Belgian Grey Beginnings Part Deux

October 14

It's Thursday night.  I was promised by Fehti with a beautiful dinner of his own creation.  It was nice to have a host with a car.  He lived about 30 minutes away from the center called Arsellar…Nothing memorable..just a sky of grey embraced with a fresh breath of coldness in the northern part of Belgium.

I remembered his kitchen.  He has all this kitchen gadgets.  So refreshing..I thought that my bff Trent would certainly appreciate this.  For the first time, I found a man who actually measures and shapes his rice in improving it's visual presentation.  I felt dearly at home.

Shrimp Scampi with Rice….wow.  I was in heaven.  I feel badly that I wasn’t able to reciprocate with my own cooking ability.  Then again, I wouldn't have dared. He was too good.

We continued the rest of the Thursday with an evening of salsa lessons (in Dutch ..ha ha ha). I started with the beginner s and ended up staying til the advanced level.  I’m spoiled coming from LA..I’m surrounded by beautiful dancers.  For a moment, I felt like I was teaching students but I also didn’t want to be rude and teach while another teacher is in the room.  I must say she had great movement and style.  

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Fehti and his shrimp tunisian scampi

Salsa in Antwerp

My new friend Andy

Me and my favorite Belgian Kriek Beer...Damn I need to steal a glass.

My view from the bar at 1 am

We ended the evening in a cs meeting with over 50 random people in a central Antwerpen bar.  It wasn’t as friendly as Brussels but I managed to make a memorable appearance among a couple of members; including a new friend named Andy.

It was then 1 am.  I felt tired, exhausted paired with a little cold and cough.  I decided to sit away from the crowd and look out the window and people watch.  I had my typical Kriek beer and gave Fehti a couple of glasses of wine.  He was smiling the whole night socializing.  His face always had this permanent Tunisian smile to a point that you wondered if he ever got upset about anything.  In fact, he was too positive and smile even seemed to artificial.  I was glad he was social so I could be independently just as social in a big random bar but I wasn’t in the mood.  I grabbed a couple of Belgian coasters for my collection.  I was ready to go home.