Home Sweet Home

Dearest Followers,

Wanted to let you know that I arrived, safe and sound, back on American soil about two weeks ago!

The jet lag knocked me outta commission for a few days...

And the 4am  jetlag-induced-wakeups were unpleasant...

"Well now that I'm awake, I guess I'll just play Candy Crush on my phone
 until the sun comes up."

But I'm back!

I celebrated the 4th of July in style with my extended family in Cincinnati, which included hot dogs hamburgers, sparklers, and the time-honored tradition of throwing snappers at other people.

I also drove out to Kansas to find a new apartment for my grad school livin', hence forth to be referred to as "starving gracefully".  (And as my Grandma reminded me, if I ever need money, selling organs is always an option. My kidney to the highest bidder!)  After days of searching, we eventually found an adorable one bedroom with a balcony within walking distance of campus!  So now I have a place to live!

I also got my grad school reading list and desk copies for the classes I'm teaching.

LIKE A REAL GROWN-UP AND EVERYTHING.

It's the little things, people.

I'm wrapping up July with the glorious annual celebration of my birth (woohoo!) and more various family vacations.

Unfortunately, I might not have steady internet access while I'm traveling, so my posts will be sporadic. But I still owe you guys two more posts - FAQ and the End of the Chemnitz Year Review - so keep checkin' the blog and the Facebook page.

Lots of Love,
Your Humble Blogger

PS. For inquiring minds...part of my summer reading stack...

Was ist blau in Blaubeuren? (Part 2 of 2)

Or Climb Every Mountain!

Which is really not as fun as it sounds.

On last Wednesday, the whole group of the Kompakt Course took a tour of the monastery in Blaubeuren.

The gorgeous triptych altar, painted in gold. 

Ceiling detail in the chapel

German poet Hoelderlin made his mark on the chapel walls.
I guess graffiti was popular in 1753 too.

 Gothic arches

So after an expansive history tour, we all headed down to the Blautopf for some ice cream.  After this delicious repast, we began our hike.

Now the Germans love to hike.  Not like in the vague American way of saying: "I like to hike" which means "I'll hike from the parking lot over the dune to the beach"  or "I don't mind walking from there to here since I don't have a car".  It's a big weekend activity here. Everyone from your sweet little granny to a babbling four year old goes hiking. They are hardcore.  Unless you like roughing it in the woods (which I do not), Americans have no perception of German hiking. 

The German perceptions on hiking are simple: 

1) Why take the car or the bus or train if you can walk there?!  

2) Paths, what are paths?  

3) Signposts and guardrails are for the weak.

So yes,

The Germans love, love, love to hike.

Now, I was a Girl Scout.  I mean, yes, more of the let's-make-a-sit-upon-while eating-trail-mix-while-gossiping-about-people type than the lace-up-my-boots-and-climb-this-mountain-type, but still. I was a Girl Scout.  I am no stranger to woods and forests and all the precious woodland creatures therein (except for spiders and snakes, they are evil. Pure evil).  But I have never before climbed a mountain range rim with a broken foot in a walking cast.

Just a little fast fact - It's hard.

It wasn't bad to begin with.  In fact, I thought, with a bright, cheery optimism, this might be so bad.  Then the "path" (and by path I mean goat trail) got really, really steep very, very quickly.  My boot although it was indeed made for walking, was not in the mood to walk over anyone or anything.  Plus, dragging around the extra weight on my right foot made me extremely tired.  So I fell behind. 

 Luckily, Zach and Rachel were there to keep me going.  So we kept climbing and climbing and climbing.  And I'm pretty sure I ran out of German expletives and had to switch to some English ones.  Finally after many swears and sweat, and tears (no blood, thank goodness!) we reached -

A road.  A windy road.  A highway. With lots of cars. 

Which leads to a little town.  With a bus stop. With another little path leading to the ruins of the castle we were hiking toward.

REALLY?! 

WOULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN EASIER TO TAKE THE BUS TO THIS LITTLE TOWN?!

Fuming, I shoved my anger down my throat and tried to smile at the tutors and teachers as I huffed and puffed  up towards them.

We can order you a car to take you back, they said.  The path isn't so great from here on out.

Oh. Really.

Unfortunately, I have a nasty streak of stubbornness (from which side of the family I received it from is unclear yet).  I had climbed all this way up.  I wasn't going back.  So we kept going.

Good thing Zach and Rachel were there because on the path there were huge chunks of limestone sticking out of the rolly mountain rim.  Imagine one of those Pepperidge Farm cookies with the chocolate chips in them.  Just like that.  Except not tasty and decidedly uncomfortable.  Meanwhile, Emily joined us, inhaler in hand (poor thing!) and Jake sped on ahead, with little concern about our well being (thanks a lot).  One of the tutors, Susanne (she is so nice!) stayed behind to make sure we didn't get lost or eaten by bears or fall off the edge of a cliff.  So we practiced German while (almost) facing near death! Huzzah!

And eventually, we found the ruins!  Wir haben es geschafft! Unser Ziel war erreicht!  (Side note: I love the verb geschafft.  It's fantastic sounding).  

So we appropriately documented our victory.

The Very Helpful and Awesome Rachel and that Jake kid.

Going down?

Emily and Rachel celebrate their victory

The boys were too cool to smile for my picture.

And eventually we all got home, safe and sound.