Puerto Rico

It's been already over two weeks that I'm back from vacation, but because of a stomach bug and just getting absorbed with my everyday life, I'm only blogging about it today. 

It was a great experience visiting the Caribbean for the first time. It was back in the summer of 2016 when I had a lifestyle guest at Uchee Pines who came with her husband from Puerto Rico. I had a nice time with Sister Ada, and she invited me to visit them one day. It was a warm and sunny break from the grey winter here in Brussels. Christine, my former co-worker from Uchee, also came along, and our hosts went out of their way to make our stay pleasurable. So we went to San Juan (the capital), to the beach of the Caribbean sea, to the observatory in Arecibo (where they have the largest telescope in the world), and to other pretty places on this beautiful island. Sister Ada also made sure that we could preach and teach the health message. So we were invited to speak in several different churches. It was a blessings. The people were very receptive. If it wasn't for this long an tiring journey, I would do such trips more often; but for now I think I have enough from these overseas trips!

So I'm back to my daily routine now. At work, things are going well. I'm alone again in the secretariat, but next month, my new colleague will finally arrive. I look forward to that. At church, there are lots of activities as usual. Next month, we will have a naturopathic doctor from the UK with us. Silvia is originally from Peru, and I met her at Uchee Pines many years ago. She is going to hold a health emphasis weekend at our church. We are also preparing for a week of health evangelism in the month of June, with my former co-worker Ashwin. This also promises to be a blessing. 

Some years ago, I started participating in the daily bible reading plan of the General Conference. So that means you read a chapter a day, followed by some comment/devotional thought of a theologian or some other church member. Currently, we are in Leviticus, and chapter 15 deals with bodily discharges and how men and women should deal with such issues. I really liked the spiritual insight that the comment writer drew out of this chapter (which at first glance has no meaning for our lives today). He stated the cleanliness was one of those qualities that originated with a holy God. Cleanliness matters to God. And not only did He redeem us with His blood, but He also cleanses us from all filthiness. Aren't you thankful for that fact today? I certainly am!

A beautiful rainbow

At the Castillo San Felipe del Morro

At the Atlantic Ocean

Visiting the Fortress of the Spaniards

Enjoying the Caribbean Sea

A Lighthouse

With Christine

Breadfruit - a new taste!

At the world's largest telescope

Year End Blessings

As I'm writing this post, I'm at my parent's home in Karlsruhe. This past Friday, they have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. It was held in the closest family circle enlarged by some dear friends. I'm thankful that my parents have made it that long. It doesn't go without saying after all that couples stay together nowadays, whether they are Christians or not.

In a way, the months of November and December were much quieter for me than the previous, rather hectic months when I didn't really have help in the office. Actually, at a point when I couldn't have gone any further, things worked out for me to have at least a temporary help until January, and then as of mid-January, I'm going to have a new colleague who promises to be very nice and competent.

For Thanksgiving, I had another dinner with co-workers at my home. It was a smashing success. They really liked the food, and I was also able to raise some money for my project in Serbia. I'm very thankful for these opportunities.

On Wednesday, I'll be headed towards Puerto Rico, where I'm going to visit a former lifestyle guest with her husband. Sister Ada already wanted me to come visit a couple years ago, but then it didn't work out; and last year I wasn't up to flying overseas already having just returned from the US. But now I really look forward to this sunny break, even though it will be only for a couple weeks. I will also preach there and give some health talks at the weekends. This time, I will have some help from Christine, a former co-worker from Uchee Pines. I pray that the Lord will bless our efforts.

I'm currently transcribing some talks on mental health that I have found insightful. One of them is by Vickie Griffin from Michigan, US. I can highly recommend watching it under this link on Audioverse.

"It is possible to feel wrong and to do right. God gives us the energy, and it’s a miracle. It’s not all about feelings. As a matter of fact, the opposite of depression is not joy. It isn’t. The opposite of depression is resiliency. It’s the ability to tunnel through problems until you get to the lighter side of things, until you get to solutions. God actually uses trials to build character and resiliency into our lives. So we are waiting to get happy when there won’t be any problems anymore, but God allows problems to grow us into resilient people that aren’t depressed."

I also appreciate the fact that there are verses in the bible that don't only tell us that God is our helper and comforter right now, but that also contain promises for the future, like Psalms 27:13-14:

“I had almost fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart.” 

