A Family Affair 02-26-2011

I feel like having a perfect stranger living with you would be a huge awkward inconvenience.  Especially when it comes to family celebrations and gathering of any sort. 

Today was grandbaby Rica’s 2nd birthday.  Schon (shoon) Geburtstag, Rica!!  She has got to be the cutest little chubby thing on Earth. Every time she visits Klaus and Jutta’s (Oma und Opa) house, she hangs out with me or Kay.

I am affectionately called Auf.  Auf means open in Deutsch.  The first day I met Rica we spent about an hour opening the back of a broken Handy (cell phone) and closing it over and over.  Auf Auf Auf!  The next time she came over, she pointed at me and called me Auf and now when I am around her the family calls me Auf.  The day after I met her, I bought her a little wooden puzzle that we play auf with.

Anyway, her birthday was today and we made plans to go to Jana and Bjorn’s house for cake and presents at 3.  So I took the opportunity and asked Kay if he wanted to go out for pizza.  We set off at around 11am and I let Kay lead the way because I figured he knew which pizza place he wanted to eat at…nope he didn’t.  Eventually we ended up in the marketplace at the Italian restaurant there.  We each ordered our pizza and made stilted conversation while we waited.

When the pizza came out, I was surprised by how large it was.  I could only eat half of my ham and mushroom pizza and 12 year old Kay astonished me by eating the entire thing and drinking a mug of hot chocolate.  It blew me away.  This must have been a ten inch pizza.  I only managed three slices, eating slowly.  He very obviously enjoyed it.

After paying and leaving the restaurant we headed for the toy stores to buy Rica a present.  I didn’t want to not get her something, because I just love this kid.  Kids are kids no matter where you go or what language you speak.  I loved just talking and playing with her. Of course, I forgot that Kay was also a kid and he very nicely asked if he also could have a toy.  He even asked in English. So I bought him a toy also.

I know that all the young frat/sorority/college kids back home reading this are going to crack up.  The toy Kay picked was a large cup that came with ping pong balls that you toss in various ways or bounce in various ways attempting to land them in the glass.  You tell me what that game is in the states.  The only difference, instead of Kay drinking, the cups starts screaming like a gorilla.  Fun times.

We ended up getting Rica bongo drums and a tambourine.  Klaus and Kay do drum circles so it will be something Rica can do with them at their house.  She was thrilled.

Jana welcomed me into her home graciously and we had a very good family afternoon. As you can see above, Kay was having a great time entertaining the whole family. (I love that they are so open minded about this here.  The first thing I thought of when I saw him in the skirt was about how up in arms a lot of people in the States would be about a 12 year old boy or any boy dressing up, even to make a family laugh.)  It was absolutely hilarious. It feels nice to laugh together.  Laughter has no language. 

Klaus wanted a family photo and I expected them to have me take it, but no.  He set the timer and I was even included in the photo.  I really love this family.  I can easily see myself keeping in touch with them for the next fifty years. 

It takes a great deal of love and very open hearts to do what these families do for American students.  I know that most of the students are young.  Several are allowed to drink here and so they do.  Some are reckless, others are very responsible, but regardless these host families have a lot of spare room in their homes and in their hearts.  I think it really takes a great deal of pride in their homes and Germany to want so badly to have us here and to show us Germany in this way. They are so completely inclusive and welcoming and I wish that I could see more of that in the States.  It’s as if the whole world is a neighbor or a family member and therefore, they are embraced and respected. It really is a beautiful thing.

A Day’s Adventure in Deutschland 02-25-2011

Today was just supposed to be a day to study and spend time at home.  It was so much more. 

I woke up at 10am.  I know in prior blogs I have said that I was exhausted by 8 and in bed by 9:30 but if you know me, you know that in bed is a relative phrase.  In bed usually means reading, talking, or just thinking and then thinking and then thinking.  I don’t really sleep all that much.  It has been much worse this past week.  it”s gotten so bad that I asked Frau Merchant what she would recommend to help me sleep.

I need to divert here to add another oddity of Germany.  When you think of going to a drug store, I bet that Walgreens, Osco, or even the Pharmacy department at Walmart pops into your head.  Think again.  In Germany a drug store is where you go to buy shampoo, cosmetics, some snacks, cleaning supplies, and maybe socks and scarves.  An Apoteke is where you go if you need any kind of medication.  When I say any kind, I mean ANY kind.  If you need nyquil, sudafed, ibuprofen, advil, pepto bismol, malox, allergy meds of any kind, sleep aids, any type of medication, you have to have a prescription. (Frau Merchant says I would need a prescription for Abreva if I developed a cold sore.)  the remedy for this is herbal medication.

In the US, we kind of laugh at herbal remedies.  Doctor’s often warn against them.  They are looked on as a kind of hippy voodoo witchcraft thing.  What people don”t realize is that every medication they get from a doctor or from the pharmacy has it’s basis in herbal medication.  Seriously, Aspirin (the oldest medication on earth) is made from willow tree bark. Another selling point here is that because of how controlled chemical medication is, the herbal remedies that are available over the counter are highly highly researched.  They are all passed through a process much like our FDA and for the most part, they are incredible. 

So back to my very big sleep problem.  I hadn’t been getting to sleep until after midnight, I was waking up at least three times a night, and I had to be up at 7.  I was freaking exhausted.  So I asked Frau Merchant what she recommended and she told me to not drink caffeine after three ( I am a die hard coffee drinker) and to set a bed time..like I will be in bed by midnight.  These seem obvious, but they really aren’t when you are delusional with lack of sleep  She also told me to buy chamomile tea and drink one or two cups about an hour before bed.  So when I went grocery shopping with Jutta, we picked up some tea.  I have an intense prejudice against chamomile tea, so drinking it is difficult.    I also purchased Baldrian & Hopfen herbal sleeping pills.  Last night I took them and I finally slept all the way through the night without waking up. YAY!

So I woke up at 10 with every intention of gathering my stuff and going to the little restaurant down the block and studying over cappuccino and then having lunch and coming home to cook dinner for the family.  Fail!  I took my time and drank coffee, brushed my teeth and hair, played with the cat, and then gathered my things and headed out the door.  That is when the fun stuff started.

I was just chilling taking my time and wandering through stores on my way to the café when I got this sudden idea that I was going to buy a coat.  They have these really nice coats here made of wool and tailored to fit so it looks like you have a shape instead of being a puff ball.  SO I was looking through stores for one of these coats.  Well, I come bopping out of one of these shops and trip on a broken cobblestone it hurt pretty bad, almost as bad as stubbing my toe.  I looked down because when in pain I tend to look for the reason for the pain and I see that the sole is partially torn off my shoe.  (cheap wal-mart shoes…that I love)  So, I have to buy new shoes.

Most women would find this idea awesome.  I have sold shoes, very expensive shoes, and I know how expensive European shoes are so I wasn’t excited; however, when I started looking I got more excited.  I had resigned myself to spend a chunk of money, so I decided to find a pair I really loved and that looked very European because they definitely have a look to them.  I ended up finding an entire brand that I think is AWESOME!  After trying on several pairs to figure out what size I wear (a 39 in some and a 40 in others of the same brand…lol) I found a pair I think are great!  $100 American later, I am walking out of the store in my new shoes.

After getting my shoes I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in a shop window and I looked terrible.  I have been trying to grow out my hair and it was really fluffy curly in the back and straight and flipped out in the front and I looked homeless so I decided to get a hair cut.  There is a place right near the house that is very funky and punked out so I went there.  Turns out a haircut is only 12 Euro.  That’s not bad at all.

I felt like a lottery winner when I came out of there with a haircut I liked and I am sure the stylists (that’s right, 2) felt the same way.  They spoke NO English and I speak very little Deutsch.  It was a lot of laughter and miming to even get going.  While I was getting my hair washed (which, as silly as it sounds, is like a massage for the head when it’s done here) the girl who actually cut my hair was getting her station (half of an industrial barrel painted electric blue) ready. 

