My Arrival

September 2, 2011

It's been an exhausting few days (1 or 2 I'm not quite sure) but I finally made it into Germany this morning.  I began in Jacksonville FL, went to Charlotte NC, then Paris, and finally Frankfurt.  Not to bore you with my travel horrors (of which there were many) but here are some more stand out memories.  I ran over about 7 people's feet in the Paris airport (Charles De Gaulle) - and subsequently almost cried 7 times.  I got my work-out in for the next few days running around CDG - which may in fact be my least favorite place in the world (it is indeed worse than Teer).  Also I was lucky enough to go through security twice in Paris.  After all that though, I just barley made my plane and scampered off to Frankfurt. Our good friend, Judith, picked Emily and I up from the airport and we drove about an hour and a half from Frankfurt to a small town (name to be determined) in Southern Germany.  Luckily Emily and I were able to get some shut eye during the drive in - which was on the AUTOBAHN!!!!!!  I admit, when Judith first told me that the Autobahn was essential to our journey to her house I panicked a bit.  But fear not, Judith is an excellent driver - so smooth that I was able to fall asleep.  After we arrived at her house - which has the cutest garden by the way - we met her family and ate lunch.  Her older brother made us a pasta dish akin to ravioli.  It was like a pasts sandwich (hence the ravioli) filled with a spinach and sausage mixture.  Apparently the monks ate that as a way to disguise their meat.  Who knew that monks were so sneaky?  The cultural learning has already begun!  After lunch we took a long walk through the country (that's right Judith lives in the picturesque countryside).  We saw tons of apple trees (Emily ate two apples) and a castle close by.  Incidentally this area of Germany is known for its castles.  So expect a post about castles - and how much I like them - and how much I want to live in them.  Tonight we are going to a neighborhood barbeque - I am not sure what to expect though.  Who knows what Germans consider a bbq?  I am hoping to see at least on pair of overalls though.  Bonus points for any sort of pie as a dessert.  Heck, bonus points for any dessert!

Here are some things I have already learned:

- German people say "ciao" when they get off the phone and their last name when they answer the phone
- tap water is not normally drunk here - Judith's family (the Reichls) laughed at me when I just asked for tap water
- no German yet - looks like I'll be doing lots of smiling and thumbs up this week...

Auf Wiedersehen, Maggie