Luxembourg...small country an hour away
Metz, France
Christmas Shopping w/Jess
Introducing Sam to Mexican food!
okay...American/Mexican food :)
The caves in Homburg
Remains of the castle-Homburg
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
HaLLoWeeN at Burg Frankenstein
The halloween party I was invited to go to was last night was at Frankenstein's Castle (or the rather, the remains of it) near Darmstadt, Germany, just a little bit south of Frankfurt. Mary 
Shelly, the author of Frankenstien, was inspired by the castle and used it as the setting for her novel. It has been called the Frankenstein Castle ever since and is the site of the oldest halloween celebration in all of Germany!
These may or may not seem scary to you...but they certainly did a good job sneaking up on me and getting me to scream like crazy all night! It was a total blast, a once in a lifetime opportunity that I'm so thankful to have experienced!
Shelly, the author of Frankenstien, was inspired by the castle and used it as the setting for her novel. It has been called the Frankenstein Castle ever since and is the site of the oldest halloween celebration in all of Germany!To get to the castle (there are only two towers and a chapel still standing today), you have to drive up a really steep, two-mile windy road that takes you through the woods and up to the top. We went on one of the two tour buses with the USO which takes only people in the military and their guests (the party was open to the public, but the tour was strictly military). They dropped us off around 6:00pm, just as it was getting dark, and we were blessed with warm weather and no rain the entire time (which isn't common during this time of year in Germany).
Okay...so let me ask you something... If you were going to a Halloween party, wouldn't you
want to dress up?! I mean, COME ON PEOPLE, that's half of the fun of Halloween is wearing a costume! Apparently I like to have more fun than the rest of the American people on this side of the world because when I showed up to get on the bus dressed all in black with my witch hat on, there was not a SINGLE other person that was wearing a costume! NOT ONE!!! (go ahead...you can laugh...I did!!) At that point I was glad that my mom and I had decided it would take too long for her to ship a really good costume over to me! Luckily my friend I went with brought a mask (not like it mattered at that point anyway), but I couldn't believe it! Someone said they were too old for dressing up and I just started laughing because I think I will still be wearing costumes when I am 90 years old! When we got to the castle, there were a lot of German people dressed up so I wasn't out of place anymore. It's interesting here though because all of the German's dress up with crazy face-paint more than actual costumes like you see in the U.S.
want to dress up?! I mean, COME ON PEOPLE, that's half of the fun of Halloween is wearing a costume! Apparently I like to have more fun than the rest of the American people on this side of the world because when I showed up to get on the bus dressed all in black with my witch hat on, there was not a SINGLE other person that was wearing a costume! NOT ONE!!! (go ahead...you can laugh...I did!!) At that point I was glad that my mom and I had decided it would take too long for her to ship a really good costume over to me! Luckily my friend I went with brought a mask (not like it mattered at that point anyway), but I couldn't believe it! Someone said they were too old for dressing up and I just started laughing because I think I will still be wearing costumes when I am 90 years old! When we got to the castle, there were a lot of German people dressed up so I wasn't out of place anymore. It's interesting here though because all of the German's dress up with crazy face-paint more than actual costumes like you see in the U.S. When we got inside they had to go through all of our bags at security and they took my mase! Grandma and Grandpa...ever since you gave that to me for my highschool graduation I don't go anywhere without it! Of course I wasn't going to be walking around spraying monsters in the castle with it, but I still would have felt a little less scared entering the "haunted-mansion" with it in my purse! I came out alive at the end of the night though and they gave it back to me, so now I can feel safe again :)
Burg Frankenstein (which means Frankenstein Castle), was packed full of different monsters
who were ready to give us a good scare! I was with a group of eight people and one of the girls got snatched up and put in a coffin! They certainly don't have rules here like we would have in the U.S. about not touching or grabbing people in haunted houses! One monster snuck up behind me and scared the life out of me and I took off running trying to ditch him but he literally chased me around in circles for a full minute before I gave up. He dragged me over and tied me to a cross! They also had comedy skits going on at different locations that we could watch and those were pretty funny. The best part though was just walking through and being scared by all the unexpected monsters! Here are a few pictures of some of them:
who were ready to give us a good scare! I was with a group of eight people and one of the girls got snatched up and put in a coffin! They certainly don't have rules here like we would have in the U.S. about not touching or grabbing people in haunted houses! One monster snuck up behind me and scared the life out of me and I took off running trying to ditch him but he literally chased me around in circles for a full minute before I gave up. He dragged me over and tied me to a cross! They also had comedy skits going on at different locations that we could watch and those were pretty funny. The best part though was just walking through and being scared by all the unexpected monsters! Here are a few pictures of some of them:
These may or may not seem scary to you...but they certainly did a good job sneaking up on me and getting me to scream like crazy all night! It was a total blast, a once in a lifetime opportunity that I'm so thankful to have experienced!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
"Be Blessed and Be a Blessing"
The pastor at the church I use to go to in Bellingham use to say this at the end of every Sunday service and I always thought it was a really great reminder that the blessings in our life are meant to overflow to others and what has been given to us is meant to be shared. God blesses us so that in turn, we can be a blessing to those around us, sharing the love of God with other people in both direct and indirect ways. The more we realize that God has given us what he has for a purpose, the easier it becomes to find the opporunities to bless others with our blessings. This is my story...
