June 28, 2003 : a notch here, a notch there

Obviously since we went to bed at such a horrific hour yesterday, today Eva and I got up quite a bit later than we would have ordinarilly. Actually, that's not entirely true, as I still managed to get up around noon and start the day off on a somewhat normal foot. Eva, however, lagged behind in bed and didn't climb out till I made her tea and biscuits.

We originally had planned several things for our pre-Hoboken afternoon: call auto shops, stop by auto shops, go to store, drop by chinese supermarket, etc. We had even hoped to plan somewhere in there a bit of together time, perhaps over a coffee or something. (becoming a novel concept as of late...as we are truly time-strapped and time-trapped all in the same go)

All we really managed to do (we didn't make it out of the house before I had to go set up in Hoboken) was get up. I did manage to call a few places about the car, both with mild success (realizing the quoted price is quite high) and mild failure (realizing the price is sort of the norm). See what kind of week it's been? Thank god on Monday it starts all over again and perhaps this one will be on the right foot.

Speaking of feet. I went to Hoboken and set up the shoe-project in a spare hallway. There weren't hordes of people coming in or out, but there were enough to at least have made it worthwhile. I set up with enough time to head back home for lunch with Eva and then head back again for the proclimation.

On the wa back home I picked up stuff for a light lunch...I picked up an almost-expired salad for Eva (a really nice salad for 30 percent off!) and stuff to make a sandwhich for me. Eva was so entirely shocked when I showed up with a salad that I almost thing it's better than showing up with flowers. (note to self: in Eva's mind sla=blomen/salad=flowers)

To be honest, we didn't want to head back over to Hoboken. It's not that I didn't want to find out my results, see any of my former classmates, or even to sample the world-food buffett. We were just tired. I was so tired in fact that I had heavy-eyelids driving all the way there. I was so tired, in fact, that I could have fallen asleep on the little grassy knole we were sitting on. We're basically reaching utter-exhaustion level, and I'm sure Eva's closer to it than I am.

When we arrived the exhibition was locked and several of the people who wanted to pick up their shoes kept asking where I was located. I was actually late, but that's beside the point. The exhibition (mine was a part of an entire hallway full of "art") was simply hard to find and furthermore, closed (not my fault). To make my stress even worse, it seems that now I'll have to hunt people down to return the shoes. (not something I want to be doing after a week like we've had...maybe we can put it off until the very last week of July and get all the shoes returned in one single day)

The party/buffett/dancing was a success, and furthermore, so was the drinking. There was one Moroccan/Northern African/Turkish guy who was so drunk by 8:30 he could barely walk. (sort of funny, as everyone seemed to be taking it all in stride) The dancing, however, was a completely amazing event. They had live music until around 9:30 and then a DJ started up for the night. Though we didn't stay long because I was litterally standing dead on my feet, we did manage to get a few dance moves in there--amidst the group of people from the far stretches of the world (teachers included) all dancing to the same sound. There was something beautiful in it. The music was world-centered, a mix of your basic dance standards, a Madona thrown in there, and then sounds you'd hear if you were on any festival night in any town in the world. It was amazing. Everyone was having a great time (except the drunk guy, who was by this time sitting on the grass outside propped up by a light pole). Not to be too overly sentimental about it, it was like shoe project in dance form...the shoes and their owners dancing around.

I also neglected to mention that Eva and I only had about 6 Euro between us, so we each had two drinks and we each had one serving of the world-buffett. (sort of like an overgrown salad bar) And speaking of food, adding a notch to our "week from hell" well after we were on our way home, Eva decided that she'd like to have another salad. She decided on Quick. En route to Quick, we had to stop for money at our bank (not a mister cash, but the ATM inside our bank). She hopped out of the car, entered the bank (they lock the doors at 11) and proceeded to print out her list of withdrawals before taking out any additional cash. Well wouldn't you know it, the clock struck 11 during her printing and immediately canceled the transaction and she was left with no cash and half of her printouts. (this is a notch for the week, no?)

Since Belgians also have the nifty (highly underrated) Proton card at their disposal, we headed off to Berchem (to the Quick) to have Eva run into a phone-booth to load up her Proton card with enough money to buy our meals at Quick. With no phonecard in site, we pass the Quick only to realize down the road that we find a phonebox, but are now stuck in some sort of streetfair/carnival traffic! (another notch?) Finally we pull into Quick only to realize that they've just closed! (a notch for sure)

By this time it's really funny! We come home, Eva makes some rice for dinner, has a long-winded discussion with a friend, and then comes to bed (I'm already there reading).

And this is the killer notch of the evening. Somewhere around 2 in the morning, I bolt out of bed to the toilet only to realize that I've got some mile case of food-poisoning. I'm there with tummy gurgles and vomity feelings and obvious diahrea for at least a half hour. (this is the final notch of the evening) Eva was so sweet during it all. She spent most of the time saying comforting words, hunting down some pills for me to take (to no avail), and laughing at my stomach's wanting at being heard. I attempted to go to bed once only to return to the toilet seet for another 15 minutes or so.

I can only say that in times such as these (in the broader since), it's great to have an Eva.

IN THE NEWS:
Government ministers stepped up pressure Saturday on the British Broadcasting Corp. to apologize for reporting that officials doctored intelligence information to justify war with Iraq.