First few days back at home

Well the flight was fabulous, for starters! It was worth every penny flying business class back home. We ended up having a 50 minute delay due to the air conditioner being out on the plane. In the 24-seat section, there were only 7 of us and three attendants. So I had two seats to myself (one for me and one for all of my crap) As soon as we got on we were offered drinks and the attendants knew all of our names :-) Our lunch was great, I had shrimp in coconut sauce over saffron rice and veggies (including water chestnuts, which I LOVE!) I watched three movies on my personal TV-- In the Valley of Elah, PS: I Love You, and Notting Hill... I also caught part of I Am Legend. So many movies were offered I couldn't watch all the ones I wanted to :-(.

I was one of the first ones off the plane and although I was tired, by this time I was really excited about seeing my folks. The drive home was long--three and a half hours (I flew into Ft. Myers), but I had a lot to talk about so it wasn't that bad at all. And when I got home, my sister and BECKY and a cake were waiting for me. I was SO surprised!! Later, Jeremy came, too! We ate cake and chatted and they were only there for about an hour because I was so tired I got a bit delirious after a while, ha ha!!

Thursday I woke up at like 5:30 am... I was wide awake and just couldn't go back to sleep. It was okay, though, I just went with Mom when she left. We went to Marshall's where I found a great pair of leather flip-flops from Clark's for $20, which, for that brand, is practically stealing, ha ha... after that we went to IKEA!!!!!!! And I must say that in comparison to Germany's IKEA in terms of assortment, its the same, but the prices are lower. Mom and I found some fabulous new furniture for my room and before we left, we snagged some 50 cent hot dogs and $1 ice cream cones! In Germany, the ice cream cones cost €1, which is about a buck and 58 cents at the moment... we put the furniture together when we got home. Court pretty much did it all herself, she is really good at putting this stuff together!! I worked on clearing out all of my stuff from my old dressers and desk. Crap, I should have taken before and after pics... didn't think about that... I just finished everything about 40 minutes ago, and the place looks great. It has been a lot of work. Mom and I were going to have a yard sale tomorrow but now its kind of up in the air since her ad didn't show up in the paper today... needless to say that after plowing through all my stuff, there is quite a lot to sell! I threw away all kinds of crap from perfect attendance certificates to pre-calculus assignments to 9th grade biology notes. Everything is GONE :-) I don't have the slightest idea as to why I thought any of that stuff would be valuable... a lot of my college stuff is gone, too... like anthropology and even some COM notes... I figure I know it or I don't, there won't be any time to read it anyway.

I did take some time to read some of my old stuff... from 10th grade, five years ago... my plans were to move in with a friend in Germany after high school and then start college afterwards, "worst case scenario, I'll go to UCF"... I don't remember feeling like I said I did or thinking any of those things. I read a lot of poems about my cat that I wrote when I was 10, 11, 12 years old, and ones about how much I hated Danielle Stevens in the 7th grade. I found my old scrapbook that I never finished, which included a collage of the Hanson brothers in their early days... lots of old books, German magazines from 2004 that I can actually understand now... and MAN was I skinny junior year!!!

Overall I have seen in going through my old things and sorting my new things just how much things can change in a short period of time... I am glad I wrote as much as I did, even though I remember back then how I wished I could keep a journal. I think what comes naturally and unplanned is the best way to document your life.

It is weird being home... before going to bed on my first night home, I saw my wall calendar, which was still open to September 2007... Mom had left it as it was. I suddenly felt scared! Even on the way home I just was overcome with the feeling that I had only been gone a month or so, but seeing that calendar made me feel like I had traveled back to the past, back to the time right before I left. I haven't gone through all the things I brought back with me from my travels yet... I unpacked my suitcases today (where the heck did I put my black USB!?), but set that box of stuff aside. I need to go through my pictures and start choosing some to put into an album... I think I will print all the pictures I want in the album before I even buy the album.... or I may do a Photobook and have that printed...

And after the 4 days I spent in Ingolstadt, it's hard to want to come back to Germany... I don't plan on going back for another year at least... a lot is just really up in the air because I don't know if I will be getting in with Siemens this fall or not... if I do, it could change things up a bit. I left a lot of crap at the Pauligs', so I have to go back at SOME point. Let me just get my life back in order, get a new job, start school again, and THEN I will worry about all of that.