When you walk out our front door here, you look directly at the front side of a little apartment complex. One of the guys that lives there is a 29 year old African named Sam from Sierra Leone, the second most underdeveloped country in the world, only slightly better than Somalia. Joe and Anthony use to strike up conversation with him when they would play baseball outside, and when Sam told them he had never played before, Joe taught him how to play catch for the first time. Sam is always looking out his little window, giving candy to Anthony whenever he sees him, bringing African food over to the house to let us try and he always greeted me with a smile when I would come and go from the house. I really wanted to get to know Sam because he reminded me of Theo and I was curious about his life story and why he was living in Germany because he had mentioned to Joe that he was on some sort of government funding to be here.
One day when I got home from a run, Sam was standing at his window so I went over and talked to him for a little bit and I gave him my phone number and told him to call me if he wanted to hang out sometime. The next day he knocked on the door to say hi and I asked him if he wanted to walk down to the local soccer match with me and Anthony for a little bit. So that was the first day that I started to get to know him and I picked up on a few key pieces of information that led me to realize that he carried the load of a very difficult past and that he didn't really have many people here to help him. So from that day on, even though I knew very little about his life, both past and present, I have done all that I can to be a friend to Sam and to be a blessing to him.
What started out as one simple goal to be a friend to someone in need has honestly changed my life. Sam has inspired me to be proactive about helping people and to live my life serving others. I think it would be impossible for someone to know Sam and not be impacted in a similar way. This is just a sliver of his life story to help you understand the circumstances that have shaped who he is today. When he was a little six year old boy, his mother could no longer afford to take care of him so she abandoned him in the streets and he was left to raise himself. He would go from place to place, person to person every few days finding someone who would take him under their wing and protect him. Although he knows a couple of family members, he never grew up with a family. When he was 15 years old he was sat down in front of a woman he didn't even recognize and told that it was his mother. The mosquitos in his country were so bad that he got malaria TWO times a month, causing him to be more sick than you and I can even imagine. Right when he would start to get better, it would attack him again, leaving him so weak and without an appetite. When I asked him what the best part about being in Germany was, he said not getting sick. Sierra Leone also went through a terrible eleven year civil war between 1991-2002. For those of you who have seen the movie Blood Diamond, this war sets background of the movie. As Sam describes, "terrible, terrible, terrible things happened during the war." And now the people in Sierra Leone are living in even more poverty than before, which if you research it as I have you will find out just how sad it really is.
I honestly cannot think of a life that would be harder than what he has described to me as being his childhood. Aside from all of the suffering, sadness and poverty that he has been through, however, Sam has something in his life that has brought him joy through all of the trials, a relationship with the Lord (a unique mix between Christianity and the Islamic religion...I'm still slowly learning more about his faith). About a week ago, Sam and I took a train ride into a city called Kaiserslautern about a half hour from here, and we got on the topic of his childhood and he was telling me about his life on the streets and how he recently sent money back to this old blind man in his country who had taken care of him for so long. Along with the money, he sent a letter asking for this man to pray for him and for his new life here in Germany. That comment led me to ask him about his relationship with God. Sam started going to a Catholic church when he was little, and he really liked the idea of Christianity, but he didn't feel like the message was really reaching him in the way that he needed it to. He became a muslim (Sierra Leone is a predominantly Muslim country) because when he went to the Mosque he said that they taught him over and over again not to steal, not to commit crimes, not to hurt other people, etc. Maybe these are not things that we think of as being the most important part of a sermon or message, but when you put things in perspective and understand that he was trying to live a Godly life in a culture where stealing and killing were an everyday occurance as people did whatever they could to survive, it becomes easy to understand why he would choose to dedicate his time to a church community that stressed the importance of putting your trust in God and staying away from these evil things. He found the love and support he needed at the Mosque, where he would go five times a day to pray (a very important part the muslim religion). God has proven to keep his promises to Sam and has provided for him in ways that he never imagined. His strong faith in God and positive outlook on life regardless of his past has taught me SO incredibly much in just the short two weeks that I have spent time with him. He has rekindled a perspective on life that was introduced to me once before when Theo told me of his life in Africa and the awful conditions that he had lived in.
