Winter's End

March 26, 2018

Winter's End

Spring is emerging. Warm days exist again. The bus stop is lit by the sunrise. It is no longer perpetually dark and cloudy.

I too am emerging. My spring has arrived after the hardest part of my year to date. It was sprinkled with adventures and it was sprinkled with love. First, for the adventures.

The first weekend in February, I paid my way to a weekend in Flanders, specifically the port city of Antwerp (Anvers in French). Kindly, a professor of English at my school proposed that the school pay for my room, board, and transport if I would agree to lead 3 bike tours of the city. I reacted like a hungry man offered a snickers bar. I jumped on it. Thus, during the month of January, I worked during the dark evenings to collect information on Antwerp, later pre-touring the city. A few weeks later, I found myself playing cards with a group of 10^th graders en route for Antwerp. Each bike tour that followed during the weekend differed, so I had to adapt the time, the start and end point, even the route in light of circumstance, the motivation of the students, and Belgium’s demonic weather. It turned out to be one of the projects of which I am most proud. I mark it a success.

Antwerp's Skyline from the MAS

The MAS

Not a bad view

Two of the oldest printing presses in the world. I couldn't verify if they were Gutenberg's, but his are the oldest so I think they are.

Here’s one fun fact I learned: Antwerp was the legendary home of the giant Antigoon. He would cut off and then toss the hands of sailors in the river if they refused to pay the tariff that he imposed for passage on the River Scheldt. One day, Brabo, our hero, arrived and challenged the giant to a duel. Brabo won the duel, cleaving the head of the giant off of his shoulders. In an act that remains frozen in statues, stories, and even the pastries of Antwerp, Brabo sliced off the right hand of Antigoon and hurled it into the River Scheldt, freeing the country. In Dutch, Antwerpen means “hand-throwing” and the city has kept the name.

Good night Antwerp

If you could spend your birthday anywhere this year, where would you spend it? I would spend mine in the Alps on a ravishingly sunny day with fresh snow, a pair of skis, and a group of friends. During our vacation for the week of Carnival, my host brother and I spent the week in the Alps with Jeunesse & Vie (In the US we call it Young Life). There is too much to tell, but I was in one of my favorite places, doing one of my favorite things, with a group of fabulous people. I leave you to imagine the high I was on.

It was higher than I thought...

I adore the feeling of being halfway down a hard slope, teetering between control and speed, pushing that limit until my legs catch fire and my breathing comes in adrenaline-injected bursts. Or the fleeting glimpse of flying freedom as I suck my weight into my core, tucking my legs to jump as smoothly as possible, while maintaining control, off a bump in the trail. Or (my favorite), a long stretch of un-groomed snow, where my legs transform into springs, absorbing the impact of bump after bump and transforming a chaotic tumble into a downhill descent. Being with a group also had its perks, since I got to teach the Cotton Eyed Joe and had the whole camp doing it. (See it here!) It will take a lot to spend a birthday better that how I spent my 19^th.