I will still be traveling a bit for the next two weeks or so. I am here until Thursday morning, then it's off to meet Viktor in NYC for a few days. Then we'll be in Florida. I'll stay in Florida, and he will go back to Germany on the 17th... I don't know if I will feel sorry for him or not. Right now, I like Florida, because it's "new" again, whereas Koblenz had gotten old after 10 months. And I probably will continue liking Florida until it rains on Christmas again this year ;-)

There is just a lot of work still left to be done... a pile of mail to open, too!


Love,
Caitlin

PS: Does anyone want to buy my Mickey Mouse snow globe collection?

Ballin'

Wow! I am in the business class lounge at the Munich airport and it ROCKS! I am about to go board the plane (which bisher has NO delay, YEAH!) and I am on a computer in the lounge which is freeeeeeee to use. I also picked up a few magazines for free that usually cost like $4 each and had some free food and Fanta... plus a comfy leather chair. Blows Düsseldorf's lounge right out of the water!!

Anyway, better get moving, I will see you Heimgebliebene soon!

Bis dann,
Caitlin

Survival

Here I am. I've been in Ingolstadt since Friday evening. That means it has been less than 48 hours and it feels like 48 years. We are having a good time! Yesterday I tagged along to a shopping trip that took two hours in two stores. Later in the afternoon I biked with Maxi to play mini-golf and lost. We ate dinner and then went to pick up Maria from a birthday party, where we mortified her in front of her friends when Gaby said "Hey everyone, we are only talking English". Maxi adamantly and obnoxiously insisted that Gaby take them to the playground for "five minutes" which turned out to be 20, at the end of which Maxi broke his wrist. We spent an hour or two in the ER and when we got home, I went to bed as soon as I could and slept until 10am this morning. Mongo's is therefore cancelled. I'm bummed, but after getting on the scale last night and confirming that yes, I have gained a few pounds back at least, that's ok. Filled out the papers for my new German bank account this morning, hopefully the Euros'll be coming in soon :-) Sending my last €650 or so with Tobi on Tuesday to get changed to dollars... for once I am hoping the exchange rate to be at its worst so I can get the most dollars possible, ha ha...

The next few days are going to go by incredibly slow. However I will really enjoy it as much as I can. Looking forward to coming home, though. REALLY looking forward to it. Ingolstadt is the place to be to get that feeling, I think.

That is all for me for now, going to go pass the time in another way...
Caitlin

Last Days in Koblenz

Wow, it sucks so much to say goodbye to the people I met here. Why is it always when I leave that I realize exactly what and/or who it is I am leaving? That is, you are never truly grateful for what you had until you don't have it anymore or, have to leave it. Ugh. I hate it.

Last night I went to the Koblenzer Extrablatt for the last time... I love that place man... I must admit, if the next place I go doesn't have an Extrablatt, I ain't goin'. It's just that simple. Coming back to Germany won't be the same as this time, though... I will meet completely new people, do completely new things, see completely new places. One can't expect to have the same experience twice in a row... and who would want it that way, anyway? Anyway all of my best friends here came and we had a lovely time... happy hour, baby :-) T'was grand... Jenny made me an AWESOME cake with cats and suitcases and a whole slew of other wonderful things, and from a few other friends I received sweet Koblenz mementos and cards that made me cry :-( after that and a few sad, tearful good-byes, some of us went to the Irish Pub for karaoke, where we stayed for an hour or so. Niko (my first friend here) and I sang Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" and it was really fun.

And this morning Lea and I cleaned up her apartment a bit and then met at 12 with 6 or 7 others to eat the fabulous cake. It is hard to eat something that pretty, man. She said she spent about 10 hours working on it in total! INSANE. Nevertheless I am sooo grateful for the cake and even more grateful to have friends like these!!

I have posted pictures of the last few days for your enjoyment...

Caitlin

A Few Steps Closer...

Well, one week from today I will already be in the airplane on the way home (HOPEFULLY, the last two times I have flown LTU from Germany there have been delays... but both of those other times were out of Düsseldorf, not Munich, so we'll hope for the best...) and will have about seven hours left of the flight.