When you meet these kinds of people in person, the reality of their situations become so real and it's something that no one could ever understand by just watching movies or reading about them in books. It's absolutely HEARTBREAKING. The government here is somehow paying for him to live in Germany (I haven't quite figured this out yet), and hopefully it will become a permanent situation for Sam, but right now it's on a year-to-year basis whether he can stay or not. He has only been here for a little less than one year now. They give him just enough money to get by, so he doesn't have money to really go out and do anything. Until last week, he didn't have a work permit either so he had found a job working for 1 euro/hour (about a dollar an hour), under the table just to have something to do to get him out of the house. Sam and I went to his first carnival here last weekend and I took him on some rides which was a completely different experience for him. He was scared to death on the ferris wheel and the rollercoaster, he had never been up so high other than on the plane ride between Africa and Europe which he had been terrified of. He loved it though and he was in awe of the fun things that kids get to do in other countries...things he never knew existed. Last night I taught him how to carve a pumpkin, he had never heard of Halloween. He really hasn't made many friends here yet, except me and another 51 year old American military man. He told me last night that he is so blessed to have me as a friend because before he knew me, he would just sit at home and "have so much stress", which he told me means that he would just sit in his apartment and think back on his life in Africa and all of the suffering that he went through.
I have been blessed to be a blessing here for Sam. I think that as much of a blessing as I am to him, however, he is even more of a blessing to me as he continues to teach me more and more about what is really important in life.
When you walk out our front door here, you look directly at the front side of a little apartment complex. One of the guys that lives there is a 29 year old African named Sam from Sierra Leone, the second most underdeveloped country in the world, only slightly better than Somalia. Joe and Anthony use to strike up conversation with him when they would play baseball outside, and when Sam told them he had never played before, Joe taught him how to play catch for the first time. Sam is always looking out his little window, giving candy to Anthony whenever he sees him, bringing African food over to the house to let us try and he always greeted me with a smile when I would come and go from the house. I really wanted to get to know Sam because he reminded me of Theo and I was curious about his life story and why he was living in Germany because he had mentioned to Joe that he was on some sort of government funding to be here.
One day when I got home from a run, Sam was standing at his window so I went over and talked to him for a little bit and I gave him my phone number and told him to call me if he wanted to hang out sometime. The next day he knocked on the door to say hi and I asked him if he wanted to walk down to the local soccer match with me and Anthony for a little bit. So that was the first day that I started to get to know him and I picked up on a few key pieces of information that led me to realize that he carried the load of a very difficult past and that he didn't really have many people here to help him. So from that day on, even though I knew very little about his life, both past and present, I have done all that I can to be a friend to Sam and to be a blessing to him.
What started out as one simple goal to be a friend to someone in need has honestly changed my life. Sam has inspired me to be proactive about helping people and to live my life serving others. I think it would be impossible for someone to know Sam and not be impacted in a similar way. This is just a sliver of his life story to help you understand the circumstances that have shaped who he is today. When he was a little six year old boy, his mother could no longer afford to take care of him so she abandoned him in the streets and he was left to raise himself. He would go from place to place, person to person every few days finding someone who would take him under their wing and protect him. Although he knows a couple of family members, he never grew up with a family. When he was 15 years old he was sat down in front of a woman he didn't even recognize and told that it was his mother. The mosquitos in his country were so bad that he got malaria TWO times a month, causing him to be more sick than you and I can even imagine. Right when he would start to get better, it would attack him again, leaving him so weak and without an appetite. When I asked him what the best part about being in Germany was, he said not getting sick. Sierra Leone also went through a terrible eleven year civil war between 1991-2002. For those of you who have seen the movie Blood Diamond, this war sets background of the movie. As Sam describes, "terrible, terrible, terrible things happened during the war." And now the people in Sierra Leone are living in even more poverty than before, which if you research it as I have you will find out just how sad it really is.
