March: Football, brains, girl talk and supermarket follies

As I was starting on this month's memoir, Amelie knocked on my door and asked which shoes should go well with her outfit... She's going out with this guy from her church tomorrow and she's overly excited about it, but she wants her outfit to say "I'm not overly excited about this". It was so cute! I wonder if the French have their own version of "kilig"...

It's almost 8:30pm here, and the sun is just setting. Spring has sprung indeed, our clocks have sprung forward starting last Sunday (so we're just 6hours behind Manila time) and the temp has been hovering around 15 degrees. I have never seen so many people in our university grounds, suddenly all these hibernating students were out in the sun, having picnics, sunbathing, skateboarding. One time, I left the house in my usual winter gear of 3 layers, went to school with the usual route of 2 trams and 4 blocks walk total, and by the time I got there, I was down to 1 layer with the rest stuffed into my bag.

This month was our brainy month, as all of us students were assigned to spew out a total of 10,000 words minimum for 3 of our subjects. It was tough, good thing that I chose interesting topics (public diplomacy and corporate foundations, and migration and national identity in india and the phils, just in case you want to know...) Still have 2,000 words to go (kuhn's paradigms, I'm about to start on it) then I'm officially on spring break. And come to think of it, now I'm done with these essays, I'm half done with one third of my MA requirements. Given they get good marks, please pray with me. Still a long way to go....

My Brussels exploring has led me to the biggest Asian store in the city, and I've never been so happy at the sight of Lucky Me Pancit Canton. Fita. Tofu. MUNGGO. Jufran. Mang Tomas. White Rabbit. Haw Flakes. Dried Mangoes. Frozen Siomai. AND Sinigang mix. I've successfully made a hearty batch of picadillo. In irony, my stay here has actually honed my Filipino cooking skills. I discovered the store by making friends with a Filipina in the tram while we were on the way to church one Sunday, who turns out to be the head chef at the Italian Embassy staff house, and we ended up having tea and muffins, going to the store, her calling me "sweetie", and an invite to taste her Italian cooking.

The highlight of my brainy month is my first football match... to watch. We had a very IR, very European "US" vs "THEM" student-professor face-off, complete with 50 cent bets, wine on the stands, and blood on the grass. Even with papers due this Friday, it was a good crowd at 40 people cheering and jeering at the profs. Vengeance is sweet. We won, 6-3, with 2 injuries (this player skidded on the grass, face-down).

Advanced Happy Easter! This time next week I shall be in Rome (Three coins in Trevi do work to lead you back there!), itinerary includes Florence, Way of the Cross on Good Friday at the Vatican, Pompeii and a slight chance to kiss the ring of the Pope.

Not much photos this month, as I've been home most days, except for the football match (oh, you girls wouldn't complain...).