I wanted to write a special post today because today is kind of special. Exactly one month from today I will be home. I'll set foot once again in the city that I have spent the vast majority of my life in. And, at least to me, that's kind of a big deal. So I want to see if I can try and explain a little bit what that feels like to me right now.
I am looking forward to going home. Going home will be easy. Like letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Because you don't realize how much you have to think here. You know nothing here. Everything you've ever learned is thrown out the window. Every law, every societal practice, every proper channel, it's all different. And all that trying, all that thinking through every move, it's exhausting. But at home I'll be a master. Nothing can scare me anymore because if I can do it in a foreign country, then I can do it at home. No problem.
On the other hand, I'm terrified of going back. I left home for a reason. As beautiful and wonderful as Washington is, there were aspects that I had just outgrown. And I know that I've changed a lot since coming to Germany, I just don't know in exactly what ways I've changed. So when I go back, I don't have any idea what will happen. I don't know what I'll be doing or who I'll be doing it with. I don't know how I'll react to people and their views. I don't even know how long I'll stay. And I am terrible at not knowing things.
Berlin is the most welcoming city I've ever been in. It speaks to me and comforts me on a level that I hadn't known was possible before. I love this city. And I know I'll be back. But for now I also know, deep in my heart, that it's time to go home. For everything that my first year abroad has taught me and shown me, for every breathtaking moment that I'll never forget, there's always been that constant struggle. The learning, the mistakes, the hard days. I need to reset, regroup, and then start again. And I think only the familiarity of my childhood home and being surrounded by the people I've always known can do that for me right now.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and while we're not celebrating it here, I just want to say that I am thankful. I'm so thankful for the past 11 months because they've given me the chance to fulfill so many dreams that I'd hardly dared to hope for and because they've shaped me into a whole new person. A person who is both excited and terrified to start on the next leg of an adventure that I know will continue to amaze and to challenge me for the rest of my life.
See you all in a month.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Amsterdam
Alright, well I promised it, so here it is.
Martina and I left for Amsterdam at about 3am on November 1st, which means we got to enjoy the sight of all the Halloween drunks meandering home on our way to the airport. The flight there and all that was pretty uneventful. We made it to our hostel and checked in, with the one big surprise of the day being that the hostel had a resident kitty! And you all know how I love kitties! So then we ended up just wandering around, as we always do. The area our hostel was in was pretty active for night life, but that meant it was absolutely dead before 10am. One thing that was open though was an H&M, where we ended up as our previous pants buying expedition had been unsuccessful and the jeans I was wearing were literally disintegrating. But with the goal of new pants finally accomplished and since it was raining (a fact that would end up to be true of just about the entire duration of the trip), we ended up hanging out in a restaurant drinking way overpriced cocoa and coffee and eating poffertjes, which are little Dutch pancakes. I, of course, tried all the available sauces and syrups, as I only really like food as a vessel for condiments.
That night we did our obligatory run at the Hard Rock Cafe. I can't say it was my favorite Hard Rock, but I did appreciate that we were directly overlooking a canal, which was very pretty. Plus they gave us both free sundaes, even though we only had a coupon for one! And these were like legitimate sized sundaes, not those little healthy person sundae shooters. Normally these cost like 7 euros each. So I have to give them props for that :)
The next day we decided to get up and do the free walking tour. This is another thing that we try and do in whatever cities we go to, if it's offered. As usual we were extremely satisfied with the tour and learned a ton (all of which I'm sure Martina remembers, but I am currently blanking on). And thankfully, the rain held off for the whole three hours of the tour! Can't exactly say it was warm, but at least my camera was safe.
After the walking tour we walked all the way back by our hostel to go to Wagamama because I wanted ramen. We ate at one of the Wagamama restaurants in London and were highly impressed. I can't say the same of this one, but at least our waiter was super awesome! And well, I think that's all we did that day. I mean, I did preface this whole thing with the fact that we were super lazy the whole time.
