Under the weather

I have had a terrible cold or some sort of virus all week. I've felt pretty sickly. Luckily the worst day was Monday night and Tuesday. We didn't have school Monday because of President's Day, so I laid around all day. I think I had a fever for a while that night, too.

I was feeling a little better, thanks to cold medicine and ibuprofen. My best friend, Tyler, finally got a contraption with videochat capabilities... so we did just that! It was awesome to finally see him AND talk to him. It made me feel better.

I felt pretty crappy all day at school on Tuesday and laid around again all night. After school we bought our ICE train tickets to Munich for the weekend. Wednesday was a very busy day at school. It seemed we had two classes in the library during each period of the day. I even instructed the 10th grade honors history class about how to determine if an Internet source is credible. It went well. The principal sat in on my lesson; he complemented me later on it. The tech guy, R., helped do a little bit of the lesson, too.

We had a school improvement committee meeting after school on Wednesday, and the principal told the other committee members what a great job R. and I did. He said that he learned from us and thinks teachers could benefit from it too... like for a professional development type thing.

By Thursday morning I was feeling much better. Thursday at school was a slower day, so that was nice. I am still coughing some and blowing my nose, but it is better than it had been. Hopefully I'll continue to improve. If not, then there's always Dr. Kiderly in downtown Baumholder.

Friday evening five of us depart for Munich on the ICE train. The other five people are renting a car and driving.... I'm pretty sure that's not allowed. Not to mention not one of them has an international drivers license. Hopefully they don't get pulled over or get into an accident. Those of us taking the train will take the regular train from Neubrucke to Frankfurt and get on the ICE train there. I am so excited to ride an ICE train!

Saturday is filled with a trip to Mozart's home of Salzburg. On Sunday we can explore Munich and will visit Dachau concentration camp. I am very nervous about that. I started to chicken out of going there, but Terry (who has been there) told me I should go. She said everyone should go there once. She said it is a very sobering experience. I'm so nervous.

I can't believe this week is over already. I feel like it just started. I was packing tonight for the weekend since we'll be leaving shortly after school tomorrow when I said to my friend on videochat, "I feel like I just got back from Paris." What a horrible life I lead... not! I'm a lucky girl.

This will end week 7 of student teaching, which is absolutely crazy. That means Monday will be week 8 out of 16 total weeks. But really, it's more like 15 total weeks because of spring break. I can't believe how time is flying. I know it's going to just keep getting faster, too, as we get even more into the swing of teaching and take over more and more in our classrooms (or libraries!). It's so exciting, yet kind of sad. I know the end will be here before I know it. There is so much left I want to see but won't be able to, and there are so many people here who I will miss greatly. But I will make the most out of my time here and love every minute of it.

Paris is Magical

This past weekend I went to Paris with a few of my fellow student teachers--Jenna, Al, and Quintin--and our supervisor, Terry. It was wonderful, magical, and the best weekend yet.

Friday I went to a district-wide meeting for all the Information Specialists (IS) and Educational Technologists (ET), which was held in Kaiserslautern. After the meeting, my teacher and the Wetzel ET killed a bit of time before I met my travel buddies at 4:30 for the bus departure. Our bus departed from the gas station at Ramstein Air Base. We arrived at 4:30 but my travelmates were nowhere to be found. Finally I saw Jenna, Quintin, and Al getting out of a taxi.... Terry had been in a little fender bender. She backed into a German at the Ramstein gate. The military police came and took care of things quickly, but the man she hit wanted to call the German police, so that took a long time. She sent my friends in a taxi so they wouldn't miss our bus departure at 5. Terry was trying to find an ICE train to Paris (these are the really fast trains) for the next morning so she could meet us on our tour.

So off we went on a five-hour bus ride to Paris. The bus was full of military families, a few couples, and a few other random people. It was a great group of people to travel with. Our tourguide, Stefan, was great too. He was an enjoyable person; I'd love to do another one of his tours.

We arrived in Paris around 10:30 p.m. or so. We checked in and went to our rooms, which were very nice. Quintin and I met each other at the bar for a couple glasses of wine. It was a nice end to the day.

The next morning I was able to partake in a French breakfast... yum! Pain au chocolat (chocolate pastry), fromage blanc (a bitter yogurt type thing you eat with sugar on it), fresh meats, cheeses, breads, croissants. I love French food and I love their breakfast foods.

