Yesterday was crazy beyond almost all belief. We all woke up at or before 6am, dressed, got breakfast (rice, fried egg, smoked fish, fruit), and packed the car. The car was a giant van ( 10 seats), and the AC was really cold, so we all brought blankets and sweatshirts, which were needed.
I tried to sleep in the car, but this didn't quite work out as planned. The ride was about two hours and half long, so there was plenty of time, but with no head rests in the back seat, I ended up sleeping on the floor. I know that's not very safe, but there weren't any seatbelts for that bench anyway. You may ask why I slept on the floor instead of the seat, but Gavin sort of fell asleep on it before we could find a solution. He sleep very hard and I can't move him, so I just took the entire blanket and stretched out on the floor of the van. It worked out, but I felt more tired than before the nap.
We were on our way to Sebic, with the goals of feeding tigers and swimming with dolphins. The tigers we found at a zoo, animal rescue type of place. After parking and buying tickets, we followed our guide, Jaywel, into the zoo portion. It was pretty cool because I'd never seen these birds, rodents or deer before, but Jaywel must have been going for the record of the world's fastest tour. He barely gave me seconds to take pictures and we didn't get to see more than half the animals there. But they do have a lot of cool birds, from what I could see. We also got to feed banana pieces to bearcats. Those things are greedy!
Then we watched the animal show. It was the worst one I've ever seen. You know how I experienced the worst parade in France? This was the worst animal show. The first act was a potbelly pig...she could fetch things, sit, and "paint." However, she wasn't really trained, so half the time when her trainer gave her a command, she didn't do it. Then there was a dog, who looked a little dehydrated. He lept in between the bamboo sticks, while the trainer moved them for the native dancing. He was pretty good. But that was his only trick. Then the birds came...most of them had only one trick per and it was like, "Wow, that bird can bob its head." And then the ones that flew in never flew to the trainer's arm. They always landed on one of the rafters and then flew down after some coaxing. This show lasted a very long 50 minutes.
After the show, we drove down the road (the complex had multiple sites) and persuaded Jaywel to let us just go to the tigers. That's all we'd really come for anyway. He finally agreed and took us to the place. There we bought five whole raw chickens. Then we climbed, in twos, into a jeep type vehicle, that resembles the one in the first Jurassic Park movie. Instead of windows and doors, there was heavy grid wire. Then the driver drove into the tiger compound. The tigers were awake and knew we had food for them. So, they came right up to the jeep and then our guide held a chicken up to the wire and the tiger gnawed and pulled the carcass through.
Then the guide threw a chicken up on the roof of the jeep and the tiger followed. So, for the next ten minutes, we drove around the compound with a tiger eating a chicken on the roof of the jeep. We could sort of see him, since there was the wire and some thick, cloudy glass on the roof. The guide fed the other chickens, slowly, to the tigers, who came up and leaned against the jeep. And of course one more chicken went on the roof. Gavin took a video with my camera, so it'll make more sense when you see it. I'll make him put it on YouTube soon.
After the tigers, we drove about a half hour down to Sebic Bay. Here was basically a small sea world, but with only dolphins. They did rescue some, but most were for shows and close encounters. We watched the show, which was a pretty typical dolphin show, comparable to the ones at Gulf World and Shed Aquarium. Though, they did have four different kinds of dolphins: bottlenose, spotted, rough tooth, and false killer whale. The false killer whale probably has a better name, but that's what they called it. He's not very pretty, but quite big and black. The show was also cool, because instead of a tank, it was in the ocean. And I'm not sure if in the distance there were other islands, or if it was just further coastline, but it was awesome.
Lunch followed the show. I wasn't too hungry and didn't want something heavy in me before swimming. So I ate a plate of fruit, which was OK. Gavin had a dessert/snack thing called "Halo Halo" (pronounced as if there were two L's), which was jellied fruit, ice, and with a scoop of ice cream on top. I tried it and it reminded me of a creamsicle taste, but I was glad I didn't order an entire one. Mike, Noel's brother, has been sick, so after lunch he went and slept in the van till we were done.
So...we changed into our swimsuits. Then got a briefing by one of the staff members. It was a lot of "don'ts" like "don't touch their eyes or blow holes" etc. Then we walked into the water, which was really warm and mild. Some salt water is really salty, like in the gulf, but this water was mild. When it hit me in the eyes, it didn't hurt like hell, just annoyed me like tap water. That was magical. There were two trainers in the water, and they called the dolphins.
The dolphins rolled over on their backs, and one person grabbed a hold of their fins and then we swam away to the dock.
Author's note: If anyone reads this now, I have to go get ready for dinner, so I'll complete the day later. Sorry for any cliffhanger.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Manila, Day 1, 11 July 2010
I would have honestly just written this in real time in the actual blog, but as I can’t find the internet connection password, that progress is delayed. Along with writing emails to let everyone know I’ve hear safely. So, I apologize. I should have written last night, but it was almost two in the morning and I wanted to go to bed and everyone else was on line anyway. So, let me back up.
Friday morning, I woke up at 5 15 am, after sleeping for three hours in my bed at home. I’d already packed, but needed to throw some snacks and things in my backpack still. Gavin was going to come pick me up at 5 30, so I got completely ready and moved all my stuff out to the front porch. The idea was that we’d only have one checked bag between us, and we had to add still some toiletries. Well, let’s just say I ended up having enough time to eat some cereal, wander around the house, and unload the dishwasher. And then sit on the porch quietly.
But he came and we loaded up and drove back to his apartment. On the way, the cab driver called and hung up after about three rings, which wasn’t enough to allow Gavin to answer the call, and of course we couldn’t call back. Every other time Gavin’s used Laclede Cab Company, its taken them a half hour to get to where he was. So, he called on the way to pick me up, figuring the cab would be there about the time we got back to the apartment. Laclede chose today of all days to be early, and of course left by the time we got there.
So, we added what we needed to the suitcase and called again. It took them 45 minutes to arrive, and two phone calls to the dispatcher. Our original plan was to take the cab to Metrolink and take that the rest of the way to Lambert. At this point, we were running out of time, because it takes about an hour with the train to get up to the airport. Not a good feeling. The cab finally came and she said that with the $65 between us, she could get us to the airport. So away we went, and it only cost $40 for the both of us. And there was no traffic and we checked in on time.
Checking in was another adventure. Basically, we wanted to have the suitcase transferred to our other flights, without us having to find it in baggage claim in Chicago to have to re-check it in there for the other flights. We eventually succeeded in doing this, but it did take a while. The lady at American said she couldn’t look up our Delta itinerary to transfer out bags, but the Delta people made Gavin wait so long in line, the American people just did it for us anyway.
Getting to the gate for the Chicago flight was a big relief. It meant we’d make all the other flights. I don’t’ really remember if anything noteworthy happened on that flight. It’s quite short and they all are beginning to blend together. But once in Chicago, Gavin called Noel to see which gate he was at, and we took the train to get there. Oh, no, we didn’t…I’m misremembering the train I took in Atlanta. So, no, we walked to the Gate in Chicago. Once we found Noel and Jazzie, we talked for a bit, checked in, and then went in search of breakfast. I ended up getting some chicken tenders and Gavin ate a sandwich from Quizno’s; it was really more of an early lunch, since I’d technically eaten breakfast already at 5:30 that morning.
The ride to Detroit was pretty good. We were all in the same row. The main event was that a fly managed to get on the plane with us. I personally think it followed the absolutely horrendously smelling baby (that screamed a lot). I’m not sure why the diaper wasn’t changed, but it really needed to be. But, the fly was a source of annoyance, especially to Gavin and Noel, who had the aisle seats. So, they went on a fly hunt. Armed with rolled up Sky Magazines, they waited at ready for the fly to land within their vicinity. They were unsuccessful. Luckily the other passengers were quite tolerant of their brandishing weapons and attempts, though no one came close to any danger.
The notable thing about the Detroit airport is that their train is red, inside and elevated. Very cool. Our time was rather short, which was fine, because I was ready to go. The plane we took to Tokyo was humongous and had two storeys. I’d never seen one before, except in a few movies and it was insane. I didn’t get a chance to go up to the second story, because its reserved for the first class people and its where the cockpit is. But taking off took a little longer than normal and you could really sense the weight of the plane in comparison to other ones.
The flight was somehow okay. I expected myself to really super get sick of it, but I was all right. It definitely helped that I wasn’t alone; all four of us sat in the same row and had a lot of catching up to do. We were promised four movies by SkyMall magazine, but they only showed one very late at night, which I didn’t watch. I went back to sleep at that point. But, dinner was really good (soy sauce chicken with rice and carrots) and I made sure to drink plenty of water. Gavin and I played the Turkish card game we learned in Vienna. I won more than he did. Then he later taught it to Noel.
The conversations we had were all really good. Mostly it was just catching, but also teasing each other about random stuff. Like how I fell off the ladder of my bed freshman year and couldn’t dance with Noel at First Friday’s. I still feel bad, but the fall really did hurt. I was so bruised I couldn’t wear shoes or do any of the lifts. Anyways, I think the flight from Detroit to Tokyo was about thirteen hours. Then we had some madness getting out of the plane (it took a while) and getting to the next gate. We had to go through another security checkpoint, which was really painless, and then charge down to the next gate.
Even though we were all on the same row again, for some reason Noel and Jazzie were in loading zone one, and Gavin and I were in zone four. So we just snuck in with them. The flight from Tokyo to Manila was four hours and seemed a little longer. Gavin slept a bit again, but I think I did too a bit. Noel said we’d eat dinner once we got back to the house, so we didn’t eat any of the dinner on the plane. I did eat a granola bar, though, because I’d missed breakfast on the other flight and it’d be at least four hours before we’d be at the house. This plane was another two storey jet and had a screaming baby for the last half hour.