Right now I am living with my mate, Lea, the Australian. hi world! (says Lea). We started packing up her stuff today. Yesterday and today I got all my money back from Studierendenwerk. Tonight we are going to the Extrablatt *tear* one last time to say good-bye to everyone (for now, muahahaha). It sucks today because the weather was so nice this morning and GUESS WHAT, now it's raining. FABULOUS! My hair's going to frizz like crazy, just like at home, ha ha...

Yeah and tomorrow? We don't know yet.

Peace out, ya'll.

Things will be different next time

Okay, I admit it, and flat out: I brought a little too much stuff. Still, I don't regret bringing two suitcases :-) I definitely need both of them. I have to mention that I am sooo lucky to have such fabulous, very generous relatives that are letting me leave pretty much half of what I brought in their cellar for the next time (and yes, there will be a next time, I didn't learn this language for nothing, you know!).

Next time I am DEFINITELY...
-- NOT bringing so much face cream under the impression that no one uses face cream with SPF in Germany
-- NOT bringing ANY books with me (a good news magazine per month will last me... those Germans are wordy!)... they are just too heavy and I didn't read most of them.
-- still going to bring a stock of makeup from home because it is seriously ridiculously expensive here AND they don't make what I use anyway
-- not going to have to buy nearly as much stuff since I have everything I need already :-D yeah!


Well that is it for now... as for the packing and cleaning situation, I am sooo close to being done it isn't even funny :-D in Business class I am allowed to bring 2 pieces of hand luggage so I am bringing my little rolly and my backpack... in my little rolly there is nothing but BOOKS and CDs and DVDs... they never weigh hand luggage, and I am allowed to bring two 6kg (14 lbs, lol). I am also moving in with Lea from Tuesday through Friday morning. Should be fun! Except we wont have ANY space with all my stuff in there. But we will make it work somehow, I imagine.


Cheers,
Caitlin

Packing up my life...

Well the last day has been spent packing up my life for the last 10 months... I have been trying to keep my heart out of it so it doesn't get tough, if you know what I mean, but I think I am ready to leave so my goal has just been to get stuff organized and into the suitcases.

Here is a picture of my progress so far:


Hopefully today I can get the Hausmeister to come check the place out and give me my €400 bond back........ that is a LOTTTTT of money and will probably be my NY, Orlando, and Key West money when I get back!

Caitlin

Dresden: City of Art, Culture, and All-Out Flair!

So, now I am in another train back westward, late by the way, which means we will probably miss our connection which means we will have to wait an hour for the next train, which means I probably won't get home til 11 freakin 30 tonight. DAMN IT I hate Germany sometimes. Gosh I just get so frustrated, something always goes wrong. Plus somehow there are always LOUD and ANNOYING people on the train that talk extremely loudly on their cell phones or allow their children to scream through the train. Ugh.

But O Dresden, how I love thee! What a beautiful city. It is like the German version of Kraków. Seriously. I don't really want to spend a lot of time writing every little thing we did (I am lazy, plus, its boring), since you can maybe see that in the pictures. Dresden has such an interesting history. On Feb 13 and 14, 1945, the entire city was firebombed and most of it was flat within 30 seconds. The Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) partially survived but later collapsed due to 1000° C temperatures from the surrounding burning buildings. The wood inside started to burn and weakened the sandstone causing its collapse. Both the Altstadt and the Neustadt in Dresden are faaaabulous, and whats unique here is that the Neustadt has all the bars in restaurants, whereas its usually the Altstadt in most cities that all of these places are found. Not to mention a fantastic piece of art is located here: Rafael's “The Sistine Madonna”--most people know this painting, however, only partially... the two “thinking” angels below the painting are so often pictured by themselves without the rest of the painting that we all think that the two angels themselves are the painting. I didn't know any of this, so it was exciting to learn it indeed. There are just a lot of fabulous buildings there to see—the Opera House, the Zwinger, the Art Academy, all the churches... basically on Thursday that is what we did—just walked around the Altstadt checking out the buildings. We saw a few museums and exhibitions in the Zwinger. I think the entire city is a piece of art. They had to build it all over again after the bombing and it is so beautiful. There are so many parks and fountains and benches and cafes! I just love it. Definitely VERY high on the list of potential places to work in the future.