I got out of the washing station (ten minutes later) and sat in the chair with a yellow cloth around my neck and we began the process of deciding what to do with my hair.  This was awesome.  The girl who washed my hair started miming for the length I wanted it. So I lifted a strand of hair and showed her.  Then I pointed to the weird curls in the back and told her nicht (neesht  means none) curls.  So we had a starting point and the hair cut was begun.  We were well underway when the dreaded question approached.  The question I have trouble explaining to American hairdressers, that I have a cowlick in my bangs and if they cut it too short, it will stand straight up.  After about ten minutes of miming, and about thirty minutes into the hair cut process, hair washing girl went to the computer and pulled up a German to English translator and had me explain it on there.  It was a brilliant moment and after that, smooth sailing.

I love my haircut, I feel much more like myself.  I even came home and plucked my eyebrows and now I feel more human.  By the time we were done with the entire process almost an hour had passed and we all three were near tears from laughing so hard.  I left a 3 Euro tip and headed home because it was almost time to cook dinner.

When I got home, everyone was just getting home from work and they all were very complimentary about my haircut.  Jutta told me it was very lovely. 

I took a shower because I was fluffing little hairs everywhere and then Klaus and I began the lengthy process of making yeast dough, which he had never done from scratch and I had never done in metrics.  We both had good laughs several times baking together in the kitchen.  He was making Rica, their granddaughter, her birthday cake.  Her second birthday is tomorrow. 

I cut up the cabbage, browned the ground pork, sliced onion and simmered it until it was soft while the bread was rising (it took an hour.)  After the hour was up, I rolled out the dough cut it into squares, filled the squares with the mixture and wrapped them into balls.  Then we waited another 20 minutes to rise again and baked them.  They turned out perfect.  I had been so worried I would mess them up because I was nervous about cooking for the family and when they came out beautiful I was thrilled.

When we all sat down to eat, Kay looked doubtful, but once we began with everyone having served themselves one, it was quickly realized that cabbage burgers are very tasty (lecker) and seconds were had by everyone.  We even had two left over.  It was a success and I was very glad I had gotten to do something for the family.  It was a good evening.

After we all ate, I retired to my room (I have always wanted to say that) and watched Findet Nemo.  It was still a very good story, but the German woman who did Dori’s voice was good, but not Ellen.  I will probably watch it again tomorrow.  Jutta was so sweet to find it for me to watch.  I think it might be good for me to listen to things I am familiar with in Deutsch.  It may help my learning to speak it with more confidence.

Between my shoe randomly getting broken, laughing my butt of with the hairdressers, giggling with Klaus over baking, and the success of my recipe turning out beautifully, this was a great day.  I am starting to feel at home here and it is helping a lot.  I even successfully managed ordering my lunch in Deutsch, requesting a to go bag, and wishing the waiter a good day.  I look forward to more days like this.

PS:  I never did study beyond some minor research for a paper, between baking phases.

Berlin 02-20-2011

Well, I just spent five days in Berlin and I have to say it was pretty freaking great.  The point of going, was a conference put on by the center for International Cultural Diplomacy.  It was a series of lectures and panel discussions that spoke about the way art, music, film, and literature were and still are able to cross borders and allow connections regardless of political and legal barriers.

The conference itself was great. There were anywhere from four to seven speakers on each day and they were incredible speakers.  Several foreign ambassadors, founders of several non-profit art or cultural programs, world renowned professors…the list goes on and on.  It was a tremendous opportunity. 

The first night we were there we had a nice meal in the home of the former German ambassador to Turkey.  He and his wife (an accomplished artist) were phenomenal hosts and they served us a fantastic buffet style meal.  We ate, and then conversed at their home for several hours, not arriving back at our hotel until nearly 11:30. 

Out hotel was called Motel0ne.  It is an incredibly cool hotel chain.  I really think they might be the next big thing.  First off, let me say that this was a VERY nice hotel.  The conference was in some way affiliated with so we stayed there.  The lobby was beautifully lit with comfortable furnishings and a lot of people spent a significant time in the lobby just enjoying the soothing environment.  Our rooms were cool.  It was my first introduction to a multiple person room in Germany and I was a little surprised.  The beds were two twin sized beds with about 4 inches between them.  The room was small, but it worked out really well.

The really special thing about this hotel, it that is it incredibly energy efficient.  You have to put your hotel key into a fixture and then your lights turn on or anything else electrical.  When you take your key to leave the room, no electricity.  It’s fantastic.  I bet it saves them thousands every year.

Another nice thing (and also a bit strange) is the breakfast that is served in the lobby every morning.  There is your traditional choice of coffee, cereal, and bread with butter or jelly.  This one does not stop there.  It has meat and cheese trays (ham, Swiss, mild white cheese, turkey, and salami,) tomato and cucumber slices, and medium boiled eggs.  There is the choice of two different types of juice and five forms of coffee (I highly recommend the cappuccino,) and yogurt.  It is a really good breakfast, I just find salami, turkey, and dill flavored cream cheese a little strange at breakfast.

The second night we attended, the conference took us out to a very nice meal at a local Greek restaurant called Nikko's.  The food was very good.  It had already been preordered, and I was pretty impressed.  First they brought out thick crusty bread, then salads. In a large group, salads are not individually served. They consist of shredded lettuce, a few slices of tomato, a few slices of onion, a small handful of Greek olives (Mmmm,) shredded lettuce, kohl slaw (so much better here than back home,) and a creamy jogurt dressing that tastes similar to ranch, all on one large plate for everyone to eat from. 

After the salad they brought out rice and the first entrée, meat. The rice was cooked with paprika and was very good.  The meat platters consisted of kebab meat, thin pork chops, and goat/lamb meat in ground patties.  It was very delicious.  After the meat, the waiters delivered the second entrée; seafood.  Where we had gotten two large trays of meat for our entire group to select from, with seafood, it was just the one. It consisted of large patties of breaded baked fish, calamari rings, prawns, and large smoked sardines.  I took some prawns and a sardine.  I wanted to try something new.  It was delicious, but a very new experience.

As with any meal in a Greek restaurant, in Europe, it was followed by a shot of ouzo to cleanse the mouth.  Ouzo is a fairly strong, clear, licorice flavored alcohol that is used as a way of preparing the palate before eating and then cleansing it after.  I always feel slightly buzzed for about 20 minutes after the meal.  It works at what it does, but it’s also pretty strong.  Oddly enough, it is a complimentary and necessary thing.  It isn’t paid for and it is expected.

After dinner, Flor, Stephen, Sam and I went to a really fun Irish Pub with a live band (singing tons of American oldies and new faves too.)  It was a pretty chill night.  One thing I love about Europe is that I can order a cappuccino anywhere and they are cheap.  At one point, the band took a break and they were replaced by the radio.  I heard the first familiar beats of Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night, and then heard hollering.  We all looked towards the entrance and the Jagermeister crew was making an entrance.  According to the waitress, they visited the pub once a year so WOO HOO, lucky us. They gave out shots of Jager, had contests (one of which I won.  I had to spell Jagermeister faster than anyone else…go me,) best of all, they took photos which they gave to us so I have a few photos of my friends that I think are really fun.

Friday, I attended the lectures until noon and then Stephen, Sam, and I headed to East Berlin.  It was a really really great day. We took the trains through to the Haupbanhof (central station) and then walked to the Reichstag.  This is a really beautiful piece of architecture.  I was amazed.  It’s one of Berlin’s more important government buildings.  I must have take thirty pictures. What really blew me away was when I saw pictures of the damage that had been done to it during WWII. The renovations are amazing!  After the Reichstag, we headed to Brandenburg Square. Along the way we passed the memorial to fallen Russian soldiers.  From what I got through talking to Stephen and Sam, the memorial is a slap in the face to Germans, because the soldiers had fallen during the Soviet invasion of Germany and so it memorializes people who were invading and raping their women. 

Brandenburg Square is a cool place.  You enter it through a HUGE gate.  On top of the gate, is a huge statue of a man in a chariot with horses.    This was also where I got my first view of the television tower. 

