So, as a result of having been a little ill, worn down from schoolwork, and the impending week of travel, I (among a good few other MUDECers) elected to stay in town this weekend. Before the weekend however, I went out to dinner with Norby on Thursday night, and it was awesome.
So Norby's two friends (and I feel terrible about this, but I forget their names now) came over and picked us up around 7:30 or so. We had a beer before we left, and I had some other Luxembourg beer that I haven't had before. It was nice. So we went to this little restaurant that was originally just a house. It was really small, quiet, and very cozy. The place itself was basically just a room and a bar with a few tables around the walls. So, for dinner itself, I (on Norby's advice) had filet de cheval. For you non-french speakers, I ate horse meat. It was actually really tasty. I think it's best described as like American beef in taste / texture, but significantly leaner. Anyhow, Norby and his one friend split a Raclette meal. Ok, so basically this thing is a Swiss delicacy, and it's quite a feast. They serve you a big block of cheese in a heating device, so you slowly melt the cheese. They also provide you with a plate of assorted meats and a bunch of potatoes, so you can basically go to town and combine all of them in a warm, sumptuous feast of flavor. Norby let me try some, and it was superb. We ended up hanging out, having some wine, and chatting with the other people in the restaurant (which is cool, because that doesn't really happen a lot of places in Luxembourg).
Fast-forward to Friday night. I take the 17:48 train from Esch into Lux City. Greg and Patrick meet me on the train, and we arrive in Lux city at 6:15. It's a short 7 minute bus ride, where we get off near the city center. A 5 minute walk later and we arrive at the city center. Hilarity ensues as Patrick and Bobby are wearing the exact same striped sweater (with different colors). Dinner discussions are tense, the group splits up - I end up drinking strawberry margaritas at Chi Chi's. After the rest of the group meets us there, we get dinner at Chi Chi's (quesadilla - first mexican food in a month). Some of the group has already left, but several of us decide another margarita wouldn't really be such a bad idea, so we hang out for a little bit longer. Then, after a 10 minute walk through the city, we get to Clausen - basically a street with a bunch of bars on it. PROBLEM: there are bouncers at either end of the street, and to get in you need a valid i.d. For some reason, my train pass (with my birthday on it) or my student id (also with my birthday) did not suffice - they said I needed a passport or drivers' license. Bummer. SOLUTION: we walked around to the other entrance of Clausen, waited for a huge group of students to roll in, blended in, and snuck in. Ended up at some bar called Verso, had a couple of (quite expensive) drinks, and chilled out.
I took time to analyze how different the clubs were in Europe as opposed to those in America. (Disclaimer: I do not spend a large amount of time in clubs anywhere, but I've researched this subject extensively and feel I possess enough base knowledge to comment on key differences). So anyway, in Europe, they play extremely loud dance music all night, but no one really dances. At least, there's not like a pure dance floor where everyone is just getting down. Well, I take that back, there were some people dancing, but the vast majority of persons present were just standing or sitting, hanging out, and drinking with their friends. The bar was huge, the bathrooms weren't trashy, and everyone was really dressed up - these were the chief differences I noticed. Also, there were a lot more places to sit down in Europe. Oh, and in Europe, everybody smokes in the bars, which is not all that cool - because now my nice clothes smell like smoke. Anyway, back to my riveting narrative. So found Jacques and Phillippe (Greg's host brothers) and they guided us back to the train station in time to catch the last train home (it left Lux City at 12:50 am). As expected, we ran into a bunch of other Miami students on the train back (an experience in and of itself), and I made it home by about 1:30 am. A late night indeed.
Woke up about 11:30 on Saturday morning. Hopped on the 1:14 train into Lux City, as the game plan was to hit up the Apple Festival going on in Steinsel (a little village just north of Lux City). Now, I had been told that it would be a 15 minute bus ride, and a short walk up a hill. Allow me to correct that statement with what it actually was: a 30 minute bus ride, a 40 minute trek up a large hill. No big deal though, just got to Applefest a little later than I had planned. It wasn't really a festival so much as a couple of tents and an apple orchard. But, it was really cool. I had some of the best apple juice I've ever had, tried some fresh apple tart, and got to stroll casually through the orchard and pick some apples. They were fantastic.
On our way back down the hill, we ran into other Miami students and told them that they were unfortunately too late to make it to the festival. But, instead, we all went out to dinner in Lux City at a place called Banana's - which was awesome. The margaritas there were real strong though. Luckily, I also had a giant hamburger / egg / cheese / french fries sandwich contraption for dinner. After dawdling around in the city for a while, we were notified via text message that it was "student night" at Verso (the same bar we were at on Friday night), and that "student night" meant "free beer for students." Ergo, we made it to Verso (and I had my driver's license now, so it was chill). After another long night of chillaxing (and almost running into Norby, as I later learned), made it home, slept, and woke up around noon today. Very unproductive day so far, basically been getting ready to leave on our Study tour tomorrow.
Our chocolate class is headed to Koln tomorrow via bus. Then later to Brussels and Bruges. Should be interesting - especially since I have no real plans for afterwards on Thursday. By that I mean, we get done with our Study Tour on Thursday at 1500 in Bruges, and class doesn't resume until Monday morning, so I'm going somewhere - I just don't know where yet.
That brings me to a study abroad tip for anyone considering it: Either go with one really good friend, or go to a program where no one knows each other before hand. It's been a little difficult for me here, because I didn't know any MUDECers before I got here, and there are a ton of people here who came with like one best friend, so it can be clique-y at times, which is unfortunate. It can be hard to fit into groups of already-established friends at times. But, don't let that discourage you from heading out on your own. Sometimes, that's the best way to get to know yourself and how you really feel about life.
Anyway, I need to finish packing - look forward to hearing from me in a week or so about my long travel time. Thanks for reading!
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