We departed at 8 to go sight-seeing. We hit so many places; it was a long day of touring..... and in the rain. We saw some important buildings, walked through the Luxembourg Gardens, went to an old church called Saint-Sulpice which was once associated with a university, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Opera House, Fragonard Perfume Museum, inside of a mall with an incredible stained glass dome, the Arc of Triumph (Napoleon's monument) on the Champs Elysees (most famous and wide boulevard), the Eiffel Tower, and the Dome des Invalides (Napoleon's tomb).

These sites are beautiful. All of Paris is beautiful. Before leaving for this trip, I was a little nervous to go to a city I've already been to (two years ago), but I was pleasantly proved wrong. I was able to go into places or see places I didn't see the first time. For instance, when I was in Paris two years ago, I wasn't able to go into Notre Dame. This time, I was in there for about an hour. Another plus, was that the places were somewhat familiar. I was looking at them with different eyes. I also didn't have my camera to my face the entire time. I was able to just observe and enjoy more.

Terry took the ICE train to Paris and arrived at 10 a.m. She tried to meet us at the Paris Opera House, but our tour was running behind, so she just took a cab to the hotel after waiting for us for an hour in the rain. So then she tried to meet us at the Eiffel Tour at 1:30 when we took the elevator up to level two. She didn't find us there either! Poor lady. So we did get to see her once we got back to the hotel.

After a break for resting and showering at the hotel, we left for a French dinner at Le Vauban. It was incredible. Apparently, tourists do not usually eat there, so we were eating an authentic French meal with the locals. I chose the onion soup for my appetizer. Best I've ever had. For my main course I had the beef cooked for three hours in a red wine sauce. It also, was incredible. For dessert, I had the ice cream. It was all fabulous with white and red house wine.

Once dinner was over, we went on the Seine River night cruise to see Paris illuminated at night. Stefan had bottles of champagne for us, so we drank some of that on the bus and on the cruise. It was magical. The rain had finally stopped during dinner, so most of the cruise was rain-free. We made friends with the people who had been sitting near us on the bus. It was very fun. Best night yet. Paris is beautiful and there is always something new to discover about it. At night, it is very beautiful. There were beautiful sites to see and wonderful company to enjoy it with. I love Paris.

When we got back to the hotel, a few of us (new and "old" friends) and Stefan had a nightcap together at the bar in the hotel. It was very fun to talk to new people. It was a great day and a great evening. I was in love with Paris and did not want to leave.

The next morning I enjoyed another French breakfast before departing at 8 for Versailles, which is about a 30 minute drive out of Paris. Versailles was built by Louis XIV, the Sun King. It is massive, beautiful, and elaborate. There is real gold on so many surfaces of the outside. We were able to tour the inside to see the Royal Apartments. There is also a science museum in Versailles. A lot of scientific progress took place at Versailles. There are a lot of artifacts in that museum.

The gardens at Versailles are huge and gorgeous. I can't imagine seeing the gardens in the spring and summer. Jenna and I ventured around out there for the last 45 minutes or so we were there. Also, it was rain-free that day!

We went back into Paris, leaving around 11 a.m. We went to the Louvre. That museum is amazing. There are four different wings, each with four floors. The Louvre used to be the palace for the kings and queens of France. Each time a new king was coronated, he would add something to the palace, such as building on another wing. So the Louvre is huge now (and really confusing to find where you want to go) and is filled with artifacts and pieces of art from all over the world throughout history. I spent most of my time in the Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, and Near East galleries. I also popped upstairs to see the Mona Lisa from a distance. I didn't stand in the long line to get up closer to it. The Louvre is amazing.

Quintin and I were interested in similar things, so we saw a lot of stuff in the Louvre together, so then we ate some lunch at the Louvre. We met our group at 2:45 so we could depart for home. The bus ride back to Germany was not bad, but it did start raining and snowing. When we got back to Kaiserslautern, we had to get a taxi to the train station where Terry's car was parked. There was quite a bit of snow.

It should've taken us only about 30-40 minutes to get home, but instead it took us two hours. The roads were awful and Terry has poor night vision, so she asked Quintin to drive after a while. We finally got to the Baumholder exit, but had to turn around. Big trucks were parked with flares turning people around. The road up the hill was complete ice. He told us what exit to go to so we could then get to Baumholder. We got there, then our GPS we were using turned us around and took us back to the Baumholder road. When we got back there, the truck was gone, but a few cars were stopped on the road because they couldn't get up the hill. It was so scary. The roads were bad, it was so dark, I was so tired, so hungry, and smashed in the middle of the back seat. We watched as other cars got up the hill, so Quintin tried it. We made it perfectly fine. Quintin drove very well and very safely. He did a good job. Once we got up that hill, we were at the base. I've never been so glad to get back to Baumholder.