In fact the only other notable thing about that night was that when we returned to our hostel there was a nearly unresponsive girl in the waiting room that the staff was trying to get rid of despite the recommendations of a Red Cross volunteer that was there trying to help her. Apparently the girl had eaten way too much space cake and was having a bad reaction. Oh, and she threw up in her room. Did I mention she was one of our roommates? So that was nice. But as annoyed as I was by all this, I was more upset by the absolutely rude staff member who was trying to force this girl who couldn't even stand to go down a very steep flight of stairs and wander the streets. I mean, yes, it sucks that she screwed up and that she's staying in your hostel. But you work in a hostel in AMSTERDAM! This is going to happen. And besides, it's not like you're running a four star hotel here. I had talked to at least one other set of guests who had been forced to give up their beds and sleep on mattresses on the floor because the hostel overbooked. And that rude staff member? He proceeded to yell at Martina and I and then CHASE US UP THE STAIRS the next day because we rang the door bell to get in twice when there was clearly a (misspelled) sign that said to only ring once. Honestly, Martina and I are the least problematic tenants you could have. And we only rang twice because after the first ring the door made a sound like someone had tried to open it but not pushed the button down long enough. So no, the hostel did not get a good review from me.
Anywho, on Saturday we once again did basically nothing. I honestly think we just walked around the city. I remember nothing of note. That's not to say we didn't have a great time. I just think we had a great time doing basically nothing.I can't say the same of Saturday night though. We had a couple of the rudest people ever in our room. They were already asleep when we came to bed at 10pm, so we were very respectful and quiet. But at 1am they decided to get up and turn on the lights so they could get ready to go out. Two guys. Two very stupid, very stoned guys. And it took them well over an hour to get ready. They were extremely loud the whole time and didn't seem to understand that everyone else in the room was sleeping and wanted the light off. One of our roommates spoke a little Italian, so she even tried telling them in their own language. They agreed and turned the light off for all of 30 seconds. I honestly have no idea how anyone can be so stupid and disrespectful. They're extremely lucky that I did not throw their shoes out on the ledge outside the window the next morning, even though I really really wanted to.
Then came Sunday, the day we were supposed to leave. Since we had all day to kill before our 9pm flight, we decided to walk the whole way to the train station. It was a long ways, but we like to walk and we were in no rush anyway. On our walk we hit up the best fry stand in town for some delicious fries with garlic sauce that are literally making my mouth water as I think about them. We also made a run by a cafe for the best apple pie in town. It was delicious, but I can't say it was the best I've ever had. Honestly, the crust, the part that I find hardest to make, was awesome. But the filling just wasn't great.
So yeah, by that time we were both soaked because it was raining so hard. And the makeshift raincoat I had made for my camera out of a plastic H&M bag was losing its efficacy. Luckily we weren't too far from the train station and even though it was still five hours until our flight took off, we decided to just head to the airport. When we got there we found that our flight was delayed by an hour, which was annoying, but not ultimately all that bad. We took over a section of the lobby and spread our stuff out everywhere to dry.
After a few hours of twiddling our thumbs, offending the rich old people with our barefooted-ness, and trying to dry my falling apart shoes in the bathroom with my hair dryer, we decided to go back out to the main terminal and try to get some cheaper food since there really wasn't anything in our terminal that we could afford to eat. There was no clear exit, so we went out through the baggage area, where I ended getting yelled at in both Dutch and English to "Please leave this area immediately!". It was both off-putting and hilarious. We found a supermarket in the airport where as I stalked around hungrily Martina managed to make friends with the employee behind the deli counter who was having a bad day and asked her to "Tell me something funny that happened to you today."
