roses, white ones for friendship, and red one's for love. The week sort of went by slowly and not too great or anything exciting. My host parent's left for the weekend so I went and stayed at a friend's house Valerie for the weekend. Saturday night my club hosted a night of Blues where they had a Blue's player come and sing then ate and danced the night away . It was fun to dance, and Val was there and we did modern dance while all the other Rotarians just did their couple dances. :) . Sunday was a day full of sleeping and then Monday and today I had no school because all the teachers had workshops. So yesterday or Monday I went with Valerie to see Sweeney Todd in Brussels and today I went to Brussels as well and got a new pair of shoes. I have to say here it is quite frustrating for people like me with big feet cause they don't make big sizes for girl's in most shoes, grr. I had the best surprise today. Val and I were walking around Brussels and went into a little shop, and Geral Depardieu was there in the shop looking at some books !!! I got a autograph it was so great, supposedly he was filming a film just outside. For those of you who don't know who Gerald Depardieu is either look him up on Google, or something but he played in Cyrano de Bergerac, Asterixs and is a super famous actor ! So that is my check up for right now, hope all is well,
lots of love,
Lizzy