There were some downsides to the weekend, but overall it was awesome. Paris is so magical and beautiful. This was my favorite weekend yet. I feel like I am fully adjusted to being here now, so that is an awesome feeling. I am completely adjusted to the time. I was over jet-lag after a couple of weeks, but was still always very aware of what time it was in Indiana. Now, I am completely on Germany time. Everything is so exciting here. Each weekend is amazing. They get better and better. I love it.

It will be so strange to go back home. I'm nervous about it. I miss my family and my friends a lot. I often think of certain people who I wish could be with me when I visit some place that I know they would love. But I'm here. Alone. With new friends-->a little family. I've heard that when you go back home from being abroad, you experience reverse culture shock. Everything at home is usually exactly the same, your family and friends have been doing their regular-life activities. But you have seen so much, traveled so much, learned so much, grown as a person, and probably have changed some. I am nervous.

There is no way, though, that I could move here forever. I don't really get too homesick here because I know that I'm only here until May. I'll be going home and staying. If I completely moved here and wasn't sure when I'd go home next for a short visit only, I'd be very sad. I love my family and my friends too much to move overseas. There are pluses to living here, such as the convenience of travel (and the amazing pay and benefits from working for the government at DoDDs schools), but I find the people in my life more important. I can be a bit of a sap.

Anyhow, I'm more adjusted here and am loving it. I look forward to the weekends and love my weeks at school. But like I said, I'm nervous to come home where everything is the same and weekends won't be filled with traveling to Paris, traveling to Munich, traveling to...etc etc.

Fitting in

I love going to school. I feel like I am really in now. This week I have felt like I fit in more with the teachers. I've been involved in a lot of teacher conversations this week, especially fun conversations. And it was kind of awesome.

Students are getting to know me more and getting more used to me too, I think. Many of them say, "Hi, Miss Cox," and, "Bye, Miss Cox," when they come into and leave the information center. Some even carry-on conversations with me.... and even initiate those conversations! There are a few students who I especially like. There are a lot of teachers I especially like, too. I will definitely be sad to leave here in two and a halfish months.

I still love my supervising teacher. She is so awesome. I just really think a lot of her. We get along so well. It is such a great placement because we get along in general, not just in library-related areas. We're getting to know each other better and I noticed the past couple of days that we've joked around a lot more and are more casual, even in front of other people. For example, we kind of gave each other a teasingly hard time about something after school at the technology committee meeting today. I will be really sad to leave her at the end of April. Last day of student teaching is April 29.

Tomorrow I will not be at school, but will be at a district-wide meeting with all the ETs and ISes--Educational Technologists and Information Specialists--from each school. The ET from my school is picking me up at 8. The meeting is at 9. It lasts until 3. Our Paris trip departs at 5 tomorrow. Where we depart from is relatively close to where my meeting is, so I'll be leaving the meeting with J. and she'll take me to the departure point after we kill time. I'll just be meeting Quintin, Al, Terry, and Jenna there. I am extremely excited for this weekend. We will be in Paris, will visit many places in the city, get some free time, and go to Versailles. We'll get back late Sunday night and have Monday to rest since we have no school for Presidents Day.

Rothenburg (pronounced Roatenburg)

Weekend travel plans were all up in the air as many people changed their plans last minute. The finalizations ended up being Jenna, Terry, and me to Rothenburg. It was about a three hour drive. I helped Terry navigate and work the GPS, while Jenna dozed in the backseat. It was nice to have some one-on-one conversation with Terry. I feel like we know each other a little bit better now.

We arrived in Rothenburg around 11:30 because we got stuck in traffic construction on the autobahn. Rothenburg is a very medieval town with complete city walls still standing. It is incredible. It is so German. It is the most photographed town in Germany I've heard, so you can imagine how German it looks. There is a lot of history in that town. We were able to see the main square (Town Hall, clock, the Meat and Dance Hall, the fountain, etc.), the city wall, a couple churches--St. Johannis and St. Jakob's, the Medieval Crime Museum, shopping, KatheWohlfahrt's Christmas store, and lunch at the Ratsstube Restaurant.

