Bonjour! Today has been interesting to say the least. I finally got everything unpacked last night and went to bed to get about 6 hours of sleep. I woke up to our host family's daughter singing (at the top of her lungs) to "Animals" by Maroon 5, a train horn, and church bells. I was a little disoriented to say the least. *Note: Our host family does not speak English, they definitely speak French and I think Luxembourgish and Portuguese because our host dad, Sylvestre, knows some Spanish. So Raegan and I offer a mixture of Spanish, English, French, and Italian. Our host dad took us to the bus station to catch the 7:51 bus that is about a 5 minute walk from our house. We caught the bus and it took us into the city, where we change buses to head to the train station. We went in and got to the ticket desk and found a man that spoke English to sort of translate for us and give us time tables/maps. Then, we went out of the train station to get back on a bus. *Note: This is where our problem began, our host dad had a different idea. We were supposed to meet two faculty members from the Chateau to learn about the train station and the platforms to take. Well we got back on a bus and this one took us back to the house! We walked again to the bus station to do the whole process over again. It was good of our host dad to show us how to get back home, but it made us and hour late! We also had to figure out the train station all by ourselves to know what train to take to Differdange. Around 10:00 we roll in to Differdange and then have to find the Chateau all on our own! We didn't know there was a sidewalk leading up (it looked like a private residence's) so we then had to hop the car gate to get into the Chateau where the Welcome Reception was just concluded (meaning we were about an hour and 20 minutes late).. Even though that all happened, we did all of it by ourselves for the first time in a place where English isn't always spoken! Since I'm back in my room now, might as well talk about it a little bit. The Simoes' house is in the old part of Luxembourg, which is pretty cool for a history nerd like me because the old walls, guard towers, and underground tunnels are still up. All of the homes are set down in a valley. The house is like a townhouse, it's on the end so it's only connected on the one side. It is also 4 stories, which means I had to lug my 35 lb. carry-on and 59 lb. suitcase up FOUR FLIGHTS (COUNT 'EM.. FOUR) OF STAIRS!! My furniture is Ikea-esque. The window look outs on a little stream and a church. We also went to an Italian restaurant, Vapiano, right across from the train station for dinner, it was delicioso! I had prosciutto and funghi pizza! Well I'm still a little jet lagged so I'm going to bed, but don't worry you'll hear more from me tomorrow, because we are traveling around Lux City and visiting the American and German military cemetaries! à bientôt, Kirsten P.S. Again, just like on the last one, I wrote this while exhausted. If there are mistakes, just keep on ignorin' them! |
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AuthorTwenty something. Equestrian. Proud hugger of trees. Breakfast enthusiast. College student. Traveling the world, one step at a time. Archives
January 2017
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