Intermission.

I am not yet ready to tackle the insane task of describing Kieler Woche, so I am going to ease my way into it by telling a couple side stories - everyday life sort of things. Maybe tomorrow I´ll touch Kieler Woche...

I am still in a mild state of shock at how COOL (as in not hot) this summer has been. It is nearly July, and we´ve still hardly seen temperatures above 20 grad (70s F). I haven´t had a day yet in which I haven´t had to dress with a long-sleeve shirt and jacket in the mornings. I often have a mid-day wardrobe change, as the afternoons are usually warm enough for a t-shirt. Last week naturally it was raining during the entire festival, but finally yesterday the sun came back again. I hopped on my bike with a mind to pay Opa Lothar a visit and see if he wanted to go on a bike ride with me. On my way to his house we happened to meet on the path, as he was on the way to visit his friend Ernst for coffee. He told me I should come along, and with no good reason to refuse I tagged along. Lothar explained to me on the way that Ernst and their other friend Jurgen are not "in harmony" at the moment, and he was a bit nervous about this coffee with them together. Oh great, I thought, not only am I the awkward young person who can´t speak fluent German, but I´m stepping in the middle of an old-man feud! But it actually turned out to be a really fun coffee, and I think in some ways I was a good distraction. This way Ernst and Jurgen could amuse themselves with talking about things like Obama, talking about Count Basie and Little Richard and singing songs about Kansas (I swear I had never really heard the song Kansas City until arriving in Germany!). Old Ernst was already nursing a dark beer, but I was happy to drink some nice black tea and nibble on fresh berries from their garden. Florence, the wife, was originally from Holland and was excited to show me photos of her daughter and grandbaby. At some point the older son, who seemed to be in his late 30s, stumbled outside groggily to pour a tall mug of coffee. They laughed and asked if he´d been at Kieler Woche the night before, and he muttered something to suggest an affirmative and shuffled away back inside. We sat and chatted for another hour or so, and then I went on my way to go on my bike ride before it became too warm. I enjoy little things like this. I find that I am so much less intimidated talking with the friends of my host grandparents than with people my own age. I´m not so paranoid about making mistakes, nor am I concerned about trying to blend in. It is nice. I think I also just miss my own grandparents a lot. Less than two months!

I am still blown away by how short my time is closing in on me now. I have less than 3 weeks left of work, and if I plan on traveling a bit at that point I should really be starting to think about packing and such. As usual, though, I will probably put it off until the last few days. No reason to live out of a suitcase with bare walls longer than necessary. This evening after work I went on another bike ride, and happened to go on a path that Miriam and I took before we went to Ireland. I remember talking to her about how I felt that no matter where I lived I always somehow felt discontent. But in that moment we were having an absolutely perfect bike ride, and she expressed how in that instant she couldn´t imagine there being anywhere else she would rather be. I took in the surroundings around me - the scenery, the smells, the comfort of a good friend, and realized I couldn´t argue. Tonight I had that same feeling - there was absolutely nowhere else I could imagine being happier in that moment. The air was sweet with the smell of oats and earth, and I felt so alive. I even threw my arms up in the air and closed my eyes like a dramatic fool as I coasted downhill against the cool evening breeze. It felt good, in a mixed sort of way. I´m thrilled about going home again so soon, but content to know I´m happy where I am now and hope I can make the most of my remaining time here.

This week was Emma Sophie´s 6th birthday. As she wished, I went along with her to Forest Kindergarden Wednesday morning, and we all spent the day playing by the lake, rolling in the grass, and eating snacks. We returned feeling happy and energized, and I told Emmi to play outside while I cooked lunch. Soon she came sulking back inside, tears quietly streaming down her face. I sat down in front of her and tried to figure out what had happened, but she just kept crying and couldn´t express what the problem was. Finally she sputtered "I stepped on a bumble bee..." "Oh no," I said, "did it scare you or hurt?" She shook her head, "no," and wailed "I... I killed it," sobbing gravely into my shoulder "poor little bumble bee..." Oh how I love this child sometimes. On one hand she can be a violent little tyrant, and other times she can be the most sensitive and caring little thing. Many kids would have TRIED to kill the bee! Oh Emmi...

Paul Luis also made me happy this week as I accidentally washed a t-shirt he had spent HOURS making with markers for his French class. It had handprints with flags, and he was so proud of it. When I was hanging the laundry on the line, I was devastated to see that the only thing remaining on the shirt was his name scribbled in black in the corner... I knew he would be furious, but that I had to tell him later and dreaded it the entire day. When he came home I sat him down and told him how sorry I was and showed him the shirt. "COOL!" he said, "maybe I can cut it up and dye it another color!" WHAT?? Things like that never happen for me! What luck. Somehow the heavens aligned that day, and I couldn´t stop hugging the poor kid.

Well now, other than spending the days keeping the kids´ schedules in order, I´ve been happy with the gardens! I have been harvesting my feldsalat for over a week, and we have been eating salads every day now. The peas are also ready, but somehow they always get eaten before reaching the kitchen. Now that our strawberry season is starting to pass, the raspberries and currants are ripening. I had a fresh bowl of joghurt with berries and a few of the first cherries. Once the raspberries and red/black/white currants die out, we´ll have blueberries, blackberries and cherries. Little apples and pears are starting to form on the trees now too, but I think they won´t be ripe until after I leave. I just love how all the fruits shift here so perfectly! Just when we get sick of eating one variety they end and a new one begins! Delicious.

Sorry, you probably don´t need to hear all about my garden. But this is my life now - it is what I do! I promise the next post about Kieler Woche will be much more interesting. Be ready!