At Ratsstube, I had the homemade goullasch soup, which was delicious. Basically it's vegetable soup with a kind of tomatoe soupish broth, and some roast meet. It was so good. For dessert I had a piece of almond cake... and it was especially amazing.

I bought a little gnome souvenir for myself. I was carrying so much stuff later in the afternoon that I dropped my bag and broke part of it. It was slightly infuriating. Part of it I glued back just fine, but part of the top of his foot just shattered, so now it's cement colored. I bought a few other things, but those are gifts I'm mailing home. In fact, they are on their way to Farmland and Muncie right now.

The Medieval Crime Museum was intense. It was a huge building that used to be a hospital. It is right next door to St. Johannis Kirche. Including the basement, the building is four stories, I think. The whole place is filled with instruments of shame and torture from Medieval times. There were tongue screws, thumb and finger screws, a witches chair, two Iron Maidens, executioner's coat and mask, masks of shame, chastity belts, swords, axes, etc. It was a little disturbing, but very interesting. For instance, a woman who gossiped or talked too much was made to wear a mask of shame. Bad musicians were forced to wear a mask-type thing. Women whose husbands were traveling, they themselves were traveling (especially alone), or were in a place where rape was likely to happen, they were forced to wear chastity belts. Bakers whose bread was too light or heavy were also tortured or ridiculed. Bread was the most important food to people back then because it held the most nutrition. All bread was to be equal so it was worth its price. Rules were ridiculous back then. I feel incredibly lucky to be a woman in the 21st century.

St. Jakob's Kirche was built from 1311 to 1484. It was once Rothenburg's main house of worship. It contains many special artifacts, such as the Holy Blood Altar (1499-1505), Altar of the Twelve Apostles (15th century), and the Franciscan Altar (circa 1490). It is gorgeous inside. Toward the front of the church were two Christmas trees. Germany loves Christmas, this town especially.

If you've ever heard of Kathy Wolfhart, her main store (and another store) is in Rothenburg. It is huge and full of Christmas. There is also a ginormous Christmas tree inside. I bought myself a little Santa Claus figurine, just to say I bought it at the Kathe Wohlfahrt store.

Rothenburg is also known for schneeballen. It is a bakery treat made of fried strips of dough then formed into a ball. It is a heavy ball. The outside can then be covered with many different sweet toppings: light/dark chocolate, lemon stuff, powdered sugar, cinnamon, marzipan (almond paste). I bought a dark chocolate, powdered sugar, and marzipan one for myself. A teacher at school had me buy him four marzipan ones and he paid me back on Monday. I must say, one-day-old schneeball is better. It was a pretty good treat.

This week at school has consisted of more inventory. On Valentine's Day, I received a lot of candy and a white flower from my teacher. The junior high student council had been selling flowers during the past two weeks. White means friendship, pink means you hope something will happen, and red means love. I thought that was so sweet.

Monday after school, we went to the mailroom and I had a Valentine package from my dad! He sent some chocolate suckers from Concannon's and a card. Written in German (but translated to English) he wrote, "Happy Valentine's Day, my little strudel." Signed "-vater." Classic Kevin Cox. I miss my dad.

This upcoming weekend will be a three-day, two night trip to Paris. I called the company today to make sure it was still on... and it is! It's full and is confirmed. Yay!! Will be going with Jenna, Terry, Quintin, and Al. Should be a good weekend. I will get to go in many places and will get to go to Versailles and on the Seine River Cruise. Can't wait.

Week 5

School

School has been going well. I can see myself taking charge more and being more initiative in the library. I also kind of feel a little bit like it's my library.... the long overdue list today kinda stressed me out--I want those books back! heh heh.

We have been doing inventory at the library, and that is a brain frier. I did the non-fiction in two days alone. Then it was time to do fiction... J. said she would help me with that because it's a lot harder. And she was right. It is time consuming. We did inventory all day yesterday and I could barely think afterward. We are about done now.

The fiction is kind of a mess. Sometimes there are a few copies of one book and they each have their own catalog record. Really, though, you just need one record that says how many copies there are. Some of the book series are messed up too. Certain books have the wrong record saying it's a completely different title, etc. The librarian before J. was the husband of the woman I was with at Wetzel for that first week and a half! Imagine that! How funny yet not funny.

I get to be completely in charge in the library tomorrow. J. will be gone at a big meeting and R., the Educational Technologist who's office is in the library, has been gone all week. So it's just me. And I'm excited. There's even a class coming in during second period that I will do a lesson with.

