Zebra, salt spa, first day of camp

So, so much has happened since the last time I wrote! Since then we have been getting to know the base and the sites we will be working at. It is so amazing the schools that are here, they really spare no expense for these kids. There is a smart board, projector, and a million resources in every room! And the people here are just so much laid back, I have keys to so many different things it’s crazy! The just gave me a key to the Youth Club down the block so that we can use the internet. And I also have keys and door codes to almost everything at the School we are working at. On Friday my staff and I went and set up the center we are working at and it looks fantastic! It’s all space themed out!

Our mess hall is super nice, but we have to dress up every single night. And eating there is quite awkward at times because everyone is way higher up in the army and we are just guests. But we have slowly started making friends with some of them. We have hung out with them twice so far and went to their cricket game on Saturday. Can I just say, that guys in the US need to take some lessons from these guys, chivalry can survive! Not even like being sweet, just being gentlemen, opening the door, and just all around nice. Our dining meals are so nice too, aside from the awkardness they are quite good. The other night I tried Zebra for the first time, its interesting, and quite sweet.

On Saturday we went to a very nice Saturday market in Celle, which is about 25 minutes from out camp. After that we just came back to base and hung out. I have never been to a cricket game, and wow, SO BORING. We really had no idea what was going on and the guy’s we went to watch were super awkward so we just sat there and talked amongst ourselves. We didn’t really do much that evening, we just hung out in my room and got to know each other better. On Saturday we slept in a bit because we figured it would be our last night basically until the end of summer to sleep in. Then we went to Bergen-Belson, the concentration camp, which is literally 500m down the road. It was an amazing exhibit. And absolutely gorgeous, it is very hard to believe that something so terrible and so many people died there and yet the place is absolutely beautiful. There are just mass graves all over that have written on them the amount of people buried there, the numbers ranged from 1000 to 5000 bodies in graves. And they were all over. After that we had a pretty quiet car ride to Saultau which a town not too far away from our camp. And I am glad I was paying attention to the road signs because everyone that we had talked to sounded like they were saying the “salt house” not saultau the town. So we could have been really lost for a very long time. Any time we go anywhere we seriously stick out like a sore thumb, none of us know where to go or how much things really cost, someone finally took pity on us and helped us out. It was so nice there though, the pool we were in was all salt water and it was very warm. But for one, I have never seen so many speedos in my life, and two everyone was coupled up. We got stared at a lot. After that we had a good German meal then headed back to camp for the evening.

First day of camp was hectic but when isn’t the first day of camp?! But probably the easiest first day that I have ever had that’s for sure. Theses kids are the cutest thing I have ever seen, there accents are to die for! And they are so polite! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds. And they call my the Head teacher which is pretty darn cute! This weekend I am heading to Berlin, which is only about a three hour train ride! I’m pretty excited to experience some real Germany! Wooooo!

Also I will post pictures as soon as I upload them!

First few days in Germany

So technically this post is a few days old and I will update it in the very near future! I just now am getting a normal internet so I will be able to post a lot more than I have been!

What a crazy three days of travel this has been! I started out my adventure to Germany with a group of about 10 or so people from Oregon. First we flew to Chicago, and watched Jane Eyre, most boring movie of my life! But I couldn’t stop watching.. From Chi town we flew to Warsaw Poland, and I’m not sure why, but every flight that we had I was 10-15 rows ahead of the group so I was always by myself. I was so close to having an entire row to my self, and I totally thought I was going to but just as the plane was about to take off they moved a women into my row! I was so mad! On this flight I was completely surrounded by old Polish couples who did not speak English really at all. And not one, not two, but three crying babies! I did not get any sleep maybe three hours. No bueno. We had a two-hour lay over in Poland and I had to go through security again, third time through for the trip! Then we flew to Duesseldorf where we met my PC (project coordinator) and met up with the rest of the counselors. From there we all went to the Rhinedalen base and stayed the night. And can I just say, they put some weird stuff on sandwiches here, I have no idea what I ate but I was so tired and hungry at that point it did not even matter!

The next morning we met for breakfast and then went and sung some camp songs for some high ranked people on the base. I also got to meet the women I would be working with the most on base, Lynn, my base contact. After lunch I was given a car, a Mercedes benz! WOOOOOOOOOOO it’s pretty freaking sweet! It only had 248.2km on it when I got it, brand spanking new! Navigation too! We named it Large Marge. Okay… the truth is, it is an 9 person van, but it is the nicest 9 person van I have ever been in. I am okay driving a van if it is a benz lets be real! The Hohne people are the only ones who actually went to their base today (Tuesday) and that is only because we live so far away from everyone else. Our base is about 350 km from the Rhinedalen base. So I really got to see a lot of the German countryside today, I drove for four hours to get to our base! I got to drive on the Autobahn it was pretty sweet, and no, I did not drive slow. I drove very fast, about 110mpg approximately! IN LARGE MARGE! That thing moves right along! But everyone goes that fast, and I was not the slowest person on the road either!

Our Base is super nice, and our rooms are amazing! We all have our own room and bathroom and study area. Whoop Whoop I have yet to have a roommate with camp adventure! We all went into town with Lynn, the base contact, and went to dinner together. We went to a Mexican restaurant, which I think is very odd, I did not think that I would eat any Mexican food until I was back in the States. And it wasn’t very good. But it was fun to just sit and talk and not have to worry about traveling anymore!

I am super excited about the next week that is coming up, the people that we are working with are so laid back and helpful. Which is a complete 360 from the youth center staff that I worked with last year! Also my staff is pretty awesome, we all seem to get along really well, but I also need to remember we have been together for ehhhhhh three days now, that all could change!

But thus far, Germany is absolutely gorgeous! I think that this weekend we might be going to a salt water/spring/spa place and an amusement park. Not completely sure yet though. Should be a fun weekend!