Arrival

I’m finally here in Belgium.

Our flight left Arkansas at 1:15 and after 11 hours and one connection flight… we are here. I am beyond exhausted because I got no sleep on the plane. My legs are too long to get comfortable in a sitting position, and there was a baby screaming through the night. I am grateful that we are now on the ground.

When we got off of the plane, we took the train from Brussels to Ghent. I was so tired, so I could not stay awake for the entire ride. I tried to stay awake as long as I could to take photos, but I could not resist sleep. At the train station, I was met by my host mom and sister, Marleen and Elyne. They were both very nice and Elyne immediately ran up and hugged me. This made me feel like I was already a part of her family. There was no delay at the train station. We went home, I changed clothes, and we went walking about the village of Destelbergen.

It is a very beautiful little place in the suburbs of Ghent. I was so tired that I really did not get to enjoy it as much as I could have. However, I did get to try my first Belgian fries! They were so good! We also had these dough balls that resembled funnel cake.

But tonight it hit me how homesick I am. Every time I look at a text or picture from someone back home I just want to cry. This is different than anything I have ever done before because I cannot just drive home when I want to. This is a lovely country, but I think it may be hard making it for 3 weeks…