Part 2 - A Pakistani girl in Ghent, Belgium

Hi, I'm Anadil and I'm currently doing my Erasmus internship at a company in Ghent. This is my Erasmus story...

Adjusting to Ghent became easy as I kept myself busy in numerous ways. The first was through cooking. There are numerous grocery stores in Ghent: Delhaize, Proxy, Albert Heijn, Aldi, Lidl, and Carrefour. While Carrefour, Proxy, and Delhaize are a bit on the expensive side, Albert Heijn, Aldi, and Lidl are more on the cheaper side. Albert Heijn is a common favorite among many students and people due to the fact that it offers good quality food items at very cheap prices. There are a total of 3 Albert Heijns in Ghent and all have a great variety. They even offer a Bonus Card which allows you to get a discount on certain food items which you buy.

For students, a very convenient lunch option are the salads. Albert Heijn offers all kinds of salads and has options for meat lovers and vegetarians. They are also very affordable and range from 3 eur to 5 eur.

They also manufacture their own chocolate chip cookies which are quite delicious and affordable.

Since I'm a Pakistani with a fanatic love for traditional food, I needed certain Pakistani food items as well which I easily found at Himalaya Market. That shop sells everything you could possibly need to cook any traditional Pakistani or Indian dish. They even have Pakistani mangoes which were amaaaaazing and tasted just the same as back home. (please feast your eyes on the below)

I also began exploring new places. One place I loved and was glad that I found was Blaarmeersen. This is a small park with a lake at the east side of Ghent.

In the summers, this place is packed with people who are there either having a picnic, swimming or just relaxing after a long day at work. Swimmers, young and old alike, can even enjoy the slides while they swim and the best part is that all this is free. All you need is a beach blanket, some food, a bunch of friends, your swimsuit and you're good to go. The lake there is also inhabited by ducks.

Another good thing about Ghent is the weather: for a person like me who hates summers, Ghent's weather can be an enjoyable thing. The weather here can be quite rainy and cold. This is opposite to what the locals here prefer who hate the rain and enjoy the summers more.