I'm back... and now I'm leaving again!
Dear friends of the Straight Razor Place:
I'm quite sure that you haven't missed me (much...), being that I'm not one of the most active members here and therefore being more of an observer than a participant. However, I must tell you that I've missed participating in these fora.
The reason why I've been virtually absent from these discussions is simple: life has been, lately, a big confusion. I've been very busy with my Master's Thesis (on portuguese contemporary music and it's relation with portuguese theatre in the mid 1960's... I know, not very interesting...) and now another thing has came up.
I'm leaving my home country for a while. I've been admitted to an internship programme promoted by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture and another state organization called the General Direction of the Arts. I was one in 220 interns to be chosen from an universe of applicants of over 3000. That may not sound like much, but believe me... it is a very good thing. And I'm quite happy!
So, I'm preparing to leave my country - Portugal - and move to Belgium. I'm going to live in Brussels for at least 6 months. And I hope I can remain in Brussels for at least another 6 months. Things are getting quite tough in Portugal and I'll have to emigrate. Sad, I know... But not that sad because I truly believe that I'll be capable of thriving in Belgium. (Please don't pop my bubble with that poking stick called reality!)
As you know - and there are a lot of members here that live away from their countries and families - a move of this sort is always a tough one and it does take up a bit of time. That's why I've been absent for the past few months...
Fortunately, I'm not moving to Brussels alone. My girlfriend is moving with me - she applied for the Erasmus Program and is going to finish her Architecture degree in Brussels (La Cambre Architecture). That's a very good thing. Unfortunately our Cat - the little furry King of our home - will have to stay behind for a while. My Mother will have to take care of him for a couple of months. He will be missed...
This was the informative bit of the post. Now for the "asking" bit of the post.
Can any of you SRP members that live in Brussels help me finding a little house for us? We need a small apartment with one bedroom, furnished and located in a nice central area. We've been checking out stuff on a website called immoweb.be and we've been treated to a couple of nice surprises. However, we are never sure if the area where a certain apartment is located is a good one. A friend of a friend of mine told me that two nice areas of the city would be Ixelles and certain parts of Saint-Gilles. She also told me to stay clear of the area on the other side of the canal and the zone around the Gare du Nord. The EEC area (Shumann, Cinquentenaire) is also nice but a bit dull... What do you reckon? What is your opinion?
The ideal area for us to live would be somewhere around Porte de Namur (Quartier Louise to the EEC) because it is close enough to the center (it is close to the Garden in front of the Royal Palace and the Mont des Arts), close enough to the Gare Central and Gare du Midi, but also close enough to the Place Flagey where the La Cambre Architecture is located. However, this friend of a friend of mine told me that this area in particular is called “Matongé” and is crowded with african emigrants. That is not a personal problem for me, of course. But in a previous email I exchanged with this friend of a friend of mine (a very posh girl, as far as I’m aware) she did tell me this... What do you reckon?
The reason why I say that the proximity to a train station is important is the simple fact that I’ll be working in Ohain, a town that is 20 or something Km out of Brussels.
Can anyone help? Any input will be appreciated. Please respond to this thread or PM me if you prefer.
Thank you very much!
Francisco
PS - Sorry for the long post... I can’t help it. I like to hear my own voice in my head and get carried away! :)
