Last Night in Belgium

I stayed in Brussels on my last night because my plane left kind of early, and I met a fabulous girl traveling alone as well. Her name was Maria, she was from Mexico, and we drank several beers in a pub. I told her that on my trip, I had apologized to everyone for being American, and she laughed delightfully and told me that every American she met always apologized to her, as well, mostly because the U.S. government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to erect a few hundred miles of fencing along the U.S./Mexico border. Maria said she understood that illegal immigration is a huge problem for the U.S., but in that we disagreed. I argued that if all illegal immigrants were deported from the U.S., the entire economy would crumble. The work illegal immigrants provide is invaluable, I told her. They are, especially in California, the backbone of the workforce.

She diplomatically remained neutral on that point, but she did say, "In any case, it won't work. That much I know."

"The Berlin Wall came down eventually," I said.

"Exactly!" Maria laughed. "You can buy pieces of it on eBay."

We shared stories of our trip -- she had visited Brugge, too, and although she too was enchanted by the town, she said that she, too, had an uncomfortable experience there. Upon ordering a hamburger at a stand, the guy behind the counter mistook her for an American because her English is so good, and said to her, "You Americans, that's all you want, hamburgers!"

Maria is lucky in that she speaks French, and in that language, responded, "If you don't want to serve American hamburgers, why don't you take it off your menu?"

Speaking French to the Flemish is an extra slap in the face, because of a long political history that makes Flanders, in North Belgium, Dutch speaking, and French in the South.

The guy began apologizing to her immediately, and I laughed at the story, telling her that I wish I'd had the guts to say something similar to the guy at the tavern who refused to serve me food.

We exchanged our wild stories of Amsterdam, although hers, admittedly, were much wilder than mine. I did drive by the Red Light District, and I did spend some time in a local "coffee shop," though, and will say no more. :)

Now I'm home, jet lagged again, although this time, the dizzy spun feeling is a bit more tolerable. I have been awake since 7 a.m. this morning Belgium time, and I really can't figure out how many hours I've been awake because the time keeps changing since I had a layover once again in Atlanta, GA ... it's back to work and the daily grind starting tomorrow.

And my Thanksgiving week adventure is officially over.