since then and until soon

I haven´t put up any updates until now because I started to view them as an inconvenience instead of a joy...and I don´t want to live that way anymore! I´m only going to do things either a) when it occurs to me to do them and they make my heart light or b) when the universe tells me it´s time to do them.

This is category b): I´m in an internet cafe surrounded by my new friends´ backpacks, and since they´re not back yet and I can´t carry them all, I will await their return with you. When the arrive I hit "post", so a mid-sentence truncation may follow.

From Brussels to Bruge, a touristy town that is quaint and cute and a UNESCO heritage site. I spent the day meandering and eating fries. I spent the evenings with Marie-Louise, my second CouchSurfing host, and I once again sit amazed and gratified with the kindness of strangers. A train back to Paris and then a meeting with Florine, a French girl with a culinary flair and a zest for all things interesting. I stayed in her one-room flat for two days and two nights - we visited Giverny, Vernon (Vair-none, not Ver-nOn), and of course the opulent palace. We, along with Susan from Norway, talked about France, Canada, and Norway, about the different ways to say I love you (you can´t say "I like you" in French: it´s all or nothing, whereas in Norway you can choose between two, depending on whether you´re referring to familial or romantic love), about Marie Antoinette, about chocolate. Florine grabs experiences and runs with them, expresses everything with certainty, whether optimism about the future or her absolute detestation of people who don´t read CouchSurfing profiles.

CouchSurfing.com has changed my life. More than a place to stay, more even than a way to meet someone who knows so much you don´t know and wants to tell you all about it, this community revitalizes my faith in