Once our bellies were satisfied we went back through security to our gate, only to find that our plane had been delayed another hour. At this point I was getting nervous as I had to work at 7am the next morning. And it turns out I was rightfully nervous. At nearly 11pm, as they were shutting down everything in our terminal, a poor stewardess got caught in the hallway and finally spilled the beans that our flight had been cancelled. That resulted in a mad dash to the EasyJet counter, where we were given a brochure outlining our rights and told we would be put up in a hotel overnight. So then there was a second mad dash to get outside, where it turned out that there were only two eight person shuttles that could take people to the hotel. It ended up taking well over an hour for us to get to the hotel because we weren't gonna risk being pushed in front of an oncoming car by all the crazy people who just couldn't be civil about waiting for the shuttles. But hey, the hotel was really nice! And it was the first legitimate hotel Martina and I had stayed in in ages! Free little soaps and everything!
So the next morning we got up early to get back to the airport for our rescheduled flight at 9am, only to find it had once again been delayed for two hours. By the time we finally got to the airport, I was starting to get sick, I hadn't slept well, I was wearing still wet, dirty clothes, and I was starving. I went to the EasyJet counter to ask for the food vouchers promised in the brochure they'd given us and was met with one of the rudest airline employees I've ever encountered. Unfortunately, because I was so wiped, it ended up in my crying and charging food to my credit card (though EasyJet did later refund that money for me when I filed a complaint).
Well anyway, eventually we did get on a plane and get home. I missed taking the kids to school, but my host family was really cool and understanding. Unfortunately, I got home at 2:00pm and had to head out to pick up the kids at 2:45pm, so I didn't exactly get any down time. But I was just glad to be home and to have some clean, dry clothes.
So yeah, that was Amsterdam. My last trip for awhile with my best friend and the greatest travel companion I've ever had. But I'm already looking forward to our next adventure, whenever that maybe be :)
Sorry that the post is a little business-y sounding, but I'm getting really tired and just needed to get it out or I would never get around to it.
Ok, now I'm gonna go pass out. Whatever this disease is, it's still kicking my butt.
Martina and I left for Amsterdam at about 3am on November 1st, which means we got to enjoy the sight of all the Halloween drunks meandering home on our way to the airport. The flight there and all that was pretty uneventful. We made it to our hostel and checked in, with the one big surprise of the day being that the hostel had a resident kitty! And you all know how I love kitties! So then we ended up just wandering around, as we always do. The area our hostel was in was pretty active for night life, but that meant it was absolutely dead before 10am. One thing that was open though was an H&M, where we ended up as our previous pants buying expedition had been unsuccessful and the jeans I was wearing were literally disintegrating. But with the goal of new pants finally accomplished and since it was raining (a fact that would end up to be true of just about the entire duration of the trip), we ended up hanging out in a restaurant drinking way overpriced cocoa and coffee and eating poffertjes, which are little Dutch pancakes. I, of course, tried all the available sauces and syrups, as I only really like food as a vessel for condiments.
That night we did our obligatory run at the Hard Rock Cafe. I can't say it was my favorite Hard Rock, but I did appreciate that we were directly overlooking a canal, which was very pretty. Plus they gave us both free sundaes, even though we only had a coupon for one! And these were like legitimate sized sundaes, not those little healthy person sundae shooters. Normally these cost like 7 euros each. So I have to give them props for that :)
The next day we decided to get up and do the free walking tour. This is another thing that we try and do in whatever cities we go to, if it's offered. As usual we were extremely satisfied with the tour and learned a ton (all of which I'm sure Martina remembers, but I am currently blanking on). And thankfully, the rain held off for the whole three hours of the tour! Can't exactly say it was warm, but at least my camera was safe.
After the walking tour we walked all the way back by our hostel to go to Wagamama because I wanted ramen. We ate at one of the Wagamama restaurants in London and were highly impressed. I can't say the same of this one, but at least our waiter was super awesome! And well, I think that's all we did that day. I mean, I did preface this whole thing with the fact that we were super lazy the whole time.
