Week One, in Review

To review our first week here...it's had a lot of ups and downs.

We arrived, local time, at 0730, operating on very little sleep.  Our FABulous sponsors picked us up at the airport and brought us to our rented apartment which is very nice.  It's small, but it's temporary and it's super clean, modern and conveniently located.  The day was good and ended with a fun evening with new friends.  Everyone struggled with sleep, though.

The week started off with a bang.  It felt like a we were sprinting a marathon, totally out of shape and sleep deprived.  Hubby's intro to work was more involved than we'd anticipated, so we both felt frustrated. Then, to top off a terrible day couple days work-wise, the kids were not sleeping.  Not.at.all.  The hubs and I were crabby and just wanted to sleep.  All the kids were crabby with tons of energy.

By Wednesday, we were finally able to begin seeing a couple houses, but only after our sponsor's wife took the kids and I on our first grocery shopping expedition.  Nothing is in English.  Nothing.  Our hooray for the day was that the kids (mostly) slept though the night!

Thursday, we were scheduled to spend the whole day house-hunting with a realtor, but he had to cancel due to a medical emergency.  We managed to view a few, then drove to all the various addresses we had been given to at least evaluate the curb appeal and peek into the windows and back garden.  We also looked for a car.  Best of all, the kids slept through the night again.

On Friday, Hubby had work commitments and I was trying to get the kids registered for summer camps and hourly care in anticipation of the coming weeks.  The kids and I also attended the library's summer reading program kick-off and met a few new people.  Then we saw more houses and looked at more cars.  I shed my first few tears of exasperation and exhaustion while driving like a local maniac, lost and late for dinner with friends.  Friends.  The week ended well because our sponsor's family and another family have been so kind to us.  Thank you, Lord!

Saturday, more car shopping.  More driving around to look at houses. 

We ended our CRAZY week, more rested, worshipped our Lord at the chapel service where we met some nice people, then celebrated father's day with a trip to Grand Place, in the heart of Brussels.  We ate french fries and waffles and relished the fact that...WE LIVE IN BELGIUM!