Sunday 22 March 2015

Fings ain't wot they used to be!

Returning to Brussels from a week long school trip on Friday, his 10th birthday, George had expressed a particular wish. He wanted to go to a French restaurant and have snails.

And so we did.

Lots of children are a bit fussy about their food at this age, but this is not a problem I have ever had with George.

Today was his birthday party - no girls invited - he just wanted to go bowling with the lads, and then to go and try out the laser shooting thing. I think that they were a bit disappointed that these lasers don't actually cause people to explode, a la Star Wars, etc., but a great time was had by all.

We never had lasers when I was 10, but I knew how to make my own bow and arrows by then - and I could never have imagined that people would actually eat snails!

Sunday 15 March 2015

Gone but not forgotten....

Homelessness is a big issue in Brussels. In fact, for a European capital city, in social terms Brussels is a disgrace. Levels of poverty match the poorest regions of the former Soviet space, such as those in what was until quite recently known as East Germany.

I never spoke to Dumitru, but I saw him around often. He was one of the great characters that Brussels throws up so often. For at least the last 6 or 7 years he lived in what was once a tent, close to St Katherine, in the city centre.

He could often be seen feeding the pigeons with copious amounts of bread - in Brussels it is absolutely normal for shopkeepers to give unsold food to homeless people at the end of the day.

Now he is gone, and on the spot where he lived something of a shrine has appeared.

Yesterday I passed by and I noticed how this was attracting the attention of a number of people who walked over to take a look. I wonder if any of them would have even acknowledged him when he was alive.

It is very touching to see how the community he belonged to has built this little memorial, with flowers and other small tokens. There are a lot of sea shells there - I do not know if this is a reference to his earlier life, or if it has some cultural significance - I believe he was one of the many Roma who live in that district.

There are some fascinating characters around us, it is a shame that so often they are not even spared a glance.