I will take a moment to praise and complain about the hostel we stayed in. I booked it because the reviews were all very good. Frankly I was disappointed and had expected a lot more. The rooms were very nice, the hostel itself was very clean and I had no complaints about that. We only paid about €13 per night. They charge an additional €2 for sheets, though, and €2 per hour for internet... on your OWN computer! I think that is the most ridiculous thing. I had expected to pay for their own terminal, but I got there and saw the list of prices and was really angered by it. Plus they don't tell you how to log off, so if you have to interrupt the session to use the bathroom or something your time keeps running. Not to mention there was only one bathroom for our entire floor with one shower and it was not separate, so if someone needed to pee and someone needed to shower, regardless, the door was locked and you had to go down two flights of stairs to the other showers and WCs. Also absurd. But there was always soap and it was always clean so I can't complain too much. The kitchen was also very nice. We saved some dough by having dinner there the first two nights and breakfast there all three mornings. I can't imagine traveling any other way except staying in hostels. But there are people out there who HAVE to stay in hotels and have to eat all meals out. Having a kitchen in the hostel is pretty much the best because it saves SO much MONEY on food. In the New York hostel there is not a kitchen :-( so I hope there is someplace nearby that isn't too expensive. I did survive in Paris for a week without a kitchen, so I imagine a weekend in NY won't be a problem.

On Friday we bought a day ticket for the public transport and rode out to the Moritzburg, a majestic-looking hunting lodge of the former king of Poland (yes, Poland), August the Strong. It was neat. There were hundreds of sets of red stag antlers all over the place, floor to ceiling. After that we had lunch and then went to the German Hygiene Museum which was surprisingly very interesting. We got there a bit after three but it closed at 6pm so we had to leave before having seen all the exhibits. We ended up going to the movies last night and saw an independent German movie called “Alle Alle”, which reminded me a lot of Steinbecks “Of Mice and Men”... what was really cool, though, is that the actors and the director of the film were in the theater with us and did Q&A after the movie was over. Felt kind of bad for them, though, since no one really had any questions. The movie had a lot of slang and drunken mumbling, so I didn't understand everything they said.

Yeah and this morning we had breakfast and walked some through the Neustadt and through the Kunstpassage, a really artsy area with some neat shops. We had milkshakes at a little cafe there before heading back to the hostel for a bit. And now we are on the train that I am trying not to get upset about. I did sleep until 9:30 after all, so I shouldn't be tired getting home at 11:30 at night anyway.

In other news, I am ready to go home. Yes, I said it. I had hoped that by this time I would be and by golly, I am. Next week is my last week in Koblenz. I have to be out of my apartment by 10 am on Tuesday morning. And until Friday morning, when Gaby and Tobi pick me up, I will be living with my Australian mate, Lea. Should be fun. A lot of stuff has to happen next week: I gotta close my Koblenz bank account, let the citizens office know I'm leaving, turn in my cafeteria card, get the Hausmeister to inspect my room (after I clean the place from top to bottom or at least make it look like I did, lol) and get my €400 bond back... and have a great last few days. Of course if the last few days were utterly miserable, it might make it easier to leave. It sure is a heck of a lot of work to get things organized here and back at home. I have pretty much decided that before I do anything crazy in Germany again, I will go home like a good girl and finish my degree...which could happen within a year, even!! And then maybe I won't have to worry about how much money these stingy Germans would pay me for an internship, since I could apply for a real job. Plus, who knows, I might really get a job at Siemens Orlando this year. I had kind of thrown that idea out the window since one of my “in-people” doesn't seem like he wants to help at all. He told me to look at Monster.com to see if there was anything I was interested in, but there are only regular positions there and no internships so that does not help at all :-(. However Mom told me (thanks, Mom) that apparently my uncle is still working on something for me, and although that could mean everything, anything, or nothing at all, it is something. I really hope to find an o.k. job back at home... I would like to continue saving since I haven't been for almost a year. And I don't want to get ripped off like I did at the animal hospital (I still get really mad when I think about having worked there!!!)

