Well, today was the last day in Leuven. I’m going to miss being able to wake up on a Saturday morning to go cruise the market for fresh baked goods and fruit like I did this morning. I had fantastic apple cake, strawberries and cherries all for under 5 euro. We did a brief program evaluation with Dr. Brooks around 10:30 and then began the packing process. I’m pretty sure that I have just about jammed every last corner of my suitcase full of stuff and I think that I’ve got everything ready to go!
After everyone did their packing and some last minute shopping we all headed out for one final dinner together. Looking back on the trip I can see that I have made some great friendships. I can’t say enough about the people in this group. It takes a special group of people to be able to get along and become friends in such a short period of time. It is quite obvious that this group had what it took to get along and to really help each other out for the past two weeks. Parting is somewhat bittersweet for all of us because we know that the bond of this trip may not be enough to keep us in contact in our regular lives. However, we all know that we will forever have these two weeks in Belgium to remember. I can’t say that I’m surprised at how attached I have become to this group of people, but I will say that the depth of my appreciation for everyone here is far higher than I ever would have expected.
I am looking forward to traveling part of the way home tomorrow with Valentina and Monica. I hope Toronto is still standing when I get back. I’m sure that there are localized pockets of excitement, but I would hazard a guess that the media is stoking the fire right now.
Anyway, off to bed for me, I’m up and on the road in 6 hours! See you soon!
Adam Fearnall 