Day trippin' : Leuven

Hey guys! Long time no post, I know, but I've been sickish lately (yayyyyy sinuses!) and therefore hiding in my room, not doing anything exciting (like taking over Europe). Gear up though, because this might be a long one.

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to Brussels with Grace but we didn't so I ended up on a train to Leuven with Nick and Annie instead. Leuven's about 50 minutes from Louvain-la-Neuve if you catch the fast train, and it's the site of the original UCL (the university I'm studying at). The only problem is that Leuven, and, consequently, the university, are in Flemish country, and the Flemish and the Walloons (French speaking Belgians) hate each other, so they kicked the French students out of the university. I'm not joking. I couldn't make this stuff up. We wandered around Leuven for about 5 hours, getting into mischief, chasing ducks, and meeting funny Irishmen in restaurant/pubs named after Nostradomus.

Random river/large creek that ran through the city

Saint Michael's church

The canal!

Saint Gertrude's Cathedral at twilight

Leuven's pretty great. It's slightly smaller than Greenville, area-wise. It's about the size of two Mauldins. There is Mexican food there, which has endeared it to my heart forever, and cool old buildings, and it's got a cozier feel than Brussels. There's some huge mansion/castle/thing on top of a hill that we didn't make it to before dark, so we're going to see that next time! I count this day trip a success.

Next week, we're going to Waterloo, where Napoleon had his last stand. I like Napoleon. He was tiny and powerful and didn't take anyone's crap. Like me!

Now I'm gonna go off on a tangent!

So, I love French hip hop. It's AWESOME. Kayna Samet, Soprano, Sinik; they're all great. When we go out, however, they play house music (i.e., techno) and not hip hop, so I'm all pouty and going through francophone rap withdrawals. I was having lunch with Nick yesterday before we jetted off to Leuven, and he played me a song by this group Sexion d'Assaut called "Désolé" ("Sorry"). It's got your bread and butter of rap songs (I had to go find myself in the streets, etc.) but some parts of it are also really political. One of the guys (Adams; how random is his name) calls Paris ALCATRAZ, and talks about war and how he wants to be with his people in Senegal.

Here's a link to the lyrics in French and in English so you can follow along!
http://lyricstranslate.com/en/desole-sorry.html


SO. MUCH. AWESOME. IN. ONE. SONG. When Nick played it I was sort of "Buhh" about it until the guy who does the chorus started singing. LISTEN TO HIM. I LOVE HIM.

I am now on a quest to find more French rap, preferably of the Belgian variety because I think these guys are based out of Paris. Wish me luck!