But there are a few things I will miss about this place, and there are some that I will not. Actually, I lot of people have asked what I'll miss most when I go home... so...

I will miss:

1. Bakeries all over the place—i.e. Fresh and healthy bread for like $1!

2. travelling without a car (even though the trains are late most of the time) and the fact that don't have to drive thirty minutes to get anywhere

3. my cute Häuschen and living in a dorm with friendly people that come knocking just to say hi (like Rike and Niko!)

4. some of the people I have met here

5. Cafe Extrablatt: namely the cocktails and the breakfast! YUM!

6. Ritter Sport Erdbeer Joghurt chocolate

7. DM Markt and all the great quality, inexpensive stuff there

8. being able to walk places

9. Sightseeing! Everything is so pretty.

10. Döner!!!!!!!!!!! I love it! We need to get some Turks to come to Orlando! They can even live with us, lol

11. Cheese and how cheap the real good stuff is: Havarti! YUUUM!

12. Cream cheese with herbs and garlic!

13. my economical laundry stand that I bought for €5... saved me sooo much money!

14. just speaking German all day every day.

15. Ditsch pizza and pretzels

16. only having one class lol

Things I will NOT miss:

1. the cold, grey winter and (usually) spring.

2. the sheer inconvenience of having to wait on trains, buses, etc.

3. the expensive Euro

4. the rudeness of so many Germans (make that Europeans): I don't mean this in a mean way, it is just fact that a ton of them consider foreigners to be the spawn of Satan and their own country to be the center of the planet, even if it is just Luxembourg, for example. I know Americans can be just as rude but generally are not. At least they ACT like they care, whereas here, most people are quick to show you they don't. At all.

5. paying anywhere from 30 cents to €1,10 to freakin' pee (even at McDonald's!)

6. the fact that there is just a shortage of toilets in general.

7. how expensive using a cell phone is here

8. how expensive it is to get your hair cut

9. how expensive it is, period!

10. never knowing what to wear because its never always hot... at home its always hot so it takes two seconds to get dressed and I can ALWAYS wear flip flops... so I always do.

11. Koblenz itself... it was great for the time I was there, small, quaint, a good way to get used to Germany, but it is too small for me, I think. 2 buses per hour, none after 11pm, and you are screwed on Sundays and holidays. Its pretty there, but there are plenty of other cities that are just as pretty if not prettier with a lot more to offer. Like Dresden, for example. *sigh*

13. all the paperwork and technicalities that go with everything, and the general unwillingness of authorities to help you out (see also #4!)

Things I have learned or changed while here:

1. I like tomatoes

2. I can cook chicken. Make that cook, period, and it actually taste good. WITHOUT using a recipe!

3. I eat bread, cheese, and salami for breakfast and I like it!

4. I can hold a pleasant conversation in a foreign language. Hey, that was the main goal!

I suppose most of those things will occur to me after I've been at home for a while... but don't worry, I still don't wear socks with sandals... lol... and PLEASE no one get offended by that, it is just a thing a LOT of Germans do.

Caitlin

quick update

I have been in Dresden for two hours and I think I am in love with it...

12 Days in Spain (feat. Morocco & Gibraltar)

Well, I have been back from Spain for two days and now I am sitting in a train with Jenny on the way to Dresden. Dresden is my last trip before the big trip back home to Florida. Had the brilliant idea to bring my computer along to get some things done...it takes about 5.5 hours to get to Dresden from Koblenz—in other words, I'll be here for a while.

I flew with Ryanair and had a terrible flight as I expected with the loudest screaming child I have ever experienced! Ryanair sucks. I will say it loud! But they're cheap, and offer the best and most convenient flight times to Málaga. It took me almost 12 hours to reach my final destination in Granada. Setting out at 8am for the Koblenz Hauptbahnhof, I arrived in Granada at 7:45pm, four bus and one plane ride later. Thank the Lord for iPod (I mean it!!!)

We watched soccer at an overcrowded, sweaty Irish pub the first two nights and Friday afternoon we flew to Barcelona for the weekend. It was getting late already by the time we got there but we still got to check the place out a bit—we walked to the marina toward the large monument of Christopher Columbus and to the Barcelona bridge there where we were greeted by hundreds of fish and several giant seagulls (Big Willy of course among them).

