merde!

So I logged onto my blog today to find out that i'm required to switch to a new version of Blogger. OK fine. Except that when I did that, I lost my last post!! There were some sweet links on that one!

Anyways, I've been neglecting the blogging lately because I had an insane week. School gave us a week off because they clued into the fact that we're all slowly drowning under the loads of work. I used the first half of the week to get all my work done, and the last half to decompress. I jumped on the train and headed to the land of fries, raspberry beer and waffles.

This was my first time in Brussels and I really loved it. I never knew it had such a burgeoning art scene - of all kinds. I was in a cafe having lunch on friday and I had a feeling I was sitting beside a famous artist just from the way he was talking and the names he was dropping (ie: Jeff Koons). Sure enough, it was Jim Dine. And I spent most of the day just walking through the centre and taking pictures of the graffiti and stencil art.

Thursday night was a bit of a bust, unfortunately. We showed up at the Agnes B. party a bit too late...all the free champagne was gone and our friends were beyond drunk. Being the only sober ones in the whole place, we quickly decided to get some sleep so as to be in shape for friday night. Very wise decision on our part because friday turned out to be ridiculous.

We crammed into two cars and drove to Liege to see Birdy Nam Nam. We got there just in time to help ourselves to their rider and secure front-and-centre spots for the show. I love listening to this group when i'm studying because it's nice and chill and I don't get distracted by lyrics. Seeing them live is completely different, because these guys are pretty incredible musicians. The concept is a band of turntables. Each guy has his deck, on which he plays an "instrument". What makes seeing them live so great is that you're always trying to figure out who is playing what. And also how they are able to manage listening to each other while switching records and finding the right spot. No laptops. I'm a sucker for the old school.

After their set was over, the debauchery began. Thankfully I took lots of pictures to remind me of what happened. Stellar dance moves, heart-to-hearts, hugs and kisses, Olivier saving Bitsy from one of his friends...all the makings of a wonderful night.

Bitsy and I didn't have the strength to do anything on saturday except sit in a movie theatre so we went to see Borat. I don't know why I didn't have huge expectations for this film, so to say that I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Comedic genius.

In true Anne fashion, I nearly missed my train on the way back. The transition back to studying and going to school was incredibly painful. Which means that it's time to decompress again...with the first Sciences-Po club night. What do you get when you put a bunch of over-worked, over-intelligent, over-ambitious political science students in a club with 2 euro drinks? A catastrophe. And I will be sure to bring my camera to document it. The future leaders of France, all drunk and belligerent?? Who knows when these pictures might come in handy!