Yes, even if we don't feel like praising the Lord right now, we can believe that we will see His goodness in the future, and that He will make a way out of any darkness we may find ourselves in!

"Why are thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." (Psalms 42:11)

My parents on their big day

Back to School

Since yesterday, I'm with family in Germany. I'm enjoying this short break over Reformation Day, All Saints and All Souls Day. Wow, so many holidays in short order, but at least the latter two are also official holidays in my organization. I'm actually combining this trip with a mission from work, because on Monday, I'll go "Back to School". Yes, after almost five years I will go back to one of my former schools again to share with the pupils about my work and about the EU in general. They started this initiative over a decade ago with a lot of success. I'm very much in favour of such actions, as it is not only a very rewarding experience for me, but it's also great promotion for the European Institutions. And since the work of my current Directorate-General is very close to the life of EU citizens, they even encourage us to go on these trips.

Right now, I'm still recuperating from the stresses of the last couple months. It's been mainly positive stress, but of course every human body has its limits. It all started with this really bad cold I contracted while at camp meeting in August. Then I had a lot of visitors - which was great, but in a way also exhausting. Then my workload at the office steadily increased - and the fact that I still don't have a new colleague in the secretariat didn't help with that of course.

The fall is coming in with great force now; the temperatures having dropped notably in these past days. But it's already been back to 15 degrees (60 F) and we are enjoying some nice sunshine. We actually had a lot of that in the past couple months, with warmer temperatures than usual at this time of year. That's how I especially like Brussels, because during winter time, sunshine is a rare commodity, and thus I'm determined to enjoy it while it lasts! I also look forward to my upcoming mission trip to Puerto Rico at the end of December. I'm invited by a former lifestyle guest from Uchee Pines, who lives there with her husband. I'm going to combine this short vacation with a couple of weekend health seminars which I'm going to conduct together with a former colleague from Uchee Pines. I'm sure we will have a blast!

So today, I went to the cemetery together with my grandmother and her care taker. Since it's All Saints day, there were a lot of people visiting the graves of family members. I even saw some moslems there, bowing down and even kissing the tombs of their passed loved ones. And I witnessed a Catholic procession that went through the graveyard. I captured the group when they had a little service next to the graves of people who died during the bomb attacks when World War II was raging here (see picture below).

I don't believe in the immortality of the soul, but from time to time I enjoy visiting the tombs of dear people who are resting there, notably my grandfather and my great-grandmother. But how much more am I going to enjoy resurrection day, when I will finally see them again! Interestingly, one of the priests holding the little ceremony in front of the graves was reading from the book of Revelation:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! Gods dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"  ~ Revelation 21:3-5

 Oh what a joyous day that will be!

Grandpa's tomb

Great-Grandmother's tomb

The Catholic procession

The victims of the bombings in Karlsruhe

Where Shall I Begin?

Indeed, I have no idea where to begin with my sharing for today. So many things have happened in the past weeks.

Again, our German camp meeting was a tremendous blessing. This time, 15 people from my local church attended (plus three former members who now live in Switzerland), as well as five members from other places in Belgium. Them and all the other participants where blessed abundantly. Unfortunately, I got sick during the week, but I kept up well till the end - with the exception of my voice. Nevertheless, I actually found it not such a bad fate to be relatively "speechless" towards the end. After all, I had had to talk so much in the first phase of the camp meeting, trying to put everything together with registration and tackling our new software. So at the weekend, I was able to step back. In fact, that's the advantage if you do logistics, because Sabbath is really a day of rest for you then. In a way, those who are involved with the programme are getting extra busy that day. Thank God, I made it safely home, in spite of not feeling so well.

And we were also blessed again with a nice group of Uchee Piners. I was so thankful for having had the Pershin's as main speakers. In addition, my former co-worker Ashwin came - initially only to help with the health workshop, but then we asked him to replace Dwayne Lemon, who unexpectedly had to cancel his participation as one of the main speakers. We also had Alberto from Serbia, who did a great job together with Andrey and Ashwin to hold the afternoon hydrotherapy/natural remedies workshop. They really made an effort to make it very practical for the participants. Like for example we didn't have any ice available to demonstrate contrast treatments. So I organised a ride for them to the closest gas station, which was less than 10 minutes away. Later I found out that they had to go to two more gas stations until they finally got the ice! They were really dedicated - and the feedback was very good.