First thing Saturday we took the Metro to Gaudí's Sagrada Familia, which is still under construction and “financed by the people”. It is estimated to be finished by 2025. We also took the elevator up one of the towers and were afforded with some fabulous views of the city from there. We took the stairs down and on the way got to inspect the building a bit more, too. After that we walked a lot and ended up getting totally ripped off at this sandwich shop... for two grilled cheese sandwiches and a little Frenchbread pizza, we paid €16, which is about $25! That made us mad for a while, but I guess we could afford to lose a little money since we had saved so much on the accommodation and flight there. Plus, we had breakfast and dinner at home which saved a lot o' cash as well. We got to see a lot of Gaudí's stuff after that, like the Casa Batlló. It was closed that day so we decided to go the next day... We walked through Barri Gotic district which is really really pretty and has a medieval feel to it. There are some pretty churches in there we got to see as well. We stopped by an old Roman cemetery, which wasn't in its original state, obviously, but it was still neat. Inside the Cathedral in that district, we saw the geese that live there in the cloister! Some of them have little tufts of feathers on their heads :-) Walking down La Ramblas afterward, which is the famous hoppin' street in Barcelona, was really fun! There are a bunch of little pet shops there selling everything from chickens and geese to turtles and chipmunks. I read something about how they are getting shut down because of animal cruelty regulations of some sort. There are all kinds of people there putting on all sorts of shows-- we saw one who was a really good robot!! If they stop moving, they won't move again until someone puts money in their jar, hat, can, or whatever they have sitting there to collect it with. I imagine the ones that are really cool make a killing!!

We slept until 10am on Sunday, but then got going because there were still a lot of things left on the list to get done!!! First and most importantly was to go see “Gat”, which is a HUGE and wildly random cat statue standing quite inconspicuously to the side in Rambla del Raval... I fell in love there. It was so neat! I think we took the most photographs of that one thing than other single thing we saw (except the Sagrada Familia, lol). After that we were saddened that Palau Güell was closed Sunday and Monday and we wouldn't have a change to see Gaudí's chimney pots there. Schade! We headed onward to the Battló House though, which was really neat (and expensive--€13,20... that is how much I pay for the bus to the Frankfurt Hahn airport!!). It came with a pretty neat audioguide though and it was just wild to walk through a house like that, knowing it was built sooo long ago. To have it look so modern even today, I can't imagine what it must have been like to see a house like that back in Gaudí's day! Park Güell was next on the list, which was also one of Gaudí's fabulous masterpieces... interestingly, the park was supposed to be a private playground just for the rich people's kids...

Barcelona's fab and hot beach was next on the list, so we hopped the Metro to check things out on that side of town... the sand was very sand-colored... I was surprised. I was also surprised by the amount of women baring all on the beach who shouldn't be baring ANYTHING... what I loved most about the beach was when you reached into the water to pull up a handful of the watery sand, you got a bunch of beautiful stones instead!! I took some home! One of them reminded me of Gaudí :-) so I called it the little Gaudí stone. Later that night after dinner and such we watched the Europe cup finals at a bar on the beach... after Spain won, it was surprising how calm the Spaniards there were... I think cuz there were just a ton of Germans there as well, maybe they were being polite—but somehow I doubt that. Needless to say no one got much sleep that night since everyone in Barcelona who had anything to make any sort of noise was out in the street doing so! I slept anyway. Most of the problem had to do with how freaking hot it was in Barcelona and just how poorly ventilated the building was. Normally it is cooler inside buildings than it is outside, right?

Some sidenotes for which I found no convenient place in the last few paragraphs:

1. OMG there were so many invisible mosquitoes in Spain and they bit me and bit me and bit me and NO ONE ELSE. I am so serious, no one I asked got bit and you can believe I asked EVERYONE. They bit my butt, my hands, my feet, my shoulders, my arms, legs, every where and I never saw them when they bit me. Not one.

2. It smells bad in Spain. They apparently wash the streets and I think that is why everyone lets their dogs shit on the ground and then they just leave it there—oh, someone will clean it up. Plus when its hot it smells even worse.

3. a bird pooped on me for the first time in my life while in Spain. Weird.