We hoped a train from Brandenburg Square to Alenxanderplatz where we had every intention of eating lunch, finding me cheap new shoes (mine had inflicted horrible blisters,) going to The Wall, and seeing a few museums.  We ate, found me shoes, and went into St. Marien Church.  It was beautiful.  We headed back to the hotel after that because we were all tired and wanted to rest.

That night, six of us decided to hit the Berlin club scene.  Flor invited four friends, we met up and then headed out.  The first club we decided to go to was a 12th floor flat and evidently was pretty pricey.  We were all set to go and we arrived around 11:00 and it wasn’t open yet (par for the course in Europe.)  Our guide (a local friend of Flor’s) mentioned that it would be open in an hour so we hit a little bar right outside of the club and had a few drinks.  While we were waiting, it was decided that we would move it on to another club that sounded like a lot more fun and it was already open so we hoped a train and headed to Soda.

This club is pretty freaking awesome.  It is in an old factory building and has been reset up as a club with several bars on several floors, all with different music (though not that different) and identical prices (expensive…lol.)

There was a line to get in and we waited our turns.  I always feel weird presenting my ID in Germany because it’s an American ID, but they are pretty used to seeing them, and quite frankly, I don’t think they are really too worried about someone too young getting in as their scrutiny is minimal at best.  We got done with ID checks and went up to pay the 8 Euro cover and WOO HOO! Ladies night.  No cover and three free drinks! (all of them 2,50 and under, but free is free.)

Because it is cold here in Germany, you can’t go running off to the club with no coat or scarf, so you have to check your outerwear.  This process was fun.  We had to push our way through a long hallway and a huge room with a packed dance floor to get to the coat check room.  Once that was out of the way, it was onto the bar for a cheap drink and then to dance.

We all took a shot (turns out those were the only drinks 2,50 or under so I gave one away and took another shot later on.)  Then I decided I wanted to explore the huge labyrinth of multilayered bars and rooms.  I have to say that Soda didn’t disappoint as far as the European club scene goes.  I will be going to a gay club when I come back to Berlin in a few weeks.

The bar where we had our shots had the least people in it of all the bars I looked at, but it was also the one nearest the entrance and it was flipping cold outside.  It was hopping by the end of the night (haha…gaspnight…hahaha) but at 12:30AM, it was kind of dead.  The next space was the crowded hallway and then into the main club where the huge crowded dance floor was.  It was awesome!  All these people, music I knew (American and German music are really popular here so it is not uncommon to hear old and new American music mixed in with German music at bars, clubs and on the radio.)  I hung out there for a couple of songs; dancing and singing along at the top of my lungs and then went to the bar for water and moved on.

The next bar was lit bright red and playing Summer Nights from Grease. It was really cool to hear all the thick accents singing along and jamming out to American theatre music.  It made me think of all the times various friends of mine had sung it at karaoke and I had thought it so obsolete.  I was incredibly wrong.  I headed upstairs next. One bar I passed through was playing Black or White by MJ.  Another was playing Green Day.  One, on the very top floor, was a massive pool hall with big screen TVs projecting a soccer game.  I wanted so badly to play!  It was quiet (aside form ambient music from the bars below,) and the tables were really well taken care of.  I didn’t have a partner, so I didn’t play.  I just headed onto the next bar. 

 This bar was very small and I found most of my friends dancing and having a good time. The DJ was playing Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night by the Black Eyed Peas, and it definitely was a good night. That was where I took my last shot and spent the most time.  We all vacated that bar together and went in search of the rest of the group…namely Flor.  We found her on the main floor near the smoking patio. (Why they have it I will never figure out, because everyone smoked inside.)  She was talking to some guys about English and school.

Stephen, Sam, Zach, and Jacob wanted to head out because it was after 3 AM but Flor wanted to stay (she is a cute hyper little thing when she wants to be,) so I opted to stay with her and because we were both the only girls, Zach decided to stay with us as well.  (He is a very sweet guy.)  We hung out another hour before we decided to head back to the hotel also.  I must say that I am very proud of myself.  I was literally exhausted and I still managed (with Zach’s help) to get us on the right trains to get back to the hotel.  It was awesome.  We made it back at five.  Flor took a shower then I took one and by the time I fell asleep, it was 5:30 AM.  We slept until 11AM on Saturday.

Saturday, Flor and I headed to the conference.  I went to see if Stephen and Sam were still going with me to East Berlin to see the Berliner Dom and Flor because she was attending the day’s lectures.  They were going to go, so I was pretty happy!  We ate lunch with Zach and Eric then headed back to the hotel for a half hour break and then left for Alexanderplatz.  The Berliner Dom is a beautiful old church.  I took a zillion photos.  I can’t even describe how awesome this place is.  There was an incredible amount of art everywhere just aside from the fact that the building itself is a masterpiece.  Every arched doorway was decorated with relief sculpture on every surface.  Gilt work was done on several pieces.  I was in awe of the work done in the central apse (which I know is the wrong word, but I can’t think of the right one.)  It was literally breathtaking.

The thing about all these incredible buildings in Germany, is that most were damaged in a profound way during the world wars.  The work done to restore them is as noteworthy as the initial construction.  It hurts my heart to think of how horrifying it would be to see them damaged.

Aside from being monumentally gorgeous, the Berliner Dom has a crypt with several royal families in it.  Some of the sarcophagi are incredibly intricate and others very simple, but there were easily forty or fifty of them, many of them royal children.  It was very sad and very moving to be there.  Stephen made the comment that he was surprised that so many were still in good condition or still there considering the wars they had survived.  Sam pointed out in reply that many were damaged or missing the crowns and crests.

Saturday night was the closing of our adventures in Berlin, but it was a beautiful ending.  As part of the conference, we were given a ticket each to see the film Under the Hawthorn Tree, at the Berlinale Film Festival.  I loved this film.  I don’t think I have loved a movie this much in years.  It was beautiful. It takes place in China during the years when Mao was re-educating the young people. It’s based on the book with the same title.  God, it was so beautifully done, there is no surprise that it was chosen to be shown at the festival.

Today, we headed home.  I can’t believe that I am so tired, but it was an amazing five days.  I walked into my room with my luggage and found that Jutta had neatened it up, washed the bedding, bought my children little Easter bags with candy in them, and bought me beautiful pink tulips.  I almost cried.  I am so grateful for everything and everyone who brought me here.  Sometimes I feel so lonely, but I am really very blessed to be where I am and to be experiencing what I am experiencing.

Right now, I am eating the last bite of a cake Klaus made and then I am off to bed.  This will probably be hands down the longest blog I have written.

Oddities in Deutschland 02/15/2011

I want to take one blog and talk about the differences between German existence and American existence.  It’s a pretty profound set of differences.