I honestly cannot think of a life that would be harder than what he has described to me as being his childhood. Aside from all of the suffering, sadness and poverty that he has been through, however, Sam has something in his life that has brought him joy through all of the trials, a relationship with the Lord (a unique mix between Christianity and the Islamic religion...I'm still slowly learning more about his faith). About a week ago, Sam and I took a train ride into a city called Kaiserslautern about a half hour from here, and we got on the topic of his childhood and he was telling me about his life on the streets and how he recently sent money back to this old blind man in his country who had taken care of him for so long. Along with the money, he sent a letter asking for this man to pray for him and for his new life here in Germany. That comment led me to ask him about his relationship with God. Sam started going to a Catholic church when he was little, and he really liked the idea of Christianity, but he didn't feel like the message was really reaching him in the way that he needed it to. He became a muslim (Sierra Leone is a predominantly Muslim country) because when he went to the Mosque he said that they taught him over and over again not to steal, not to commit crimes, not to hurt other people, etc. Maybe these are not things that we think of as being the most important part of a sermon or message, but when you put things in perspective and understand that he was trying to live a Godly life in a culture where stealing and killing were an everyday occurance as people did whatever they could to survive, it becomes easy to understand why he would choose to dedicate his time to a church community that stressed the importance of putting your trust in God and staying away from these evil things. He found the love and support he needed at the Mosque, where he would go five times a day to pray (a very important part the muslim religion). God has proven to keep his promises to Sam and has provided for him in ways that he never imagined. His strong faith in God and positive outlook on life regardless of his past has taught me SO incredibly much in just the short two weeks that I have spent time with him. He has rekindled a perspective on life that was introduced to me once before when Theo told me of his life in Africa and the awful conditions that he had lived in.
When you meet these kinds of people in person, the reality of their situations become so real and it's something that no one could ever understand by just watching movies or reading about them in books. It's absolutely HEARTBREAKING. The government here is somehow paying for him to live in Germany (I haven't quite figured this out yet), and hopefully it will become a permanent situation for Sam, but right now it's on a year-to-year basis whether he can stay or not. He has only been here for a little less than one year now. They give him just enough money to get by, so he doesn't have money to really go out and do anything. Until last week, he didn't have a work permit either so he had found a job working for 1 euro/hour (about a dollar an hour), under the table just to have something to do to get him out of the house. Sam and I went to his first carnival here last weekend and I took him on some rides which was a completely different experience for him. He was scared to death on the ferris wheel and the rollercoaster, he had never been up so high other than on the plane ride between Africa and Europe which he had been terrified of. He loved it though and he was in awe of the fun things that kids get to do in other countries...things he never knew existed. Last night I taught him how to carve a pumpkin, he had never heard of Halloween. He really hasn't made many friends here yet, except me and another 51 year old American military man. He told me last night that he is so blessed to have me as a friend because before he knew me, he would just sit at home and "have so much stress", which he told me means that he would just sit in his apartment and think back on his life in Africa and all of the suffering that he went through.
I have been blessed to be a blessing here for Sam. I think that as much of a blessing as I am to him, however, he is even more of a blessing to me as he continues to teach me more and more about what is really important in life.
Friday, October 9, 2009
GERMAN JOB TRAINING
SIDE JOB #1: HOTEL
I had my first day of training at the Avalon Hotel in Landstuhl last week and there was more to learn than I imagined there would be! When I arrived in the morning, Natalie, the girl who was suppose to be training me, wasn't there. The only person working was a lady that spoke very little English, so she began by trying to show me around and explain things in German...most of which I didn't understand of course! My inicial thought was: I am stinkin crazy for trying to accept this job at a German hotel when I speak only a few sentences in their language. After about twenty minutes, Natalie showed up and she speaks perfect English so she took over and re-showed me all of the things that Mendi had tried to explain. The hotel is small, there are only 30 rooms, but part of my job there is preparing the breakfast in the morning. Most of the continental breakfast is easy...remember where to set out certain things, all the cold-cuts, yogurts, breads, coffee, fruit, etc. However, I