The weekend before last, we had a wonderful church retreat in the German part of Belgium. Again, the Pershin's were main speakers, and they were such a blessing to my brothers and sisters. We stayed in a cosy, newly renovated youth hostel. Would love to go back to this place. Not only because of the nature aspect of this area, but I absolutely enjoyed being able to speak to everyone in my mother tongue :-).

And last weekend, I was again blessed with visitors! Tes, a former Uchee Pines student who lives with her husband in California now, came over to Europe. After a few days in Antwerp, they arrived in Brussels last week on Saturday and attended the church service. In the afternoon, they got fully involved with the distribution of flyers for our stop smoking programme that will take place at the end of September. On Sunday, I did some tourist activities with them. It was really nice to talk about the "old times" at Uchee with Tes. On Monday, they took off to Paris and London. First time in Europe for both of them. Uh, that reminds me of my first trip to the US back in 2000, noticing that this vast country is a totally different territory, although the people look quite similar to the people in Europe.

So I thank the Lord for His guidance in everything. Especially the latest happenings (of which I can't share right now, for the sake of brevity) have shown me again that HE is still in control, and that HE still holds every single atom of the universe in His hands! Praise Him for that.

Finally, I would like to share an experience: On Tuesday, during our "Away Day" with my Directorate-General, we (more than 500 people) were asked to gather in groups on the grass and form the letters of our DG, which is REGIO. Then, in order to take pictures of us, a drone was sent up to the sky forming our name. So as we were all standing there, smiling and waving at this drone, I was imagining Jesus Christ coming back in the clouds. Will we be first of all ready to meet Him? And if not, will we greet Him the same cheerful way?

"And the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."            ~ 1. Thess 4:16-17

May the Lord find us faithful.

Picture of the Belgian group at German camp meeting

Bryan & Penny Gallant together with Alice and Janice

Children sharing from their programme

Enjoying nature at camp meeting

With the Pershin's at the Belgian coast

With Tes under a giant smurf :-)

Tes and her husband with a giant waffle

Zwin Nature Park

Although Knokke has become my favorite place at the Belgian coast, and meanwhile I have been there several times, I had never made it to the "Zwin Nature Park" just outside Knokke. So last Sunday I finally went there. I didn't plan my coast trip long ahead, and thus it was difficult to find somebody to come with me; so I ended up going by myself.

It turned out a very worthwhile visit of one of the most idyllic places I've been to. They also call this place "the international bird airport", where all kinds of different birds come during the warmer season in order to hatch and enjoy the summer. There is a trail with different observation points, and you can also take a hike in the nature reserve.

Of course whenever I go this direction, I have to visit the sea side. So I spent another couple hours on the beach, enjoying the water and the rustling of the ocean. Given the time of year and the lovely weather, it was pretty crowded; nevertheless the world cup final obviously held back some people who might have otherwise traveled there for the day (at least I got a place to sit on the train back, which doesn't go without saying during this season). But since I couldn't care less about soccer (or any other competitive sports for that matter), I didn't have to stay put in Brussels :-).

Other than that, I've been working on some home improvement projects lately. Thus, after almost 16 years, I decided to change my bathroom shelves. It was really high time, as they had started to get rusty. So I found some beautiful and inexpensive bathroom furniture at the IKEA store. The problem is always the assembling, as I wouldn't consider myself a "handywoman", In fact, it's always a headache for me if I have to figure out technical stuff, and thus I was very thankful that it all worked out.

At my work place, it has been a bit more busy for me, as my co-worker in the secretariat took up a post at our Director's front office. But things are still manageable, and hopefully I will have a new colleague soon. I look forward to our German camp meeting, which is only three weeks away now. As usual, some organisational aspects have been challenging, but I pray that we will resolve all issues and that it will be a blessing. I especially look forward to having my friend Amy from Uchee Pines with her family this time. They will not only be speakers at our camp meeting, but also at our church retreat in Belgium at the end of August. So I'll be able to have them at my place for a few days. I'm sure that will be fun!

The stork had a little one

The nature resort

Lookout point

The ocean - just beautiful

My new bathroom furniture :-)

Cooking Class

Just wanted to post a few pictures of my recent cooking class. It was a great blessing!

Change

So it's spring now, and today you even get the impression that this may be true. However, in the past few weeks it appeared more often like a prolonged winter, with temperatures below freezing. But I'm confident that we will get there eventually - I only wish I didn't have to struggle with daylight savings every year at that time.

