Strange Happenings In Belgium

Many Belgian towns have traditional festivals that involve reinactments of stories, lots of drinking, dancing, singing and general party-making. This past weekend we went to Ath to observe theirs. They never make any sense to us but they are great fun to see.

The Procession of the Giants in Ath takes place every 4th weekend of August. It dates back to the fifteenth century and presents the Giants of Ath to the public. One of these giants is no other than the renowned Gouyasse, (Goliath), King of the Festival. After having taken his pretty fiancée to the altar of St Julien's Church to get married, he fights the tiny David in the afternoon. After the battle, it is time for the tasting of the traditional "mastelles" tart - also known as "Gouyasse" (macaroon tart). The following day the spectacular traditional cortège will take place. A magnificent parade featuring the giants of the town in the company of floats and a multitude of different bands. Got it?

A girl's marching band.

A couple of characters!

A float of young girls throwing flowers out into the crowd.

One of the participants taking a break with his son.

More marching around.


A magnificent float pulled by four (partially out of control) horses. They seemed a little nervous and on the edge of running through the crowd.

A close up of the boat-float. Some politically incorrect slave being held captive by the sailors. But the slave kept beating up on the sailors. No idea what that was all about.

Here's Saint Christopher carrying Christ on his shoulders. This guy was walking for MILES on stilts through cobblestone streets. He had a group of people walking near him to catch him if he fell. He looked on edge the whole time. This may be the one time he smiled!

These men took turns carrying this giant on their shoulders. They whirl him around very fast. He also looks pretty heavy so I don't expect any one person could carry him for very long. Apparently only people born in the town can participate in the parade.

This cute little girl was at the very start of the parade. She looks lost, poor thing.

Marching bands, marching bands, and more marching bands.

The fire brigade.

This little girl was carried through town on this two headed bird-beast. She's quite young and they kept spinning her around really fast. She looked a little motion sick and I kept wondering if she was about to "vomir" into the crowd! She was sucking a passifier the entire time!

We have an exchange student- Welcome Ines!

I've been doing some volunteer work for an assistance dog organization here in Belgium. So that is how I first met Ines. We didn't want a puppy, we didn't want a puppy...now we have a puppy. And Howard loves her too. We are raising her for the organization so she'll go back when she's about one year old. Hopefully she will successfully train as a hearing dog to help alert a hearing impaired person to sounds in their environment. If her ears are any indication of her abilities, she'll be great!

Here's a picture of Ginger and Ines. Ginger has just started to appreciate all of Ines' fine qualities. This includes chewing Ginger's ears, poking her to play, running circles around Ginger, and doing all sorts of other puppy things. Sometimes Ginger graces her with a short play session.

As part of her early socialization we try to take Ines to lots of new places. Here's Howard with her at the Grand Place. We perhaps overwhelmed her that day. There were throngs of crowds!


Here's a link to the organization's website:
http://www.harttegenhart.be/NL/nieuws.htm

So two days after we picked up the puppy, Ginger became extremely sick. I had to navigate the oncall vet system here in Belgium and do it in French. She was horribly sick for a whole week and I became convinced that she was dying of something. She cried all night, vomited, wouldn't eat, and would hardly walk around much less take a walk. After lots of tests and sleepless nights, she woke up one morning completely healed. No idea what was wrong. But I now can conjugate the verb "vomir" (to vomit) in five tenses. We all slept for an entire weekend after that!

A summer visit home

We had a wonderful two-week visit to the USA. We split our time between the SF Bay Area, Twain Harte and Idaho. It was a very soulful time and it made us really homesick when we returned. Here are a few shots of the visit.

A Mexican fiesta with friends!

Payette Lake at McCall Idaho.

Hanna and her cousins.

More of Howard's family!

A view from the cabin.

The moon rising.

Two generations...Howard, his brother John and their two nephews.