also have to make eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and sausages to set out. Not too hard, right? I didn't think so until she told me that I'm not suppose to waste food, and I have to make sure there is always enough for everyone on the table, but she wouldn't answer my question and give me an estimate of how many eggs she prepares or bacon strips she cooks, etc. each morning...I'm just suppose to figure that out on my own! Other things I am suppose to know that she won't tell me (she says to GOOGLE them for the answers) include directions to the hotel from different places, interesting things to do in the area, cool restaurants and pubs nearby, and the different military ranks (more on this later). She told me that since they only have one person working the front desk at a time, I would have to be able to communicate on some level with german speakers as well as with the vietnemese maids. Then she sent me upstairs and told me to ask these women to show me around, seeing atleast one of each of the three room set-ups that they have at the hotel. These ladies don't speak a word of german OR english but when I tried to talk to them I think they may have been smiling even more than I was and they all grabbed on to my arms giving me these awkward part-way hugs...I couldn't help but laugh at myself again thinking of my situation. When I asked one of the ladies to look into the rooms, she handed me the key. I had no idea which rooms were vacant or not, but she gave me a nod when I pointed to room number 9, soo I opened the door, then quickly closed it again when I saw someone role over in their bed!! I went back downstairs and told Natalie a little fib...that yes I saw the rooms, they look very nice, I was ready to continue with the training! haha We started getting into the details of booking the rooms and doing the billing and stuff and since it's mostly military that stay there, there is so many extra papers that have to be filled out (and filled out in a very specific way). One of the forms that are so important is called the VAT form, which allows businesses to communicate with the government that a certain number of people that stayed at the hotel over the past year were military, and therefore don't pay taxes and yadda yadda. The phone is another interesting thing because I am required to answer in German...which is fine, I have no problem with that. However, if I answer in German and there is a german speaking person on the other end of the line, they start rattling off like I am going to understand what they are saying! Natalie hooked up the hotel phone to her cell phone so I have this little thing that I say in German in these situations that tells the person that I am transferring their calls, and then I send them on to her! The first three hour training day was...exhausting to say the least. I'm not sure at this point if it's more work than it's worth, I'm still thinking about it. Either way I did enjoy being out of my comfort zone for awhile and getting some good laughs at the awkwardness of my day!
SIDE JOB #2: SPORTS BAR
This job is perfect for me. I love it love it love it! I had my first night yesterday (thurs) and then I am going back to work again tomorrow night. The guy that trained me is a very easy-going, 28 year old guy that is fun to work with/for. His mom owns the business but he manages it. I thought that I was going to be a cocktail waitress, and I thought that would be easy because I already have so much restaurant experience. I was wrong though because I am bartending! It's a small/medium sized American sports bar called the Yankee, and mostly american military people come in there and hang out. It feels more like I am hanging out than working! I get to talk to people (most are around my age), make friends (which I haven't really done yet since I've been here), play games like dice and pool with people, and if I want I can mix myself up a drink and make a toast right along with the customers! (don't worry mom and dad...I AM being smart, I promise!!) I really do love it and I feel very blessed to have met that woman on the train...it really is all about who you know and the connections you make!
JUST LIFE...
Other than those side jobs, my real job here, the reason I am in Germany to begin with, is awesome. Anthony is my new little best friend and since Joe and Jess work such long shifts I get to spend so much time with him! We went on another train ride today and I got the cutest video of him saying: CHOO CHOO...WHERE AAAAARRREE YOUUUU?!?! haha he is so much fun! Jess and Anthony were curled up on the couch the other day taking a nap so I laid down on the other one and closed my eyes and about 20 minutes later, Train (remember, that's what we call him!) waddled over and cuddled up with me and fell back asleep for an hour nap!! I think all of you who would be reading this blog know how much I loved that! So he's become my buddy, I love it here with the Amores!
I got invited to go to a big haunted house/halloween party at the Frankenstein castle about 45 minutes from here, and I guess they give you a tour of the whole place and then it's a big party! You go there on big charter busses and it's for the military people and their friends and families! I looked it up online and it looks awesome...I'm trying to decide on an easy and cheap costume to wear!
