As you know I am now in Belgium, the climet is very nice and cold, and the city is beautiful and I live in a very big house will allot of open space. Things are very different I arrived here last week and everything is starting to sink in; I started school last Friday I am in the biggest school in Belgium. I am taking a very advanced Art program I have twenty hours of Art, it covers history, sculpting, color design every thing you could think of; it is allot of fun I have only nine people in my class it is a very demanding program and the best in belgium they only except nine students a year; but the director in the school seemed to like me very much. He looked at my transcripts and since I had takend art classes before and had very good grades he decided to let me be in the program even with out a audition, which all the other students interested have to do. The students are very different they dress really bummy, and their are allot of hippies. I will also take Dutch classes sport classes and an advanced English class. Their is barely anything to do here for teens but drink and I truly do not like beer which is all they drink, but that is the extra curricular activity of every teen in this town, so I am very bored.

My host family is wonderful they are very nice; my host father is a professional horn player he travels all around the world playing for people, he has even played for the king and queen of Belgium. My host mother is a wonderful cook she has a very big garden so every thing is natural and delicious, I have eaten allot but I have lost five pounds already so I think that this trip will do me very well health wise. I have a host sister is nine years old she is the sweetest thing their is, she is trying to teach me Dutch, I have learned a few words but I feel better then before because I am understanding more and more every day. I have three host brothers, they are pretty much in to skating and are also very nice; the oldest is a true free soul he is in his rebellious age but you can see that he will become a great man some day. The first week that I was here they took me white water rafting it was a true adventure it was a three mile long trip I had my own cano and I was a bit scared because I had never done any thing like that before their were three big water falls I only flippedd over once it was trully the coldest water I have ever been in, it was so much fun. They also took me to a castle, it was amazing.

I went to my Rotary meeting last week it was very nice. The Rotary here does not except woman, so I was the only female in a room full of about thiety men; and let me tell you I have never felt like a minority until that moment it was a bit intimidating but they were all very nice. I introduced my self and had about five minutes of a presentation I received a standing ovation, and afterwards they said I was a very good speaker so I was very happy, I also traded Rotary club flags. It was really interesting.

THe people here are very judgmental when it comes to the states they really are against the government that we have but most of their opinions are based on misconceptions of what the United States truly is, most of them only know the States by what they see on TV and you know how the media is. I have gotten allot of well not so nice, almost rude treatment from some people here for being American. Not all people are like this but allot have treated me different because of it and truly it is annoying it is not so easy leaving everything to come to another country wanting to learn about the culture, with an open mind and then having people tell you; why your culture is so horrible, based on total misconceptions.

It is a bit hard to adapt to this; but I am trying my best I have not yet found people that I would like as friends here DUE TO THE LIFE STYLE OF TEEN HERE (Drinking, Smoking and Drugs) So I have found other activities to keep me very busy I am going to Yoga class, I am also playing the cello in the Conservatory, as well as having a very demanding school program; and truly I did not come to meet friends here I came to enjoy a little of every thing that their was here and I plan to do that. The kind of people that their are here are truly not what I would want as friends but it is not bad, one of my soul purposes in taking this opportunity was to find my self, a challenge of a life time starting here. The way I see it I already have a hand full of true friends back at home, I refuse to close my doors at what could be a great friendship here but this trip is for me. For me to really get to know new things and experience things I normally could not, so meeting people is important but the effort of making close friends right now is not a priority.

Untill next time......

Ursula Prado