1. The way people handle snot.  In Germany it is actually considered offensive to sniffle. (You were right all along, Mom.)  One of the hottest selling items here is the little packets of tissue that fit in a pocket or purse.  Also, there is no “polite” leaving the room, or blowing your nose quietly.  Germans take pride in their nose blowing and it can be heard like trumpets in the marketplace on cold days.
2. The learning of social eating.  Food is a time for communion (and not the Catholic type.)  People here eat delicious food that is meant to keep you warm.  the secret to food here is that you have to eat while conversing around a table, in a café, or in a pub.  People in Quedlinburg and much of Germany DO NOT eat on the go.  Food is a social thing and is meant to be consumed as such. 
3. Consumption of alcohol…moderation is key.  Going out with your friends doesn’t have to mean who gets shit faced drunk the fastest.  People here go to the bar (for the most part) to have one or two drinks with some good friends and just chill.  Alcohol is fairly inexpensive here in comparison to the states, and it is readily available and still, I have yet to see anyone out of their mind drunk.
4. On the same bent, Afternoon relaxation.  In the afternoon, it is not unheard of to get with a one or two friends and go to a backeri or a café and sit over a cappuccino and a piece of cake for an hour.  Once again, people don”t rush here.  Food and good company are enjoyed.  this is a particular favorite of mine, and a great way to practice my Deutsch.
5. Conservation of resources.  It is perpetually cold here…and that is completely alright.  German households typically do not have the heat on in a number of unoccupied rooms.  The living room is not the center of the home, though it is used for TV viewing and movies and also for video games and such.  it is usually kept with the door shut and heat off bedrooms are this way as well.  the reason for this is that utilities are insanely expensive here.  Also, Europe is a very small place considering the number of people residing here.  Resources need to be maintained and conserved.  This carries over to water and food consumption as well.
6. Recycling!!!!  EVERY house, school, and restaurant in Germany recycles.  There are always three bins: Paper, Waste (food, tissues…) and Plastic.  Some places have glass and aluminum/metals as well.  In the alley ways there are three dumpsters per residence.  It isn’t something they picked up as a way of conserving, it is required and ingrained.
7. Storage of meat and eggs.  It is not at all out of the ordinary to see a glass case of different sausages and salamis just sitting with no cooler.  same goes for cheese.  Several varieties of meat are preferred room temperature here.  Another thing I found odd, hard boiled eggs are found, already cooked in the store.  Fun factoid: They are usually coloured like we do for Easter.  Another interesting Tid-Bit…they aren’t refrigerated.  They don’t need to be.  Frau Merchant made a pretty valid point when I mentioned that it kind of weirded me out; I like to eat them when they are warm out of the water.  I got up the nerve to eat one the other day and they are just as good so I am over my weird thing.
8. OMG Bread!!!  There are backeri’s on every frigging street.  They are amazing! I don’t know that I will ever be able to enjoy American bread again. When you go into a backeri to buy bread, you indicate how much you want and they cut it off a large loaf.  There are countless varieties and I have yet to get one I did not like.  I often stop by the one I like on the marketplace and buy three rolls (brotchen) every morning.  They are an amazing snack…especially if you have any of the amazing cheese and butter they have here. \
9. CAKE!!  Cake is different here.  American cake is very sweet, really spongy, and always…ALWAYS…has too much frosting.  The cake here isn’t as sweet (so you can enjoy it over cappuccino with friends, without making yourself sick from all the sugar. The best part, in my opinion, is that you can actually taste the different flavors in each cake because the pervading taste of SWEET doesn’t over power flavor.  They have so many varieties of cake and many use whole fruit.  It’s delicious.
10. Dogs.  Yes, Dogs.  They are everywhere and they are REALLY well behaved.  I love seeing all the little (a few larger breeds) dogs.  They are all meticulously groomed and I have never seen any let alone this many who were so well behaved.  Dogs are allowed pretty much anywhere their owner is so long as they are well behaved.  Our friend brought her sweet sheppard to dinner with us last night at a gourmet pizza place and then to a pub.  The one downfall, sometimes the owners aren’t as great as the dogs so there are often badly places piles of crap on sidewalks. 
11. Ice and water.  Nothing liquid is served cold here.  Every once in awhile, the server will notice by our divine lack of Deutsch and the horrible accent when we do sprechen that we are American and will then give us a single piece of ice.  It is actually cute.  It makes me laugh.  Along with the ice thing, be sure you ask for stilich wassar here, because if you just order water or mineral water, you will end up with varying strengths os carbonated water.  SURPRISE!

These are just a few of the things I have noticed, and I will be sure to keep this up as I think of more.  For now that is enough.  Tomorrow we head to Berlin for the Art Conference and the Berlin Film Festival.  I may have more interesting things to say there!

Like the King in His Castle 02-13-2011

Today was hard for me.  I can’t really explain why, just that it was lonely.  Sometimes not being able to speak the language is a good thing, in fact it’s more of a motivation to learn.  Today I just felt even more isolated and cut off from everything.  I am not supposed to be alone in Germany, I am supposed to be in Egypt with all the friends I made.  I miss them.  I miss home.  I miss my friends at home.  I miss my kids more than anything.  I would give anything to hug and kiss my son so I can use up some that he stores up in his pockets to use just for me and to tease my daughter because she makes that funny little fake angry face at me.

All that whining aside, it is wonderful here.  The people are very kind, the six other students are great, and I couldn’t have asked for a better historical and cultural environment. 

Today, as all others, I made a point of going for a walk after lunch (Lunch is the big meal here, so it is never a bad idea for physicality of any type after lunch.)  I walked for about two and a half hours. 

There is a castle here.  The man who finally brought the Germanic tribes together was crowned here by one of the Pope’s (I don”t know which one or the name of the king beyond Henry, but I will find out.)  It is a huge deal here in Quedlinburg.  The castle is incredible.  On the outside you can tell it was a gothic structure, but Hitler ( I believe it was him and not Himmler) decided that he too needed to be crowned in this palace and so in order to take it back to classical antiquity, he remodeled much of it to be Romanesque.  From the outside it looks gothic, but I have been told that the windows visible from outside are actually boarded up on the inside.  I am hoping to go inside the next time I go up there.  The museum was closed today because it is Sunday.

After the castle and tons of pictures looking out over the town, I wandered around and looked at a few touristy shops and decided to go to the art gallery here.  The primary artist displayed there is a man named Lionel Feininger.  I want to say they have his entire collection, but I would probably end up being wrong.  His work is really good.  I don’t know how many people reading this have ever gotten to see Rembrandt's etchings, but the line work is incredibly similar and on a small scale like those also.  Along with line drawings, Feininger did some propaganda pieces and a lot of woodblock prints.  It was a very impressive collection. 

One of the most impressive parts of the gallery (to me) was the presence of right around six original Kandinskys (I probably slaughtered that spelling.)  I think I just stood there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot when I realized what I was looking at. 

The gallery wouldn’t permit me to take photographs for my professor at home, so I bought him a book of Feininger’s work.  Terry is very interested in line work, lithography, and woodblock etchings so I think he will be pleased with the book.  As soon as I saw the style of the work I thought of him.  I wonder if he knows Feininger’s work?

One of the biggest downfalls for me, in being here, is that I know I am intelligent and that I actually have things to say that are valuable, but I’m not able to get a single one of those thoughts out in completion and it’s very difficult.  That one simple fact is reason enough for all my studying and for my singular drive to learn this language.  As much as I get whiny, on here, sometimes, I really am thankful that I am having this once (literally) in a lifetime opportunity to do this.  Between my family and advisors at home, the Gilman Scholarship people, the incredible family that has taken me in this semester, and a very patient professor; I am doing something incredible even when things fell apart in my original destination and before that.  I worked for this trip, but there are people I am so grateful for who are still working so I can be here.  This is something I will never forget.

Viva La Mama!

I went with Klaus last night to watch one of his last dress rehearsals.  We walked there (of course) and on the way we discussed the days of the week and how to say certain things.  He is really great about helping me.  He knows just enough English to get by and make learning simpler.  I will admit that most of our conversations involve a English to German dictionary sitting on the table between us, but we try .

Viva La Mama is a fun production.  It is an opera and it is amazing.  These people sing so well.  It literally gave me goosebumps.  I was in awe.

It was encouraging to me that I understood most of what was going on.  I couldn’t understand the exact words, but the general idea of the plot I completely got.  It’s an opera about a group of actors getting ready to do their premiere show and there are zillions of mishaps and failures and miscommunications.  It is very reminiscent of Tyler Perry’s Madea shows as the lead character is a larger than life feisty woman played by a larger than life man.  It was incredible.

After the performance, we went back to the house and I did my homework (Not really homework, just me trying to catch up by working on verb conjugation.)  I actually made it awake past nine o’clock.  I don’t know what it is about this place, but I find myself exhausted all the time.  At first I though it was because I had a small cold, then I blamed it on all the travel I had been doing, Frau Merchant says that it’s normal because it’s not easy to study this much and have it be so intense (which it is,) I think it may be a combination of all those things, and that I am being much more active here than I was at home.  I love walking around here for hours.  There is so much to see and the air is so clear and clean. 

Tomorrow we have no school and I think I am going to climb up to the place and look out over the entire town.  I’m going to go to the museum that is in the church up there too.  I will be posting some awesome pictures afterwards.