Once in Manila, we were really glad to be done with planes. Especially me. But, Noel’s guard met us before we even reached customs or baggage claim. We’d already filled out our immigration paper work and he took care of that for us. Somehow we’d all forgotten to sign one part, but it was all right. It was weird to be escorted through all the quicker lanes and whatnot, though. At baggage claim, Noel’s and Jazzie’s suitcases came right away. Gavin and mine took another half hour to arrive. I did start feeling a little nervous, but the number of other people waiting for theirs made me feel better. There was a lot of cargo that came with the suitcases, too. Which was odd seeing these giant cardboard boxes tumbling down the conveyor belt and smashing into others and whatnot. I wonder if anything inside broke.
Finally we got our suitcase, which Noel sprinted to get. This meant he was hungry. We then went to find the car. This also took a bit, because of all the traffic and people. There are very few rules that are followed when it come to traffic here. It was insane to watch…all these cars just going and ignoring the police man and people wandering out into traffic. But we finally got into the van and our luggage followed behind us. I think it was almost an hour drive to the house, which was strange but fun.
I say strange, because it was so dark (we landed at ten pm) so we couldn’t really see much outside of the street. Its weird knowing there are buildings and everything but not being able to see them. And people would wander into the street, motorcycles weaving in and out of the cars, and bicycles acting like cars. And the amount of traffic was akin to that of our rush hour. But this was almost midnight. Crazy.
The house was quite a surprise, though I didn’t have any expectations. Both Noel’s parents were there, along with his brother, Mike, and fiancée, Precious. They’re all very nice and there was a lot of food waiting for us. We went and set our things down in our rooms first and then went down to dinner. Dinner was insane, but somehow not entirely surprising. There were two kinds of crab, which were very big. I believe one was a garlic crab and the other a Singaporean crab. I actually ate the claw of one. Usually crab makes me feel nauseous, but this didn’t. Then again, the only crab I’ve ever eaten came from Red Lobster. I was a little worried that my initial dislike for crab would be frowned upon, but I tried it and liked it, so it worked out.
There was also some spaghetti, which was very good, rice, and some snack cakes that I don’t know how to spell. It was all very good and we just talked about our travels and what we’d want to. The Puno’s also have two dogs, the chocolate lab’s called Portis, and the beagle’s called Princess. Mr. Puno said Princess was a gift from a policeman who hated him, “He could have given me a watch, instead he gave me a dog.” Princess doesn’t behave all that well, is energetic and barks a lot. But she seems sweet.
After dinner, which it was about 1 in the morning, we started the long process of getting ready for bed. Mike showed us his new guns first, then we put our large suitcases in the room, sort of figured out the internet connection and then everyone else got stuck online. I just wanted to shower and brush my teeth and go to bed. So I did. Jazzie and I are sharing a room and a bed, which we were so tired I doubt if we were even all that aware that the other was in the same bed.
Noel decided he wanted to go boxing at 8 in the morning. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it, with my large amount of jetlag, so I said I’d see how I felt in the morning. Everyone else went, though. I need some rest. But, I woke up to Noel brandishing a lightsaber above the bed and then rolled over and went back to sleep. They went and ate some breakfast and I just slept. When I finally dragged myself out of bed to tell them I wasn’t going, Noel’s mom decided we were going to eat breakfast at that moment. So, I was swept down to a traditional Filipino breakfast.
In short, there were two kinds of sausage (a bit crunchy for my taste), a tuna kind of fish, a milkfish, some wonderful pork, fried eggs, rice, snack cakes and mangos. It was amazing. I had shitty food for two months, and now I’m eating some of the best food in my life. So, now I’m just sitting in bed writing. It shouldn’t be too long before everyone else gets back and I may take a short nap while waiting. We’re going to go to an open air market later and walk around after lunch. I’m looking forward to it.
Later
The open air market wasn't exactly open air...it was mostly just a bunch of tiny tiny kiosks and stalls crammed into a mall. It was still really cool and I wish I'd had more time to look around, but it wasn't quite the "market" I'd had in mind. Let me try and give you an image of how busy and crammed it was...OK: the average stall was about the size of a closet. Jam packed full of things. Then, the number of people there going through these tiny spaces between the stalls, was akin to the amount of people leaving a Cards game after the 9th inning. I kept my purse close by.
There was also a policeman at the door of the mall, who scanned each person as they came in. One of the bodyguards got stopped for his gun, but was then Okayed when the situation was explained. I'll talk about the security that accompanies us later. The only thing I bought, that I had a good amount of time to spend choosing, was a pearl set. Pearls are really cheap here, and they're real. I spent less than $20 on a necklace, ring and earring black pearl set. Of course some haggling was done (I couldn't help think of Life of Brian). Oh, if I didn't mention it before, Noel's future sister in law (Noel's brother's fiancee) came with us and she's more or so less fluent in Tagolag, so she did our haggling for us, especially since we're white.
Which, brings me to another point. I don't' think I've ever truly been somewhere where I honestly stick out. I can blend in perfectly in Europe until I open my mouth.
But here, with so many Filippinos everywhere, and no white minority, I stick out like crazy. I am fairly tall, for once, here, and then my hair's curly. Its kind of weird, but worse for Gavin since he's blonde. One lady called out, "Hey, handsome" and everyone, including us, just stopped and stared. It was funny.
But once we got home, we just chilled out. Noel's parents had gone golfing and then his brother and Precious went to church at some point. Mostly we just hooked our laptops up to the WiFi and wrote emails and whatnot. Noel decided we'd get Jollibee for dinner, which is a take-out, pick-up and delivery fast food. By fast food, I mean fried chicken and burgers, and burger steaks. Noel said the burger steaks were the best...they were Salisbury steaks. I tried a piece and didn't like it at all, but then he'd gone ahead and ordered some chicken which sufficed. Then the ayah's brought us some rice, too. But, we ate dinner at about 10:30...we all took naps in the evening so we could watch the World Cup Final, which was at 2:30 in the morning.
We watched some tv and bummed around the internet until the game. I think Jazzie went to bed before the game started, which was fine. But we found a good station and began watching. I won't really comment on the game, because it had a stupid ending and by the end of it, wasn't really worth watching. I decided to stop watching after the first fifteen minutes of over time, because by then, I had only an hour to sleep before we had to wake up for the next day's adventure.
Friday morning, I woke up at 5 15 am, after sleeping for three hours in my bed at home. I’d already packed, but needed to throw some snacks and things in my backpack still. Gavin was going to come pick me up at 5 30, so I got completely ready and moved all my stuff out to the front porch. The idea was that we’d only have one checked bag between us, and we had to add still some toiletries. Well, let’s just say I ended up having enough time to eat some cereal, wander around the house, and unload the dishwasher. And then sit on the porch quietly.
But he came and we loaded up and drove back to his apartment. On the way, the cab driver called and hung up after about three rings, which wasn’t enough to allow Gavin to answer the call, and of course we couldn’t call back. Every other time Gavin’s used Laclede Cab Company, its taken them a half hour to get to where he was. So, he called on the way to pick me up, figuring the cab would be there about the time we got back to the apartment. Laclede chose today of all days to be early, and of course left by the time we got there.
So, we added what we needed to the suitcase and called again. It took them 45 minutes to arrive, and two phone calls to the dispatcher. Our original plan was to take the cab to Metrolink and take that the rest of the way to Lambert. At this point, we were running out of time, because it takes about an hour with the train to get up to the airport. Not a good feeling. The cab finally came and she said that with the $65 between us, she could get us to the airport. So away we went, and it only cost $40 for the both of us. And there was no traffic and we checked in on time.
Checking in was another adventure. Basically, we wanted to have the suitcase transferred to our other flights, without us having to find it in baggage claim in Chicago to have to re-check it in there for the other flights. We eventually succeeded in doing this, but it did take a while. The lady at American said she couldn’t look up our Delta itinerary to transfer out bags, but the Delta people made Gavin wait so long in line, the American people just did it for us anyway.
Getting to the gate for the Chicago flight was a big relief. It meant we’d make all the other flights. I don’t’ really remember if anything noteworthy happened on that flight. It’s quite short and they all are beginning to blend together. But once in Chicago, Gavin called Noel to see which gate he was at, and we took the train to get there. Oh, no, we didn’t…I’m misremembering the train I took in Atlanta. So, no, we walked to the Gate in Chicago. Once we found Noel and Jazzie, we talked for a bit, checked in, and then went in search of breakfast. I ended up getting some chicken tenders and Gavin ate a sandwich from Quizno’s; it was really more of an early lunch, since I’d technically eaten breakfast already at 5:30 that morning.
The ride to Detroit was pretty good. We were all in the same row. The main event was that a fly managed to get on the plane with us. I personally think it followed the absolutely horrendously smelling baby (that screamed a lot). I’m not sure why the diaper wasn’t changed, but it really needed to be. But, the fly was a source of annoyance, especially to Gavin and Noel, who had the aisle seats. So, they went on a fly hunt. Armed with rolled up Sky Magazines, they waited at ready for the fly to land within their vicinity. They were unsuccessful. Luckily the other passengers were quite tolerant of their brandishing weapons and attempts, though no one came close to any danger.
The notable thing about the Detroit airport is that their train is red, inside and elevated. Very cool. Our time was rather short, which was fine, because I was ready to go. The plane we took to Tokyo was humongous and had two storeys. I’d never seen one before, except in a few movies and it was insane. I didn’t get a chance to go up to the second story, because its reserved for the first class people and its where the cockpit is. But taking off took a little longer than normal and you could really sense the weight of the plane in comparison to other ones.