In fact the only other notable thing about that night was that when we returned to our hostel there was a nearly unresponsive girl in the waiting room that the staff was trying to get rid of despite the recommendations of a Red Cross volunteer that was there trying to help her. Apparently the girl had eaten way too much space cake and was having a bad reaction. Oh, and she threw up in her room. Did I mention she was one of our roommates? So that was nice. But as annoyed as I was by all this, I was more upset by the absolutely rude staff member who was trying to force this girl who couldn't even stand to go down a very steep flight of stairs and wander the streets. I mean, yes, it sucks that she screwed up and that she's staying in your hostel. But you work in a hostel in AMSTERDAM! This is going to happen. And besides, it's not like you're running a four star hotel here. I had talked to at least one other set of guests who had been forced to give up their beds and sleep on mattresses on the floor because the hostel overbooked. And that rude staff member? He proceeded to yell at Martina and I and then CHASE US UP THE STAIRS the next day because we rang the door bell to get in twice when there was clearly a (misspelled) sign that said to only ring once. Honestly, Martina and I are the least problematic tenants you could have. And we only rang twice because after the first ring the door made a sound like someone had tried to open it but not pushed the button down long enough. So no, the hostel did not get a good review from me.
Anywho, on Saturday we once again did basically nothing. I honestly think we just walked around the city. I remember nothing of note. That's not to say we didn't have a great time. I just think we had a great time doing basically nothing.I can't say the same of Saturday night though. We had a couple of the rudest people ever in our room. They were already asleep when we came to bed at 10pm, so we were very respectful and quiet. But at 1am they decided to get up and turn on the lights so they could get ready to go out. Two guys. Two very stupid, very stoned guys. And it took them well over an hour to get ready. They were extremely loud the whole time and didn't seem to understand that everyone else in the room was sleeping and wanted the light off. One of our roommates spoke a little Italian, so she even tried telling them in their own language. They agreed and turned the light off for all of 30 seconds. I honestly have no idea how anyone can be so stupid and disrespectful. They're extremely lucky that I did not throw their shoes out on the ledge outside the window the next morning, even though I really really wanted to.
Then came Sunday, the day we were supposed to leave. Since we had all day to kill before our 9pm flight, we decided to walk the whole way to the train station. It was a long ways, but we like to walk and we were in no rush anyway. On our walk we hit up the best fry stand in town for some delicious fries with garlic sauce that are literally making my mouth water as I think about them. We also made a run by a cafe for the best apple pie in town. It was delicious, but I can't say it was the best I've ever had. Honestly, the crust, the part that I find hardest to make, was awesome. But the filling just wasn't great.
So yeah, by that time we were both soaked because it was raining so hard. And the makeshift raincoat I had made for my camera out of a plastic H&M bag was losing its efficacy. Luckily we weren't too far from the train station and even though it was still five hours until our flight took off, we decided to just head to the airport. When we got there we found that our flight was delayed by an hour, which was annoying, but not ultimately all that bad. We took over a section of the lobby and spread our stuff out everywhere to dry.
After a few hours of twiddling our thumbs, offending the rich old people with our barefooted-ness, and trying to dry my falling apart shoes in the bathroom with my hair dryer, we decided to go back out to the main terminal and try to get some cheaper food since there really wasn't anything in our terminal that we could afford to eat. There was no clear exit, so we went out through the baggage area, where I ended getting yelled at in both Dutch and English to "Please leave this area immediately!". It was both off-putting and hilarious. We found a supermarket in the airport where as I stalked around hungrily Martina managed to make friends with the employee behind the deli counter who was having a bad day and asked her to "Tell me something funny that happened to you today."