4. I love sangria

   5. I DID photograph every cat I saw, and several times.

Monday we went back to the cathedral to go up to the rooftop since it was closed on Sunday and it was really neat. We got to see the geese again which was also a treat for me!! We walked through Barri Gotic again and then went back to check out but we left our luggage there and headed to Montjuic on the Metro. By then we were soooo tired we just wanted to sit. The parks in Montjuic are really pretty and are even home to at least one cat. After tiring out in Montjuic we metroed back and had lunch, then strolled up La Ramblas again before making a quick stop off at the big cat in Rambla del Raval. There was a cute group of kids playing on that cat who quickly noticed us and wanted to be friends with us. We took pictures of them at their request. After that we just went back to the hostel and chilled for an hour or so before heading to the airport... we met a really strange fanatical lady in the train... at first she seemed friendly but just got SOOOOO preachy--- she is from California and just started talking to us about how shes going around the world spreading the message not to support the war in any way... she went on to list all the keys to heaven like no eating meat, no getting married and/or having sex, no having children, etc. etc. etc. and a whole lot of other unbiblical things. I asked her if she had been married and she said she had been and had also had kids but was now married to Jesus. Which is great and all but come on... it doesn't say in the Bible that you can't get married, for Pete's sake. She also claimed that China has a 2 million man army sitting and waiting to devastate Europe and take over the world and that Jesus has already returned........ she just kept talking and talking and we just kept listening and then this French-sounding guy started arguing with her so we were grateful and got to sneak out before it got any more intense, lol...

Our plane was delayed an hour, laaaaame.... so we sat there for several hours but finally made it back to Granada. And the next day we washed laundry and other such exciting tasks.

And the next day we rented a car and drove to Tarifa, the southernmost city in Europe!! Tarifa is soooo pretty. We went to the beach to which there were two sides-- one calm but crowded side, and one empty, really windy side. We met a family of cats living in the rocks near the beach, including three kittens—a black and white one and two little orange kittens. SO cute! Was definitely a highlight for me. In the hostel we met some Italians who are from Süd Tirol which is the north of Italy close to Austria... it was neat to talk to them... we heard them talking and they sounded German but I couldn't quite understand what they were saying... and it turned out they spoke to each other in dialect ;-). What's also cool is that you can see Africa from the coast in Tarifa... and coincidentally, that was our next stop!

The next day we took a ferry ship to Morocco (specifically, Tanger). It was crazy! I haven't felt seasick ever before, but this ferry was so fast and it was such a bumpy ride I really did feel sick. Even now sitting on train going backwards I don't feel queasy in the least... something about the water, I think. Anyway our tour guide in Tanger was really cool and spoke good German. We thought we got stuck on a French tour, when really there were a lot of Germans, Spaniards, and French people on the bus. I think I was the only person there whose mother tongue was not spoken during the tour....but it was cool. We walked through the old town and were continuously brought to shops and street performers and we got the feeling it was all kind of organized to help people out... which was cool. I rode a camel, held a snake, and tasted some real Moroccan bread! We had lunch at a real Moroccan restaurant where the food was surprisingly NOT salty... and I ate couscous for the first time in my life...and liked it! The people selling stuff on the street in Tanger are really pushy... at times there were 2, 3, even 4 of them trying to sell us different things at once and we just had to keep walking and ignoring them and even saying NO and they still wouldn't leave us alone. They were all desperate to sell their stuff! In one of the markets in Tanger we saw a huge bucket of snails and the lady selling them got mad that we took pictures of it, but it was neat and the snails were all still alive just crawling around. A lot of time was spent looking for a Fanta can with Arabic writing, which we finally ended up finding at the concession stand on the ferry, AFTER we had searched for it all day, lol...

