After the hangover from last night (and morning), I got to the small town called Geel with this fun young family!
So, I got home last night, together with my host Ludo, around 6 am this morning! Mmm, Antwerpen is pretty nice at night…
But it was Linda, Ludo’s wife, who woke me, telling me that it was already around 1 pm. If I wanted to do some writing also, I had to wake up soon! With a soar throat and a brick head I took a shower and joined Ludo and Linda with a lunch.
Even Ludo woke up one hour before me. As a hardworking man at the factory and an Internet weblogging addict with his blog Le Temps Perdu at night, he barely got out to town. So he also had quite an experience last night too!
I was supposed to arrive at my next hosting address around 3 o’clock in the afternoon, so I had some time to write the necessary reports (I was behind!).
Ludo insisted to bring me to this little town called Geel, because it was just a little bit away on the map, he said. After packing my stuff and saying goodbye to the family we got off. In the car I still felt sleepy, or was it just my head knocking back? Oh, my. Me and alcohol…
The place Geel consists out of no more than twenty streets and today I’d stay with Guino and Ingrid and their children Freya and Jorien.
Both Ludo and they informed me that Geel is renowned for its practice of hosting individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities as guests with families throughout the area, with the goal of helping them acclimate to a regular family life.
Paul and Carolus, the guests who joined us yesterday night also had something for me to pass to Guino, Ingrid and the children: just because they didn’t have the space to have me over at their house they wanted to participate along! Paul gave me two unique vinyl singles from the eighties and Carolus handed me an inflatable penguin. It all became quite a package that opened the eyes of my hosts in Geel: “Where did you say you come from today?”
The kids loved the penguin, they even made me sign it.
In this town nothing else happens next to church on Sunday and the weekly market. Guino and Ingrid asked me if they really had to show me around or take me somewhere. I explained that those options were totally up to them. I was just the guest, but I admitted I’d enjoy a day at their house as much as going around, touring through the streets.
So therefore they let me totally free for the rest of the day, with their kids twirling around my presence and whispering to each other – so shy they were at first sight. So, this the world traveller! At dinner that evening the young Freya even admitted that she had told at school about me coming over at their place!
Inviting me over at their place was the most normal case on the world for them. “Because why wouldn’t we help you out on your trip through Belgium?” they said.
The family offered me their guestroom on the 2nd floor. Ingrid showed me the bathroom, which size really shocked me. It was bigger than my own little student room in The Netherlands, even with a shower box and a big bath! Ha, impressive!
When the family went to bed around 10 pm I could stay in their living room and use their Internet connection for as long as I liked it.
They showed me the garage, where I could get myself some cold lemonade whenever I want it. I am very respectful for people having a complete stranger over and letting them free in their own house.
I stayed up till almost 2 am at night, shut down the computer and got to bed. Good night!
