Circus Roncalli

Yesterday I went to Kiel to spend the afternoon and evening with my new friend Hanna. She is also an au pair, from Finland, and so we spent hours wandering around the city. There is a wonderful pedestrian street with lots of fantastic places to shop, but we were starting to worry about all the money we were spending! It was still too early on a Saturday to find any interesting live music or anything, but we remembered the Circus Roncalli posters we´d been seeing around town and decided to check it out. The tents were set up right by the sea harbor, and there was some sort of bizarre canoing competition going on, with all the teams dressed as pirates, Vikings, hobos, etc. We learned that the circus was in our price and time range, and that it was more of an artistic show without displaying cruelty to animals or anything. We were sold! I am so glad we went! It was very much in line with traditional old circuses, with the large main tent, red velvet curtains, vendors dressed in red with coat tails, tall hats, and gold buttons. There were colorful gypsy rail cars and tents surrounding the main one, and the performances included a loveable John C. Reilly-esque clown, a freakishly strong man, a beautiful woman who did outfit transformations under a curtain hoop in split seconds, a juggler, acrobats, dancers, a rope duo, etc. There was a circus band above the ring, who finished the show with the theme "All you need is laugh" to the tune of the Beatles´ song, and got the whole crowd to sing as streamers from above blanketed us all together. It was such a great time! I needed a day like that. I also enjoyed talking with Hanna, who has been going through an au pair experience very similar to my own. Though, she is only here for four months, and will not be missing out on family holidays, etc., because she is so near to home. It seems that her host family is not very sensitive to her needs, and the children are terrors. It makes me realize that things could always be worse, and I am so lucky to have been placed with such a great family. Sure, the kids can be frustrating sometimes, and I feel that I am putting in more than the 25-30 hours/week that was on the contract, but at least they communicate well with me. The garden house is a bonus, too! Seriously, a small family could live in here. Most au pairs just get a little bedroom in the main house. It was nice to not have to tiptoe through the house as my train didn´t get back until nearly midnight last night.

I am not really sure what to do with my day, now. I´m still fighting a cold, and talking so much yesterday did not help my throat at all. I might just chill here at the garden house for the day with some hot tea and a blanket. I´ve finally started uploading some photos, so maybe I´ll try to organize and post a few later. Another weekend come and gone!

Thanks again, for so many emails, posts, facebook messages, and other forms of encouragement! It really helps a lot. Take care! I´m thinking about all of you who are planning on going to Winfield this week, and hope it stops raining for you! I wish I could be there to listen to the Wilders sing Angel Band, watch that old train from the top of the levee, and walk through the beautiful hum of campground conversation, guitar picking, rambunctious whoops and hollers, and fiddle wails. Next year!!

Peace, Kate