April 02, 2003 : night with liesbet

Today I met with Steven to talk about my end-of-year-project. It wasn't a stressful meeting, as it was simply us talking over the ideas. We've decided that my journal will be the red-thread that ties it all together, though it will eventually have an additional form as well.

Basically, the end-of-year (or whatever it should be called) will be this journal "the 26th year" in installation form or something along the lines of a year in Antwerp from a not so foreign foreign perspective.

When I got home, I checked the mail and had a letter from the city of Antwerp (central bibliotheek) that said (what I could make of it) that they were going to take away my library that I had a 36 Euro fine for 2 cds Eva and I had checked out several months ago and had consequently not listened to.

I was a bit stressed anyway about Lisa (Eva's last girlfriend) coming over partly due to the fact that A) I didn't know she had been to our house before B) she's a good cook and I was cooking and C) it was just a bit stressful in general.

In Del Haize, buying the stuff to make the great American enchiladas (American being loosely interpreted as the Americas), Eva tells me that my enchiladas are better with store-bought enchilada sauce (which we can't buy here) and actually that Liesbet's Thai is better than mine. (longish story) The first bit was a small blow, as I have made every effort to replace the items from home with items from Belgium. The second, however, was just a stab in general during a very heated discussion about food in general.

We had a silent car-ride home and almost canceled, but decided to go through with it because we had A) promised a friend B)didn't want it to completely ruin our evening and C) we had enough food to make twice as many enchiladas as normal.

When we get inside, Eva reads the letter from Stad Antwerpen and it really means that if I pay my fine now, I don't have to give up my card. Yay!

We go on to pick Lisa up at her new apartment (which is consequently quite close to our house) and bring her back to our place. She brings along two bottles of red wine: Bergerac 2001 (purple label) and it was extremely delicious.

I made guacamole while they went to the videotheek to rent a film for the evening--once again my only request is that it not me One Hour Photo. (which thankfully Lisa said that she had seen it and that it was a horrible film)

When they come back with Ya Ya Sisterhood, I start making dinner. An hour later, het is gedaan. (it's finished) and we start in on the wine and the eating of the decent enchiladas. We start talking about eating habits and the size of my pants and Liesbet is somewhat shocked when Eva returns from our clothes-pile with a pair of my jeans. Yes, they do seem somewhat large when one compares them to "normal-sized" pants or overlay them on Eva's tiny-waisted ones.

Maybe we really will start a diet soon.

We settled in to watch the movie and by the time it was finished, I decided that although I was not drunk, I should not be driving Debbie under the current conditions. Eva whined a bit at this (which was a bit surprising as she rarely whines and certainly not when it comes to driving under the influence!) I was glad that Liesbet didn't live so far away, as her last residence was considerably further. She headed home and we headed to bed, another night well spent. (And it's not even the weekend yet! it's a weeknight!)

IN THE NEWS:
Prime Minister Tony Blair charged today that Saddam Hussein planned to harm Muslim shrines in Iraq and pin responsibility for the desecration on allied troops.

ALSO IN THE NEWS:
American Special Operations forces rescued an Army private from Nasiriya, Iraq, where she had been held captive since March 23, and found the remains of 11 unidentified bodies.

AND FINALLY:
Under escalating global pressure, China agreed today to let international health investigators visit the place where the mystery illness SARS apparently began —the southern province of Guangdong. Officials also updated the nation's death toll by a dozen to 46 as they revealed the illness had spread to other regions and sickened far more than they initially reported