May day in the rest of the world is completely different than in the states. I thought it would consist of children dancing around a May Pole ushering in a swift end to Spring and a sending a wish for summer. But instead, police are preparing for riots in several cities around this part of the world and my neighborhood grocery store is closed. No shops up on the Mier are open, no Labor Day sales.

I looked it up online:
The Second Socialist International in 1889 designated May Day as the holiday for labor, and since that time it has been the occasion for demonstrations, parades, and speeches among socialists and communists.

The whole country is off from work. And I halfway expect that in Belgium this could be for real. That no one would be working...gas stations empty, the highways only full of people who can manage to get from point A to point B on their current supply...the police on call but in plainclothes at home firing up the grill...the factory workers and bakers staying up past 10 and actually sleepingtill almost 11 instead of their usual rising at 5... In a country where shops are still closed on Sunday, anything is possible. Though Eva corrects me by telling me that restaurants are open...the best frituur in the whole of Belgium, the De Wit, open and packed to the gills.

In other random news, I received my digital camera in the mail today...which I had to pay a gross amount to customs to actually get it into my hands. But, what this means, is that pictures will again begin to surface.

Random bit two...in the spirit of the Beastie Boys, with whom I have very little in common ("Sometimes I Like to brag, sometimes I'm soft spoken. When I'm in Holland I eat the pannenkoeken") I have found common ground: Pannenkoeken. Eva says I'm obsessed. I'm so obsessed that I feel the need to share and record for posterity the deleriously easy recipe.

1 cup all-purpose flour, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, and Eva suggests a bit of vanilla essence

Directions

1 In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk...stir until it is pretty runny. It doesn't need to be think like the conventional pancake.
2 Heat a lightly buttered frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3 Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

So there. Enough from pre-May day in Belgium