Zebra Crossings: Parc Leopold and The European Quarter of Brussels

Kate attends BEPS, the Brussels English Primary School, in Brussels. The last few weeks Kate's class focused on transportation. They went on a field trip to look at different types of automobiles, rescue vehicles and stop lights. They practiced crossing the street at "zebra crossings" too. Kate refers to crosswalks as "zebra crossings" now. Several of her teacher's have British accents so when Kate says "zebra crossings" she uses a British accent too.

It has been difficult to cross the "zebra crossings" recently with Elisabeth and Kate. Usually, I hold one hand of each. However, I've been experiencing a lot of pain in my right hand, arm and shoulder so it is hard for me to hold their hand in my right hand. Several times I've lost feeling and strength in my right hand (for example, I couldn't pull on the sleeve of my sweater one morning, hold my hairbrush or hold the telephone in my right hand without experiencing pain). I think what I miss the most is holding hands with both the girls when we use the zebra crossing.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow with a rheumatologist to check my hand, shoulder and arm. The office is near Parc Leopold, a public park in the European Quarter of Brussels, as well as the seat of the European Union Parliament. It is the former site of the Royal Zoological Garden (Jardin Royal de Zoologie) in Brussels. Many rare trees and birds still in the area. I'm looking forward to a nice walk after my apartment.

With the current health care debate in the United States I am interested to see how the European health care system differs. Part of me hopes for a short appointment so that I can explore the gardens. The other part of me doesn't care how long the appointment takes - I would just like to have feeling back in my arm and be able to hold hands with Kate and Elisabeth when we cross the zebra crossings.