Last month I started a different post within my organization. It's a long story, but there were several factors at my old position which made me consider this change. I'm now with the Directorate-General for Regional Development and Urban Policy. It's a geographical unit that works with structural funds for Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. I'm  thankful for this change. I have nice colleagues, and overall there is a relaxed atmosphere in this DG. I'm also enjoying the proximity to my home, as our offices are at the outskirts of Brussels, in the same commune where I live. So I don't have to go to the European Quarter anymore each day, but now I can even walk to my office if I want to, as it takes only about 15 minutes.

So the Lord has been good to me. He knew what I could handle and that it wasn't in my best interest to stay at the old post. But even if we face situations where there doesn't seem to be a change for the better, we can still trust Him. He is the omnipotent, the all-knowing and loving God who knows each of His children and whose power and wisdom are infinite.

"What has faith to do with feeling? Faith takes God at his word, with or without feeling. It "is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We can believe our fellow-men, and can we not trust the word of God? When we go to him for wisdom or grace, we are not to look to ourselves to see if he has given us a special feeling as an assurance that he has fulfilled his word. Feeling is no criterion. Great evils have resulted when Christians have followed feeling. Satan can give feelings and impressions, and those who take these as their guides will surely be led astray. How do I know that Jesus hears my prayer? I know it by his promise. He says he will hear the needy when they cry unto him, and I believe his word. He has never said to the "seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain." (Signs of the Times, May 15, 1884, par. 4)

My new office building from the inside

I like the trees everywhere

There are nice surroundings at my new office

The Open Bookcase

A new year has begun. The good news about that is that we are another year closer to the second coming of our Lord and Saviour! Nobody knows what 2018 will bring, but it's good to know that our times are in God's hands and that He is still the Ruler of the universe.

Since December 31st, I'm with my parents in Germany. I will stay here for my father's birthday tomorrow and then head back to Brussels on Wednesday. It's always challenging to be with family, given the fact that their lifestyle and their beliefs are completely different from mine, but the Lord has been helping me. The temperatures have been moderate, not really like winter. I only wish it had been less cloudy and rainy, but I took advantage of every ray of sunshine.

Yesterday, there was a special year-end service at the local SDA church. After that, I walked to the little Lutheran church in the city center to meet with my family. There was an ensemble of professional musicians performing a classical concert. The one who played the harpsichord is the director of the lay orchestra my mother is part of, and that's why my folks go there every year. They performed pieces of three different composers, one of which was also part of the ensemble. But his compositions didn't speak to me at all. It was kind of jarring, high-pitched, and not melodious at all. Strange modern music I would say. However, I did enjoy the Bach pieces they played.

This morning, I went for a walk and passed by at a shopping center nearby. They have a nice little project there called "Open Bookcase". They turned an old telephone box into a place where people can either drop off or take books home. So I took the opportunity to leave some literature there. What I like about this way of sharing is, even though it's not very personal, you can be assured that those who take the books are definitely going to read them. So I pray that the Lord may water this seed.

The Open Bookcase

And here is a little snippet of the Bach performance last night:

I would like to close with a New Year's Day letter written by Ellen White to Dr. and Mrs. Kellogg on January 1, 1886. May the Lord help us all to draw closer to Him this year!

"I wish you a happy new year. The old year with its burden of record has passed into eternity. Now let every thought, every feeling be that of remembrance of God's love. Let us gather up one token after another. . . .

The evidence we have of God's care and love for us is expressed in the lessons Christ gave to His disciples upon the things in nature. . . . The eye is not to be fastened upon deformity, upon the curse, but upon the riches of the grace of Christ that has been provided so abundantly, that we may live in this world, and act our part in the great web of humanity, and yet not be of the world. As pilgrims, as strangers looking for the bright things of God, the joy that is set before us, seeking a city whose builder and maker is God, and by beholding the provisions made for us, the mansions Jesus has gone to prepare for us, talking of the blessed home, we forget the annoyances and the fretting cares of this life. We seem to breathe in the very atmosphere of that better, even the heavenly country. We are soothed, we are comforted; we are more than this, we are joyful in God.

We could not know that gracious purposes of God toward us, but for the promises, for it is from them alone we learn what He has prepared for those who love Him. As the flowers in God's wise economy are constantly drawing the properties from earth and air to develop into the pure and beautiful buds and flowers and give forth their fragrance to delight the senses, so shall it be with us.