The flight was somehow okay. I expected myself to really super get sick of it, but I was all right. It definitely helped that I wasn’t alone; all four of us sat in the same row and had a lot of catching up to do. We were promised four movies by SkyMall magazine, but they only showed one very late at night, which I didn’t watch. I went back to sleep at that point. But, dinner was really good (soy sauce chicken with rice and carrots) and I made sure to drink plenty of water. Gavin and I played the Turkish card game we learned in Vienna. I won more than he did. Then he later taught it to Noel.
The conversations we had were all really good. Mostly it was just catching, but also teasing each other about random stuff. Like how I fell off the ladder of my bed freshman year and couldn’t dance with Noel at First Friday’s. I still feel bad, but the fall really did hurt. I was so bruised I couldn’t wear shoes or do any of the lifts. Anyways, I think the flight from Detroit to Tokyo was about thirteen hours. Then we had some madness getting out of the plane (it took a while) and getting to the next gate. We had to go through another security checkpoint, which was really painless, and then charge down to the next gate.
Even though we were all on the same row again, for some reason Noel and Jazzie were in loading zone one, and Gavin and I were in zone four. So we just snuck in with them. The flight from Tokyo to Manila was four hours and seemed a little longer. Gavin slept a bit again, but I think I did too a bit. Noel said we’d eat dinner once we got back to the house, so we didn’t eat any of the dinner on the plane. I did eat a granola bar, though, because I’d missed breakfast on the other flight and it’d be at least four hours before we’d be at the house. This plane was another two storey jet and had a screaming baby for the last half hour.
Once in Manila, we were really glad to be done with planes. Especially me. But, Noel’s guard met us before we even reached customs or baggage claim. We’d already filled out our immigration paper work and he took care of that for us. Somehow we’d all forgotten to sign one part, but it was all right. It was weird to be escorted through all the quicker lanes and whatnot, though. At baggage claim, Noel’s and Jazzie’s suitcases came right away. Gavin and mine took another half hour to arrive. I did start feeling a little nervous, but the number of other people waiting for theirs made me feel better. There was a lot of cargo that came with the suitcases, too. Which was odd seeing these giant cardboard boxes tumbling down the conveyor belt and smashing into others and whatnot. I wonder if anything inside broke.
Finally we got our suitcase, which Noel sprinted to get. This meant he was hungry. We then went to find the car. This also took a bit, because of all the traffic and people. There are very few rules that are followed when it come to traffic here. It was insane to watch…all these cars just going and ignoring the police man and people wandering out into traffic. But we finally got into the van and our luggage followed behind us. I think it was almost an hour drive to the house, which was strange but fun.
I say strange, because it was so dark (we landed at ten pm) so we couldn’t really see much outside of the street. Its weird knowing there are buildings and everything but not being able to see them. And people would wander into the street, motorcycles weaving in and out of the cars, and bicycles acting like cars. And the amount of traffic was akin to that of our rush hour. But this was almost midnight. Crazy.
The house was quite a surprise, though I didn’t have any expectations. Both Noel’s parents were there, along with his brother, Mike, and fiancée, Precious. They’re all very nice and there was a lot of food waiting for us. We went and set our things down in our rooms first and then went down to dinner. Dinner was insane, but somehow not entirely surprising. There were two kinds of crab, which were very big. I believe one was a garlic crab and the other a Singaporean crab. I actually ate the claw of one. Usually crab makes me feel nauseous, but this didn’t. Then again, the only crab I’ve ever eaten came from Red Lobster. I was a little worried that my initial dislike for crab would be frowned upon, but I tried it and liked it, so it worked out.
There was also some spaghetti, which was very good, rice, and some snack cakes that I don’t know how to spell. It was all very good and we just talked about our travels and what we’d want to. The Puno’s also have two dogs, the chocolate lab’s called Portis, and the beagle’s called Princess. Mr. Puno said Princess was a gift from a policeman who hated him, “He could have given me a watch, instead he gave me a dog.” Princess doesn’t behave all that well, is energetic and barks a lot. But she seems sweet.
After dinner, which it was about 1 in the morning, we started the long process of getting ready for bed. Mike showed us his new guns first, then we put our large suitcases in the room, sort of figured out the internet connection and then everyone else got stuck online. I just wanted to shower and brush my teeth and go to bed. So I did. Jazzie and I are sharing a room and a bed, which we were so tired I doubt if we were even all that aware that the other was in the same bed.
Noel decided he wanted to go boxing at 8 in the morning. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it, with my large amount of jetlag, so I said I’d see how I felt in the morning. Everyone else went, though. I need some rest. But, I woke up to Noel brandishing a lightsaber above the bed and then rolled over and went back to sleep. They went and ate some breakfast and I just slept. When I finally dragged myself out of bed to tell them I wasn’t going, Noel’s mom decided we were going to eat breakfast at that moment. So, I was swept down to a traditional Filipino breakfast.
In short, there were two kinds of sausage (a bit crunchy for my taste), a tuna kind of fish, a milkfish, some wonderful pork, fried eggs, rice, snack cakes and mangos. It was amazing. I had shitty food for two months, and now I’m eating some of the best food in my life. So, now I’m just sitting in bed writing. It shouldn’t be too long before everyone else gets back and I may take a short nap while waiting. We’re going to go to an open air market later and walk around after lunch. I’m looking forward to it.
Later
The open air market wasn't exactly open air...it was mostly just a bunch of tiny tiny kiosks and stalls crammed into a mall. It was still really cool and I wish I'd had more time to look around, but it wasn't quite the "market" I'd had in mind. Let me try and give you an image of how busy and crammed it was...OK: the average stall was about the size of a closet. Jam packed full of things. Then, the number of people there going through these tiny spaces between the stalls, was akin to the amount of people leaving a Cards game after the 9th inning. I kept my purse close by.
There was also a policeman at the door of the mall, who scanned each person as they came in. One of the bodyguards got stopped for his gun, but was then Okayed when the situation was explained. I'll talk about the security that accompanies us later. The only thing I bought, that I had a good amount of time to spend choosing, was a pearl set. Pearls are really cheap here, and they're real. I spent less than $20 on a necklace, ring and earring black pearl set. Of course some haggling was done (I couldn't help think of Life of Brian). Oh, if I didn't mention it before, Noel's future sister in law (Noel's brother's fiancee) came with us and she's more or so less fluent in Tagolag, so she did our haggling for us, especially since we're white.
Which, brings me to another point. I don't' think I've ever truly been somewhere where I honestly stick out. I can blend in perfectly in Europe until I open my mouth.
But here, with so many Filippinos everywhere, and no white minority, I stick out like crazy. I am fairly tall, for once, here, and then my hair's curly. Its kind of weird, but worse for Gavin since he's blonde. One lady called out, "Hey, handsome" and everyone, including us, just stopped and stared. It was funny.
But once we got home, we just chilled out. Noel's parents had gone golfing and then his brother and Precious went to church at some point. Mostly we just hooked our laptops up to the WiFi and wrote emails and whatnot. Noel decided we'd get Jollibee for dinner, which is a take-out, pick-up and delivery fast food. By fast food, I mean fried chicken and burgers, and burger steaks. Noel said the burger steaks were the best...they were Salisbury steaks. I tried a piece and didn't like it at all, but then he'd gone ahead and ordered some chicken which sufficed. Then the ayah's brought us some rice, too. But, we ate dinner at about 10:30...we all took naps in the evening so we could watch the World Cup Final, which was at 2:30 in the morning.
We watched some tv and bummed around the internet until the game. I think Jazzie went to bed before the game started, which was fine. But we found a good station and began watching. I won't really comment on the game, because it had a stupid ending and by the end of it, wasn't really worth watching. I decided to stop watching after the first fifteen minutes of over time, because by then, I had only an hour to sleep before we had to wake up for the next day's adventure.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
OK, so this first part will be a summary of my three day work week and then I'll talk about my party and then some fussball and my packing progress. OK? Good.
Work...I kept translating these small notebooks, which were companions to various display cases at the Home and Clock Museum in Schwenningen. I did not get to go to that museum. But I do know a hell of a lot about clocks. And I think I was pretty damn successful, though it was funny to look at the first section I did, in comparison to the last. I definitely improved. But I worked slow until Monday afternoon, when Frau Auer gave me the second notebook. I thought I'd try and get it all done by Wednesday, so as to not leave a project unfinished. Well, it turns out I was doing three times as much work as needed. So, I cut back to just the basics (what they wanted) and finished Tuesday mid-morning.
However, then Dr. Huette, who I believe is the male counterpart to Dr. Auer, wanted to go over the work I'd already done. We did this yesterday after the weekly meeting. His English is quite good, and some of the more difficult sentences (from my first day with this notebook) were corrected. German really does beat around the bush. But it was all fine and we finished going over the last part this morning, in about ten minutes. Apparently I was very helpful.
Today, I corrected all my mistakes in the first translation, and then amused myself otherwise. This mainly involved reading random (mostly historical articles on England) things on Wikipedia, looking at the words of the day on Dictionary.com, and making some origami cranes out of gold foil candy wrappers. I also went to the bank to make a deposit for the secretary.
Speaking of her, I've actually had a lot of peace this week. Apparently, when I have a window open in my room, and the door between our rooms is also open,the air drafts make her nerve pain worse. So, she kept the door shut between the rooms and talked to me much less. It was rather nice. But the whole, "the air's hurting my nerve pain" thing sounds funny. I could see a cold draft making arthritis worse, but I'm not sure how air affects the nerves.
So, today was nice. I bought some Chinese again for lunch. And insisted that I did not need soy sauce on my rice. Haven't read any Dostoevsky today, but that's all right. Then Frau Contenz gave me a present...its one of those bobble head dogs, for the car. One of the oddest things, for sure. And I'm not wholly sure how to pack it. I'll figure it out before the morning really comes. Then I had my tour.
