Live from Halloween celebrations in the US V

The best costume I saw all day was not the skinny dude covered head to toe with green lycra (we asked him what he was and all he said was 'green'.) but the girl walking next to Michael Jackson number 32587 (so many Michaels, and all different). My friend Robert asked her what was her costume. I managed not to crack up when I heard the dialogue. 'What are you?', The girl smiled 'I'm a fan'. Robert was lost. 'A fan of what?' She looked at him like he was stupid, then at her Michael Jackson buddy, rolled her eyes then said with a clear voice: 'A fan of Michael Jackson'.

And with that note, I'm off to bed. Let's hope no one trashes the place, I ate most of the chocolates :)

Live from Halloween celebrations in the US IV

My biggest surprise all day?

Two guys sitting outside my local supermarket, smoking and relaxing ask a guy in a costume 'hey, dude, what's this Halloween thing all about?' The guy in the costume smiles and keeps walking. I stop and start to chat. 'I mean, where did it come from? When did it start?' So there I was in front of two Americans who had little or less clue than me.

Live from Halloween celebrations in the US III

Things confirmed by the movies:



- You don't give chocolates/candies then your place gets trashed/pranked/something happens.

- People of all ages dress up, there are people in costumes in every corner, in every street.

- There are so many parties and events it's hard to decide where to go.

- Never seen so many pumpkins...

Live from Halloween celebrations in the US II

What I didn't know about Halloween before actually being in the States during the holiday and before being surrounded by Americans:

- Moms go trick or treating too. In most movies I saw the kids go out alone and adventure off, apparently to get candies and chocolates for free at strangers' homes, what I actually saw was moms (ok, ok, I saw ONE dad too) waiting by the gate while the kids walk up to the door. One mom was scarier than her kids' costumes.

- No one gives fruit or cereal bars anymore. Too many people died from it, stuff got put inside fruit, poison etc. As I heard this I chuckled and said I thought all that were urban legends, then 3 grown mature people stared at me super looking all serious, 'real people died.' Right. Got it.

- Kids come up to your door, they say 'Trick or Treat' and then YOU, the person holding the chocolates decide what they get. Chocolates, or a trick. My friend Robert had a kid howling. I love him.

Live from Halloween celebrations in the US

First of all, we regret the weather. We, of the skirt wearing kind, regret it even more.

In the movies we don't see people shivering or wearing raincoats, do we? We also don't or at least I haven't seen women dressed as witches walking their dogs. Why is that? It would work for me as an audience...

Live Halloween posting (considering the time difference most of you won't really care about the live bit)

the live posting starts in 5 minutes. I'm not ready are you? :)

My first Halloween themed party

It happened to be a kid's birthday party but it had Michael Jackson's Thriller dance, food and drinks so does it matter?
The house was unmissable. Imagine driving in while hearing kids scream in the background. Passers-by stopped to chat as well, it was very nice.

I still think this 'clown' was the scariest bit. I slept in the living room that night and kept having to remind myself it wasn't some creep sitting down watching me.

This was the toy I hated the most, you hear screams and shrieks every time you press the button so of course the kids pressed it every five minutes.

The spiderweb touch was a great detail, it's still all over the house. I hope I'm not the one that has to clean it up.
The spiderweb included details such as different size spiders hanging from the ceiling.

As well as a tiny doll trapped in the spiderweb. Clearly I was born in the wrong generation.

Halloween is already next weekend!

Man, where does time fly off to? This weekend is homecoming weekend, DC is insane with parties, events and general celebration. Homecoming, if I understand it correctly, means celebrating the return of students/alumni. There are balls, galas, parties and of course, alcohol. And before you have time to recover from homecoming weekend, Halloween is already here.

I haven't been taking my camera with me lately so you'll have to take my word when I tell you that each day there are more Halloween decorations popping up. The supermarkets have an extra aisle for chocolates, pumpkins are seen everywhere, scary and funny costumes are sold on the streets. I think only now do I realize I really am in the States. This Sunday I'm attending a birthday party whose main thing is doing the 'Thriller' choreography. Life is good.

I've recently discovered cupcakes. So far my favorite are the peanut butter cupcakes.

Nightllife

It took me about 15 shots to get these two. Next time the tripod will not stay in the car...

motion stop

As you might have noticed, my life is never boring. There is always something going on.

