weekend out of Brussels

Parlez-vous anglais? - i asked
Non! - the man answered through the window.
Ahhhm, je besoin deux Billet a Libramont... on Saturday i bought my first ticket to Libramont in french. well, it proved that in emergency cases, i remember all the forgotten words and even speak french. I went to Libramont (about two hours on train from Brussels) to sit there in a cafe for a while and read notes of the commission on EU-Russia relations, well a friend of mine was reading loud, and i was listening and drinking my Jus d'orange. in a while a number of other friends appeared there. and we were supposed to drive to Chiny, just on the french Border. the car is small and we were five people, and nafisa, given her small size, was supposed to squash herself in the middle, well but i was fun. i enjoyed it.

why Chiny?
we are going to canoe there. we rented 3 canoes, and i learnt to paddle. we had to paddle about 8 km in a beautiful river Semois. Honestly, it was one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. I enjoyed the time with the guys and am very thankful to them for having such a great idea. i start liking Belgium.


Keep learning...

I liked the following quote of Rory Stewart who traveled across Afganistan from Herat to Kabul:

We need to be considerably more realistic about Afghanistan. We are in danger of pursuing utopian fantasies that have no connection to either our own capacity or knowledge, or the capacities and desires of Afghans. The international community is simultaneously trying to fight the Taliban, create a liberal democracy, exterminate narcotics, create a strong central government throughout the country and defend human rights. Very few of these objectives are credible or possible. There is a surreal gap between the language of the international community and our performance. We need to be honest about the limits of our own power and knowledge.