The tour was really quite a waste of my and the student's time. They're all from St. Petersburg, Russia, but didn't really understand English. So, halfway through the tour, I switched to German (which was hard, because I've only practised in English) and then one of the girls translated my German into Russian. But before that, only about three of the twelve would actually listen to me. The rest would just wander around the room. I didn't really want to yell at them to get their attention, so I just ignored their behavior. I mean, they're college students, why should I have to yell or reprimand as if they were in elementary school? Everyone also wanted to sit down the entire time, then I'd have to get them to stand so they could see the damn museum objects. Oh, and did I mention that this was all after 5 pm? On my last day I have to stay two hours late. Thanks.
Frau Auer also came, along with Frau Brusis and her daughter (who I think I heard has autism, but I would guess its more of a higher level functioning). Frau Auer made me a little nervous at first, but then she ignored me for most of the time and entertained Frau Brusis' daughter, who'd brought a shoe box full of toy dragons that looked like they came from Happy Meals. Since Frau Auer had the keys to the different parts of the museum and ignored what was going on, whenever we relocated, I had to wait on her to catch up and let us in. And then Frau Brusis kept answering questions I asked to the students. I wanted to tell her to be quiet and let them have a chance to think and answer, the tour was for them.
But, I handed in my keys, and as a present from Dr. Auer I received a little booklet about the museum. I'll have to find some way to integrate it into a future lesson with my future students so this booklet has some worth. I'm sorry if I seem snobby, but its been a long week.
The Party
I did not have high expectations for this party. It was my "going away party" which was very nice of everyone to plan and carry out, but it was really rather unnecessary. No one asked what I'd like to eat (thus I didn't eat half of the food people brought) or if I'd like to invite anyone. I was just informed of what was going on along the way. The one question I was asked, was that I make adobo. Easy enough, but I really hate de-skinning chicken, and getting the bloody bits of marrow out of the bones they leave in there. Yuck. But it was better this time, thank you, Kikoman soy sauce.
Pretty much everyone arrived late and then Ecki had a problem starting the fire to cook the meat. Yes, I guess Germans actually can use a charcoal grill. I was impressed. Mostly because I got to try an ostrich steak. Tastes a little gamey and the texture is somehow very smooth and of course, tender. But, the other dishes included potato and cucumber salad, plates of "grilled" veggies from my second host mom (I would have eaten some, but I'm pretty sure she doused them in vinegar), bread, adobo and various meats. I satisfied myself with adobo, bread, a wurst and an ostrich steak (which was quite small). And then we had strawberries and ice cream for dessert. I passed on the ice cream, since its the brand that makes me sick.
The highlight of the party was watching the fussball game. I was totally rooting for Holland, and the only one in the room. I was happy with the results. Now that Germany's out of the final, my hopes are with the Dutch. Apparently the Germans don't like the Dutch, but from those I asked, they couldn't give me a reason. I can't think of any historical occurrence in which the Dutch royally screwed the Germans over, but oh well. Maybe the Germans are just jealous that the Dutch are so awesome. But, the city was quiet last night; I guess there aren't any Dutch in St. Georgen.
Today we went over to the neighbors to watch the boring and disappointing game. I did enjoy the cream puffs, though.
Work...I kept translating these small notebooks, which were companions to various display cases at the Home and Clock Museum in Schwenningen. I did not get to go to that museum. But I do know a hell of a lot about clocks. And I think I was pretty damn successful, though it was funny to look at the first section I did, in comparison to the last. I definitely improved. But I worked slow until Monday afternoon, when Frau Auer gave me the second notebook. I thought I'd try and get it all done by Wednesday, so as to not leave a project unfinished. Well, it turns out I was doing three times as much work as needed. So, I cut back to just the basics (what they wanted) and finished Tuesday mid-morning.
However, then Dr. Huette, who I believe is the male counterpart to Dr. Auer, wanted to go over the work I'd already done. We did this yesterday after the weekly meeting. His English is quite good, and some of the more difficult sentences (from my first day with this notebook) were corrected. German really does beat around the bush. But it was all fine and we finished going over the last part this morning, in about ten minutes. Apparently I was very helpful.
Today, I corrected all my mistakes in the first translation, and then amused myself otherwise. This mainly involved reading random (mostly historical articles on England) things on Wikipedia, looking at the words of the day on Dictionary.com, and making some origami cranes out of gold foil candy wrappers. I also went to the bank to make a deposit for the secretary.
Speaking of her, I've actually had a lot of peace this week. Apparently, when I have a window open in my room, and the door between our rooms is also open,the air drafts make her nerve pain worse. So, she kept the door shut between the rooms and talked to me much less. It was rather nice. But the whole, "the air's hurting my nerve pain" thing sounds funny. I could see a cold draft making arthritis worse, but I'm not sure how air affects the nerves.
So, today was nice. I bought some Chinese again for lunch. And insisted that I did not need soy sauce on my rice. Haven't read any Dostoevsky today, but that's all right. Then Frau Contenz gave me a present...its one of those bobble head dogs, for the car. One of the oddest things, for sure. And I'm not wholly sure how to pack it. I'll figure it out before the morning really comes. Then I had my tour.
The tour was really quite a waste of my and the student's time. They're all from St. Petersburg, Russia, but didn't really understand English. So, halfway through the tour, I switched to German (which was hard, because I've only practised in English) and then one of the girls translated my German into Russian. But before that, only about three of the twelve would actually listen to me. The rest would just wander around the room. I didn't really want to yell at them to get their attention, so I just ignored their behavior. I mean, they're college students, why should I have to yell or reprimand as if they were in elementary school? Everyone also wanted to sit down the entire time, then I'd have to get them to stand so they could see the damn museum objects. Oh, and did I mention that this was all after 5 pm? On my last day I have to stay two hours late. Thanks.
Frau Auer also came, along with Frau Brusis and her daughter (who I think I heard has autism, but I would guess its more of a higher level functioning). Frau Auer made me a little nervous at first, but then she ignored me for most of the time and entertained Frau Brusis' daughter, who'd brought a shoe box full of toy dragons that looked like they came from Happy Meals. Since Frau Auer had the keys to the different parts of the museum and ignored what was going on, whenever we relocated, I had to wait on her to catch up and let us in. And then Frau Brusis kept answering questions I asked to the students. I wanted to tell her to be quiet and let them have a chance to think and answer, the tour was for them.
But, I handed in my keys, and as a present from Dr. Auer I received a little booklet about the museum. I'll have to find some way to integrate it into a future lesson with my future students so this booklet has some worth. I'm sorry if I seem snobby, but its been a long week.
The Party
I did not have high expectations for this party. It was my "going away party" which was very nice of everyone to plan and carry out, but it was really rather unnecessary. No one asked what I'd like to eat (thus I didn't eat half of the food people brought) or if I'd like to invite anyone. I was just informed of what was going on along the way. The one question I was asked, was that I make adobo. Easy enough, but I really hate de-skinning chicken, and getting the bloody bits of marrow out of the bones they leave in there. Yuck. But it was better this time, thank you, Kikoman soy sauce.
Pretty much everyone arrived late and then Ecki had a problem starting the fire to cook the meat. Yes, I guess Germans actually can use a charcoal grill. I was impressed. Mostly because I got to try an ostrich steak. Tastes a little gamey and the texture is somehow very smooth and of course, tender. But, the other dishes included potato and cucumber salad, plates of "grilled" veggies from my second host mom (I would have eaten some, but I'm pretty sure she doused them in vinegar), bread, adobo and various meats. I satisfied myself with adobo, bread, a wurst and an ostrich steak (which was quite small). And then we had strawberries and ice cream for dessert. I passed on the ice cream, since its the brand that makes me sick.
The highlight of the party was watching the fussball game. I was totally rooting for Holland, and the only one in the room. I was happy with the results. Now that Germany's out of the final, my hopes are with the Dutch. Apparently the Germans don't like the Dutch, but from those I asked, they couldn't give me a reason. I can't think of any historical occurrence in which the Dutch royally screwed the Germans over, but oh well. Maybe the Germans are just jealous that the Dutch are so awesome. But, the city was quiet last night; I guess there aren't any Dutch in St. Georgen.
Today we went over to the neighbors to watch the boring and disappointing game. I did enjoy the cream puffs, though.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
France, 3 Juli 2010
OK, so I went to France today. Again, but more properly this time. Yet there were still some disappointments. I had modest goals for the day and none of them were achieved. We were going to go last Saturday, but Germany had a game. So, we went today, when Germany had a game. My host moms aren't really that interested, which I understand, but what interest the one has, is that she doesn't want to find a place to watch in Strasburg, but she'll blow the friggin' vuvusela for almost five minutes straight when we get home, scaring the cat.
Anyways, France. To get there, we drove almost twenty minutes to Hornburg, to buy tickets for the train to Strasburg. We did have to transfer trains once, but it was fine. The trains are very crowded on the weekends, with lots of suitcases, bikes and strollers along with the people. The going ride was fine, but coming home was another story.
Once in France we had to orient ourselves. We went first to a hotel to ask for a map, which we got no problem. If you didn't know, Strasburg was once a German city, but was officially France's in 1680 or something like that. After getting our map, we went to McDonald's to bum a toilet. I had a feeling we wouldn't succeed, because the European McDonald's don't like to share and put code boxes on the bathroom doors so you can't get in. But, luckily, someone who'd bought food and gotten the room code was there and let us in, too.
Hold that thought, I have to tell you what happened before we went to the hotel. Strasburg has a series of canals, and while I was photographing one, I went closer to the railing. And promptly stepped (just my heel) into a big pile of dog shit on the sidewalk. Now, I'd heard from a lot of people that the streets in Paris are really super dirty, but I didn't expect that here. I mean, seriously? That's bad. Luckily my Pumas, my better pair of tennis shoes, don't have deep tread, so I didn't take too much of it with me. But really, it was not fun.
