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.
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