As such it's time to announce that another adventure has popped up and that the Thailand one will be done for the time being. I do hope to return soon.

I shall miss most of all the kids, the food, the weather and the calm. My favorite: rice soup with vegetables, Oishi green tea with honey and lemon (and banana pancakes, though not in the picture).

The short life of a water balloon

First, the balloon get filled with water. Then it finds a kid.

Then the kid finds a target.

The target tries to run.

The target fails to get away and must return to face the laughing crowd.

The balloon had a successful life.

First day back at school

First, a word about the rain season: wet. Besides being obvious it's persistent. Imagine never being completely dry. Imagine your clothes smelling like they've been in a basement for the last 3 years, imagine your hair damp all the time, imagine constant rain - or when it finally does stop raining there is still water in the air... Imagine snails at every single spot, walls, floor, you name it. Imagine frogs and toads of all sizes crossing the street, hoping right next to your feet... Imagine all that and you're starting to get the general idea.

Getting to school in this season is also tricky...

But we pass some nice areas. (notice the tiny girl watching us go by...)

We did a treasure hunt, the clues were given after the completion of certain tasks such as pass the water balloon, do a crazy dance etc
Playing pass the water balloon means fun and...

a wet classroom

and wet feet. Those pants and socks were white when I arrived in school that morning...

Me helping my kids build the world's tallest stick tower.

Lunch time. See the size of that pot, I don't know how they manage to cook for 350 kids... This was vegetable and chicken stew with ginger and of course, rice.

Back from the dead

Apologies, readers. Life is crazy. Yes, that's my only justification. The blog will return to normal, I am beyond hope for that one.

I am now back in Brussels (arrived this morning) and I leave for Thailand on the 3rd of September.

A lot has happened but I will recover from the jetlag first before I lay it out for you.

Washington DC: 4th of July

Only in a civilized country would an independance day celebration end with nothing being destroyed or with me not getting angry at drunk people. It also happened in Belgium but I'm still not quite used to it.

In the afternoon people were already getting ready for the fireworks.

Celebrating the end of 'being British and paying taxes to the king' included a picnic in the parc. There was also a free concert with several artists but as much I as I love Aretha Franklin, I couldn't queue all day. I caught only the end of the parade but I think I got the best part:

an Uncle Sam eagle that looked like a duck that you see on the right side of the photo and a Hare Krishna carriage being pulled by hundreds of believers...


I was also fortunate enough to arrive here in time to see part of the Smithsonian folk life Festival, it wasn't something I had anticipated but it was great. The Smithsonian museum includes several museums such as the Air and Space Museum and Udvar-Hazy Center, American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery, American Indian Museum, American History Museum, National Zoo, Natural History Museum and many others. And the best part is that ALL THE MUSEUMS ARE FREE.

So after browsing through the folk festival, my first hours in DC were spent dancing away to a Columbian group called Las cantadoras del Pacifico.

Two of the singers were born in the 1930's and they could outdance anyone.

As the time for the fireworks approached the crowd went all the way from the memorial to the capitol hill, believe me it was more than a football stadium full of people, it was the biggest picnic display I ever saw.

Details for the curious people

After my balloons post everyone wanted more details on the surprise hen party I organized, I thought I'd share a photo of the presents and a summary of my trip to Brussels to buy them.

My last job was very very boring and mostly had boring people. However it was right in the center, I could go to eat in a nice restaurant for lunch, go shopping and sit in a park. All nice things. Parallel to the shopping street is the sex-shops street (of course, it is. They know what they are doing when they set them up) If you're from a small town you'll probably wonder what I mean with 'sex-shop street'. Let's just say that both sides of the street have several shops, from all kinds, from S&M stuff, to only videos, to peep shows... And it's not even on the red district area.

Once the date and the girls were ready to pretend they knew nothing of a surprise party I went to spend an afternoon browsing for fun stuff. I saw everything from sexy underwear, scary underwear, eadible underwear, nurse/nuns/ scouts/ school girl/teacher uniforms, whips, handcuffs, dildos, vibrators, masks, feathers to lots of stuff I didn't even know how it worked. So I did what I had to do, get over my awkwardness and ask questions. I explained it was for a hen party, which in French is literally something like: the burial of the 'young woman's life' (I think they mean 'single' life, not that you'll be old and decrepit once you say 'I do'.) and I thought it would be a smooth ride after that. It wasn't.