Anyways, back to the bathroom at McDonald's. I think they knew we were coming. I get in to the stall, blah, blah, blah, and there's no toilet paper. And stalls in Germany and France and Austria are rooms, so you can't ask the person next to you to pass some under. You'd have to open the door, while remaining seated, to receive the paper. I'll stop there, but now that I think about it, these were really signs and omens for the rest of the day.
We then walked to the cathedral. On the way we looked in all the windows, especially at all the lovely and gorgeous cakes, tortes and tarts, and chocolates that I didn't get to buy or taste. Yes, one of my goals was to eat something from a real French bakery or pastry shop. I wanted to wait till the afternoon and not spoil lunch, plus it was so hot, if I bought anything it would have melted. So I waited. Well, next time I won't, because I did not get to try any of those things. I mean, anyone who's seen the movie Chocolat dreams of chocolate and stuff like that, and I missed my opportunity. I'll stop whining.
We got to the cathedral square and it was closed. So, instead I climbed to the tower. This was the easiest one yet. The stairs weren't too steep and they were wide enough that I didn't have to clutch at the handrail the entire time up. And this one had windows you could look out on your way up. This is good because one, you can see, and two, you can stick your camera out and take pictures of the flying buttresses. Or the water spouts that were cows. But it proved to be a little disappointing, because you couldn't go up all the way to the top. Just to the flat part of the roof. Which, they put really high wire fencing that curved in, so you couldn't look over the edge very well. That indicates, to me, that someone committed suicide by jumping off. Then to get down, you go down the staircase on the other side of the cathedral. The one other cool thing about this one, was that it has one of the few intact and working (old) astronomical clocks in Europe. They're very cool clocks, which I researched all last week at work, and tell not only the time of day, but sunrise/set times, astrological month, and date, too sometimes.
After the cathedral, we wandered around looking for lunch. We made a big loop and ended up back near the cathedral. It was really hot and with little shade, I just wanted to drink something and eat something light. Well, that proved to not work out so well. I had a flamm kuchen, without onions. It's basically like eating a really thin, weird bacon pizza that substitutes tomato sauce with some kind of sour cream. Good, but a lot and not very satisfying. I could have gotten the apple one again that's awesome, but I told myself, "No, we're going to eat something ridiculously sweet later."
After lunch, we went down to the boat tour. This was actually pretty good. Since the city has a bunch of canals, but not near as many as Amsterdam, it was pretty. The boat was OK, it had a roof that gave us some shade, but there were still a lot of people and the AC was very feeble. But I could listen to the tour in English, which I did, and the narrator had an Irish accent, so I got some ear candy. I learned and retained several stories.
The first, was about a hotel that dates back to the sixteen hundreds. One night there was a fire, and most everyone escaped by jumping out the one window. However, a large monk got stuck in the window and caused twenty people to lose their lives.
The second, is that we can thank the Irish monks who came to spread Catholicism to Strasburg for the invention of Muenster cheese.
The third, is that A Kind Louis of France came to Strasburg, but then road thirty miles away to find a hotel, because he thought if he stayed under a Protestant roof, he'd be damned.
So that pretty much sums up the boat tour. It was about 90 minutes I think. After the boat tour, we got out and headed towards La Petit France. I'm not sure why they had to designate this area if we're already in France, but whatever. The name made me feel like I was at Epcot or Europa Park. But we ate a scoop of ice cream each, which mine finally had enough chocolate. Their dark chocolate, is like a normal chocolate for us. This ice cream stand also offered Rum Raisin, Mango, Rhubarb, Brownies, espresso and amaretto as flavors. My ice cream was very good, though I had to sacrifice taking pictures in order to eat it.
Along the way some lady from a shop offered us free cookies. My was a "croquant" or something and quite good. My host moms bought some kugel cakes, which taste like a less sweet version of the Easter Bread Mema buys for Easter. So, I didn't like it. My host mom ate half of it when we got home. And then Frau Brause bought two macaroons the size of small footballs. Really, that big.
We found a cafe to drink something. I think its very hard for Germans to walk and drink something. Apparently its also relatively socially unacceptable to drink anything out of a bottle in public unless its beer. That's annoying. Anyways, at the cafe there was a group of guys around their 30's. They were all singing and wearing shirts they'd scribbled on with sharpies or something. And one was dressed as a sexy bunny. Complete with white fishnet thigh highs.
I had to ask and I thus learned the tradition of the European bachelor party. On the last day before a guy's marriage, he is made to dress up and is given a basket full of sweets and small objects. He has to go around in public, dressed up, and sell what's in his basket. All the money he earns is put towards drinks with his friends that evening. I think our version of the party is better (with the exception of the potential debauchery that occurs by some), but maybe less amusing for me. I mean, its not every day you see a dude in a fur lined pink bikini top, short skirt with a rabbit tail, elbow length gloves and fishnets. Oh, and bunny ears. I wonder where in the world they got that costume in his size.
Once our drinks were finished, we made our way towards the train station. We still had to find a chocolate shop for me, which didn't happen. There were just literally none along the way, and instead of deviating (which is also the word the French use instead of detour) from the route a few streets over to where they were, my host moms were like, "There'll be one in the train station." I didn't really believe them and I was right. Its not like there's a duty free shop in the Strasburg train station. So I didn't get to buy and French chocolate for everyone back home. I was kind of mad, but now I'm just annoyingly resigned. My host moms tried to say, "Its not like its Belgium chocolate" but still...I've seen Chocolat and want that experience. And that does not include Johnny Depp.
We got to the train station rather early and just waited around after finding a post box and not finding chocolate. The train was super hot, because there was no AC. Which is just a dumb idea. With the number of people inside, plus bikes, suitcases and strollers and the heat outside, they really needed AC. The only good thing was that the engineer came over the loudspeaker and announced that Germany was beating Argentina 1-0. We all cheered and then went back to being miserable.
The second train had AC, finally. Here I started to cool off, but still felt amazingly sticky and overall gross. When we got back to Hornberg, I'm like, Let's go home! Which we did, but with no AC. Am I just too accustomed to the US's system? But then again, if its hot, and you do have AC, why suffer? I guess that's what I don't get. I'm fine with the houses not having AC, they really don't need it here. But in the car, which get's hot, it does exist. I think this may be one of the few exceptions of the US being more logical than Europe. And apparently it was only 29 C in Strasburg, but the pavement, cars and lack of shade made it worse.
Once home, I came upstairs to take off my shoes and drop my purse off. The city was already going nuts because Germany'd won. And then I hear this vuvusela, really loud. The cat was also right out side my room. My host mom blew on that damn horn for almost five minutes straight. The cat's afraid, and I"m annoyed, so we just sat on the steps till it was over. Then I watched the game's highlights and analysis on tv. My host mom then asked what I wanted to eat, and I said, "Nothing" because I was still too damn not.
So she decided on this Rosti potatoes, which is basically like a really flat and crispy bunch of hashbrowns. At this point I felt a bad headache coming on, so I told her and then came back upstairs. I took some IBProfen and dozed for almost forty minutes. I say almost, because the cat came in. At first I though, "oh, she knows I'm not feeling well" and then I quickly realized she just wanted attention. I petted her for a few seconds, then tried to ignore her, thinking she'd just lay down and sleep. Instead she proceeded to rub her head on my pillow and ribs, which is a really weird feeling. Then she decided it would be cool to step on my ribs. This is surprising and does feel rather uncomfortable. Now on the other side of me, she continued rubbing her head on that side of the pillow. When I didn't give her the attention, she decided she'd go. And apparently the only way to do that, was to step on my ribs again.
I felt better after the nap and then went downstairs for dinner. My host mom also said she could make some "Steaks" which turned out to be a touch cut of pork. That's not a steak. I was hungry by this time and it was all right. I do feel bad, though, because the pork is always hard to cut, but then again, its hard to cut something that's cooked "well done" with a butter knife. I feel like I have to use such force to saw through the damn meat, thus risking clattering the silverware horribly on the china. But I don't want to ask for a better knife, because that could be insulting to the cooking. I think American's do meat better, too.
After dinner I just spent time on the computer. Gavin and I talked on Skype for a bit and I finally got to wash all the sticky, French dirt and stuff off me. Sleep was good, and I got to sleep in!
Anyways, France. To get there, we drove almost twenty minutes to Hornburg, to buy tickets for the train to Strasburg. We did have to transfer trains once, but it was fine. The trains are very crowded on the weekends, with lots of suitcases, bikes and strollers along with the people. The going ride was fine, but coming home was another story.
Once in France we had to orient ourselves. We went first to a hotel to ask for a map, which we got no problem. If you didn't know, Strasburg was once a German city, but was officially France's in 1680 or something like that. After getting our map, we went to McDonald's to bum a toilet. I had a feeling we wouldn't succeed, because the European McDonald's don't like to share and put code boxes on the bathroom doors so you can't get in. But, luckily, someone who'd bought food and gotten the room code was there and let us in, too.
Hold that thought, I have to tell you what happened before we went to the hotel. Strasburg has a series of canals, and while I was photographing one, I went closer to the railing. And promptly stepped (just my heel) into a big pile of dog shit on the sidewalk. Now, I'd heard from a lot of people that the streets in Paris are really super dirty, but I didn't expect that here. I mean, seriously? That's bad. Luckily my Pumas, my better pair of tennis shoes, don't have deep tread, so I didn't take too much of it with me. But really, it was not fun.
