The Life and Times of the Curious Cockroach

Written on September 8th, 2008 (Day 2 in Brussels)
Location: Brussels, or more precisely, the student district called Ixelles
Envy-inspiring Cockroach Fact: cockroaches can survive without food for  one month

This morning I woke up feeling weak and nauseous.

I had only eaten the three hard-boiled eggs I had packed for myself before leaving Vancouver, and that was a long time ago. There’s no way around it, I thought as I looked out my window onto the busy street below, I really do need to interact with the French-speakers to buy food.

So I took a deep breath, resolved to ignore the smoky smell  that I had just inhaled from my hair (damn pillow!), and began my quest for food.

Seeing Ixelles in daylight for the first time since my arrival, I gawked at all the cuteness around me. Old stone buildings overlooked the winding streets, and there were plants everywhere.  The roads and sidewalks were covered with cobblestones. And such charming little cobblestones, too!

Some of the owners of the  snack shops were standing at the doorways and looked rather intimidating in their frenchness. I walked on. Soon I came across a café with round metal tables outside. I picked out a sandwich and some yogurt and did the walk of horror up to the cashier. The young stubbled man was very nice but terrifyingly chatty. He said something quickly that I didn’t understand. By the second time I asked “pardon?” he remarked how loud it was in the café. Hmmm… at least my “pardon” sounded French enough.

Having wolfed down the sandwich, I stashed away the yogurt in my purse for the uncertain times ahead. Soon afterward I also found a student grocery store. Hurray! Another victory for the Curious Cockroach.

First meal in Belgium

Week-long garage sale in Ixelles, held every September