This one time in Brussels...

I recently went on a weekend trip to Brussels with my dear friend Jamie.  Jamie and I were roommates in college, and have been friends for 15 years (wow!).  She loves to travel as much as I do, possibly even more.  We both love wandering around cities, taking pictures, and sitting at coffee shops.  We are good travel buddies.

Well this particular trip to Brussels was quite a weekend.  It was just SO RANDOM.

It started the first night we arrived.  After driving around for almost an hour trying to find parking (and almost getting stuck in a parking garage because the ceilings were so low), we ended up just parking on the street right by our hotel.  It was metered parking, so we would have to put money in a machine every few hours - but it was late and we were hungry, so we just decided to deal with it.  We got out of the car to go put money in the meter, and I noticed a woman lying on the ground, her arm hanging off the sidewalk curb.  There was a man with her, yelling at her and slapping her in the face.  The doctor in me kicked in, and I immediately ran over and said "Can I help?  Can I help?"  The man shook his head and said something in French.  I said "I'm a doctor.  Can I help?"  He said okay.  I checked the woman to make sure she was breathing and had a pulse (yes to both, thank God) and then I tried to wake her.  "Ma'am, ma'am!" I said, and she just sort of moaned and her eyes rolled back.  Next thing I know, I was being pulled away.  An older Belgian lady had me by the arm, and was talking rapidly in French.  I told her I didn't understand, and she started to use hand motions to show me that the man had punched his woman and knocked her out.  She was worried he might be dangerous.  I said "Okay, I understand.  But I need to help the woman."  So I returned to the woman, who was still very lethargic.  I gave her a sternal rub, and there was little to no response.  At this point a crowd was gathering, everyone just gawking at the bizarre scene.  I said out loud "Does anybody speak English?" and a young Belgian lady said "Yes, I do."  I asked her to call an ambulance and to help me communicate with the man.  I told him (with her interpreting) that the woman needed to get to a hospital immediately for further care. He got angry and said no.  He pulled her off the ground and she slumped, almost falling back down and hitting her head.  He pulled her up again and leaned her against a car, started yelling at her in French again.  I said again "She needs to go to a hospital NOW."  He became more verbally aggressive, and while I don't know what he was saying in French, I'm sure it wasn't anything pleasant.  He grabbed the woman under the arms and started to drag her across the street.  My interpretor and I both started yelling "No, stop!" but he wouldn't listen.  Nobody in the crowd did anything to stop what was happening.  I was afraid for my own safety, so I stayed back as well.  Just as the man and unconscious woman disappeared into a building, the ambulance showed up.  I explained to the medics what had happened and pointed to the building they went into.  They called the police, who were there within minutes and went into the building to search for her.  Well, after a good amount of time passed... they came out without her.  They shrugged as if to say "We tried"; then they left, along with the medics.  I looked at Jamie and said, "Wow... I need a drink."

So we headed out for a late dinner, had delicious crepes and beer, and then returned to our hotel.  We were both exhausted, so we laid down and quickly fell asleep.  Well around midnight or so, we were awoken by noise outside our window.  It sounded like 90's techno music.  We both got out of bed and went over to the window, and we saw the strangest sight - about a hundred or so people were rollerblading around the circle by our hotel, one person carrying the source of music and another person holding a sign that said "Rollerblade Parade".  They circled around several times, then continued on to other parts of the city.  Jamie and I just looked at each other and laughed.  "Seriously?  A rollerblading parade?  At midnight?  In Brussels?"

The next day we had a full day of touristy things planned.  We started by going to the Grand Place and getting coffee at Starbucks.  Then we walked around the "Old Town" and looked at the churches and other historical sights.  We had to return to our car every 3 hours to put money in the meter, which was kind of annoying... but our hotel was close enough to the city center that it wasn't too terrible.  Well after walking around for several more hours and returning to put money in the meter yet again, we decided to go up to the hotel and rest for a little bit.  It was so hot, we both felt so gross and disheveled.  We plopped down on the bed, ready to take a cat nap.  It was quiet, and the fan was in the window blowing fresh air into our room.  But suddenly, there was noise coming from the window.  At first, I blocked it out; kind of like you block out the news on TV.  But then I said out loud "What is that noise??  What's going on out there?"  So we got up and walked to the window, and we were surprised to see that the little circle was packed with people.  Just minutes before, as we were walking into the hotel, it had been empty.  Now there were literally hundreds of people!  They were carrying signs that said "Save Palestine" and other pro-Palestine and anti-Israel statements.  There was a man who was standing on a truck holding a microphone and rallying the crowd.  This went on for quite some time, and finally they left the area.

That night at dinner we discussed the events of the previous 24 hours.  A domestic dispute resulting in a semi-unconscious woman who I tried to help but couldn't... a rollerblading parade in the middle of the night... and a political protest right next to our hotel.  You can't make this stuff up!