Aftermath of the cut

I try to avoid haircuts in the winter, especially ones that really are close on the back of my neck. The Turkish haircut was a little shorter than I had planned and definitely was tight on the back of my neck.

By the time I got to the hostel in Antwerp I had noticed the lack of neck hair. In the room on the top floor, it was cool and there was no heat.

I ate one of the sandwiches that I had brought along but I was still cold. Ok, I will go out and try to find something hot for dinner. There was no one at the desk in the hostel so I decided to head toward the main street. As I crossed the street, I remembered that the Night Shop owner was Moroccan, I walked in and asked him where I could get something hot. He gave me directions, it was about three blocks. When I walked in, it felt like home, Moroccan brass lamps on the walls and other Moroccan decorations.

The restaurant was a combination of a Belgian Fruuteri (a place with all deep fried food) and a Moroccan restaurant. Everyone in the place looked Moroccan. I ordered Harira and a shrimp tagine. The only tagine they had was lamb, OK, I wanted something hot to eat.

After dinner walking home, I was much warmer. When I reached the third floor room, it seemed like I had not had a hair cut at all.

Processing in Antwerp

In the USA there is very little to do to be gone for a year. That is not the case in Belgium. There is the forwarding of your mail that can be done for only four months at a time and costs €70 for each four months, you must unregister with the commune (city hall), you must tell the tax man that you will be out of the country and change your insurance from one provider to another.

While doing all of this I leaned that my 2008 Belgian taxes were delinquent. What a relief to learn that even being delinquent I may still get a bit of a refund.