Once our bellies were satisfied we went back through security to our gate, only to find that our plane had been delayed another hour. At this point I was getting nervous as I had to work at 7am the next morning. And it turns out I was rightfully nervous. At nearly 11pm, as they were shutting down everything in our terminal, a poor stewardess got caught in the hallway and finally spilled the beans that our flight had been cancelled. That resulted in a mad dash to the EasyJet counter, where we were given a brochure outlining our rights and told we would be put up in a hotel overnight. So then there was a second mad dash to get outside, where it turned out that there were only two eight person shuttles that could take people to the hotel. It ended up taking well over an hour for us to get to the hotel because we weren't gonna risk being pushed in front of an oncoming car by all the crazy people who just couldn't be civil about waiting for the shuttles. But hey, the hotel was really nice! And it was the first legitimate hotel Martina and I had stayed in in ages! Free little soaps and everything!
So the next morning we got up early to get back to the airport for our rescheduled flight at 9am, only to find it had once again been delayed for two hours. By the time we finally got to the airport, I was starting to get sick, I hadn't slept well, I was wearing still wet, dirty clothes, and I was starving. I went to the EasyJet counter to ask for the food vouchers promised in the brochure they'd given us and was met with one of the rudest airline employees I've ever encountered. Unfortunately, because I was so wiped, it ended up in my crying and charging food to my credit card (though EasyJet did later refund that money for me when I filed a complaint).
Well anyway, eventually we did get on a plane and get home. I missed taking the kids to school, but my host family was really cool and understanding. Unfortunately, I got home at 2:00pm and had to head out to pick up the kids at 2:45pm, so I didn't exactly get any down time. But I was just glad to be home and to have some clean, dry clothes.
So yeah, that was Amsterdam. My last trip for awhile with my best friend and the greatest travel companion I've ever had. But I'm already looking forward to our next adventure, whenever that maybe be :)
Sorry that the post is a little business-y sounding, but I'm getting really tired and just needed to get it out or I would never get around to it.
Ok, now I'm gonna go pass out. Whatever this disease is, it's still kicking my butt.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Ready to Start
Several sources have pointed out that I'm extraordinarily behind on my blog. So I'm finally here to give you a little rundown of what I've been up to in the past month, after which I'm sure you'll see exactly why I haven't had a chance to post.
So my last post left off with my au pair meeting. After the meeting I went to have drinks with a couple of the girls in an attempt to make any new friends that might help these last couple of months pass faster. But nothing really panned out there other than discovering an awesome new bar. Then the next weekend I went to an Irish pub for a Toytown meetup. If I somehow manage to never explain it before, Toytown is a website for English speakers in Germany. There's a huge group of us that hang out pretty often, but I hadn't been out to an event in a while. The shock for me upon arriving was that I didn't know a single person there. I'm like the senior Toytowner now. Everyone I have met is seriously gone. So I stayed around awhile, had my first Guinness, and then I went home, mostly because the pub was directly on my bus line and I didn't want to go out further into the city with everyone just to have to ride home alone.
And just a few days after that little adventure Martina finally arrived! There was a lot of drama with her host family but she finally escaped Italy and made it back to Berlin. Her luggage didn't arrive until three days later, but I tried to keep her pre-occupied with awesomeness in the mean time. We went shopping for jeans (as all of mind apparently are disintegrating and I absolutely hate shopping for pants), we had falafel (my first time!) at a super delicious hole in the wall, we visited the Reichstag and the Jewish Memorial, and we had what was possibly my favorite night out on the town since I got here. Seriously, you know that saying that goes "Dance like nobody's watching"? I did that. And it terrified all the poor people in that club who weren't having nearly as much fun as we were. And after the club we hit that bar that I mentioned earlier, where we met some very strange men who apparently don't understand that to pick up a girl you have to actually talk to her. And the whole night was rounded off with a stop for 3am street vendor fries from the nicest guy ever. He gave us free sauces and even gave me free tea because of my cold. And all because Martina rocks at German :)
The other big thing that happened while Martina was here was Halloween. We're poor, so we made our own costumes for about 2 euros each. I was an angel and Martina was a devil. Fairly appropriate, I'd say. As is tradition for me, we watched Hocus Pocus. We also took my host kids trick or treating, which was mostly unsuccessful, but still invoked awesome childhood memories for us older kids. Oh, and earlier in the day I celebrated Halloween at the Kita with all of my little kiddos who were super adorable in their costumes. Not my most exciting Halloween ever, but I was pretty happy with it. And I was super grateful that Martina was here and that my host parents love her and let her hang out with us the whole time I was working.