This ninth grade English class has written myths. Now they will make their myths into children's books to share with first graders. I will be talking to them about children's books and even reading a book to them. It should be fun. I'm kind of nervous. They'll probably think it's stupid. Oh well!

Heat

Yesterday, the place that supplies heat to the base had some sort of problem and the heat went out everywhere. It was back on in the schools pretty soon, but could take about two hours for the water to travel through pipes to get here. Then we realized at our apartments that the heat was out, as was hot water. Crapola. Even though it'd been in the upper 40s and sunny all week, it gets cold at night.

We woke up this morning hoping the heat was back on. Nope! Since we're in Europe, we have one of those typical shower heads that is attached to the cords, so it's hand-held if you want it to be. That's how I bathed this morning with freezing water. Eeek! It took a while to get warmed up this morning after that.

After school today the heat was STILL not back on. Someone made a call to the school liaison to see what we should do. Apparently the heat was back on base everywhere yesterday and they forgot about us! Annoying..

So the liaison told us to call this certain emergency number. Liz did that.. thank goodness! Because our heat was back on by 7 p.m. Looks like I can actually take a hot shower tomorrow morning. Wooo.

Travel

Disappointing news came at school today: the tour to Bruges I was SO looking forward to this weekend was canceled because not enough people signed up for it. Terry, Jenna, and I were the only ones from our BSU group who signed up. So instead, Terry is going to drive us to Rothenburg. It seems like a pretty awesome place, so I'm looking forward to that.

We found tours through USO that go all sorts of places. There is one going to Bruges this Saturday. I called the office this evening (they're open until 10 p.m.!), but that trip is full. A few others that sounded pretty good still had 4-6 spots left. You can't book over the phone! You have to go to the actual office on Ramstein's base.

There is a tour through USO on March 12. Kaye, the Wetzel counselor, offered to take Terry to Ramstein on Sunday if she needed to shop. So we plan to make that little outing so we can book the Bruges tour in March (the USO offices are even open on Sundays in Ramstein!). I want to go to Bruges so badly, so I am REALLY hoping this will work out! :) It's cheaper than the other tour too...plus!

Egypt Update. I've been waiting until everything was official before I posted any of it.

We got spring break worked out. The airline let us switch different flights. So Jenna and I will be going to Dublin, Ireland on the late evening of Thursday, April 7. We booked a nice hostel for that night... and our tour departs Friday morning from that hostel! We will be going on a tour of Southern Ireland on Friday, Saturday, Sunday April 8-10. We return back to Dublin Sunday evening. We will have that evening that the next morning in Dublin to do what we please. We booked that same hostel for Sunday night. We fly out of Dublin on Monday, April 11 at 3:30 in the afternoon to London. Yay!!!!

After that, spring break was already planned. London (Jenna and Lindsey with a day trip on the 13th to Stonehenge, inside Windsor Castle, and to Bath that still needs to be booked). Leave on the 14th to fly to Amsterdam. On the 15th, we will go on a tour to see Zaanse Schans Windmills, Marken and Voldendam to see windmills, cheese, and wooden clogs. That is just a half-day trip, so that afternoon/evening we can go see Anne Frank's house. I hear it is beautiful in Holland in the spring because of lots of flowers, especially tulips. Can't wait! :)

April 16th we're taking a super cheap bus back to Germany and will have Sunday the 17th to rest up before school on Monday!

Things are working out and I'm excited for the semester. Planning these trips can get very stressful at times, but it is so worth it. I love my student teaching placement. I love everything I get to do on the weekends. Even though I took a cold shower and spilt coffee on my pants at school today (rinsed it off quickly and no stain!), I didn't let it get me down because life is good. Way good. I am so lucky to have this chance to live in Germany for a semester, work with some great teachers, intern under a great librarian who I think is awesome outside of librarianship too, and travel on the weekends in Europe.

Thoughts in the Post Office

Today after school I was able to go to the mail room and to the post office. I sent something out today. The line in the room curved all around the entire place, soldiers and wives were everywhere. They had huge boxes and trunks to mail home. There was packing tape, brown packing paper, USPS boxes, customs forms, and scraps of paper and tape everywhere. The air was stuffy and kind of sticky. I didn't mind that I was there for almost an entire hour packing my little box and waiting in line most of that hour. These soldiers are leaving for Afghanistan for one year. I am staying here through April student teaching with a cooperating teacher-librarian I love and traveling to awesome places every weekend. They are risking their lives and dealing with some heavy shit for one year.