Anyways, back to the bathroom at McDonald's. I think they knew we were coming. I get in to the stall, blah, blah, blah, and there's no toilet paper. And stalls in Germany and France and Austria are rooms, so you can't ask the person next to you to pass some under. You'd have to open the door, while remaining seated, to receive the paper. I'll stop there, but now that I think about it, these were really signs and omens for the rest of the day.
We then walked to the cathedral. On the way we looked in all the windows, especially at all the lovely and gorgeous cakes, tortes and tarts, and chocolates that I didn't get to buy or taste. Yes, one of my goals was to eat something from a real French bakery or pastry shop. I wanted to wait till the afternoon and not spoil lunch, plus it was so hot, if I bought anything it would have melted. So I waited. Well, next time I won't, because I did not get to try any of those things. I mean, anyone who's seen the movie Chocolat dreams of chocolate and stuff like that, and I missed my opportunity. I'll stop whining.
We got to the cathedral square and it was closed. So, instead I climbed to the tower. This was the easiest one yet. The stairs weren't too steep and they were wide enough that I didn't have to clutch at the handrail the entire time up. And this one had windows you could look out on your way up. This is good because one, you can see, and two, you can stick your camera out and take pictures of the flying buttresses. Or the water spouts that were cows. But it proved to be a little disappointing, because you couldn't go up all the way to the top. Just to the flat part of the roof. Which, they put really high wire fencing that curved in, so you couldn't look over the edge very well. That indicates, to me, that someone committed suicide by jumping off. Then to get down, you go down the staircase on the other side of the cathedral. The one other cool thing about this one, was that it has one of the few intact and working (old) astronomical clocks in Europe. They're very cool clocks, which I researched all last week at work, and tell not only the time of day, but sunrise/set times, astrological month, and date, too sometimes.
After the cathedral, we wandered around looking for lunch. We made a big loop and ended up back near the cathedral. It was really hot and with little shade, I just wanted to drink something and eat something light. Well, that proved to not work out so well. I had a flamm kuchen, without onions. It's basically like eating a really thin, weird bacon pizza that substitutes tomato sauce with some kind of sour cream. Good, but a lot and not very satisfying. I could have gotten the apple one again that's awesome, but I told myself, "No, we're going to eat something ridiculously sweet later."
After lunch, we went down to the boat tour. This was actually pretty good. Since the city has a bunch of canals, but not near as many as Amsterdam, it was pretty. The boat was OK, it had a roof that gave us some shade, but there were still a lot of people and the AC was very feeble. But I could listen to the tour in English, which I did, and the narrator had an Irish accent, so I got some ear candy. I learned and retained several stories.
The first, was about a hotel that dates back to the sixteen hundreds. One night there was a fire, and most everyone escaped by jumping out the one window. However, a large monk got stuck in the window and caused twenty people to lose their lives.
The second, is that we can thank the Irish monks who came to spread Catholicism to Strasburg for the invention of Muenster cheese.
The third, is that A Kind Louis of France came to Strasburg, but then road thirty miles away to find a hotel, because he thought if he stayed under a Protestant roof, he'd be damned.
So that pretty much sums up the boat tour. It was about 90 minutes I think. After the boat tour, we got out and headed towards La Petit France. I'm not sure why they had to designate this area if we're already in France, but whatever. The name made me feel like I was at Epcot or Europa Park. But we ate a scoop of ice cream each, which mine finally had enough chocolate. Their dark chocolate, is like a normal chocolate for us. This ice cream stand also offered Rum Raisin, Mango, Rhubarb, Brownies, espresso and amaretto as flavors. My ice cream was very good, though I had to sacrifice taking pictures in order to eat it.
Along the way some lady from a shop offered us free cookies. My was a "croquant" or something and quite good. My host moms bought some kugel cakes, which taste like a less sweet version of the Easter Bread Mema buys for Easter. So, I didn't like it. My host mom ate half of it when we got home. And then Frau Brause bought two macaroons the size of small footballs. Really, that big.
We found a cafe to drink something. I think its very hard for Germans to walk and drink something. Apparently its also relatively socially unacceptable to drink anything out of a bottle in public unless its beer. That's annoying. Anyways, at the cafe there was a group of guys around their 30's. They were all singing and wearing shirts they'd scribbled on with sharpies or something. And one was dressed as a sexy bunny. Complete with white fishnet thigh highs.
I had to ask and I thus learned the tradition of the European bachelor party. On the last day before a guy's marriage, he is made to dress up and is given a basket full of sweets and small objects. He has to go around in public, dressed up, and sell what's in his basket. All the money he earns is put towards drinks with his friends that evening. I think our version of the party is better (with the exception of the potential debauchery that occurs by some), but maybe less amusing for me. I mean, its not every day you see a dude in a fur lined pink bikini top, short skirt with a rabbit tail, elbow length gloves and fishnets. Oh, and bunny ears. I wonder where in the world they got that costume in his size.
Once our drinks were finished, we made our way towards the train station. We still had to find a chocolate shop for me, which didn't happen. There were just literally none along the way, and instead of deviating (which is also the word the French use instead of detour) from the route a few streets over to where they were, my host moms were like, "There'll be one in the train station." I didn't really believe them and I was right. Its not like there's a duty free shop in the Strasburg train station. So I didn't get to buy and French chocolate for everyone back home. I was kind of mad, but now I'm just annoyingly resigned. My host moms tried to say, "Its not like its Belgium chocolate" but still...I've seen Chocolat and want that experience. And that does not include Johnny Depp.
We got to the train station rather early and just waited around after finding a post box and not finding chocolate. The train was super hot, because there was no AC. Which is just a dumb idea. With the number of people inside, plus bikes, suitcases and strollers and the heat outside, they really needed AC. The only good thing was that the engineer came over the loudspeaker and announced that Germany was beating Argentina 1-0. We all cheered and then went back to being miserable.
The second train had AC, finally. Here I started to cool off, but still felt amazingly sticky and overall gross. When we got back to Hornberg, I'm like, Let's go home! Which we did, but with no AC. Am I just too accustomed to the US's system? But then again, if its hot, and you do have AC, why suffer? I guess that's what I don't get. I'm fine with the houses not having AC, they really don't need it here. But in the car, which get's hot, it does exist. I think this may be one of the few exceptions of the US being more logical than Europe. And apparently it was only 29 C in Strasburg, but the pavement, cars and lack of shade made it worse.
Once home, I came upstairs to take off my shoes and drop my purse off. The city was already going nuts because Germany'd won. And then I hear this vuvusela, really loud. The cat was also right out side my room. My host mom blew on that damn horn for almost five minutes straight. The cat's afraid, and I"m annoyed, so we just sat on the steps till it was over. Then I watched the game's highlights and analysis on tv. My host mom then asked what I wanted to eat, and I said, "Nothing" because I was still too damn not.
So she decided on this Rosti potatoes, which is basically like a really flat and crispy bunch of hashbrowns. At this point I felt a bad headache coming on, so I told her and then came back upstairs. I took some IBProfen and dozed for almost forty minutes. I say almost, because the cat came in. At first I though, "oh, she knows I'm not feeling well" and then I quickly realized she just wanted attention. I petted her for a few seconds, then tried to ignore her, thinking she'd just lay down and sleep. Instead she proceeded to rub her head on my pillow and ribs, which is a really weird feeling. Then she decided it would be cool to step on my ribs. This is surprising and does feel rather uncomfortable. Now on the other side of me, she continued rubbing her head on that side of the pillow. When I didn't give her the attention, she decided she'd go. And apparently the only way to do that, was to step on my ribs again.
I felt better after the nap and then went downstairs for dinner. My host mom also said she could make some "Steaks" which turned out to be a touch cut of pork. That's not a steak. I was hungry by this time and it was all right. I do feel bad, though, because the pork is always hard to cut, but then again, its hard to cut something that's cooked "well done" with a butter knife. I feel like I have to use such force to saw through the damn meat, thus risking clattering the silverware horribly on the china. But I don't want to ask for a better knife, because that could be insulting to the cooking. I think American's do meat better, too.
After dinner I just spent time on the computer. Gavin and I talked on Skype for a bit and I finally got to wash all the sticky, French dirt and stuff off me. Sleep was good, and I got to sleep in!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Museum Collegue Party
This should be brief, because it was a brief party. But, we had a small fest for all of the museum employees Wednesday evening. It was potluck, except everyone brought their own meat to grill.
Grilling is a weird concept in Germany, because they have a tendency to say "BBQ" but I have to point out, they don't use bbq sauce, so you can't really call it that. They usually don't season the meat at all, and if it is, its done at the butcher's and tastes awful. And apparently there's only one kind of marinade besides awful, and its orange. My Dad once told me a joke about how in Heaven, the French would be the cooks, etc., and if it was Hell, the English would be the cooks (sorry if I misremembered, Dad), but I think if it was really hell, the German's would be the cooks.
I actually injured my jaw a few weeks ago and it was then sore for over a week. Why and how? I was chewing a steak. I love my host families, but that really can't grill worth anything. But maybe I'm spoiled with the expertise of my family and friends.
Anyways, the Hausmeister built a big fire. Too big, he actually had to start spraying the nearby tree with water so the branches wouldn't catch on fire. But it eventually calmed down and they put a giant grill over the pit. Slowly everyone came bearing dishes doused with vinegar. Really, I don't understand...they must not have taste buds or something. Every salad and potato salad is doused with vinegar and that's their salad dressing. And you can't have salad without it; its already on there. I don't eat salad anyway, but if I did, I still wouldn't eat this stuff. I feel like throwing up sometimes when I smell their salad dressing.
I baked my second batch of cookies the night before, they turned out much better. I don't' like cooking with metric, though. I had to leave before anyone even tried them, but apparently they were very good. Her Paul, the Hausmeister, told me he ate five or six. There were still leftovers this morning, so I brought them home with me.