The next day we went to Gibraltar, which is in Great Britain, incidentally... there is even border control there... there was a looooot of traffic to get into the place, but we parked in Spain and walked (the more I think about it, the more this place seems like a theme park than a country!!) The main street there was soooo cool and everything was like a little England, I just loved it! They have their own coins (the British pound but some still say Gibraltar on them). They have Barclay's bank there from whose ATMs I can withdraw money fee-free... which I did, since I was running out of cash. Turned out we had exactly enough money to go on a Rock Tour. The cable cars we would have taken were out of service since it was kind of a windy day, but in the end we lucked out with a mini-bus tour and saved some major dough and time along the way. My favorite part of Gibraltar were the rock apes-- I didn't know there were apes here until the day before we went there! They are really funny and just kid of sit around and interact with the tourists, all the while trying to steal food whenever they can. We took a lot of great pics, so check 'em out :-) Upon leaving Gibraltar it REALLY felt like a theme park.. everyone in their sneakers and backpacks leaving through a common exit... the only thing different was going through customs for Spain on the other side :-) ha ha... I think we ate at McDonald's twice that day, too... did they change their ice cream cones since I left? Now they have regular ice cream cones for their soft-serve and not those nasty styrofoamy ones...

Back in Granada for the weekend, not a lot happened, so we got a chance to relax for a little while. Viktor's birthday was Sunday, and so Saturday night we were out till 3 am celebrating. On Sunday, two of Viktor's friends from Germany (whom I also am acquainted with) came to visit. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them. We walked around in the city with them and ate a whole bunch of free tapas in a bunch of different bars in Granada. That was really neat. I don't know how people can eat those all the time, though-- they're soooo salty and greasy for the most part, I started to feel a bit sick after a while, ha ha... some were really good though, like a real Mexican taco. Okay, I had to admit it tasted like one from Taco Bell off the dollar menu, but it was still pretty good. Yeah and the next day we all took a bus to Málaga, and though I had hoped to hang out with the rest of the little group for at least a little bit before having to go to the airport, but it seemed to make more sense to just head to the airport instead of risking getting there too late—traffic in Málaga at the moment is horrid... the entire city is under construction!!

So I went to the airport and the Ryanair flight—the last one I will have to take for at least a year!--was not that bad...I got an entire row to myself in the back of the plane with NO kids around. It was fabulous. I just listened to my iPod the whole time and the flight was over before I knew it. Then I got on the bus home and only after paying the fare of 13,20 euros for the last time did I discover that there is a 3,30 discount for BahnCard 50 holders... and the tightwad wouldn't give me my money back even after I asked THREE times VERY nicely and after I watched him sell a woman a child's ticket... jerk jerk jerk. Just dealing with this rigid unfairness and, I forgot to mention, the rain and COLD in Germany I was greeted by upon stepping out of the plane, really made me homesick and I just felt like crying the entire way home. It didn't get any worse till I got into my building in Koblenz and fell flat on my ass by the mailboxes because the floor is so slippery. Can I blame it on my wet shoes? Maybe. But no building housing 200 college students should have that slick of a floor, seriously. Luckily I emerged uninjured from the fall, just a little shaken.

Well those are the 12 days in Spain and now as I said, I'm heading to Dresden and Leipzig with Jenny. We are staying all three nights in Dresden, but will be traveling to Leipzig on Friday to check it out, too. Apparently the Hauptbahnhof there is the largest in Europe. Wow!

In other news, packing is WELL under way... and I officially bought way too much crap, lol. Things that were useful while I was here, but a pain in the butt to take home. I am leaving a lot of items in Ingolstadt at Gaby's. Also in other news, I think I have decided to finish my degree at UCF in the next year (I hope to graduate in August 2009, if not May) before going back to Germany. That would leave me with more options than before—meaning, internships AND real jobs—plus leave me more time to save money... interrupting the degree program takes a lot of work and getting it back in order afterward again also takes a lot of work..... not fun.

Today I called to reserve a biiiig table in the Extrablatt for Wednesday next week... I would honestly rather not have any sort of going-away party at all, but a lot of people have been asking about one and it seems like the custom here—if someone goes away for any amount of time it seems, they're gonna let people know ;-) I have to be out of my apartment by Tuesday at 10 am... after which I will be living with Lea the Australian until Friday morning, when Gaby and Tobi will pick me up to take me back to Ingolstadt with them. I fly two weeks from today at 12pm... in exactly two weeks, I will already be in the plane.

I will be back again to write about Dresden and maybe another time before leaving Koblenz for some last thoughts, and perhaps once while in Ingolstadt. But until then, the adventure continues...

Caitlin