Some soldiers have already been sent over, some are leaving tomorrow, others are leaving in the next few weeks. The last deployment will be next month. Once all is said and done, almost all soldiers will be gone from Baumholder. Only a couple hundred will be left to run things on base.

Knowing what these soldiers will be doing during the next year made me feel sad. It made me feel guilty that I was taking up a spot in line to mail a little box to Muncie, IN full of German chocolate and a toy. These soldiers were sending most all of their belongings home.

I can't even imagine what has been going through these soldiers' heads knowing they are being deployed to Afghanistan for an entire year. I kept wondering what they were thinking standing there in the Post Office line.

I overheard the soldier two places in line behind me talking to his wife. Their one-year-old son was babbling and being adorable. He told his wife, "You're going to have to record his conversations and send them to me." Then he reached for his son, pulled him to him, and kissed him on the cheek saying, "You'll be two years old when I get home! Wow.. two years old." It made me sad.

Seeing the deployment on base is sad, but it's let me see another side of the military we don't see at home. Knowing how many soldiers will be going to such an unsafe place is hard to think about. They will be facing great dangers, both physically and mentally. It's hard to comprehend, really. Selfishly, it makes me glad I don't know anyone who is going overseas.

Seeing these soldiers mailing their belongings home, seeing a soldier yesterday sign up to put his car in storage for a year, seeing base become more empty, seeing students have a tough time because Mom or Dad is gone or is leaving very soon... the effects are everywhere.

I've known someone who went overseas; I grew up with him in a sense. Fifteen years old when we started dating off and on. Nineteen years old when it ended. I saw how being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan affected him. He was almost a different person. No one knows why, but he took his own life while he was home on leave from Afghanistan. Personally, I think he had PTSD. I think what he experienced overseas was too much for him. He was such a loving, caring person. He pretended to be tough, but he was really a softie.

Losing him is the hardest thing I have ever dealt with. It was the first death I've ever had to deal with. It was a rough year, especially those first few months. The month and a half leading up to the one year anniversary this past fall was equally hard, too. I lived in a daze those first couple months after his death, going through the school and work routine like a robot.

At the time, my roommate was amazing. She did everything around the house because I could barely do more than basic life functions. And she was there for me when I would blurt out thoughts about him or what I was feeling. She never knew what to say in response because she couldn't understand what I was going through, but she was there to listen and that's all that mattered. She helped my grieving process and I don't know if she realizes what she did for me.

And now, almost 16 months later, I still miss him. I'm still mad at him. I still love him. It's like an emotional rollercoaster dealing with this. The different emotions just come more spaced out now and last for a longer amount of time, rather than feeling all emotions at the same time or having the different emotions change more often. Time has helped heal this and will continue to do so, I'm sure. But all I can do is keep remembering him and carrying his heart in my heart, like the E.E. Cummings poem.

I hope these soldiers turn out better than him, but I know some of them are going to have major problems when they come home. And it makes me sad.

These were taken my freshman year of college. The first from October 2007 in Columbus, IN; the second from February 2008 in my dorm.

Trip to Koln (Cologne)

This past weekend I traveled to Koln, Germany with my regular travel group of Terry, Al, and Jenna. It's about a three-hour train ride one way. We left our apartments around 4:45 a.m. to make sure we made it to Neubrucke train station, which is about a 20 minute drive from Baumholder. We were there with plenty of time to spare for our 5:30 a.m. departure. Because it was still dark out, we couldn't see any scenery.

About an hour and a half later, we changed trains in Ingelheim. However, we had a one-hour layover. That early in the morning, this sleepy town was, well, sleepy. After venturing further into town from the Bahn station, we found a little bakery that was open. I decided to treat myself to a chocolate pastry and a latte macchiato, partially because I needed coffee and partially because my leftover jambalaya from the night before did not fill me up enough. It was a great breakfast.

From Ingelheim, we rode for about an hour and 15 minutes to Koblenz to switch trains again. However, because the sun was coming up, it was a gorgeous train ride. The German scenery is beautiful, especially along the Rhine River. I kept a tally of how many castles I saw looking out my one side of the train looking out across the Rhine. 15 castles. It was magical.

I was sitting by myself having some quality time with my iPod. I was jamming to all my favorite songs. Those songs reminded me of a few really close friends back home and it made me miss them a lot. Part of me wished they could be sitting on the train with me experiencing the beautiful scenery and venturing around Germany. Another part of me, though, loved being alone. I love feeling the independence I feel when I travel. It's hard to explain. Needless to say, though, I really missed my pals back home and am really looking forward to seeing them and my family in May.