Sprachen and Sprechen 02-08-2011

My best friend back home will feel vindicated.  My ever so slight mid-western accent is causing all sorts of fun in learning German.  Bag, Tag, Lag, and Jag are attacking me. According to my professor it’s fairly common and is considered a dialect which is an interesting factoid, but irritating nonetheless.
I really enjoy my class.  They are young and really down to earth.  German actually makes a lot of sense so I think once I get a good grasp on pronunciation I will be on the road to getting it.  An issue I am having is that some of the sounds are American to my ears but others are slightly Arabic sounding…some of German’s ch’s sound a lot like, but not quite Arabic’s kh’s. It gets me into trouble.
I actually went touring around a little today.  Mainly I took a lot of pictures of my walk to school and then I climbed the hill to look at a crumbling watch tower.  This place is so beautiful.  I can’t even describe it.  It’s cold, but the air is clean.  The water tastes good.  You can see the bottom of their river.  I love looking out over the tops of the houses. 
Tomorrow I am going to go with Klaus after classes and watch his dress rehearsal.  I’m pretty excited.  He LOVES being in theatre and singing.  I am going to bring my camera and get pictures of him! 
Jutta should be back on Thursday from her trip to the spa/clinic.  I hope they helped her hips a lot.  She is so sweet.  Key should be back on Friday so I will finally get to meet him.  From all accounts he is a really cool kid.
On Friday I hope to have some really fantastic pictures, I am going to climb (seriously climb) the short, but extremely steep hill at the edge of town and take pictures of the palace and pictures overlooking the entire town.  It’s gorgeous up there.  I went my first day in town, but my camera putzed out.  I can’t wait to go, but I am saving up to buy the medical evacuation team needed to finish once my body gives out about halfway up .
Next Wednesday we go on my first class trip.  We are going to spend five days in Berlin for a conference.  I was talking to Frau Merchant and she was looking online and the Berlin Film Festival is going on at the same time.  I may look into seeing some of the films or going to some of the seminars…I don’t know.  I know I am going to be taking lots of pictures of Berlin.
I also found out today that we are kind of expected to do something for Spring Break.  Our host families need the break and hell, we are in Europe…I am debating going to Prague and going to Auschwi…the death camp.  I can go anywhere in Europe also.  I will have to do some web browsing.  I may do Prague and somewhere else…I have quite a bit of time and all this stuff is so close together and train fares are actually really cheap so I can do a bunch of things if I can budget a small amount of money and then time it right.
One of my biggest problems here of late is that I am beyond exhausted.  I go to bed around ten every night.  I get up twice during the night, and then around 7 am I am up.  I don’t fully understand what’s going on aside form all the travelling I have done in the past 14-15 days.  I only hope it calms down so I can go do stuff in the evening without kicking my own butt. 
Today I bought a couple more warm shirt/sweaters.  I think another thing I will do in Berlin is find a cheap store…like a Wal-mart and buy three decent sweaters.  This town is very small so it is hard to find good sweater shirts.  I can find sweater jackets, but I have a very nice coat I bought myself in Frankfurt. I need my arms to stop being frozen.
Well, with any luck, I will soon be able to post my entire blog in German.  Look out for that edition, until then I am going to keep climbing hills, eating cheese and bread, and living, reading, and writing the German language.

Ich Spreche

I find I most always begin my sentence with a prepositional phrase.  I very clearly remember having it hammered into my head that it was improper and that it shouldn’t be done. I also remember being told that it was “Sheila and I that went to the store” and not “Sheila and me went to the store.”  Turns out, I was learning the wrong language the whole time!  Those rules are very different in German and I can’t gather my thoughts enough to remember why, but it makes perfect sense when you break down the sentence according to the rules of English…hmmm?  Who knows?
There are a lot of firsts for me here.

• First time a perfect stranger has washed my underwear while I was a full grown adult woman.
• First time someone has ironed said underwear.
• First time even desiring to learn German.
• First time living under someone else’s roof.
• First time actually being able to say “hey, I’m going to Italy!” and actually thinking I am going to go.
• First time going to a theatrical performance not knowing the language and still understanding the performance.
• First time (as an adult) that I have worried about upsetting my “parents” by staying out too late.
• First time eating raw pork.  (we will come back to that.)
• First time being reliant on someone, other than me, to provide a home for me.

That is a lot of firsts and I am sure that isn’t even half of them.  Eating is a pretty big hurdle for me because I can’t communicate really effectively here and not a lot of menus are written in English so it’s a lot of guesswork.  Yesterday I ordered kartofflesuppe which is potato soup.  I ordered it thinking I was getting a cup of soup so I ordered a sandwich to go with it.  I ended up with a large bowl of (really amazing) potato soup and absolutely no room for the sandwich. It came home with me. Also, I default to going places (like the massive multitude of bakeries) that I can point at what I want so I don’t have to try and say it and mess it up or I don’t know what I am saying and order the wrong thing or say something really embarrassing like “I’ll take your aunt and brother’s shoe plate” while ordering thinking I am ordering salad. 
Today, I ate with Frau Merchant and we went to this little restaurant (not a pub but was called one) and I had bratwurst, kraut, and mashed potatoes.  It was delicious and very cool because I used to eat my mom’s version growing up.  Mom, I love your cooking, but German’s got you beat on the sausage….
After we ate, we walked back to the school,  I picked up my stuff (I had had three hours of tutoring today to help me catch up) and I headed home.  When I got here, Kay (Kai, 12 year old son) was home from his trip and Rica (the 2 year old grandbaby)was on her way over.  Kay and Klaus were eating meat, spices and onions on bread.  Klaus asked if I had ever had “it” (I have no idea what it was called, we will just use “it”) and I told him no. He translated it with the help of a German to American dictionary to mincemeat.  Then he got all excited and told me I HAD to try it.  So he cut me off a thick slice of bread, spread fresh ground pork (mixed with spices) then brought it to me with a hunk of onion to add myself based on my onion preference, and s few spices one of which he called kimmel and I will have to look it up.  Seeing as I had never had it before, I cut off a piece of the bread (about a 3x2 inch piece,) placed some onion because I do like onion, and took a bite.  It is good, actually surprisingly so. 
I had had a warning my first day that raw pork is a common thing to eat here.  Trichinosis doesn’t exist in Germany.  Their schweinfleisch (pork) is clean.  I used to swear I was never going to eat sushi, then Michelle took me to Azuma in Albuquerque and I found out I like it.  Never in a million years would I have believed it if I had been told I would be eating raw pork.  If anything, I have a tendency to overcook meat out of fear of disease and here I am eating it.
On a different tack, last night I hung out with some of the other students for the first time.  I say that like its been weeks since I arrived and it has only been 6 days.  Regardless, Flor, one of the students and the only other girl, offered to help me study because as she puts it “I learn when I teach and it will help me.” That and she is a real big sweetheart and is brilliant, so she is the most advanced student.  We studied together yesterday from 8:30 until 11pm.  At 11, Stephen and Sam showed up and we all went to Nase Pub (Nose Pub…Yeah, I don’t get it either. Oh, well.) Nase pub is an Irish pub and at first we were a little weirded out because it wasn’t loud or raucous.  It turned out to be a great place to experiment with different beers, different spirits, and a few different liqueurs without getting shit-faced drunk.
After we had sat there for about half an hour, talking and laughing, the guys at the table next to us (one looked like a rat and the other reminded me of the guy who played Hellboy) leaned over and asked us where we were from.  When they heard we were American, Hellboy got involved because he speaks really good English and he wanted to use it and because the school in Quedlinburg is so small that very few people here know it exists so they were interested in that as well.  Hellboy asked what we were studying and Stephen was first with Political Science.  They didn’t get any further for the entire night.  Stephen spent a good deal of time explaining why it is called a science and then he got into politics and they had a great conversation for about 45 minutes.  All in all, I got home about a quarter to 2 AM and it was definitely a night well spent.  We had a really good time giving Stephen crap and we got to laughing so hard a few times that I was almost crying.  I do think getting out of the house will help in a big way with my skill at speaking German and I intend to do it more.
This week has been very educational.  I have spent nearly 250 euro on warm clothes, my ring, and food for lunches, and I don’t regret it, but DANG! that’s a lot of cash!  Sweaters are much appreciated clothing for me though, because I was packed for Cairo. 
Next week we head off to Berlin for a big Art/Art History conference.  I am pretty excited about it.  We will be staying in a hostel (beware the hedge trimmers) and the trip is completely on the program, so all I will be paying for is food.  It’s pretty cool.  To be clear, all the things that I say are “on the program” are things I actually will be paying with my fees.  It’s just done in such a way that I don’t have to be concerned with budgeting.  Which is nice.