The morning after Halloween Martina and I left for our final trip, Amsterdam. But I want to write about that in a separate post, so I'm going to skip right over to the day we got back, November 5th. I had to hit the ground running because my host mom was gone for an entire week, which meant I didn't get to spend as much time with my friend as I would have liked. But we spent her last few days in Berlin staying up late and chatting and all those things that friends do that I am going to miss way too much until I get to see her again. On Thursday the 8th I got up at 3:30am (because I'm such a devoted friend) to drive Martina to the airport. It was a little bittersweet. I wish she hadn't had to leave, but I'm glad she got to go home. She'd been here for 14 months (she's way more of a trooper than I) and I think she was glad to get to go home for awhile. But I'm pretty sure I've got a pretty good seed planted in her mind about Washington, so maybe I can convince her to come up some day soon.
After I left the airport I actually ended up getting lost and drove around Berlin in the middle of the night, but I did eventually find a street I recognized and made it home. I worked two more days and then I was extremely looking forward to having three whole days off to recover from Martina's visit and Amsterdam and the fact that my host mom had been gone for five days in a row. Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I have had this cough since I got back from Italy. Nothing bad, mostly just an annoying tickle. But last weekend it started getting worse. And then my muscles started hurting. And by Monday morning I was almost ready to admit that I was sick. But it was Tuesday morning that finally convinced me. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I couldn't breathe. I thought I was dying. I actually broke down and asked my host mom to take me to the doctor. So that was fun. He gave me antibiotics and told me no work for a week. I ended up spending the entire week laying on my couch. It was hugely unproductive and miserable. By Friday I wasn't feeling too much better, so when I went back to the doctor I basically begged for anything with pseudoephedrine in it. But nope. They're just not big on decent drugs here. I gotta say, I miss that about home, even if it is terrible for my body. So anyway, I have been waiting it out all weekend with my herbs and teas and steamy baths and I am finally FINALLY getting a bit better. Well at least I don't feel like my sinuses are pushing my eyeballs out of my skull anymore. I do wish my stupid ears would stop feeling like they need to pop though.
The only time I really got out over the last few days was to go to my host dad's birthday dinner. It was fondue, and as far as I could tell with my blocked sinuses, it was delicious. And I particularly liked the decor of the restaurant. It was very rustic and cozy.
So that's why I haven't posted. And I swear, it's all true.
I'm gonna try and post about Amsterdam either later tonight or tomorrow. But believe me, it was our laziest trip ever, so don't expect too much.
Here's today's song. It's my favorite song right now and I think the lyrics really express how I feel about going home.
So my last post left off with my au pair meeting. After the meeting I went to have drinks with a couple of the girls in an attempt to make any new friends that might help these last couple of months pass faster. But nothing really panned out there other than discovering an awesome new bar. Then the next weekend I went to an Irish pub for a Toytown meetup. If I somehow manage to never explain it before, Toytown is a website for English speakers in Germany. There's a huge group of us that hang out pretty often, but I hadn't been out to an event in a while. The shock for me upon arriving was that I didn't know a single person there. I'm like the senior Toytowner now. Everyone I have met is seriously gone. So I stayed around awhile, had my first Guinness, and then I went home, mostly because the pub was directly on my bus line and I didn't want to go out further into the city with everyone just to have to ride home alone.