I had my first day of training at the Avalon Hotel in Landstuhl last week and there was more to learn than I imagined there would be! When I arrived in the morning, Natalie, the girl who was suppose to be training me, wasn't there. The only person working was a lady that spoke very little English, so she began by trying to show me around and explain things in German...most of which I didn't understand of course! My inicial thought was: I am stinkin crazy for trying to accept this job at a German hotel when I speak only a few sentences in their language. After about twenty minutes, Natalie showed up and she speaks perfect English so she took over and re-showed me all of the things that Mendi had tried to explain. The hotel is small, there are only 30 rooms, but part of my job there is preparing the breakfast in the morning. Most of the continental breakfast is easy...remember where to set out certain things, all the cold-cuts, yogurts, breads, coffee, fruit, etc. However, I also have to make eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and sausages to set out. Not too hard, right? I didn't think so until she told me that I'm not suppose to waste food, and I have to make sure there is always enough for everyone on the table, but she wouldn't answer my question and give me an estimate of how many eggs she prepares or bacon strips she cooks, etc. each morning...I'm just suppose to figure that out on my own! Other things I am suppose to know that she won't tell me (she says to GOOGLE them for the answers) include directions to the hotel from different places, interesting things to do in the area, cool restaurants and pubs nearby, and the different military ranks (more on this later). She told me that since they only have one person working the front desk at a time, I would have to be able to communicate on some level with german speakers as well as with the vietnemese maids. Then she sent me upstairs and told me to ask these women to show me around, seeing atleast one of each of the three room set-ups that they have at the hotel. These ladies don't speak a word of german OR english but when I tried to talk to them I think they may have been smiling even more than I was and they all grabbed on to my arms giving me these awkward part-way hugs...I couldn't help but laugh at myself again thinking of my situation. When I asked one of the ladies to look into the rooms, she handed me the key. I had no idea which rooms were vacant or not, but she gave me a nod when I pointed to room number 9, soo I opened the door, then quickly closed it again when I saw someone role over in their bed!! I went back downstairs and told Natalie a little fib...that yes I saw the rooms, they look very nice, I was ready to continue with the training! haha We started getting into the details of booking the rooms and doing the billing and stuff and since it's mostly military that stay there, there is so many extra papers that have to be filled out (and filled out in a very specific way). One of the forms that are so important is called the VAT form, which allows businesses to communicate with the government that a certain number of people that stayed at the hotel over the past year were military, and therefore don't pay taxes and yadda yadda. The phone is another interesting thing because I am required to answer in German...which is fine, I have no problem with that. However, if I answer in German and there is a german speaking person on the other end of the line, they start rattling off like I am going to understand what they are saying! Natalie hooked up the hotel phone to her cell phone so I have this little thing that I say in German in these situations that tells the person that I am transferring their calls, and then I send them on to her! The first three hour training day was...exhausting to say the least. I'm not sure at this point if it's more work than it's worth, I'm still thinking about it. Either way I did enjoy being out of my comfort zone for awhile and getting some good laughs at the awkwardness of my day!
SIDE JOB #2: SPORTS BAR
This job is perfect for me. I love it love it love it! I had my first night yesterday (thurs) and then I am going back to work again tomorrow night. The guy that trained me is a very easy-going, 28 year old guy that is fun to work with/for. His mom owns the business but he manages it. I thought that I was going to be a cocktail waitress, and I thought that would be easy because I already have so much restaurant experience. I was wrong though because I am bartending! It's a small/medium sized American sports bar called the Yankee, and mostly american military people come in there and hang out. It feels more like I am hanging out than working! I get to talk to people (most are around my age), make friends (which I haven't really done yet since I've been here), play games like dice and pool with people, and if I want I can mix myself up a drink and make a toast right along with the customers! (don't worry mom and dad...I AM being smart, I promise!!) I really do love it and I feel very blessed to have met that woman on the train...it really is all about who you know and the connections you make!
JUST LIFE...
Other than those side jobs, my real job here, the reason I am in Germany to begin with, is awesome. Anthony is my new little best friend and since Joe and Jess work such long shifts I get to spend so much time with him! We went on another train ride today and I got the cutest video of him saying: CHOO CHOO...WHERE AAAAARRREE YOUUUU?!?! haha he is so much fun! Jess and Anthony were curled up on the couch the other day taking a nap so I laid down on the other one and closed my eyes and about 20 minutes later, Train (remember, that's what we call him!) waddled over and cuddled up with me and fell back asleep for an hour nap!! I think all of you who would be reading this blog know how much I loved that! So he's become my buddy, I love it here with the Amores!
I got invited to go to a big haunted house/halloween party at the Frankenstein castle about 45 minutes from here, and I guess they give you a tour of the whole place and then it's a big party! You go there on big charter busses and it's for the military people and their friends and families! I looked it up online and it looks awesome...I'm trying to decide on an easy and cheap costume to wear!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Part-time Nanny, Part-time Cocktail Waitress, Part-time Receptionist?!