The Tour and More 02-06-2011

Turns out I am a pretty good mime. German is a toughie.  Today was the round the town tour.  Frau Merchant came and picked me up at 10 and we wandered the town.  She’s pretty cool.  She really loves Germany, its history, and it beauty. 

Most Americans think of Germany in the light of World War II.   Here, its as life has moved on.  The mindset of some towards slavery in the states is probably the same sentiment as Germans have about World War II.  It is history.  It happened.  All we can do now is learn from it and move on.  I was a little shocked at how much of the history of Germany I didn’t know and we barely touched on it today.  It is a very very rich and interesting history.  One of, if not the first King of the Germanic tribes was crowned here in Quedlinburg.  Charlemagne ruled here.  The buildings here are older than the United States.  It’s incredible.  I have been to two very old countries on my trip.

This place is exactly what I picture in my head when I envision a German village.  All the houses are packed in close together and they are all different colors.  The trims are mostly high contrast with the home.  The architecture is Northern Romanesque to Gothic to Baroque.  It’s beautiful.  The roads are 90% cobblestone…literally cobblestone.  the ones around the town hall are the original stones from hundreds of years ago.  When they settle or rise, they are re-set, but the stones are never changed out.  We walked by a house today that was built in the 15th century.

Its really cool here.  A lot of the houses are date-stamped and the name of the family that first lived there is also stamped on it. On a steep hill there is the “castle” palace of the kings who ruled from here and it is incredible.  There was a learning convent here at that same time.  Young women went thee to learn.  No vows were taken it wasn’t that kind of convent.  It was to rear up the your noble women so they would be good co-rulers and good wives.  The Abbesses that taught were women of power which was rare.  They could even vote.  

I will be the first to say I never even considered Germany as a location for Study Abroad.  Mostly because I wanted to go somewhere different than everyone else, but also because I wanted to learn a language not many people knew, I didn’t think it would be pretty here.  I didn’t want to freeze.  I will say now though that I am glad I got to be here.  I really enjoy talking with Frau Merchant (I have to call her that especially around other students,) she is Wanda otherwise.  She and I talked today for hours about religion, history, architecture.  She is very excited to have me here because I am not like the kids here who don’t really want to learn.

I miss Cairo and it really hard to get Arabic out of my head.  I didn’t take it long, but I was SO intent on learning it and mastering it that I had been practicing it nightly;.  Now I need to put it away and focus that same energy on German.  I am determined to learn it.

Klaus is awesome.  He performs in a touring theatre group where he sings and acts.  He and Jutta sing in a weekly chorus too nad I have been invited to join them.

Jutta is the sweetest woman.  She knocked on my door to wake me for breakfast (I was already up, but still) and she says “good morning my Darling”  she is so happy to have me here. I guess their last student was kind of a pain.  She didn’t like the katzen(Katza=1 cat Katzen=2 or more cats,) she wouldn’t listen and flushed things that damaged the plumbing to the tune of 1500 Euro ($2047.00,) and she was messy as well.  I am a breath of fresh air to them.  They are both so helpful.  Any words that are difficult they help and I help them as well.  Klaus took English in high school. (much the same way we take German) So he knows a little. 

Jutta and Klaus are pretty amazing.  Jutta was born with a hip problem and spent many years of her youth in a hospital.  Not fun.  She is 56 and you would NEVER know it.  My jaw almost hit the floor when she said that.  Ten years ago she had both her hips replaced.  in her forties and getting her hips replaced…that is incredibly young.  She left today to go to a clinic with a hot spring.  She goes once a year and it helps ease her pain.  I think they also do muscle massage and physical therapy.  Klaus says she is WAY better now than she was.

Klaus turns 58 (?) on the 17th of this month and he blows me away.  He is up a 5:30 everyday and today, he took care of his grandbaby, Rikka, for a bit, cleaned house, read, and then just as I was getting home, he was taking off for a 30 minute run.  Tomorrow night he is starting a five day fast.  Between the walking and the company, I am either going to get fat-er or I am going to lose weight.

which brings me to food.  It tastes better here.  There aren’t a lot of preservatives in the food.  Frau Merchant calls it real food.  She says every time she goes back to the states (She is an American citizen who learned German.  She is not German)she gains weight and her digestion goes wonky.  I don’t know about all that, but EVERYTHING tastes better here.  Today, Frau Merchant and I went to a Greek restaurant and the gyros I had was amazing.  There was a lot of food too.  I ordered off the “small hunger” menu and it was a lot.  Generally speaking, it is hard to overeat here; people converse over food and over coffee.

Drinking isn’t a big issue because even that is done in extreme moderation.  People do get drunk don’t get me wrong.  Its just different.  Both nights I have been here, one with Jutta and one with Klaus, they have shared a beer with me, one to one and a half glasses full.  It was a casual thing just after a meal (or as yesterday before bed) it doesn’t seem uncommon to have a glass of beer. The drinking age here is 14.  That in and of itself blew me away.

I think I will enjoy this town and this trip.  I am still having difficulty letting go of home and things at home, but time and removal of stressors (rioting and curfews and no internet) will help me with that. 

I will say one thing for sure; all the walking makes for one tired Dar. I’m off to bed.  Tomorrow starts the schooling!

Quedlinburg 02-05-2011

Today I left Frankfurt on a train.  I had never been on a train before so it was a new and somewhat exciting experience.  It seemed strange to me, buying a ticket to go somewhere and not having to show my name, my passport, or any kind of ID.  It made me extra protective of my ticket, I can assure you of that.

Trains are interesting.  This one certainly wasn’t the same as the one I knew growing up.  You wouldn’t want to put a penny on the track, it would render you dead.  These trains travel insanely fast. Still, my trip took several hours.  Long enough to read the entire book Jane Slayre.  I had two train changes which I pulled off seamlessly with the help of a couple nice people to tell me the way because I couldn’t read the signs.

Quedlinburg is a town in Eastern Germany.  I was informed that it has around 30,000 people.  The street quite literally are cobblestones and the street are narrow and surrounded by houses you would see in a movie about Germany; steeply pitched roofs, shutters painted a contrasting yet flattering shade different than the house.  You half expect Pinocchio to come bouncing down the street singing about an actor’s life.

My host mother is incredible.  Her name is Jutta (Yootah) and she is 56, though she doesn’t look it at all.  She met me with a great big hug and a kiss on the cheek proclaiming “Happy welcome!”  I love her already.  Jutta has a husband, Klaus, but he was at the theatre tonight.  Evidently he sings and acts locally in the theatre.  I’m excited to meet him.  She also has three children.  Two of them are grown and each have a young child of their own and one, Key (Kai), lives at home.  He is 12.  Right now he is on vacation in Holland with a friend’s family.  I am going to help him learn English and in turn, I am sure I will pick up a lot of German.

I think German is going to be much more of a challenge than Arabic.  I am told by Wanda Merchant (Frau Merchant,) the professor who teaches us, that it is entirely phonetic.  Hopefully I won’t have a hard time catching up, but I have the assistance of Frau Merchant and the director of the program whom I have yet to meet. 

There are several trips that are included in this program and I am excited to say that several of them are to art functions.  One of them is to a book expo in Berlin!  I am very excited to learn more about this place.  Quedlinburg has a lot to offer even though it is small and I plan to see everything.

Tonight I spent the evening playing with one of the family cats, Ziggy, and watching The Jury with Jutta in the living room.  I know that I have seen this movie in English, but it was amazing how much of the plot I could follow even though I couldn’t understand the words.  We shared a German beer.  It has lemon in it and it actually tastes very good.  We also shared some very good toffee and while I was chatting with Melynda, she brought me a chocolate filled with marzipan.  I can see myself getting fat-er here, so I will have to watch it.

