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Today with little sleep and even less knowledge of the city, we dropped our luggage at the Ibis hotel in Brussels and had 5 hours to kill before our rooms would be ready. We traipsed around this beautiful (COLD!) city with glassy eyes and bed heads. Virtually everyone was lost for hours and I'm sure tempers were short. I finally gave up dragging myself around at noon. I had developed a case of what I call travel belly which is basically a punch in the gut. I went back to the hotel and painfully and miserably waited for my room. Despite the warning of sleeping, it had to be done. I woke up around 7pm, my travel belly a bit better and headed out into the city alone. I usually like wandering cities alone but I felt a little uncomfortable and shied away from quaint cafes and brassieres. It is the language thing. Almost everyone in Brussels speaks English but I didn't want to speak English and my French is embarrassing. I felt stupid and alien and these are not things I enjoy feeling. Basically, I had become a lone, mute foreigner and was having a difficult time finding food. After an a disturbing incident with a homeless man and his dog, I made my way back to the hotel and stopped at a Kabob place. I pointed and muttered to order what I thought was a hamburger. When I returned to my hotel to find the sandwich pictured above, I laughed until I cried. I need to get over myself and either speak English or butcher the little French I know. Being an invisible mute is less enjoyable than making an American fool of myself- well at least I hope so.
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