version 🇨🇵 🇧🇪 | 🇬🇧 version | 🇩🇪 version | versión 🇪🇦 | wersja 🇵🇱 | 🇱🇹 versija | 🇺🇦 kalba
Friday 16 July 2021 7:05 pm.
Iwona greets us with her broad smile. We are in front of number 85, avenue de Tervueren. We are in Brussels.
The last two weeks before the departure were very special. Everyone lived as if they had to do the last important thing before leaving Le Mans. In reality, there are many things to do before leaving for 4 or 5 months. So our house turned into a kind of beehive, a bit overheated. When I think back now, apart from the luggage and the Swiloh furniture to finish, we spent a lot of time saying goodbye to our friends, our families, our neighbours. In their eyes we read something like "this is a great adventure you are going to live". In our hearts, it was mostly "we are really going into the unknown".
On the morning of our departure, some friends dropped by unexpectedly, one with croissants, the other to say hello and take a photo. We stopped in Lille to meet Josephine's godmother and her family. And then we arrived at our destination. Each one of us with his little stresses, his questions like "What's going to happen now?
Iwona introduced us to our new home, our neighbours in the house "Le Toit", and the programme for the next two weeks. And that's it.
What I retained from our first evening in the house "La Voisine", is how everyone tried to quickly create their new landmarks, and to appropriate the place. There was a debate. Is it easier or less easy than settling in for a week's holiday and then returning home? More or less easy than knowing that we will be doing the same work again in the next 8 or 9 places? As I write to you, I find this moment rather amusing, in retrospect.
As at sea, a good meal is the best remedy to keep your crew's morale up, we dined in a hamburger restaurant, then made our beds. This first night was well deserved.
Saturday 17th July.
We are expected to have lunch with our neighbours from "Le Toit" house. A statue of the Virgin stands in our garden. I stop in the middle of a game of hide and seek with Barthélémy. I ask Mary to wrap Christine, Daphne, Joséphine and Barthélémy in her love. At the table, Pierre breaks the ice in two minutes with a thunderous "I'm Belgian, Mongolian and proud of it". He follows this up with a joke that I can't transcribe. Daphne cries with laughter, Barthélémy relaxes. The day continues in a calm and serene manner. Alix and Laura tell us about their experiences in L'Arche. David explains how to communicate with Jean, whom I join in drawing. Valérie takes Joséphine by surprise in her arms. Véronique tells us about her 28 grand-nephews. Christine (from the Le Toit house) draws on cardboard sheets when she needs to make herself understood. Colette, who offers to show us around Brussels, arrives a little before Jérôme and Mélissa. We will also meet Léa and Adam tomorrow at the "La Branche" house.
The smiles are on every face. We end the evening with a family game of cards. The journey to meet L'Arche has begun!
🇬🇧 departure day