Day 46 (note to readers: last day of previous blog should have been 45... its hard to keep track!)
Welcome Mumsy
I'd been looking forward to seeing Mum but to be honest her arrival kind of snuck up on me! Before I knew it was heading to the train station to pick her up - very surreal given I hadn't seen her in almost two months and now here she was in my neck of the woods. And even more surreal, it seemed like it had only been days since I'd last seen her... First up I gave her the grand tour of town on the way to her hotel (as we conspicuously dragged the roller suitcases along the cobblestone streets). It felt really nice to be able to show her "my new town", explain what and where everything was and why it was cool or not. Dinner later was interesting as we tried to interpret a Dutch menu (they SPEAK a lot of English here but there's actually not much WRITTEN on menus or signs etc). Later we crashed at the hotel - yes I am a grown woman, moved halfway round the room who shared a twin room with my mummy! you'd do the same if you had the choice to ditch your student-issue mattress for a few nights! There we "stayed up all night, swapping girly stories ... and in the morning ... we had WAFFLES" (10 points for picking this movie adaptation)...
Day 47 - Tour guide for a day
The morning did indeed start with waffles for breakfast, followed by the grand tour of 'everything related to me in Maastricht'. By this I mean a tour of the uni buildings I'm studying in (which used to be a nunnery, then an orphanage, then both at the same time and now a uni - consequently there are these cool wooden beams and pillars in the classrooms dating back to the 1700s I think). Mum was suitably impressed by the age of the university, the moss-covered tiled roofs etc etc. Then, post lunch and a power nap for Mum in the hotel!, we caught the bus to my 'house'. First impressions prompted Mum to label it Eastern European Spartan Chic... I like to think it has more of a 'homely student meets random collection of possessions' feel. We'll agree to disagree! Anywho, after Mum poked around in every draw and cupboard, complained about the feng shui and threatened to rearrange the furniture while I was in the shower but then redeemed herself by discovering crucial things only a Mum would notice but that make living infitely better (like how to roll down my awning so the back neighbours can't see me in the nuddy(!) we walked up the shop to buy some ingredients for dinner. At the supermarket I received my house warming present - pine nuts, crushed garlic in a jar and other kitcheny items (and later a proper bread knife on behalf of Dad!). About an hour later we were sitting down with to a 5 euro bottle of Chilean red wine at my tiny table for two (which also houses the microwave) for our first (almost) family home-cooked meal in quite some time...
Day 48 - 'Wheely' cool
Bike hiring time! Mum's new rented bike and the rusty but beloved Moo Mobile made an odd couple as we cruised around town and along the river. We just sort of explored, riding the wrong way up some paths and on others which were probably meant just for pedestrians. Neither of us got hit or fell off althought there might have been a tiny moment of tension where Mum decided her travel DNA, as she calls it, meant she knew exactly where we could ride and we should forge ahead while nerdy me begged to differ ... but over a period of just less than 96 hours of constant mother-daughter interaction that ain't bad :P After another pit stop at the hotel for a bit, where I took it upon myself to update Mum's facebook with pictures of us having so much fun, we did something I've missed since leaving home ... we went to the movies :)
Day 49 - Au revoir ... again
Last day with mum, sniff! Had a bit of family time in the morning, skyping Dad together :) Just enough time to fit in some more waffles for breakfast and then just like that it was time for Mum to leave. Have to admit there were a few tears at the train station ... most from me actually. It's been ok missing family and friends when they're not here, and then when Mum was here it was just like at home only with a European backdrop, but when she had to leave again ... UGH, a reminder that I am actually here, without all of you, for quite some time to come...
Observations: Someone else is as genius as me when it comes to Pimping one's bike. I found a girl who painted her white bike with zebra stripes!!!
This close to Belgium I expected all waffles to be delicious but some are actually quite average and taste more like a normal ice cream cone than a spongey version of a waffle cone :(
Mini victories: Applying for a Dutch bank account (just before Mum arrived) and scoring a free fold-up BBQ in the process! Random I know, but again, anything to add to my bare cupboards is welcome.
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