My day has been incredibly long and I haven’t slept well in awhile, so I am going to head to bed.  When I told Jutta that I was going to bed she gave me a big hug, a kiss on the cheek, and reminded me that breakfast is at eight.  I hope Ziggy comes to see me tonight.  She is such a cool cat. 

All I Know of Germany 02-03-2011

Evacuation was pretty uneventful.  We said goodbye to our stalwart friends and boarded the bus.  The ride to the airport proved educational for me.  I hadn’t been off the island during the riots, so to see some of the results was pretty incredible.  We passed several tanks, burned out military vehicles, road blocks, and a lot of graffiti.  I couldn’t believe how wrecked it was.

Scrawled on buildings and bridges were the words “No Mubarak.”  Just the space affected by the crowds was incredible.  The protest space went on for what seemed like several miles of our trip. Another incredible thing about the drive…the sheer number of heavily armed military men and tanks.  There must have been 20 tanks and easily three or four times that number of military.

Quite frankly, it was scary.  I was grateful for our sheltered little island.

Getting to the airport and getting on the plane was fun. We had to get our passports check about 8 times by eight different people.  We also had to sign a promissory note that said we agree to pay  XXXX amount of money to the government when billed so that we could board the plane and get out of the “dangerous” country.  Does every country charge to save their people?  Anyway, the amount is supposed to reflect what a one way economy class ticket from Cairo to Frankfurt would cost.  I am hoping that its fairly cheap.  My ticket to Cairo and back home was only $1400.

After signing the blank check to the government, we had to go through security where, you guessed it, I got randomly selected to have my bags searched… lol.  Luckily the thing that showed up on the screen was my laptop and they only ended up searching my back pack.  I would have hated to have to repack my suitcase.  Is it sad that I thought that while they were searching?

After security, was immigration.  YAY! another stamp in my passport. After immigration was a wait.  We didn’t mind the slow down though, it gave us a minute to set our very heavy bags down and relax for about an hour.  After everyone had signed their blank checks (the government made a killing on this evac,) we were loaded on three standing buses and driven to our own plane.  I couldn’t believe we all fit.  It was hands down the most uncomfortable flight I have ever taken.  Still though, I am grateful for it.

The ride was very uneventful.  As I watched Cairo vanishing through the clouds, I will admit I shed a few tears.  It really does feel like a life long dream has been destroyed.  I woke up every morning in Cairo so happy to be there.  It isn’t real to me yet that it’s over.  I digress.  Keep in mind I saw nothing in Cairo, one of the oldest cities in the world; we also flew into Istanbul…another one of the older cities in the world.  We weren’t allowed to deplane.  We stopped for fuel and for the crew to switch out. 

All said, we were in the air about 7 hours.  The plane was crowded, but people were not irritable at all.  I guess tragedy makes people more tolerant.  We all funneled off the plane with our luggage and headed into the terminal. 

I want to take a minute to talk about the people who were there when we landed.  We entered a small area in the airport with chairs and what not, but there were also people circulating drinks for adults and children, snacks, and any information we might need.  As I stood in line waiting to check into the country (something they do to keep track of who they have evacuated,) I was given cookies and offered sparkling water.  When I was finished in line I was guided to a buffet of sorts that had capri suns, cookies, water, soda, bananas and apples, string cheese, lots of stuff.  I grabbed a bunch and threw them in my food bag. 

After grabbing food, we were guided through the terminal to the immigration line (another stamp,) and to the baggage claim.  Along with leading us all there, the helpers stayed and then assisted people in getting to various exits, guiding them to the hotel shuttle (embassy employees got rooms at the Sheraton,) and leading people like me (who needed phone or internet to know what to do) to the USO.

The USO rocks hard.  It is a tiny office with six computers and three phones all for US citizens needing something even if all they need is a cupcake.  There was hot coffee and homemade baked goods waiting for us along with an awesome selection of chocolate bars that easily cost $3-$5 each in the states.  All of the help we received made the transition into Frankfurt very simple.  I was extremely grateful.

Jennifer (Moses #1) got me a room at the Holiday Inn Frankfurt Airport North.  It’s an awesome hotel.  I have this perfect teeny tiny room with a desk, nice sized bathroom, three closets (that I have yet to use,) a small table and nightstand and an upholstered chair.  My only complaint…like any of the nicer hotels, they charge for internet.  Other than that, this is the most perfect place I have ever stayed.

Even so, I slept poorly, I think mostly because of stress.  Tonight a lot of that will get figured out.  I want to stay in Germany and finish a semester abroad.  It’s a dream I am not fond of giving up on.

Ryan (Moses #2) is doing so much work for me. ( I really can’t say enough about how much he, Jennifer, Gilman, and Texas Tech have done for me and how awesome it is that they care so much about me and this nightmare situation.) I get email updates about what is happening and calls to coordinate.  It has been working as well as anything with a 7 hour time difference can.  I am just very grateful that I have this team working for me.  I don’t think anyone else could have accomplished so much in so little time and helped take a load of stress off my shoulders.  It really is a relief.

Common Misconceptions and Parting the Red Sea 02/02/2011 (2:07 AM)

I just got off the phone with my Gilman person, Jennifer.  She made me feel a whole lot better about everything. I have the option to stay here if I want, and I will eventually have to pay Gilman back, but I will have time.  I am still leaving.  There is no guarantee there will be a semester here, and I can’t miss one.  Jennifer did inform me that Gilman will defer my scholarship (if I can pay it back in full) so that I can attend a separate semester abroad in the summer.  I just don’t know that I am able to save it up before then.  I do however want to pay them back.

I feel a whole lot better after talking to her.  I answered questions for her, and she answered a lot of questions for me.  Several Gilman scholars have gotten into other programs.  When I spoke to Ryan about those options, he said they had worked together to find a program in Greece.  It’s in a town called Thessaloniki.  (Very fun to say.)  I don’t even know what courses they offer.  They are REALLY affordable though, especially for Europe.  Unfortunately, I don’t think affordable will be good enough.  In Egypt I was able to subsist in 5 L.E a day if needed.  That is equivalent to $1. I can’t get that in Europe.  The euro is .72EU to $1.  The cost of living for me goes up exponentially.  I will probably end up back at home.  I wish I had three or four thousand more dollars.  The tuition/housing there is equivalent, I just have to support myself and buy books. 

A big shout out to the Gilman Scholarship program.  I thought they were forcing us to leave by pulling our scholarships, but in reality they are awesome.  She is now my “team on the ground” for getting me where ever it is that I am going.  When I get to “safe haven” which is one of four locations that the embassy flights will take us (we won’t know which til we are on one,) I am going to call her and she is going to arrange and pay for a hotel room for me.  If necessary she will also make sure I have a flight home.  I’m hoping that isn’t necessary because I will already need to pay back the US government for the embassy flight.  I may complain about that at a future date, I just have to see how much it is they are charging us to get out of Egypt.  I feel like the Israelites being led out of bondage.  Jennifer and Ryan are playing tag team as my Moses.  It is nice to know that someone is helping me out because right now, I can’t help myself out and it is really difficult.

I am really glad that I got out of the dorm and ate every kind of Egyptian food I could today, you laugh, but I’m serious!  In the two hour window that was left before Egypt’s curfew (1PM now) and after the President of AUC’s Q&A session, Cat, Christine, and I ventured out in search of phone cards.  They weren’t anywhere we checked so we ended up wandering to 26th of July street and finding them in a little shop.  being in such high demand, the shop owner was not really very cool on price.  He had jacked it up 20%.  We bought them anyway.  After phone cards we went in search of food.  They knew a tamaya place and so we headed towards it.  On the way we passed Alex Top and decided we would stop there, eat koshary, and then head to find tamaya.  So we did.  Have I mentioned how much I love koshary?  I also picked up a container of milky rice and ate it when I got back to the dorm. 

On the way to the tamaya place from Alex Top, Christine sidetracked us into a bookstore!  Joy!!!  I bought my roommate back home an awesome book and I got my kids The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle in Arabic.  Both my kids are too old for that book, but it is really awesome and I am going to buy the English version and show it to them.  I was really happy to see a book store.  I love books.

