A long, strange trip

Leuven town square before the Great War

A month or two ago the organization I had been playing music with had the stage for a couple hours at a music festival at Arenberg campus. I played with two strangers but then when a couple familiar friends came on, we were on the same page, one particular span I really surprised myself with what I played. The lighted paths through the woods from one stage to another and the occasional tent on my way out after playing will be an everlasting image.

A while back I had a lovely time wondering through the Belgian countryside to go visit the abbey at the park, the aroma of freshly tilled soil and the aesthetic appeal of wide open fields, beautiful ponds providing a picturesque view of the backside of the abbey with their banks of lavender foliage.  I arrived, I sat, I read paragraph one of my thesis conclusion, anticipation builds.  I walked along the eastern edge of the park, looking for these fabled ponds.  I the n came upon the abbey after walking around the fields of barley. But before investigating the abbey, my tired legs needed a rest in the cool grass. Here I read the second paragraph.Then at last these ponds appear. After walking around the perimeter of the first and a fitting spot  along the bank of the second, I stopped again where a group of ducks are feeding while a beautiful white swan observes with uncouth rapport. Here,  I read the second to last paragraph of my thesis, an exclamation point. Eventually, I return back to the same bench from the first, to read the final paragraph, back to do (c).

Eventually, with the help of many friendly strangers, I returned to my friend’s house, the kickdrum signals the studio was in session, so you shouldn’t disrupt with a doorbell, enter through the crop field’s out back instead.. The house was full of belgian musicians mixed with a couple pre-med students. My time at that house really was a high point of my year. An inspiration for studying abroad came through frustrations during the trip to Greece: The sample sizes of touring a place only left me wanting more, I wanted to really settle in and let a culture seep into my being. This time on Tervuursesteenweg allowed the saturation to be complete. Every morning, I'd walk out to the sun drenched garden to pick mint for my tea then I'd sit at the patio overlooking the golden crop fields. I really fell for the Belgian countryside, everyone has a quaint garden and a cozy grin. When I'd cook there was often someone at play in the studio or playing music of some kind, here I could visit the garden for thyme, rosemary, etc. I learned about an astonishing breadth of unfamiliar musicians and learned a bit about making music and even about Belgian  life in general from spending this time with these humans. 

 Before I knew it, it was time to head to Paris. My friend Antonia and I sat along the Seine and watched the cocktail boats pass while we sipped whine and ate cheese and baguettes overlooking Notre dame. A glimpse through her glasses really made me miss all the beautiful details to see I've been missing without my own, soon enough I will have them. After a refreshing night at our friendly airbnb hosts’12^th floor apartment with a beautiful view of Paris, we headed off to the Musée Rodin, after espresso and croissant at a cafe. The visit was brief, then it was time to meet for lunch at a crêpe joint which was scrumptious. Luckily we had some time for coffee and tea before I began my journey to the airport to part ways with Europe for a while after completing my MA program from KU Lueven, cum laude.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Listed below are important books I hope to get my paws on, listed from most to least urgent:

1.) Foucault and Neoliberalism by Daniel Zamora

https://www.amazon.com/Foucault-Neoliberalism-Daniel-Zamora/dp/1509501770#reader_1509501770

 2.) The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception

by Michel Foucault

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0679753346/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1473738033&sr=8-1&keywords=birth+of+a+clinic

3.) The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World (Paperback)

by David Abram:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0679776397/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1473737642&sr=8-1&keywords=spell+of+the+sensuous