Belgium Waffles & Red Light District (What A Combination)

The famous Belgian waffles, the Red-Light District and my time I spent with the inter-port student Sarah had to be my highlights in Belgium. Anytime I'm in country I try to immerse myself in the culture, and I found that the food in Belgian is incredible.

I can definitely say some of my greatest food moments were during this trip. It all started with leaving the ship and finding my first (of what would be many) Belgian waffle. The first one I had was in the Antwerp Central Train Station. 

While in the train station with my friend Vanessa, I had a waffle with powdered sugar with vanilla ice cream on top. This had to be the best desert I have ever tasted (lol). I told my mom if I ever get married, Belgian Waffles (with vanilla ice cream) will definitely be imported for the desert at my reception (lol). 

It was Mmmm Mmmm Good! If only you could have experienced this with me!

Sleepover at In-Port Student's Apartment

After enjoying the waffle, it was time for Vanessa and me to catch a train to Leuven, a university city in Belgium. Leuven was the university city of our inter-port student Sarah who sailed with us from London to Belgium. 

The inter-port students on board usually represent the country they are from and join our voyage in the country before their home country. During the time the inter-port students are on ship, they help answer questions for SAS students on board about the countries we are about to visit. Inter-port students usually discuss the history, foods, must-see sights and the culture of the country. They're really helpful and great assets to the ship board community. 

Throughout my time in Belgium, I spent mostly all my time with Sarah and Vanessa. Sarah showed us around her University City and took us to a pop-rock concert in Brussels. The venue was really beautiful, and the concert was not a typical concert I would go to, but I really enjoyed myself. The woman who performed had an Amy Winehouse kind of feel to her music, so that was rather interesting, but I was glad I could experience something out of my norm.  

Red-Light District

After the concert, Vanessa, Sarah and I walked back to the train station to catch the next train back to Antwerp. On the way to the station we passed some unexpected sights that surprised me. We passed (what some may know as, but I had no idea) the Red-Light District. There have been many times I have heard in songs artists mention the Red-Light District or hear about it in movies, but I was never was sure or tried to see exactly what it was. The Red-Light District is a long street full of prostitutes, sex shops, strip clubs and adult theaters. The women tend to wear sex appealing costumes or lingerie, and they’re usually dancing or posing in storefront windows lit by different colored lights. If you can picture mannequins in shopping windows with a brightly colored spotlight, this would be the exact imagine—except they’re real people. When I first saw this I thought it was disgraceful and couldn't imagine how this could be legal, but it is. In many countries, including Belgium, prostitution is legal. The worst part about it was that the district was right up the street from the EU and NATO building. That really blew my mind!

 While we were walking, my friend Vanessa saw how shocked I was and started to talk to me about the sex market in her country (Columbia). Looking at her I wondered why she wasn’t as shocked as I was, but from her next set of words it all started to make sense. She told me, “In many of the cities in Columbia, there are men standing on different streets with black binders taking requests from tourists and people within the country looking for a woman to have intercourse with.” She stated that there were all kinds of women, and that the men could basically have their dream girl. All the men have to do is walk up to one of the guys with the black binder and tell them their preference. A man could have woman of any height, size, shape or color. They can also pick a blonde, red, black or brunette haired woman; it all depends on what they like. Vanessa also told me that the countries who legalize prostitution take the whole matter very seriously. Depending on the country, the prostitutes have to get tested monthly and sometimes even weekly. Seeing and hearing all about the Red-Light District had to be the most memorable moment of my Belgium trip; it even took the spotlight off my Belgian waffle, which is not an easy spot to fill. This is definitely an experience that I can say I will never forget (lol). I just could not believe my eyes and the way this all happened was so unexpected.  After seeing this I wanted to talk to the women and figure out how they view their situation. In some cultures, this may not seem like such a huge deal and some women really view it as a real occupation. After seeing this I was really curious to know about prostitution in other countries. I definitely plan on doing more research about it all to have a clearer understanding about countries views on prostitution.