Once in Koblenz, we switched trains for the final hour-long leg to Koln. I again was sitting alone by the window hoping to spark up a conversation with a local.. for some reason I was feeling very adventurous that day. Four Indian men, though, sat near me. One sat beside me, one sat in front of him, and the two others across the aisle. That put a damper on things. Haha. Oh well.

It was great to finally be in Koln after such a long train ride. The day had started out kind of nice, but settled for being gray and windy. It would have been in the 40s had the wind not been so strong. As you walk out the Koln Bahn station, the huge, Gothic cathedral is the first thing you see. Magnificent. Breathtaking, really.

The Hohe Domkirche Koln was built in 1248 and was worked on for 600 years. It was once the tallest building in the world and is the oldest cathedral and has the largest church facade. It is a famous, great example of Gothic architecture. It survived 14 bomb hits during WWII and reconstruction was finished in 1956. You can pay a couple of Euros to climb up a small, spiral, staircase in the south tower. It goes almost all the way to the top of the spire, 98 meters above the ground.

We admired the outside of the cathedral and peeked in a little bit before deciding to head to the Information Center and then find a pub to eat lunch. As we were walking around, we realized there was a huge football (soccer) match taking place that day: Koln versus Munchen (Munich). Fans were everywhere, all dressed up in their team's colors, going crazy over the game. It was so fun to observe. It spurred me to buy a Koln soccer scarf sporting the red and white colors. Munich is blue and white, by the way.

We decided on Papa Joe's Biersalon. It proved to be very German. Inside, it was very dark with dark wood everywhere. There was a fake band playing polka music, photos and pictures all over the walls, old photos and drawings of naked women on the ceilings, stuff everywhere. The ambience was great. I felt like I was experiencing Germany with the locals and the Munich football fans. I decided to go all out and order the Brauhaus-Teller. I am not a fan. It was smoked pork (aka ham), a ginormous pile of sauerkraut, mustard, and a piece of rye bread. I didn't care for my beer, either. I managed to eat the ham, choke down a little bit of sauerkraut with the ham, and eat the bread. It was a good experience, but not a stomach-filling one.

After lunch, we walked around the Old Town part of the city. We went down to the Rhine River. It was a lovely stroll. After that we wanted to do a little shopping, but did not find many things we liked. Or else things were more expensive than we wanted to pay. It was a bigger city afterall.

As we made our way back to the cathedral to explore inside of it more, we saw the trail end of a Cardinal leaving in a limo. Apparently that's a pretty big deal for Catholic people. We saw the priests and alter boys and others in their red or black robes outside holding a cross and then proceeding back inside. There were people everywhere.

Once inside, we looked around much closer than before. It is so big inside and hard to believe how long ago this structure was built. It is very dark and cold inside. It is colder inside than it was outside. We could see our breath inside the cathedral. We were able to go up to the front of the cathedral, to the sides, down to the crypt, and then up the south tower.

Al and I climbed up the south tower, and was it a climb! I am not sure how long it took, but there were a lot of people in that tiny stairwell. Those of us going up were stuck on the inside of the spiral where the stairs are very narrow. Those going down the stairs had the outer part of the spiral and, therefore, the wider part of the steps. It was an adventure. I had to not think about it because it was such a tight space and such a long climb. Part of the way up, though, is the bell room. We stopped in there and walked around the outer part of the room. We were in there when the bells rang four times at 16:00. That was loud, but really awesome.

After the pitstop, onward we went to the top. Once to the top of the tower, you can see so far. It is a magnificent view. It is neat because you can look down on part of the church or just straight out at parts of the church. The church is so ornate on the outside and so black from smog. It was an awesome experience. It was windy down on the ground, so it was very windy up there. I had to not think about it because I might've freaked out a little otherwise. There is fencing up so you can't fall out at all, but it was still a little scary at first.

The descent down seemed never ending. My legs were shakey and I was feeling dizzy from the constant downward spiral. Al and I were some of the last people to be let in the tower (thankfully we got there just in time before they closed!), and then some of the last people out.

After that, we got to the train station and bought some junk, some gelatto, and some bakery pretzels for the train ride home. The trains home were fine. The first involved me and Jenna talking to a German guy about random things, the second train was full of smelly nerds coming home from an anime convention with top hats, blue character-suit costumes, weird colored hair, and a case of beer, and the final train reeked of cigarette smoke (not sure who was smoking on the train; I'm pretty sure that's not allowed).

