Our trip started in Vancouver on July 4th. We visited Vicatoria, Tofino, Whistler, Clearwater, Jasper, Banff and Canmore. Tomorrow we’re going to Calgary for 2 days before we take a plane back home to Belgium (if Belgium will still be one country that is).

First there was Beatrice’s party at our apartment. It was her birthday and we invited a lot of people. I think about 50 in our apartment in total. It was really fun and later that evening there was a gala from the economics faculty of Nova university. (that’s were Alec and me are studying)

A week later there was a party in the apartment of some other erasmus people, but this really beat all records. I think about 200 people were there that night. Really amazing. An open area with stairs going from one side to the other. (I hope I can get a hold off some pictures) . 4 floors of party people. The name of the street of this apartment was “Rua de 1° Decembro” so they had to give a party there on the first of december. We met some belgian people who study in Ghent there.

On 6th december, we had a christmas party with the people living in my flat. We bought gifts for each other and had a 6 course dinner. Everyone had to cook a dish. Ana made guacamole, Monika made a lovely polish soup, Bali and Andy prepared an amazing slovakian dish, Anne served us a nice tartiflette, Alec and me stuffed everyone with cheese fondue and Lena finished everyone off with a delicious tiramisou. One thing did go wrong though: A full glass of white wine got spilled on my MacBook. (It was playing the music) . Luckily my MacBook survived after letting it dry for 3 days.

That week we had our final presentation for the product innovation course. The idea of João and me finished second out of 7 groups. (This is fine, don’t you think?). Alec’s idea finished first of course I can post the presentation if you want, it’s about rPACS: a system for transferring medical images (X-rays) to doctors.

That night we had a goodbye cheese fondue at our place. Most people are leaving to be home for the holidays , so it was a nice opportunity to get everybody together.

They day after the final 5 minute presentation I left back to belgium for the What’s Cookin’? website launch party. The pictures of the party are online on the new website. The place was packed, everyone had a great time and we had the chance to tell people about our next great gig: 1st February, we are organising a whicked what’s cookin’ party in the Vooruit in Ghent. You might want to keep on eye on the what’s cookin’ blog because I think Jan will announce the headliner soon.

I stayed in Belgium for a week. It was nice to see my family back. But damn, It’s cold in Belgium (-3°C). Last Thursday, we had kind of a christmas dinner with the family. Really nice. I enjoyed spending time with my brother, sister, Rossella and my parents, and playing with the Wii

So I got back to Lisbon yesterday. I came home to an empty apartment Luckily the Dutch girls Daphne and Claire are staying here for the holidays, so I wasn’t completely alone. And Nathalie is coming tomorrow to spend christmas here. That will be nice Argh crap, I should be studying now for the exams coming up in 2 weeks.

So, I hope I brought you guys back up to speed on what’s been happening here.

We had some time left at the airport and passed this store where they sell sunglasses. In the euphoria of the weekend we became victims of impulsive buying.
We both bought these super cool Ray-Ban® sunglasses.

Yes, we look like Starsky & Hutch now.

This weekend we were all reunited in Ghent for a big party my mama was throwing with 3 friends of hers. All 4 of them are turning fifty and they wanted to celebrate. They studied pharmacy together in the 70’s in Ghent. My mama made a website for this party with some hilarious pictures of that time. She’ll probably update the website with pictures soon: www.4×50.be

The food was nice and student-like: pitta! hamburgers & fries. The ladies even had to drink a beer ad fundum. Lutje was the winner in this mini-cantus.

A belgian cover band, Coco Spirit, kicked off the dancing with well played covers of famous songs. The crowd got wild during some french meezingers! The dj’s did a nice job in keeping the party mood afterwards. The 4 ladies sure know how to organize a great party.

I had a lot of fun with my old mate Jérôme. What a welcome surprise to see him yesterday! It was really nice to chat with him and my cousins again.

The ArtCube, the venue where the party was, is a nice, big and yet cozy place. It felt like an old warehouse that has been revived for these kinds of parties. You can take a look at the pictures I took with this flickr guestpass.

Today I changed my plane tickets so I could stay one more day. I had a wonderful time here. But it’s cold in Belgium so I’m also happy to go back to Lisbon tomorrow.

Tomorrow my little sister leaves for Australia. Guess she’s not that little any more. Have fun!