Let's Catch Up

It's officially hot and time for the World Cup. Today we were left out of school earlier. Not in the way, were you know three hours before it happened. Like right now! this minute! you may leave! It's a bit problematic. Now on to the World Cup. It's official. German flags are popping up everywhere. My iTunes Radio now has "Spin the Globe -Soccer." Lastly, the local beer garden in the village is a public viewing spot. This will be the place to be for games and mostly important when Deutschland plays.

So you must be wandering what I have been doing instead of blogging. Let me give you the gist of it all.

After the girls left, I started the week back at school. It was a short week- only three days. Thursday night, I headed off with Mike and Jess to see Lorde. She was amazing. So interesting with her moves and energy. Here is a regrammed photo.

I woke up earlier the next day and caught a bus to Bargstedt. It's so nice to slip away from the hustle and bustle of Berlin and go to the country side. I arrived in Hamburg shortly after 11. The Lemmermann's were there with open arms. Before heading home, we stopped at an Italian Supermarket. The place was packed with so many familiar favorite Italian goodies. I found my favorite drink...

My finds, also, included Baci, Nutella Croissants, and Pestos you can't even fathom. Of course, I was on Cloud 9. After having lunch there, we headed on our journey home. Once we got there, the girls wanted to go swimming. Petra and I thought we would relax. Turns out that we had a cow baptism to attend. Yes, you read that right. Paula is the godmother to the cow and since she was swimming, it only felt right to stand in. Petra and I went and shared a glass of champagne with Sabine, the cows, and the horses. 

The black and white godchild godcow. 

Currently, my favorite dog in all of Germany. Meet Elmo, the watch puppy. 

Enjoying our drinks while the horses linger close. 

After an afternoon of running from Spanish horses stepping on our toes, we had dinner with our Italian specialities and spent an evening at Late Night Shopper's in town. This only happens twice a year. It was fun to rome from shop to shop. I had no intention of buying anything but... well, I'm a girl. And a girl looking for brown sandals. Let me just say, days before I was on AE website looking. I couldn't find anything I liked. So when I stumbled upon these... I fell in love. I walked away from them about five times and finally gave in right before we walked to the car. But before this, we had gelato and pommes (fries) and a drink. It was really a great night. Everyone in the neighborhood was out and chatting. There was live music, too! We got home around 11:30.

Don't judge my feet. 

Saturday was our work day. I had reports to start working on (which I continue to work on) and the girls had jobs, too. Paula's to do list contained doing her math homework and for Hannah, she was determined to make a dessert. For all of us, we needed to jar honey. I'm sure I told you but Paula is the youngest be keeper in her area. It's a really cool thing and it is so good!

The honey is kept in large buckets. It hardens and when it's time to jar it, we heat it up and actually drill it. I didn't see the whole process of drilling, so no questions. Anyway, we jarred the first bucket and then enjoyed Hannah's work.

Brownie with walnuts, cream topping, piled high with strawberries, blueberries, and cute little sugar flowers.

Afterwards, we jarred the next bucket and called it a day of work. The girls headed back to the pool and my options were workout in the woods with Jörge and Petra or stay at the house. Neither sounded too appealing but I knew I should work out. Just when I thought, "They are going to see how out-of-shape I really am," the phone rang. The saving grace. It was Sabine. She asked if anyone wanted to go the neighborhood cookout. The answer. I happily said I would join her. I got to bike a little ways --which I loved because I was missing my bike. Just 15 minutes on bike makes me so happy. And I got to eat. I felt very honored to be invited because this is really a neighborhood event. It's not an advertised event for outsides. I got to enjoy the hundreds of year old outdoor oven and the glorious slow-cooked ham it contained and the delicious, fluffy pizza it produced. I'm telling you -mouth.watering.ham. Again, this only happens twice a year. (I'll go back in September!) Although I wanted to eat more, I was due back at the Lemmermann's to have a BBQ with Mika and André. Another great meal after another. 

A big event happened that night. I bought my plane ticket home. I have a direct flight from Berlin to JFK at the beginning of July after school to late July. I have lots to look forward to when I get back. I'm doing two weeks of YoYo Camps, training at school and a couple days in my favorite country with Miss Kara. I'm so excited to go back to the streets where we met. 

So while the count down is on, I'm still enjoying life here and like I said can't wait to get back. But I will enjoy every single second in the States! 

So this past weekend... Friday night, I passed out before 10. I was out like a rock! On Saturday, I had breakfast at the Corman's. We went to our favorite street market followed by pizza. At this point, my phone was dead and I was sweating bullets. 

Saturday street market

The busy stream of people at the market. 

The long awaited Currywurst at the street market. (Consumed with the LVC girls.)

The delicious pizza, I order EVERY time with no guilt or shame. I know what's good! 

So I headed home, relaxed a bit and went out again. I met up with my coworker, Ben at the Culture Festival. This happens once a year in Berlin. It is a hug fair with stages, food, drinks, and merchandise. I can kind of describe it like the Bloomsburg Fair but it's different because it is a ton of different cultures celebrating and selling traditional food. It was really cool to witness. It's a three day event. I believe on Sunday they even have a parade.

On Sunday, I went to one of my students tennis matches. She was in a tournament near by and I think it's important to support students. I miss this American aspect. I know I really appreciated it when my teachers took time to come and support games or musicals. It's nice to see them in the crowd. So I went. 

Afterwards, I met the Corman's and we went to Potsdam. We walked around seeing the monastery and the castle. It was an incredibly hot day. To cool off, we went to this really nice lake. It was filled with people but it was still so nice.

The beauty of Potsdam. What a dreamy city. 

Not the lake. But I wanted to show that it's common to cool off anywhere. And children are normally, totally soaked in their clothes or nude. 

The castle. 

Aidan and I waiting to head to the lake. What handsome guy! 

To finish off my long weekend, I attended a work gathering a guy, who is working on his teaching license, hosted. His place was amazing -rooftop terrace and a balcony. So jealous of his space and his girlfriend is an amazing decorator! Not too girly and not like a man living on his own. It was nice. It was good to gather for a bit and then I was off to have a delicious burger from The Bird. 

The menu reads...

The Filthy Harry- too good for words. 

Now you are caught up and even know about my early dismissal. I need to eat dinner and go to bed. Tomorrow doesn't look any cooler. Maybe an early dismissal again.

My friend, Ruth comes on Thursday. I feel bad I can't take off and show her around but we will have evenings and Saturday together.

OK, got to go... teacher stuff to do, dinner to eat, and books to read. (Latest reads The Fault In Our Stars and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children; I will continue with The Girl Who Played With Fire with a tangle of nerves!)