We draw from God's promises all that peace, that comfort, that hope that will develop in us the fruits of peace, joy, and faith. And by bringing these promises into our own life we bring them always into the lives of others. Then let us appropriate these promises to ourselves. . . . They are like the precious flowers in the garden of God. They are to awaken our hope and expectation, and lead us to a firm faith and reliance upon God. They are to strengthen us in trouble and teach us precious lessons of trust in God. He in these precious promises draws back from eternity and gives us a glimpse of the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Let us then be quiet in God. Let us calmly trust in Him and praise Him that He has shown us such revelations of His will and purposes that we shall not build our hopes in this life but keep the eye upward to the inheritance of light and see and sense the amazing love of Jesus."

Published in The Upward Look, p. 15.

Divine Appointments

At the time of this writing, I’m on my way back from London to Brussels, where I spent a few very nice days with dear friends. I’m amazed on how the Lord can use me if I’m just open to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

So on Wednesday afternoon, I left my apartment as planned in good time to catch the 4 PM train to London. Beforehand, I had inquired with a British colleague of mine whether I would need my passport to enter the United Kingdom, or if my Belgian ID card would also be sufficient. He said the latter should be fine, as he had seen Belgians showing just their ID at border control. So since I don’t want to carry my passport around unnecessarily, I followed his advice.

Arrived at border control, I first encountered a very nice Belgian officer, who actually spoke German with me. He looked at my ID and asked me if I also had my passport with me. I said no and explained him why. He replied that I had obtained false information, because my special ID card was not a valid travel document. Indeed, I do have a “special ID card”, which is issued for EU officials only. It doesn’t mean that we are special in any way, or that we get any privileges when we have it, it’s just easier for me to get this one instead of a “real” national ID, as I just fill in some papers and send them to our administration by internal mail, instead of having to go to the authorities in my commune. The problem is that it’s really only an ID that gives me permission to stay in Belgium, and it’s not a valid travel document. I remember back in 2004, I took a plane from Brussels to Geneva, and I also just brought my special ID card. At the border control, the immigration officer explained to me the same, and he said I should bring my passport next time. However, I was not denied entry into Switzerland then. So somehow I concluded it couldn’t be a problem to get into the UK – they are even still in the EU, after all!

So I pleaded with the Belgian officer to let me at least give it a try. I didn’t want to miss my train after all. So he made an exception for me and let me go through. The next person I encountered was a very nice British immigration officer, who basically told me the same as the previous officer. I shared with him my experience in Switzerland, and he said that this was a different case, since Switzerland is not in the EU. Then I said "but you are in the EU!" But no way to get through. So he escorted me to a waiting area. We walked by the other people waiting there, and I said to them, laughingly: “I’m being abducted!” realizing that I should rather have said “deported”!

Then I received a paper from them saying that I was without valid travel documents, and that I would now be handed over to the Belgian police. Well, they didn’t go that far. They just asked one of the security officers at the luggage check to escort me back out. So now I had to act: I immediately called my flatmate Adina, asking her if she could quickly bring me my passport (thankfully, it’s less than half an hour by metro from my place to the railway station). If I had called 5 minutes later, she would have already left the house to give piano lessons, but now she was able to make herself on the way to the station. Then I had to buy another ticket for 165 Euros – that hurt! So that’s my “stupid tax”, I thought.

So I made it on the 5 PM train without any problems. At border control, I encountered the same British officer and even had a little talk with him about Reformation Day and Protestantism. I left our Luther brochure with him, which he gladly accepted. Wow, some people are just too nice to be immigration officers. Not even in the US have I ever encountered anybody like this!

About half an hour later, I knew why I had to go through all this trouble. I happened to have my seat assigned next to a young man from Bulgaria, who happens to be a colleague working for the same Directorate-General that I used to work for. We had a wonderful conversation – first about work, and then also about other things. I found out that he is interested in the Bible, and I ended up giving him also a Luther brochure, as well as a Glow tract on how to break addictions. We agreed to meet for lunch sometime J.

What followed these past few days was a chain of more Divine appointments – basically one after the other. I got rid of quite a bit of literature. My time with Sharon (former church member from Brussels who now works in the UK) and her two daughters was very blessed. At London Central Adventist church, I also saw Felicia (who used to live in Brussels as well), as well as Benjamin, one of our ministry team members from Germany who has been living there. And to my surprise, my friends Violeta and Sacha from Belgium were also there. I didn’t know that they would also spend the long weekend in London! We had a nice time together at church.