Since I didn't feel like bringing meat to grill, I just ate the rest of my lunch. I had a craving for real rice (the stuff my families eat is like Uncle Ben's, which is shit) and had luckily the day before come across a Chinese restaurant that had take out. A "Happy Box" its actually called and is quite cheap. You can imagine my happiness. But I just got some fried rice, which is #3 on my fried rice list. It was a full order, so I couldn't eat it all in one sitting. The chicken was just on top, so I ate it all first. And then one of the ladies asked if I was eating popcorn...I'm not sure how you confuse the two, but OK.
But as I ate at the fest, everyone was like, "What are you eating?" I thought it was easier to just tell them that I'd had a stomach ache earlier in the day and that rice is good for your stomach (BRAT diet!) than I didn't feel like bringing meat to grill. Matthias frowned and asked if I was a vegetarian. I laughed. Then I said I'd already eaten all the meat. He ate three steaks personally. He also came wearing this ridiculous sun glasses, which I then pickpocketed and wore for almost five minutes before anyone noticed. Sadly I have no picture.
Turns out more than half of the staff smokes. Its sad. Especially since the cigarette boxes all say, "Smoking can kill you." Most of them were courtesy enough to direct their smoke away from the food, though. It really makes me pity them all. What's worse, though, is seeing the mothers on the streets pushing their prams smoking. That kid will forever have a weakened respiratory system, thanks to mom. That's really one of the stupidest things you can do as a mom, aside from drinking/drugging while pregnant and not breast feeding your baby. Anyways...
I guess the party was good. People were kind of late, so I read some Russian literature. Promise I'm not obsessed. Then I left early, cuz that's when my host family picked me up to drive me to the trainstation. But tha's another story.
Grilling is a weird concept in Germany, because they have a tendency to say "BBQ" but I have to point out, they don't use bbq sauce, so you can't really call it that. They usually don't season the meat at all, and if it is, its done at the butcher's and tastes awful. And apparently there's only one kind of marinade besides awful, and its orange. My Dad once told me a joke about how in Heaven, the French would be the cooks, etc., and if it was Hell, the English would be the cooks (sorry if I misremembered, Dad), but I think if it was really hell, the German's would be the cooks.
I actually injured my jaw a few weeks ago and it was then sore for over a week. Why and how? I was chewing a steak. I love my host families, but that really can't grill worth anything. But maybe I'm spoiled with the expertise of my family and friends.
Anyways, the Hausmeister built a big fire. Too big, he actually had to start spraying the nearby tree with water so the branches wouldn't catch on fire. But it eventually calmed down and they put a giant grill over the pit. Slowly everyone came bearing dishes doused with vinegar. Really, I don't understand...they must not have taste buds or something. Every salad and potato salad is doused with vinegar and that's their salad dressing. And you can't have salad without it; its already on there. I don't eat salad anyway, but if I did, I still wouldn't eat this stuff. I feel like throwing up sometimes when I smell their salad dressing.
I baked my second batch of cookies the night before, they turned out much better. I don't' like cooking with metric, though. I had to leave before anyone even tried them, but apparently they were very good. Her Paul, the Hausmeister, told me he ate five or six. There were still leftovers this morning, so I brought them home with me.
Since I didn't feel like bringing meat to grill, I just ate the rest of my lunch. I had a craving for real rice (the stuff my families eat is like Uncle Ben's, which is shit) and had luckily the day before come across a Chinese restaurant that had take out. A "Happy Box" its actually called and is quite cheap. You can imagine my happiness. But I just got some fried rice, which is #3 on my fried rice list. It was a full order, so I couldn't eat it all in one sitting. The chicken was just on top, so I ate it all first. And then one of the ladies asked if I was eating popcorn...I'm not sure how you confuse the two, but OK.
But as I ate at the fest, everyone was like, "What are you eating?" I thought it was easier to just tell them that I'd had a stomach ache earlier in the day and that rice is good for your stomach (BRAT diet!) than I didn't feel like bringing meat to grill. Matthias frowned and asked if I was a vegetarian. I laughed. Then I said I'd already eaten all the meat. He ate three steaks personally. He also came wearing this ridiculous sun glasses, which I then pickpocketed and wore for almost five minutes before anyone noticed. Sadly I have no picture.
Turns out more than half of the staff smokes. Its sad. Especially since the cigarette boxes all say, "Smoking can kill you." Most of them were courtesy enough to direct their smoke away from the food, though. It really makes me pity them all. What's worse, though, is seeing the mothers on the streets pushing their prams smoking. That kid will forever have a weakened respiratory system, thanks to mom. That's really one of the stupidest things you can do as a mom, aside from drinking/drugging while pregnant and not breast feeding your baby. Anyways...
I guess the party was good. People were kind of late, so I read some Russian literature. Promise I'm not obsessed. Then I left early, cuz that's when my host family picked me up to drive me to the trainstation. But tha's another story.
Finally, some Tours, 1 July 2010
Before I begin talking about my work experiences of the week, I would just like to point out that exactly a week from today I'll be coming home. The home part will be short lived, because then the next day I'm flying to the Philippines, but I'm excited about both. I love you Germany, as I told 30 5th graders today, but there's no place like home.
Monday was my first tour, meaning, I was a tour guide. The morning frankly was not so hot. I woke up at six, (sorry if this is normal for some of you, but I don't like it), got on the train at 7 and was at work a full hour early. The secretary was and has been unusually annoying this week. And I don't know what she was talking about, but I swear she told me the press was invited to my tour. So that gave me something to freak out about as I got ready (put my make up and contacts in at work, and read over the tour text). But no press came. Then I went down early and Matthias wasn't there. Trust me, its weird to think of that Matthias and know a different Matthias will/is reading this. He came, but the group and teacher were there early, too, so his one minute of tardiness made me nervous. He definitely had the keys to everything, so without him, I couldn't really give the tour. But it all worked out. For that, anyway. The group of 19 students, turned out to be all boys.
Their teacher was also worried that the tour would be too difficult. Frau Auer's text had been sent to her, which is very psychological and philosophical. Good content, but not exactly for translation if you're dealing with second language learners. I assured here I wouldn't stick to the text and it would be much easier.
Now, normally I get along better with boys better than girls, but I knew this would be a tough crowd. They didn't know much English, it was early Monday morning, they'd been up late celebrating Germany's "victory," and what 19 year old boy wants to be questioned about Harry Potter? Let alone Catholic Saints? Sadly most of my tour involves asking questions, which totally didn't work out. So I did most of the talking, which was too fast, I think. Most of the museum's also small, so fitting all those boys so they could see was difficult. Only two of the guys answered any questions during the entire tour, but I was grateful for them. Basically, I talked too fast and we had a lot of time after wards, so they completed their fill-in-the-blank worksheets I'd written. Then we went over it and they all had the right answers. So I guess they understood something. And the teacher asked if I could do another tour next week, which I said "sure" and so I think she's figuring that out currently.
After the tour, Matthias and I went on the coffee break. I had my tea. Then after the break, I went upstairs and emailed Dr. Auer that I was done and had nothing else to do. She brought me a museum guide, explaining a bunch of objects in the Uhr und Industrie Museum, and asked if I wanted to translate it. I've been working on that this week. I could have done it in one or two days, but I realized this and so I've been working very slowly, to make it last longer. And I've had to research a bunch of things to understand what's going on.
For example, the pamphlet's about different historical clocks. I really don't know much about clocks, and if you think you do, you're wrong. The most notorious term I came across, was "stackfreed." I looked through translations and then turned to wikipedia. I spent over an hour tracking this thing down. It didn't help that I initially thought it was a German word and it turns out its actually English. So I spent some time looking in the wrong places. But, I eventually found it after reading up on the mechanisms of clocks. Turns out it was a set of pieces to regulate the clock's accuracy of telling time, but only used for 100 years before abandoned for the better and more accurate fusee.
Today I had my second tour, and it went much better. I definitely had less nerves, though the lady with the key (Matthias is now on vacation and won't be seen again) was late. I think she may have forgotten. But it went well. There were a lot of children (31) but they were pretty well behaved. And they answered some questions. I did definitely ask fewer, though, this time. At 5th grade, they've almost had a full year of English. But I simplified my language better this time and I think it went well. The girls were interested in asking me personal questions at the end and the boys were more apt to volunteer information during the tour.
One setback, is the size of the rooms or artifacts that the kids are supposed to see. We're constantly crowded and if half the kids can't see what I'm talking about, they get bored. I don't blame them. In one room, I attempted to remedy this by having the group switch half way through my story about St. George. These kids also liked my storytelling. They're clearly winners. Since their English wasn't so so good, I also spoke in German to clarify things. This worked out well, though I 'm a little surprised how I switched back and forth. I should be speaking German while I'm here, and they're supposed to be learning English on the tour. Meh.
In the end, we took some time to go over the crossword puzzle I designed. Then we had a slightly open forum for them to ask me questions. This was mostly, "Where do you come from? What's your favourite color? Do you have any pets? What's your favourite country? Do you have siblings?" And then the teacher asked if she could bring a group next week of 11 graders. I said sure, just call Frau Haas, the secretary. I also offered to deviate from the tour theme to talk about other things the group might be interested in. I'm not sure if Frau Auer would approve, but if I can better interest the kids, then they'll be more likely to participate and therefore will benefit more.
The rest of the day I translated a little and read up on World War I battles, Russian czars, and Harry Patch. I think I'll be looking up Mr. Patch's autobiography when I get home. Oh, Harry Patch was the oldest living survivor of trench warfare during WWI, but died last year. Now I believe there are no more WWI veterans. I also learned that 1 percent of New Zealand's population was killed in battle during WWI. With that, I bid you Tschuess, and you may all expect more sometime this weekend after I get home from France. Yes, France.