My life here in Bruchmulbach continues to be filled with many blessings and everyday seems to introduce me to something new. These last few days here Anthony and I have been a litte under the weather (just your typical change of weather cold), so we've been keeping busy with pretty low-key activities. Yesterday I took Anthony on his first train ride to a village called Landstuhl which is only a four minute ride north of here. He loved it!! He sat on the his knees on the seat and looked out the window and for the rest of the day you would think the only thing he knew how to say was "choo-choo train!" Aside from the motivation to take Anthony on the train, we went to Landstuhl with a purpose: a job "interview" at the Yankee (it's a sports bar). It wasn't really an interview because I was already offered the job as a cocktail waitress, so it was just an opportunity to look around the village, see the business and decide if it was a place I was interested in working part-time on my days off with the Amores. On my train ride home from Paris I met the owner of the business, a 62 year old Vietnamese woman who is one of the sweetest ladies in the world. She has six kids and the youngest of them are about my age. She owns six businesses in the area and told me that she would train me at the sports bar if I wanted to work some nights and if I were interested in working during the daytime she wants to train me to work the reception desk at one of her hotels, The Avalon. My work schedule with the Amores is kind of hard to work with, but she seems more than willing to make it work so I am going to give it a try. Many military personnel stay in the hotels in Landstuhl so 90% of the people that I will be in contact with will speak English...and with the other 10%...who knows what I'll do! Laughing a lot at my lack on language skills seems to get me a long way so that's how I imagine things will go! Yvonne didn't seem to be the least bit worried about me not speaking German. I think it will be a fun way to occupy some of my free time while I'm here and it will be a great way for me to meet people, so overall I'm pretty excited about the opportunity. I should be doing a couple days of training here within the next week or two, so I'll keep you posted with the new job(s) situation! Jessica has today and tomorrow off so I think we are going to take a drive up to Kaiserslautern this afternoon and take Anthony to a dinasaur park that they have there if it warms up...this morning it was only 44 degrees! Brrr!! Usually by about 11 or 12:00 it gets up to about 70 though so there is hope for another nice day here in Germany!
*Who likes Anthony's mohawk?! haha Joe won't let me shave it off!! :P
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
More of Paris...
The rest of the weekend in Paris was better than I could explain in words...but I'll do the best that I can. On Friday night I talked Matt into fighting his jet-lag and hanging out so we went to the Latin District where all the young people hang out and we sat at one of hundreds of really cute restaraunts and ate some absolutely delicious pizza for dinner. Then we decided to head back to the hostel because there was a live band playing downstairs and they were having a party so we figured there would be a lot of people hanging out there. Turned out that the band was a little bit obnoxious and there were only about ten hippies dancing downstairs so we grabbed a drink upstairs at the bar and we sat outside by the canal for a bit before we met a couple other Americans and one Australian guy. We hung out at the hostel with them all night just getting to know eachother, laughing, talking...it was fun. Matt also made friends with a French guy there so they talked for quite a bit and every once in awhile I would practice the very little french that I know! On Saturday we ate breakfast at the hostel and then walked around all day looking around the city until dinner time when we met up with the French guys that Matt had met in San Fran. They brought some friends so there were seven french people and the three of us (me, Matt, and Katie who is also from Bellingham and teaching English in France) and we ate dinner at this Mongolian restaraunt. After dinner two of our new French friends, Kevin and Boris, wanted to take us out so we all went dancing. I had forgotten how rough, yet extremely fun, the European lifestyle is for people my age. You don't sleep!! A lot of the clubs don't even open until after mid-night! We were out until 4:30 am, it was great! The craziest part was that when we left, there were still people waiting to get in to the bar and there were so many people and cars on the street that you would think it was still the middle of the day! The Europeans love American music too and I thought it was pretty funny that they knew more of the words to the songs than I did! Sunday morning Matt and I woke up early and made our way to the Eiffel Tower (a must see when you visit Paris...I made him go with me!) I decided not to go with him to Le Mans because the Paris trip had already taken a huge toll on my bank account, so I helped him to the train station with all of his luggage and I headed back up here to Bruchmulbach! It was such an amazing trip and I will do anything to make it back to Paris soon...I could never spend too much time in that city!! Tomorrow is my first day watching Anthony and I will have him for 96 hours straight because Joe and Jess are both working 12 hour night shifts and having to sleep during the day! I'm really excited, we have a lot of fun activities planned :)
Apparently I Bring Trouble!
Regardless of where I go...trouble seems to follow me! When I was in Mexico last year, Morelia experienced its first ever public terrorist attack only five minutes from my apartment! Currently here in Germany I am not at all worried or afraid in this situation but it is something that I am aware of and I will be taking all the necessary precautions to make sure I am safe here. The following is a brief description of what's going on in Germany right now:
There is a general threat from terrorism in Germany. Such attacks could be indiscriminate, including in public places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers.. Although the German security authorities have averted serious terrorist attacks, they assess that the threat from terrorism remains high and urge individuals to maintain a high level of vigilance.
The German government has taken measures to enhance security throughout the country in the run up to the national elections taking place on 27 September 2009. On 18 September a video was released claiming to be from Al Qaeda warning the German people against re-electing the current government and not removing its troops from Afghanistan.
There is a general threat from terrorism in Germany. Such attacks could be indiscriminate, including in public places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers.. Although the German security authorities have averted serious terrorist attacks, they assess that the threat from terrorism remains high and urge individuals to maintain a high level of vigilance.