The weather was cloudy, cool and damp, for the most part. However this morning, when I was able to take a few more hours to stroll around in London, it was beautifully sunny. A pleasant ending of a very fulfilling visit. Thank you God!

The letter from border control...

The metro system in London is so much more complex...

...than it is in Brussels

Our ministry member Benjamin
with his fiancée Sarah

Big Ben doesn't look so good
right now!

Houses of Parliament

This lady was a bit cold in her
summer wedding dress!

They are headed to the changing of guards at Buckingham Palace

October 31, 2017

On this history-charged morning of October 31, 2017, I would just like to thank the Lord for His goodness and mercy towards mankind, including me.

Today is the 500th anniversary of the day when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses on that church door in Wittenberg. Last year in August, I had the privilege of standing in front of that door. It was a beautiful experience to walk in the footsteps of this wonderful man. I can't say that I wish I had lived at that time in history. However, if I had, I would probably have tried to listen to every sermon of Martin Luther - which of course would not have been so easy, as there was no Audioverse or YouTube and all these kind of tools around!

Anyway, I'm thankful that his message is still very much alive today; and I'm thankful that we can still hold up the spirit of Protestantism in this dark world - yes, even in this spiritually very poor country of Belgium!

Last Saturday, a group of my church went downtown Brussels, where a special service was held to celebrate this anniversary. Spiritual leaders from all kinds of denominations as well as even other religions were present. It was our intention to share some literature with the people who attended the service when they would come out. Later I learned that the beginning of this service was actually interrupted by a group of Catholics who protested against such kind of ecumenical service being held in a Catholic church. Even the police had to come to get them out. That's probably why it dragged so long. It was supposed to begin at 4 PM, and we only made it there after 5:30 PM. However, only a few people would come out - and they wouldn't let us in either.

Nevertheless, our distribution action was a very cheerful event. Of course not everybody accepted our literature, but most of those people definitely accepted our smiles! Indeed, the language barrier is an issue in Europe. There seemed to be a quite a few Italian tourists around, however we couldn't offer them neither the "Luther brochure" nor a Glow tract in Italian. However, some accepted the English versions. You never know where this literature will end up. Of course, some will be trampled on, but after all, we are told to spread these truths like the "leaves of autumn" - and what happens with autumn leaves? Indeed, some of them are being trampled on; however we still need to go forward and do the work the Lord has told us to do!

Tomorrow, I'll be headed to London. I'm going to visit some dear friends over there. I'm excited, as I haven't been to this island since 2004, when I went there for a business trip. Will share about that when I'm back...

The famous church door

Wartburg Castle

And finally the stone where Luther rested

Potential Terrorist

Time flies. It's been almost two weeks that I'm back from Serbia. The juice fasting programme was great. Everything went well with the travels, although it was a bit adventurous to get around there by bus and taxi. It was great to see how things had developed at Crna Bara within two years. I don't have time to post pictures, but I have posted about this place back in 2015. If you are interested in current pictures, just go and check out my Facebook page.

So my first working day was on September 1. They had recommended me to make an appointment with the security office beforehand in order to get a service badge. Without such a badge you are regarded as a potential terrorist in every Commission building - especially after the attacks last year. Before the attacks, they would only x-ray your bags in the Berlaymont (main Commission building), but now it's in every building.

So I called in too late, and they didn't have an appointment for me anymore on that day, but I got one for the afternoon the day before. So I went there at the appointed time, however they figured it wasn't possible yet to issue a badge for me! So I had to go to my first working day as a visitor, which was ok.

The second attempt was on Monday, my second working day. Again, my bag was x-rayed. And again, they saw something suspicious in it (first time it was my nail clipper, and now it was my camera!). But it was ok at the end and I got my badge.

My old/new colleagues are all nice and I'm thankful to be back at the same unit. The work promises to be interesting. Haven't been able yet to get into it much, as I ended up being on sick leave last week. It's a long story: It all started that I ate some raw corn right after returning from Serbia. This messed up my digestive system and I consequently didn't get enough sleep. This again caused some neck and back pain, so I needed to see my chiropractor. Bottom line: I needed to rest! But now I'm thankful I'm back to normal - and eager to go back to the office tomorrow!

Madou Tower - my work place