'What does your friend like?'

Problem number one. I never slept with her, never got into a detailed conversation that allowed me to reply to the guy. I shrugged.

'OK. Do you want to give her something for her to wear on the night, something for the honey moon, something to have fun once or something that she can keep and use whenever she wants, maybe a costume for the party?'

Problem number two. I dunno. I smiled and tried to look like a nice innocent girl while I gathered my thoughts. I could see the guy was trying to be helpful.

'How about I have a look around to see what you have and then decide?'

'If you have any questions I'll be downstairs.'

As soon as he left and I started looking around I had a huge smile on my face. There were some interesting things for sure! But what would my friend like? I saw a box with a vibrator, handcuffs, a mask an anal vibrator and a feather and decided to call for help. I called a friend of the victim and asked her opinion. 

Once out of the store I went to other stores to see and compare. The one on the right was mostly for sexy or specialized underwear, another for hardcore S&M (some things looked scary) and in the fourth one as I was deciding to go in a guy came out pulling his zipper up so I decided against it...

The first store with the helpful guy that probably thinks I'm a bit slow was the best one.

The nice helpful guy suggested that I do my own combo of sex-toys. He even coordinated the colors! In the end there was so much stuff he had to problems closing the bag.

While he packed everything I noticed a shelf of genitalia piercing items. I knew only the common stuff you see in movies so I was amazed with the choice I was seeing. There was all types of shapes and sizes and for several points of the genitalia as the owner (who had been watching me from the beginning) pointed out. She even explained some to me. 

'Interested?'

How could I explain that just by looking at some of them I felt an urge to cross my legs?

'Curious... But it's not for me.'

'Some really enhance the pleasure.'

'I'm sure. I believe you, I really do but it really wouldn't work for me. That one on the right has just made me dizzy just by looking at it.'  I felt pale. She laughed. I looked to the lower shelf.

'What is that one supposed to be?'

'A horse.'

'And where-'

'Men put it under one of the balls, usually both.'

I like this open age and country when a sex-shop is no longer a dark and slimy place and you can have your questions answered in a clear way. That's part of who I am, I like to understand things.

'And that one? Is that a-'

'Yes, that's a lightning. For the clitoris.'

I shivered. The nice helpful guy was done wrapping, I wanted to hug him.

He said 'have fun' when I left. Personally I blame all those sissy girls that say they are shopping for a friend when it's really for them. 

I left the store with a whole new knowledge. And with a small paper bag packed with sex toys. All the way to the train station I prayed it wouldn't rip.

Items bought: handcuffs, edible massage oil, mask, feather, kamasutra dice (you throw to see which position you do it), edible dust that you spread with a vibrating brush on the partners body and then lick off, a vibrating bath duck. 

Items not included: batteries and a way to find out for sure the bride and groom enjoyed the presents.

After the wedding

I feel muscle pain like I did after a 2 hour kung-fu training.

Belgian balloons

Despite what the blog might indicate I've been keeping myself busy during these forced holidays. I have a new passport, paid my taxes, organized a hen party and Friday I am attending a wedding and acting as official DJ. All this in a country full of chocolates, beer and comics. It's been hard, I tell you...The best part so far - apart from seeing my friends and eating like a homeless in a free buffet - was attaching balloons to a bicycle and crossing a town at full speed. Have you ever heard the sound of 10 balloons rustling against the wind? Let's just say that a lot of people turned their heads, winced (to make sure their eyes weren't playing tricks on them) and then gave me a huge smile. Naturally it was a windy day.

Another fun bit was going on the train with said balloons. It was an old train so I couldn't fit in with the balloons and sit down, I had to stand between to carriages right in front of the door. Which is perfect if you want even more people to see you, one guy even missed his step while giggling at me. A friend of a friend went to pick me up and asked me how she would recognize me. 'I have balloons, you can't miss me.' And there I was, backpack with wine and snacks, phone in one hand, balloons in another, she knew exactly who I was. As did half the town.

For those planning to do something similar make sure the balloons' string isn't too long otherwise you'll hit passing cars and little kids. On that order.