Arrival and Adjustments- Bekah

We have officially been in Middelburg for a week and life is finally starting to settle down into a peaceful rhythm.  Our arrival however, was anything but peaceful…

After tearful goodbyes with our families, we dried our eyes and set out on what was to be our greatest adventure yet. Our first flight was to Atlanta, and we had no problems with the flight. Our next flight was from Atlanta to Brussels, Belgium- the longest flight either of us had ever taken. After fighting with our luggage- the stewardess graciously allowed us to stow it in their luggage rack. We were able to trade seats and be able to sit next to each other. The flight began and we instantly regretted our switch of choice- we sat next to a mother and her small child who screamed/cried the first few hours of the flight. After an interesting dinner of some extremely cheesy pasta, we settled down for what we hoped would be a peaceful nights sleep. After adjusting and readjusting in our seats, sleep proved to be futile- the man behind us read the whole time, the screen in front of us flashed the whole time. When we finally thought blessed sleep was to come- the lights were turned on and breakfast was served. Before we knew it we had landed in Brussels and were on our way off the plane. After standing in a enormous line for about 20 minutes, we got through customs and claimed our luggage. We mustered all our courage and found the fateful train station where we would buy our tickets to ride our first train ever. After purchasing our tickets to Middelburg, the man at the counter told us we had 4 minutes to catch our train. We got all our luggage down the stairs, found our train, found a seat and was just beginning to breathe again, when the conductor told us we were sitting in first class and had to move. We gathered all our worldly possessions and trudged through the cars until we found an empty seat. A very nice man helped us put away our luggage, and after talking to him for a bit, we discovered he too was from America and was just as confused about the trains as we were. It was so comforting to find someone who spoke our language and who was just as confused as we were. After hopping off at the Brussels Central station, we found our next train that would take us to Roosendaal. After procuring some nourishment (and accidentally speaking Spanish….) we found our way to our platform for our train to Roosendaal. The train arrived and we fought our way on board and found a car with 2 empty seats. Our luggage stowed once again, we sat down for what was nearly the last leg of our trip. An announcement came over the intercom, and the man in the car with us told us that the train had stopped working and we would have to get off. We hauled all our luggage off the car and had to wait another hour for the next train to come. After a miserable hour, our train arrived, and we piled on with everyone who was already on the train and everyone who had missed the first train. Needless to say- it was crowded. There were no seats left on the train, and we ended up standing in the loading area for the entire trip. After a long, hot hour we arrived in Roosendaal. I’ve never been so happy to get off a train in my entire life. We found our last and final train to Middelburg, got all our luggage on, and nearly collapsed. We took turns dosing off until we reached Middelburg. Once in Middelburg, we had to contact the school to let them know we had arrived, and so that we could get our keys for our apartment. After finding that there was in fact, no payphone at the train station, a woman allowed us to use her cell phone to call the school. We found a taxi (my first taxi ride ever!) and made the trip to our apartment building. We sat outside for about 20 minutes until the coordinator arrived with our keys. Once inside our room, we were finally able to put our bags down for good and come to terms with reality. We were in Europe. We were exhausted. We had just had the most miserable train experience ever. We had no idea what we had just gotten ourselves into.

Needless to say, things have gotten better since then. It could possibly be the therapeutic abilities of the local pastries and ice cream. We are enjoying ourselves and love exploring around Middelburg and the neighboring cities.

(Appelflappen)Ijs (ice cream) 

Thank you to everyone who helped us get here in any way, shape or form- from endless garage sales, to cupcakes, photoshoots and generous donations. We love you all so much and we are so thankful to be here!

Goes-(Kooz)

Vlissingen-The local beach town!