Dag!... that’s how you say day in Flemish! Fact of the day. It’s an informal greeting, like if you see someone on the straat (street). Hillary and I have been loving Belgium and Flemish, obviously, haha. Our spirits have been high and we’ve just been happy. We love the people and the place. Yesterday was our first day of getting acquainted with the city. Hillary and I both woke up and went to Carol’s morning exercise class. We met a few more ladies and totally loved them.
We left the class a little early to get ready to meet up with Paul. He was going to take us on our first adventure in downtown Antwerp. Our mission: to find more readers to come to the information meeting Wednesday night, or just to get people signed up for a reading time in general. We were armed with approachableness and flyers as we made our way to downtown Antwerp via tram. The tram stop is super conveniently placed almost right outside our front door. I love public transportation, it always feels like an adventure, for real.
We got off at Groenplaats, which is one of the main squares in downtown Antwerp. We knew that there would be plenty of people out and about because Amnesty International was having a human rights event right in Groenplaats. Paul walked us around and showed us the different landmarks such as the Cathedral and Town Hall. Second fact of the day: Antwerp’s Cathedral is the second tallest in Europe, and it was the world’s first tallest building.
After we knew where we were going, for the most part, we got some lunch. A typical Belgian meal is a ham and cheese sandwich with whatever fixings you choose. All three of us got an egg with our sandwiches and chatted. We were figuring out our plans for talking to people and passing out flyers. The main idea was to try and start small talk in English, then tell them our purpose, and give them a flyer.
After Paul had left to go to Jesse’s field day, Hillary and I were left to fend for ourselves. We started by walking around one of the shopping centers, moved to Groenplaats, and then walked around Antwerp’s “shopping district.” We managed to talk to a few people, but being in Western Europe, a lot of people know English well. We passed out a few flyers and headed back to the church around 4 o’clock.
When we got back to the church we went grocery shopping… we’d been living off of cherry yogurt and muesli. We got the essentials and went back to our home for a snack. From then on we waited for Paul and Carol to arrive for the Let’s Start Talking information meeting. In the midst of waiting, Hillary and I got a call from one of the people we handed a flyer to earlier that day. Success! Spirits were definitely lifted.
Paul and Carol arrived and were followed by five potential readers. We had three Tibetan immigrants and two native Belgians. Hillary did her faaantastic presentation and after that we signed up the readers for appointments and sat and talked over coffee and tea. Everyone was out by 9 o’clock, Hillary and I were a little exhausted and went to bed. Wednesday! Done!
Peace, Love, and Jesus,
Dana and Hillary
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