After the bookstore, we continued on with our journey towards tamaya.  Tamaya is the Egyptian word for falafel and the Egyptian version actually tastes a lot better than most I have tasted.  Two is a meal.  We all got two, after eating koshary, and we ate them when we got back to the dorm.  Like I said, I ate a bunch of my favorite Egyptian food today.  I am sad that there will be no every other Thursday Indian food date. 

It’s so hard to believe I have only been here just over a week.  All these people I have met are incredible and I am excited to know them and they feel like the kind of friends I have had forever rather than people I only met in the past week.  I hate that Mubarak won’t be kind to his people.  I hate that it has come to this for them and I hope it gets resolved.  I wish that things had ended up better for us at AUC this semester but I have friends that I will always have regardless of how this ended.

So, to both of my Moseii thank you for all your work for me.  I won’t be able to get anything done without your help.  I wish there was something I could do to show you how much this means to me.

The next time I write this blog, I will either be at the airport waiting to get out or in another country.  I wonder if I will get a new visa or immigration stamp?

One Million, NO, We Have Two 02-01-2011

Another wave of students left today.  I have heard that there are still some from yesterday that are stuck at the airport. There is no water available at the airport, they are out of food, and all non-embassy flights have been pushed back until further notice.  This bites.

I find myself getting so angry.  I want to stay and I don’t want to lose my scholarship because Mubarak has an ego.  I want to learn Arabic at this school.  I want to see mosques, pyramids, the Sphinx, Luxor, Alexandria, and all the markets.  I haven’t even had a chance to see the Cairo museum.  I hate the president here and if I hate him this much, I can’t even comprehend how much the people of Egypt must hate him.  I’m so mad I could cry and if you know me, you know how mad that is.

I am as safe on this island as an infant in a padded room.  There is no danger.  We have more security than the Federal Mint and we don’t even utilize them.  They are admittedly just as bored, if not more than we are, but we are safe.  I don’t feel threatened in the slightest.  The entire faculty of the school is still here, including the president and vice president of AUC.  They both come to Zamalek everyday to bring us new news. How much danger can we honestly be in if people are driving 45 minutes each way, daily, to pass along news that is essentially the same everyday.

Today Egyptians have amassed two million strong in Tahrir Square.  (I believe someday this square will be as famous as Tieneman in China.)  The protests are peaceful and the protestors just as insistent that they will be heard and they will be respected and that their voices are required to be heard and that Mubarak must go.  I was walking near 26th of July street today and on every concrete support of the overpass, someone had spray painted NO MUBARAK (in Arabic, of course.)  People here are serious.  They say that everything that has happened so far is worth it and the belief is held that they will come out victorious.

It is my sincerest wish that the US would withdraw financial support from Egypt.  I realize that it will inconvenience us, but our country was funded on several principles and everyday Americans live their lives by them. Yet, everyday the American government lends money and support to regimes whose policies are directly oppositional to our proclaimed moral and perceptual beliefs.  Lending this support undermines our constitutional directives.  How can we say we believe in human rights, freedom of speech, freedom to pursue happiness and achievement and then openly (or secretly) support governments that enforce values that are diametrically oppositional on their people?  It makes us hypocrites and it makes us liars.  If we truly believe in the basic rights of all men to exist, that encompasses a world of mankind, not just Americans and we are making liars of ourselves by assisting in the oppression of Egyptians or any other people.

I am waiting on a call from Ryan, my study abroad advisor.  He is supposed to have information for me about alternate programs that I can participate in. I deeply deeply hope he will have found some options for me.  In talking to Cat, another Gilman Scholar, there are programs in Morocco, UAE, and Aman.  The question for me is going to be if I can afford them.  I will not give up without a fight. I have come so far and it would be an awful thing to fail now.

I love these people.  Being here and seeing how hard they are willing to fight for their basic rights gives me a desire to be more informed and to be more active in lending my support to the things I feel are important.  Saying I believe in something isn’t enough if I am completely unwilling to back it up with action. 

Everyone is Going 01-31-2011

Today I woke with my decision to stay in Cairo until the bitter end fully in my mind.  I had made a solid decision to stay here and wait for the semester to begin and to stick out this life we have in Cairo. 

I went downstairs to the lobby planning to meet my friends for the final goodbye before they left for destinations unknown and was greeted with a chaotic lobby full of suitcases and disorder but friends, I sincerely think I have made for life.  I actually cried a little saying goodbye to Brooke, Veronica, Otis, Kelsi, Virginia, and all the others.  I can’t believe they are really gone.

The president of AUC came and spoke to us also.  She was here for about thirty minutes and she explained that we would be reimbursed 100% of our money if we left prior to the first day of classes and that we would be receiving all the money back for our scheduled trips.  This saddened me more than anything because it meant that the trips weren’t going to happen.  I wasn’t going to get to see a pyramid.  After the president spoke, the move to the buses headed for the airport began so I went out to the curb with my friends.

I hugged them goodbye and went in to sit with Amanda because she had no solid information.  As we waited, I exchanged people’s L.E with American dollars because I had them and I was intent on staying in Cairo so I knew I would need pounds, not American.  I didn’t know when we would be able to access our bank accounts again so it was nice to have the reassurance of cash in my pocket.

After the chaos died down a bit, Amanda, Andrea and I decided to go out into Zamalek to get them phone cards and so I could take them to lunch because they were low on money and things were pretty dire for them.  Much to our surprise the VodaPhone store was open and they were both able to receive a phone card and I was able to attempt to buy a phone.  I was told to come back tomorrow. 

After the phone cards, we went to the Market and looked for water to stock up on and maybe another low dollar amount phone card for each of them.  Neither were to be found, so we left the market.  When we left the market, we went into a little touristy shop and smelled a few pure oil perfumes and looked at some little (total tourist crap) trinkets.  It felt good to be a tourist.

We left the touristy place and headed to find food, because food is good and you need it to live. in our wanderings, we came upon the Pottery Café, a local shisha place, also a café.  We sat down amid the sweet smell of shisha smoke and ordered meals and chatted…well Amanda listened, but there was conversation. It felt remarkably normal out.  The streets were back to being busy, the police had resumed position at a few of the corner outposts, businesses were open, and the air seemed optimistic, even better;  the bank was open and allowing transactions!  I didn’t need to do one, but I checked my balance anyway just because I could.

We went to Alfa mart after that and stood in line for nearly thirty minutes waiting for bread. It was warm and fresh and amazing.  After that we headed back.

I mean it when I say that after all the people from the dorm that chose to be evacuated today were gone, a sort of resigned peace reigned supreme.  We were bored and restless most of the night.  Several games of chess with Christina, Cat, Sean, and Wayne were played.  Connect four championship tournaments were conducted.  Dinner was eaten, and the night wound down.  Four of us ended up in my dorm room to watch a pirated copy of Black Swan and just chill.

Around 11:45PM, I received a call from Ryan, my study abroad advisor just wanting to touch base.  He wanted to know what I wanted to do and asked me how things were.  I assured him that I wanted to stay until we had a definitive answer on if the semester would proceed or if it were canceled and he said he thought that it was okay, but that he was going to call around and cover my bases for me. I felt a whole lot better for talking with him and even more resolute that I had made the correct decision in choosing to stay.

We went on with the movie until we were all exhausted and then we disbursed to go to bed.  Then, an hour after I went to sleep, I received another phone call from Ryan telling me I had to go.

Evidently Gilman scholars had to evacuate as soon as the government issued a travel warning for Egypt. I can understand that.  I just hope I can figure something out.  I worked very very hard to make sure this wasn’t a venture that would cause financial hardship, and it unfortunately looks like it’s going to be one that I may not be able to pull out of without dropping out of school.

Fortunately for me, Ryan is amazing and is working as I type (unless he is sleeping, I am on the other side of the world) to find me another comparable program in a country nearby.  Otherwise, I am required to sign a repatriation loan promissory note requiring me to pay the united States for getting me out of Egypt.  I hope he succeeds.