Phantom Pain

NH Brussels City Centre, Brussels, Belgium

Not having a camera is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I don't have to worry about carrying my camera everywhere. I don't have to worry about misplacing it or anything. I don't have to worry about camera angles or thinking, "Would this be a good picture?" Unfortunately, I also miss some great shots. This will be the first day of my trip that I won't have any new pictures.

Dinner was great again tonight. Saw that everyone was smoking outside, so I ate indoors. I was hungry enough, so went with one of the multi-course dinners. I started with a spicy soup and went right into some pork rolls. I forgot what they were, so I asked the waitress. She proceeded not only to tell me what they were, but to show me the proper way to eat them. I felt like I was a five year old. Apparently I looked like one too, judging by the reaction of the group sitting at the table sitting next to me who didn't realize I can understand basic Spanish.

Next came the frog legs. This is where I really regretted not having a camera. There are all sorts of comedic possibilities with frog legs. They were good though. They looked like quail legs with an extra joint and tasted like chicken. To top it off was some ice cream. I don't know if it tasted so good because I haven't had ice cream in awhile or it was actually really good, but there you go.

Recently I've been thinking about foreign languages a lot. I would love to be able to learn another language and learn it well. Sure, I studied Spanish for what seems like forever in school, but how much do you really learn it a school setting? If I were to learn another language--and I mean really learn it--I guess I would stick with Spanish. I already have the background, and it's one of the more useful languages to have in the states.

So the issue is how to learn it. It would be ideal to pack up everything and go somewhere where they only speak Spanish and totally immerse myself in all of it for about three months. But the issue there is time. I'm thinking about doing Berlitz tapes or something, but frankly I don't know anything about that either. I guess I'll have to do some research.