Where do I begin...

It feels like there's an imaginary thumb on the fast forward button in this life here. Every day comes and goes so fast.. but at the same time they are longer than ever because there is so much done in between the time I open my eyes and when I finally close them again. I've only been gone 2 1/2 week but my life in Oregon seems like a lifetime ago. Life and time is a weird thing. 

This week was much more following of the set schedule, so I spent a lot of my time with the kiddos. Lotte and I get to spend more time together since Justus is in school. I really have a place in my heart for this girl. She is definitely one of a kind and is not your "average" little girl. She is crazy independent; in her thoughts and voice and in her actions. She is never afraid to go head first into anything, without a single hesitance, and doesn't care about a possible messy outcome.  It's never a dull moment. She is so much fun and the tender moments I do get with her are priceless to me :) 

Princess Lottie. I'm slowly bringing in a somewhat "girly" influence on her..

 A sweet moment with Justus and Lotte with her stuffed animals. Tucking her in :)

Deliriously tired and so damn cute. 

On Friday night I went out with the group of friends I've made here. I cannot stress enough how happy I am that I met them. I mesh into their group of friends so well it feels like we've been friends for a long time. Friday it was just Ni No, Julia and Lara and we went out dancing at a University event at the "N8Lounge", so the Night Club. It was mostly 80's music and as fun as it was to try to dance to that music, you can only side step, snap, and shimmy the shoulders for so long. So we went next door to a more happenin' club that played current music. It was a much better scene for me and I danced my ass off! One thing that I was seriously impressed with and appreciated was the fact that no one was grinding on each other like the clubs back home. I have to say, it was really refreshing to go out and dance how I want without some stranger coming up behind me and putting themselves on me as if they can just do as they please. It is so much more fun to be able to dance and jump around without a strangers hands getting in the way of me being free!! It was about 3 am when we headed home and the rain had started to pour. We walked to Central station completely drenched because who brings umbrellas to a night club?! But there is a silver lining.. we were so hot and sweaty from dancing that for the first half it was actually a bit refreshing. We stayed in Ni No's flat. He is such a sweet and good host. He provided me with dry clothes, a bed, toothbrush, and he even went so far as to cook breakfast/ bring me and Lara coffee in bed in the morning! We all sat and talked history and politics over breakfast and then watched one of the worst movie series ever made: Twilight. But, neither Lara or I had seen the last movie and we both read the books so we put the bad acting aside and were happy to be lazy that morning. 

 From left to right: Lara, Ni No, Me, and Julia. These are some special people and I am so glad I happened to ask them of all people on campus if they spoke English.

Bonn at night <3 <3 

On Monday I toured a museum in Bonn called "Haus de Geschichte" I was told that before I make plans to travel anywhere outside of Bonn that I needed to go here first. In a nutshell, it is a literal walk through German history. Luckily I had an English audio set to tell me about the different areas that I was in and it was so so neat. It starts with WWII to present. It's a very long exhibit and takes about 4 hours to do total but it's so interesting that I wish it had started before WWII. I was able to see so many authentic pieces and parts of history right before me and I learned so much about this country I am now living in. (Which is why it was so important to do before traveling abroad.) And it's so true, I feel like I have a much deeper knowledge and understanding of this country. History is the explanation of the present. And with that..

These files are just part of the missing children cases/name cards during WWII. This was just a part of names alphabetically through M-L totaling about 30,000 names. They had actual black and white TV footage from this time when every night they would air live footage of kids faces and name their age, their name, and where their current location was. It was pretty incredible and sad to see all of these innocent faces looking confused into the camera and knowing that they had no home or parents to go to once they were off the air. Let alone to think of all the parents not knowing where their children are... 

Pieces of the Berlin Wall when it was first erected over night, shocking the Berliners when they woke the next morning. While the wall was built out of logical desperation, it caused so much chaos, heartbreak, and hardships for civilians and families. It separated people permanently and without notice.

More snaps through the exhibits.

 Much further through the exhibits, I came to the era I would have much enjoyed to have lived in! I was confused when I could hear Led Zeppelin's "What a Whole Lotta Love" while reading about other dark history..the two didn't go together too well. Not to sound naive or ignorant, but I thought the Peace & Love/hippie/flower child era of the 60's and 70's was only in American history so this part actually surprised me.

Remains of the Berlin wall after it was taken down. I was able to see all of the live footage of this night on a big screen in front of these pieces of the wall and all I can say is...goosebumps. It was amazing and it was an amazing memorial of the celebration and reunion for this country. 

After touring the museum, I was meeting my family at the Beer Garden in Kunst Rasen for a smaller concert. I never get there as soon as I originally guess..but how could I?! Everything around me catches my eyes and distracts me from my destination. Below is some of the street art on my walk.  

 From this I can see the Hitler salute and the Iron fist but I don't know the meaning behind the feet. One is barefoot, the other in a boot. Any feedback?? 

And before I came here I thought that wrought iron was beautiful...this country makes me realize how simple my idea of beauty was. I wish I could capture every detail that goes into this world's landscape.

 My walk to the concert :p

 I took the wrong turn (what's new?) to the concert venue so I ended up walking from the completely wrong end of the park. But again, I had no cares in my knowledge of this because I was surrounded by willow trees, couples in canoes, white swans, and the river. I feel like I am a part in a picture book.

Yesterday I had to go into town to get photos taken for my working permit. I ended up getting drawn in by those huge red H&M letters and the red "SALE" banners hanging outside the store...It was warm and sunny the whole day when I left so I dressed in light clothing. By the time I left, this is what I was greeted with for my walk home. 

And this is when I thank my lucky stars for training me in this kind of rain for 16 years now...thank you Oregon :) The Rheinland is actually jokingly known as "the northern most city of Italy" because it normally has beautiful and clear weather. This has been an especially hard and ugly year for them. Lucky me! 

Which now brings us to today..Carmen and I had to go into Bonn to get my working permit paperwork finished. But as anything goes regarding paperwork and working with the State, nothing goes as smoothly as planned. We ended up going back and forth between three rooms and were always missing something or coming up short of some detail. For example, my Au Pair contract was in English not German so it took about 10 minutes to decide if this was okay or not. Carmen handled herself well however, better than I would have if I understood what they were saying, and we found a loophole for the day: the fax machine! Haha! 

 After a long and tiring day, this was much much needed. Behind my head to the left is an amazing castle I hope to tour very soon!

What a girl wants, what a girl needs... 

And yes, I fell asleep in this chair reclined and full of beer and pretzels. Not ashamed.