The German government has taken measures to enhance security throughout the country in the run up to the national elections taking place on 27 September 2009. On 18 September a video was released claiming to be from Al Qaeda warning the German people against re-electing the current government and not removing its troops from Afghanistan.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Paris=My Happy Place
Right now I am sitting at a small table right on the Paris canal in France and I can't think of any other place in the world I would rather be today. In fact, (sorry to all of you who don't want to read this) but Paris has been added to the top of my list of places I will live in my lifetime! I remember the happy feeling I had last time I visited here three years ago, and the second I got off the train today and stepped out of the station into the beautiful city, that overwhelming joyful feeling all came back to me. First of all, I took the ICE train from my village to get here which is a newer train that goes 200mph. The trip only took me three hours and I got to see a lot of the german/french countryside along the way. I was glad I reserved the window seat! I got here about 10:00 this morning and easily managed to navigate my way to the hostel where we are staying. I traveled here alone, but I met up this evening with my friend Matt from Bellingham. He didn't get here until about 4:30 so I walked all over town today, sat out alongside the canal and did some good people watching, and took a little nap before he got here. The place we are staying at is called St. Christopher's Inn and it takes first place for the coolest hostel I have ever stayed at. It's huge so there are tons of young people hanging out here, the location is absolutely breathtaking and it has this cute French cafe/bar where I am sitting now. It's great! Matt just flew in from the US so he is taking a nap so he can be ready to go out tonight. He has some friends from San Fran that live here so either tonight or tomorrow night I think they are taking us out. Matt spent a year studying here in France and has spent a lot of time in Paris so tomorrow he is going to show me some places that I didn't get to see last time I was here. Then on Sunday we are headed to this city about 20 minutes from here called Le Mans where he is going to be teaching English this year and I am going to help him get moved in to his new apt. So far soooo amazing in Paris!
This last wed. I went to Oktoberfest with a friend of the family I am working for and we had a good time there. We were only at the festival for one day and then on thurs. we stopped at and toured one of the largest concentration camps in Germany. It was so sad, but very interesting and educational. This camp was originally small, and in 1937/38 they reconstructed the site to hold 6,000 prisoners, but they ended up holding over 30,000 there. Seeing this place in person was really an eye-opener to how absolutely terrible the life was for these people, not only for the awful living areas but for all the torture they were put through in these camps.
Life in Europe continues to be filled with blessings and I am really loving my time here. Miss you all and think of you daily :)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The beginning...
So I made it here safely after a total of almost 13 hours of travelling! Jessica, Joe and Anthony met me at the airport and it took us about an hour and a half to get back to the village where they live. It's been really overcast here but everything is still so beautiful! There are rolling hills of vinyards everywhere! The highway here is crazy, as Abby had already informed me before I left to come here, but not so much because of how fast people drive, mostly because the lanes are soo narrow! Sometimes, atleast as a passenger, it doesn't look like you are going to be able to fit past the car in the other lane when you are passing them! We went to the Bad Dirkheim wine festival last night which is the biggest wine fest in the world so that was fun! Anthony went on all the rides, and we all went on the ferris wheel! I absolutely love the little village where we live and we all went for a walk the other day and it was so fun to look at all the houses because they are all so different from eachother and full of character! The Amores have a cat and HUUGE dog too, it's an Alaskan Malemute...or however you spell that, and he is the biggest teddy bear of a dog you'll ever meet! I usually don't like big dogs all that much, but I loove Champ, he's so cute! It took no time at all for Anthony to warm up to me, he is actuallly cuddled up by me right now as I am writing this! He's a very happy and energetic two and a half year old so I have been having fun with him! I have been trying to start learning German...I forgot what it's like to be a beginner with a language! I sound soo ridiculous..but it's fun! We went on base the day after I got here too and it's nothing at all like what I imagined! It really is like it's own little American town. We ate at the mall and did our grocery shopping there and everything, and then I got to go back with Jessica yesterday and see where she works. She works in an office that overlooks one of the five flight lines on base. The airforce planes are huge and her job seems really interesting! Jess and I went to the gym that they have there too, so that was nice to be able to get in a good workout considering I haven't been to the gym in ...probably 4 months! haha So things here are going really well and I love it so far, we are taking Anthony to go see Elmo on Sunday, which is also Jessicas birthday so maybe I will have more to write after the weekend!
This is a message from Anthony: /vv''v'hnhnhhghghhhhjew3e333443443 :)
This is a message from Anthony: /vv''v'hnhnhhghghhhhjew3e333443443 :)
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