the back burner

get excited, people

Let's back up a little bit and give you the whole story. On August 21st (4 weeks ago this Monday), I got a call in Orlando from Houston. The Belgian consulate had just called my Mom with news that the visa was approved. Eight days later, on the 29th, I had both visa and plane ticket in hand.

I flew to Brussels September 7th, arriving here the next day.

That means I've been here EIGHT DAYS! I'm going through weekly events for a SECOND TIME! This is significant, people. It's significant because it's been at least that long since I've seen any of you, because it's been that long and I haven't written to anyone yet, because I went from not-getting-my-hopes-up to HERE in such a short time, and (not least) because I've never seen this country go for eight days with so much sun.

Since so much has happened since I was last a part of this town, I'm seeing Brussels with new vision. All the characteristics of the city, the organizations, the people, and the cultures are jumping out at me. I think this perspective shift happens partly because I've grown as a person in the intervening years, but also because of all the work I've done to get here. I didn't think about it at the time, but all the tracking down of legal documents, the phone-calling, the public speaking, and etc. have made this move a real choice. I had to decide what to do, and I chose to be here, with these specific people in this specific place.

Of course, a lot of other things could have happened that were outside of my control, but the fact that I chose to follow this path (instead of others) is giving me a lot of ownership right now. It's less like staking a claim and more like getting a gift that I asked for and really wanted but didn't really expect. I think I'll bask in that for awhile.