(note: I wrote the first part of this at 1:30am Portland time on a day I woke up at 6am after four and a half hours sleep. The second part was written after a full nights sleep)
I am currently in Brussels. We have a long layover between our flight from the states and our flight to Copenhagen. We are exploring a museum with historical musical instruments.
After staying up a bit late to make sure I had most of my stuff set up and ready to go, I went to bed around 1:30 am on the 26th with my alarm set to wake me up at 4:55 for my 5:45 am pick up for our 7ish am flight.
I woke up to “WAKE UP, NATHAN!” Shouted into my window, and realized it was 6am and I had missed 7 texts from my team, waiting outside to pick me up. After getting dressed real quick (fortunately, I had my clothes all laid out) I ran out with my shoes, phone and breakfast in hand, juggled with my backpack and carry-on bag (borrowed from the kind and generous Elmatti’s).
We made it to the airport, but the computer check-in didn’t find my flight reservation. Mildly concerned, but confident that everything works out, I strode to the counter and learned that somehow after the agency booked my flight, my name was turned into a conglomeration of my first and middle names. Not weird at all.
First flight boarded, and a quick-ish four hours to DC – the time was filled with board games on an iPad with Kathy and Alec – where we had a short layover and I grabbed an Italian sandwich from Potbelly.
The next flight was a bit longer, our flight over to Brussels. I read a Rob Bell book, watched a Captain America movie and flipped through some other reading. I managed to close my eyes and relax for a few brief minutes too.
In Brussels, we threw our stuff in a locker and grabbed a train in to meet a relative of Kathy and Alec’s. Our first stop was coffee, but we passed the Belgian Palace (or something like this) on the way, then we went to a music instrument museum.
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My favorite thing about the musical instrument museum was that the cost categories were broken into 4-25, 26-55, and etcetera. For 4-25 it was six euro cheaper than the next age category.
After the musical instrument museum, we went to take pictures at the palace real quick, then we got some meal (lunch, according to the local time zone) at an underground restaurant that I barely fit in the doorway of.
My food was lamb and these great kidney beans that were SO DELICIOUS. Then we made our way back to the airport and waited a bit for our flight to Copenhagen. The Brussels airport was so smooth and easy and relaxing. I loved it.
We got to Copenhagen a bit early and waited for a young woman who works with the church here to pick us up. She helped us get our transit tickets, then we came back to the church. Fun fact: busses here encourage you to play ping-pong on them. I’m hoping I see this at some point.
The church we are working with has a giant cultural center where they rent out space to groups that need event space, and have some space for people to stay, so this is where we are!
Today we are learning a big about the community this group works with, and helping set up for some outreach tonight! I’m very excited!
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