Today was our first field trip day. We met outside the student house with our bicycles at 9:00 AM. Both of the professors met us there as well as two former students of Texas A&M University (a married couple). The husband is working on his doctorate in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at Texas A&M University and is here in Leuven, Belgium doing research. The wife is a sociology graduate from A&M. They will be here through August. Also, a past correspondent for our program from K.U. Leuven, Jan, came along on our trip as well. I passed out the graded homework #2 to all of the students before we left the house and those who still needed to turn in yesterday's homework did so. We travelled in two groups to ecoWERF which is a waste collection and composting site. It was about a 30 minute bike ride to get there. We had a short powerpoint presentation by Sara and Derek and then we toured the composting facility. After the tour was over, we headed to lunch at De Blauwe Schuit which is a famous cafe in Leuven. I ordered two Cola Lights (they are super small!) and the spaghetti bolognaise. It was very good! Brad had the lasagna. They also served a wide variety of sandwiches. We set out in the courtyard or garden during lunch and out of the middle of nowhere, a peakcock walks out and starts eating the crumbs of food around us! It was the wierdest thing I have ever seen! Then we travelled about 10 minutes to the Stella Artois brewery. They brew Stella, Jupiler, Hoegarden, and Leffe at the Stella Artois brewery. First, we toured the waste water treatment facility onsite at the brewery. The treatment plant had all parts and more than a typical munipal waste water treatment facility would have. Then, we toured the brewery. It ended with the bottling process and then free beer and soft drinks in the bar. We were also allowed to buy Stella souvenirs from a small gift shop. I was not able to take many pictures from the Stella Artois brewery because pictures were not allowed in most areas. We were required to wear very uncomfortable safety shoes while there so I am super tired from walking up and down stairs all day. After we left the brewery at about 5:30 PM, some of us girls went to the Diessastraat to shop. We went to H&M and several other shops. Stephanie and I were looking for Birkenstock sandals (they are the biggest trend here) but we were unsuccessful. All of the shopping stores and grocery stores close at 6:00 PM though, so we didn't have much time to look around. Then I rode my bike with Val to an ice cream shop. She got a hot waffle covered in chocolate syrup. I got a waffle cone with a scoop of ice cream.
Now I am home and am about to write my 5 to 6 page field trip report that is due on Monday! I am so happy that I actually was able to talk to my dad on his cell phone via Skype yesterday. I also talked to my mom. It's great to keep in touch with them! Hugs and kisses and love from Leuven, Belgium. Ann, Liz, Derrick, and I must also figure out where we are going this weekend (tomorrow morning!). It sounds like probably Paris, France but I'm not positive yet. I will be back on Sunday, so look for another blog then!
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