A Magical Day

This morning, after having fallen asleep after midnight, I missed my alarm...or it didn't go off...there are no witnesses! I woke up at 6:04 instead of 5 and was out the door in ten minutes with my teeth brushed and sandwiches in hand. As quickly as possible, I made my way to the bus stop that was closest to the house. I had only been there once and in the dark I couldn't tell what the last turn was and thought I had it all wrong. After completing a circle, I asked someone who was dragging his bike out of the house where the closest bus stop was that would get me to the train station. Surprisingly and thankfully, he spoke English. As assumed, I had most of the directions right and he led me the rest of the way there; just 200 meters away but around a less obvious corner. The time now is 6:31 and according to the bus schedule, the next bus was coming in just 2 minutes. I get my wallet out for 3 euros in coins and as I am putting it away I hear the bus and turn to flag it down.
Amazingly, I reach the station around 6:45 and I buy the needed ticket at 6:49. Every other train takes 1 hour to get to Brussels and the ones in between take 2 hours long. I ask the person who printed my ticket which train I need to catch and for the platform number. The train I needed would leave at 6:54 and it was on platform 9. Upon entering the train, I put my heavy backpack up and noticed I felt pretty queasy so I stood and chatted with a couple Canadians and learned a lot about what I can do in terms of pursuing my education goals. I thought the nausea must have be the stress of the morning but as it turned out it was a bit more than that. No worries, it wasn't an illness either, just another painful visit from "Aunt Flo", but I've been expecting it for a few days and had already prepared for the occurrence. (Fellow women travelers, I recommend the diva cup.) I didn't end up eating until 10 when the cramps died down some. In the end, I arrived at Brussels Station Nord with close to 20 minutes to spare; the bus was to leave at 8:30.
Now I am here in Strasbourg visiting my friend from the CSA still shocked, surprised, and laughing at the fact that I made it here.