And just a few days after that little adventure Martina finally arrived! There was a lot of drama with her host family but she finally escaped Italy and made it back to Berlin. Her luggage didn't arrive until three days later, but I tried to keep her pre-occupied with awesomeness in the mean time. We went shopping for jeans (as all of mind apparently are disintegrating and I absolutely hate shopping for pants), we had falafel (my first time!) at a super delicious hole in the wall, we visited the Reichstag and the Jewish Memorial, and we had what was possibly my favorite night out on the town since I got here. Seriously, you know that saying that goes "Dance like nobody's watching"? I did that. And it terrified all the poor people in that club who weren't having nearly as much fun as we were. And after the club we hit that bar that I mentioned earlier, where we met some very strange men who apparently don't understand that to pick up a girl you have to actually talk to her. And the whole night was rounded off with a stop for 3am street vendor fries from the nicest guy ever. He gave us free sauces and even gave me free tea because of my cold. And all because Martina rocks at German :)
The other big thing that happened while Martina was here was Halloween. We're poor, so we made our own costumes for about 2 euros each. I was an angel and Martina was a devil. Fairly appropriate, I'd say. As is tradition for me, we watched Hocus Pocus. We also took my host kids trick or treating, which was mostly unsuccessful, but still invoked awesome childhood memories for us older kids. Oh, and earlier in the day I celebrated Halloween at the Kita with all of my little kiddos who were super adorable in their costumes. Not my most exciting Halloween ever, but I was pretty happy with it. And I was super grateful that Martina was here and that my host parents love her and let her hang out with us the whole time I was working.
The morning after Halloween Martina and I left for our final trip, Amsterdam. But I want to write about that in a separate post, so I'm going to skip right over to the day we got back, November 5th. I had to hit the ground running because my host mom was gone for an entire week, which meant I didn't get to spend as much time with my friend as I would have liked. But we spent her last few days in Berlin staying up late and chatting and all those things that friends do that I am going to miss way too much until I get to see her again. On Thursday the 8th I got up at 3:30am (because I'm such a devoted friend) to drive Martina to the airport. It was a little bittersweet. I wish she hadn't had to leave, but I'm glad she got to go home. She'd been here for 14 months (she's way more of a trooper than I) and I think she was glad to get to go home for awhile. But I'm pretty sure I've got a pretty good seed planted in her mind about Washington, so maybe I can convince her to come up some day soon.
After I left the airport I actually ended up getting lost and drove around Berlin in the middle of the night, but I did eventually find a street I recognized and made it home. I worked two more days and then I was extremely looking forward to having three whole days off to recover from Martina's visit and Amsterdam and the fact that my host mom had been gone for five days in a row. Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I have had this cough since I got back from Italy. Nothing bad, mostly just an annoying tickle. But last weekend it started getting worse. And then my muscles started hurting. And by Monday morning I was almost ready to admit that I was sick. But it was Tuesday morning that finally convinced me. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. I couldn't breathe. I thought I was dying. I actually broke down and asked my host mom to take me to the doctor. So that was fun. He gave me antibiotics and told me no work for a week. I ended up spending the entire week laying on my couch. It was hugely unproductive and miserable. By Friday I wasn't feeling too much better, so when I went back to the doctor I basically begged for anything with pseudoephedrine in it. But nope. They're just not big on decent drugs here. I gotta say, I miss that about home, even if it is terrible for my body. So anyway, I have been waiting it out all weekend with my herbs and teas and steamy baths and I am finally FINALLY getting a bit better. Well at least I don't feel like my sinuses are pushing my eyeballs out of my skull anymore. I do wish my stupid ears would stop feeling like they need to pop though.
The only time I really got out over the last few days was to go to my host dad's birthday dinner. It was fondue, and as far as I could tell with my blocked sinuses, it was delicious. And I particularly liked the decor of the restaurant. It was very rustic and cozy.
So that's why I haven't posted. And I swear, it's all true.
I'm gonna try and post about Amsterdam either later tonight or tomorrow. But believe me, it was our laziest trip ever, so don't expect too much.
Here's today's song. It's my favorite song right now and I think the lyrics really express how I feel about going home.
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