Monday was my first tour, meaning, I was a tour guide. The morning frankly was not so hot. I woke up at six, (sorry if this is normal for some of you, but I don't like it), got on the train at 7 and was at work a full hour early. The secretary was and has been unusually annoying this week. And I don't know what she was talking about, but I swear she told me the press was invited to my tour. So that gave me something to freak out about as I got ready (put my make up and contacts in at work, and read over the tour text). But no press came. Then I went down early and Matthias wasn't there. Trust me, its weird to think of that Matthias and know a different Matthias will/is reading this. He came, but the group and teacher were there early, too, so his one minute of tardiness made me nervous. He definitely had the keys to everything, so without him, I couldn't really give the tour. But it all worked out. For that, anyway. The group of 19 students, turned out to be all boys.
Their teacher was also worried that the tour would be too difficult. Frau Auer's text had been sent to her, which is very psychological and philosophical. Good content, but not exactly for translation if you're dealing with second language learners. I assured here I wouldn't stick to the text and it would be much easier.
Now, normally I get along better with boys better than girls, but I knew this would be a tough crowd. They didn't know much English, it was early Monday morning, they'd been up late celebrating Germany's "victory," and what 19 year old boy wants to be questioned about Harry Potter? Let alone Catholic Saints? Sadly most of my tour involves asking questions, which totally didn't work out. So I did most of the talking, which was too fast, I think. Most of the museum's also small, so fitting all those boys so they could see was difficult. Only two of the guys answered any questions during the entire tour, but I was grateful for them. Basically, I talked too fast and we had a lot of time after wards, so they completed their fill-in-the-blank worksheets I'd written. Then we went over it and they all had the right answers. So I guess they understood something. And the teacher asked if I could do another tour next week, which I said "sure" and so I think she's figuring that out currently.
After the tour, Matthias and I went on the coffee break. I had my tea. Then after the break, I went upstairs and emailed Dr. Auer that I was done and had nothing else to do. She brought me a museum guide, explaining a bunch of objects in the Uhr und Industrie Museum, and asked if I wanted to translate it. I've been working on that this week. I could have done it in one or two days, but I realized this and so I've been working very slowly, to make it last longer. And I've had to research a bunch of things to understand what's going on.
For example, the pamphlet's about different historical clocks. I really don't know much about clocks, and if you think you do, you're wrong. The most notorious term I came across, was "stackfreed." I looked through translations and then turned to wikipedia. I spent over an hour tracking this thing down. It didn't help that I initially thought it was a German word and it turns out its actually English. So I spent some time looking in the wrong places. But, I eventually found it after reading up on the mechanisms of clocks. Turns out it was a set of pieces to regulate the clock's accuracy of telling time, but only used for 100 years before abandoned for the better and more accurate fusee.
Today I had my second tour, and it went much better. I definitely had less nerves, though the lady with the key (Matthias is now on vacation and won't be seen again) was late. I think she may have forgotten. But it went well. There were a lot of children (31) but they were pretty well behaved. And they answered some questions. I did definitely ask fewer, though, this time. At 5th grade, they've almost had a full year of English. But I simplified my language better this time and I think it went well. The girls were interested in asking me personal questions at the end and the boys were more apt to volunteer information during the tour.
One setback, is the size of the rooms or artifacts that the kids are supposed to see. We're constantly crowded and if half the kids can't see what I'm talking about, they get bored. I don't blame them. In one room, I attempted to remedy this by having the group switch half way through my story about St. George. These kids also liked my storytelling. They're clearly winners. Since their English wasn't so so good, I also spoke in German to clarify things. This worked out well, though I 'm a little surprised how I switched back and forth. I should be speaking German while I'm here, and they're supposed to be learning English on the tour. Meh.
In the end, we took some time to go over the crossword puzzle I designed. Then we had a slightly open forum for them to ask me questions. This was mostly, "Where do you come from? What's your favourite color? Do you have any pets? What's your favourite country? Do you have siblings?" And then the teacher asked if she could bring a group next week of 11 graders. I said sure, just call Frau Haas, the secretary. I also offered to deviate from the tour theme to talk about other things the group might be interested in. I'm not sure if Frau Auer would approve, but if I can better interest the kids, then they'll be more likely to participate and therefore will benefit more.
The rest of the day I translated a little and read up on World War I battles, Russian czars, and Harry Patch. I think I'll be looking up Mr. Patch's autobiography when I get home. Oh, Harry Patch was the oldest living survivor of trench warfare during WWI, but died last year. Now I believe there are no more WWI veterans. I also learned that 1 percent of New Zealand's population was killed in battle during WWI. With that, I bid you Tschuess, and you may all expect more sometime this weekend after I get home from France. Yes, France.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Silver Mine, 26 Juni 2010
Today I visited a silver mine from the middle ages. It apparently really kicked off in the 12-13 hundreds. But also has a Roman ceiling somewhere. Forgive me for not knowing so many facts about it, but our guide had a pretty heavy dialect.
Frau Reinl, Rolf, Uwe (Frau Reinl's nephew) and her brother and I all went. It was a packed car, but the ride was less than an hour. Frau Rein's brother is really kind of old to be going into a mine (especially this one because we had slippery ladders and stairs), but his hobby is collecting rocks. Uwe, I think, is the nephew who's a little slow (she told me so, but I couldn't really tell) and has a mustache like the villains in the old westerns.
First we went to a restaurant and ate lunch. I had a pork schnitzel and french fries. It was good, minus the fact that the main taste I had was the cooking oil. But the portion was perfect. You really have to think about what size plate you order, because there are no carry out boxes in Germany. Except for pizza. Which is dumb. Frau Reinl ordered some kind of fish, and when it arrived I stared. They brought her the whole fish. Let's just say, the only courtesy the cook did was gut the thing. The head was screaming at me, and the poor tail was all burnt. And the bones were in still. I informed everyone that fish rarely comes this way in the States.
Another fun part of the conversation was describing all the wild and poisonous animals we have in Missouri. I explained what a coyote is, a raccoon and an armadillo. Then I said we have a lot of poisonous snakes and spiders, but the spiders aren't very big. And of course I described Dad's adventure with the copperhead in the Property basement. I might have scared them all from coming to MO, because Frau Reinl said she'd stay in the Black Forest. And they don't like the concept of tornados.
So, the mine. We outfitted ourselves with galoshes, helmets and jackets. No gloves. Our guide was a very old man, who was surprisingly spry. I"m not sure if I'd want my grandpa responsible for a group of idiots in the dark, slippery mine with lots of wet ladders and stairs, but he was fine. They told him I was an American, so he made sure I could see everything and all. And at one point said I was pretty. But the tour was about 90 minutes. Its a little crazy that most of the holes and tunnels were built by hand. Insane, actually.
The mine had a lot of iron, copper, flourite and something else I forgot. Besides the silver, I mean. Afterwards, I bought a rock, and then the guide was nice and gave us each one for free. Rolf was like, "I don't want a rock" but then Frau Reinl's brother gave him one anyway.
The ride back was quiet. Once we got home we had some coffee and I ate more of my giant RitterSport. Then I've just been writing and stuff until our company just came. And I smashed up some chocolate bars for my chocolate chip cookies. Rolf gave me a hammer and I went to town. I think they're going to be more chocolate chuck cookies, but that's cook too. Wish me luck, and...USA, USA!
Frau Reinl, Rolf, Uwe (Frau Reinl's nephew) and her brother and I all went. It was a packed car, but the ride was less than an hour. Frau Rein's brother is really kind of old to be going into a mine (especially this one because we had slippery ladders and stairs), but his hobby is collecting rocks. Uwe, I think, is the nephew who's a little slow (she told me so, but I couldn't really tell) and has a mustache like the villains in the old westerns.
First we went to a restaurant and ate lunch. I had a pork schnitzel and french fries. It was good, minus the fact that the main taste I had was the cooking oil. But the portion was perfect. You really have to think about what size plate you order, because there are no carry out boxes in Germany. Except for pizza. Which is dumb. Frau Reinl ordered some kind of fish, and when it arrived I stared. They brought her the whole fish. Let's just say, the only courtesy the cook did was gut the thing. The head was screaming at me, and the poor tail was all burnt. And the bones were in still. I informed everyone that fish rarely comes this way in the States.
Another fun part of the conversation was describing all the wild and poisonous animals we have in Missouri. I explained what a coyote is, a raccoon and an armadillo. Then I said we have a lot of poisonous snakes and spiders, but the spiders aren't very big. And of course I described Dad's adventure with the copperhead in the Property basement. I might have scared them all from coming to MO, because Frau Reinl said she'd stay in the Black Forest. And they don't like the concept of tornados.
So, the mine. We outfitted ourselves with galoshes, helmets and jackets. No gloves. Our guide was a very old man, who was surprisingly spry. I"m not sure if I'd want my grandpa responsible for a group of idiots in the dark, slippery mine with lots of wet ladders and stairs, but he was fine. They told him I was an American, so he made sure I could see everything and all. And at one point said I was pretty. But the tour was about 90 minutes. Its a little crazy that most of the holes and tunnels were built by hand. Insane, actually.
The mine had a lot of iron, copper, flourite and something else I forgot. Besides the silver, I mean. Afterwards, I bought a rock, and then the guide was nice and gave us each one for free. Rolf was like, "I don't want a rock" but then Frau Reinl's brother gave him one anyway.
The ride back was quiet. Once we got home we had some coffee and I ate more of my giant RitterSport. Then I've just been writing and stuff until our company just came. And I smashed up some chocolate bars for my chocolate chip cookies. Rolf gave me a hammer and I went to town. I think they're going to be more chocolate chuck cookies, but that's cook too. Wish me luck, and...USA, USA!
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