Dear Sun, I miss you. Call me.

Locals here are very curious. Upon hearing me speak English, they usually ask me a few questions. "Where are you from?" "What do you think about Belgium?" "Do you like it here?" I always tell them that I love Belgium. It's a beautiful country and people are so nice. But I miss home, family, and friends. Lately, I've been adding that I am tired of the rain. "Ah, rain," they respond. "That's Belgium." I guess you have to have an accepting type of attitude here, because you certainly can't do anything about the weather. They just continue on with life as if it's a beautiful day. The rain is pouring down, but they are out there raking leaves, riding their bikes to the market, or sweeping off their sidewalk. As soon as there is a break in the weather, they are out there wiping down their windows until they shine. As first, I was out there with them. Now, I just look up at the sky and say, "Looks like more rain is on the way. Why bother." I haven't cleaned my windows in a couple of months. I'm sure that I am the talk of the neighborhood with my water spotted panes, but such is life. Give it 10 minutes. It'll rain again and it won't matter. Oh, wait. It's raining now. *sigh*

Het Is Nat.

It is wet. That is a phrase that even I can understand in Nederlands. Even more so on a day like today. Because it is. Nat that is. Very...very nat. On a rainy day like today, this is the best seat in the house. This is Jess' room. Don't tell the teenager I told you this, but I'm planning on evicting her during the next storm! (Don't worry. She never reads this blog. I haven't written one thing about hot teenage guys, so there really isn't any point.) Her window is built into the slant of the roof on the second floor, so the rain hits directly on it, tapping gently like tiny strumming fingers, and then running in little rivers down the pane. What a fantastic sound that is. The only other window like it in the house is directly over the bathtub. I can't sleep in the bath tub. Believe me. I tried it out last night when it was raining really hard. Nope. The teenager is getting evicted, and that's all there is to it.

If you asked the boy what the best seat in the house was today, he would say that this is it. He's on Fall Break this week, so this is what he did for fun on a rainy Wednesday. I'm not even sure that he knew it was raining. But the rain continues. It stopped for a little while so I could run some errands and take care of a few things that had to be done outside. Then it started again. I'm OK with that. If it's nice tomorrow, I'll go out and clean my windows all sparkly fresh with all the other Belgian ladies. If it's not, I'll grab a book and hide out in Jess' bed, listening to the rain tapping on the window. Shhhhhhhh. It's a secret. Don't tell her.