We got back to Neubrucke around 9:30 p.m. and we were so glad to be back. The 20 minute drive back was filled with girly giggles and laughs and cackles. Terry, Jenna, and I always have a blast on our car rides.

I went to bed late on Saturday night after washing the icky train off of me and out of my hair, and slept until well past noon on Sunday. Sunday was filled with nothing but being lazy, eating dinners off a normal schedule, and watching two movies with my roommate. It was a good day.

Monday was parent-teacher conferences at school, meaning a work day in the library. Since I have a touch of a cold, it was nice to wear jeans, a sweatshirt, and tennis shoes. Most of my day was filled with inventory. My brain was tired by the end of the day.

Monday evening, we ate dinner in town at the Hotel Berkdof with a visiting assistant dean and professor from the Teachers College. They are trying to figure out living situations for future BSU student teachers. It's not looking so good for them. Hopefully they can find a solution.

And so comes the back pain

Today at school was perfectly fine. When I woke up this morning, I wasn't really any more sore than I was when I went to bed. My arm felt like I'd thrown too many baseballs for too long, my right thigh has a bruise on the side, my cheekbone is a little sore when I put lotion on it or wash my face. Not too shabby.

After lunch, though, was a different story. My mid-back started hurting SO badly after lunch, I about couldn't stand it. I felt like crying or whimpering. Not only was it painful, but it was so uncomfortable. There was just no finding relief or comfort. I felt like lying down flat, curling up in a ball, slouching in a chair, hunching over, sitting up straight all at the same time. Nothing made it feel better.

Quintin (the social studies student teacher) popped in the library around 2 or 2:15 just to say, "Hey, how's it going?!" I responded with, "My back hurts so bad.." and then the tears started to well up in my eyes and my face got all red. He asked where it hurt and I couldn't even say where; I just pointed... I knew if I spoke my voice would just crack. It was so embarrassing. I gained my composure and he understood how bad back pain like that sucks. I told him I was embarrassed for starting to cry in front of him, but he didn't care at all. He was nice about it. In fact, he was going to see if his supervising teacher (also a coach and p.e. teacher) had anything I could take to help with the pain. All he had was Excedrin and I have ibuprofen, so we didn't worry about it, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

Around 2:30 this afternoon, J. wanted us to go talk to D., the principal, about the incident I'd mentioned yesterday at the Discipline Committee meeting. So off we scurried to the office before students get released at 2:50. D. had me go into his office and tell him what happened and give specific examples of the "lines" these boys used. He was pretty pissed. He obviously did not think that was appropriate of those boys and wanted to get it taken care of right away so it wouldn't happen again.

He had me follow him to the two main boys' classes. Apparently those boys are known for being bullies and disrespecting the girls their age like this, too. He pulled them out separately, but asked the same questions. Do you know who Miss Cox is? Do you know she's an adult here? Do you know what sexual harassment is? Do you remember *said incident* on Monday after school? That is not appropriate. She is an adult here and you need to respect her. Etc. etc. He made them apologize to me, tell me it wouldn't happen again, and made them shake my hand. He told them this is a learning experience for them.

The first boy who is always looking at me and whatnot was embarrassed about the whole situation it seemed. He was looking down at the ground and looked at me only a few times. He did apologize, though, and said it wouldn't happened again. He handled it pretty well, I think. I hope this boy doesn't totally avoid me now. I don't want to just hold this against him for the next three months. I'd want to give him another chance and will give him another chance; it's just whether or not he lets me. I said thank you when he apologized. D. told him that now he can say hi to me when he sees me. I made sure to tell this student that he doesn't need to ignore me.

The second boy, though, is definitely a little punk. He just kept saying, "I don't know!" "I don't remember!" D. warned me of this when we were walking to his class. Apparently this boy's mother just reinforces his behavior, as well. And when he's approached about incidents, he always said he doesn't remember. D. said things to him like, "It's strange the other student remembers this happening and admitted to it, but you don't remember it." The boy did apologize and shake my hand... kind of. D. had to make him apologize basically. It was kind of lame. The other boy more willingly apologized and shook my hand.

It was less awkward than I thought the situation would be. I'm glad that I did bring it up yesterday and that J. wanted me to talk to D. about it. I'm glad he wanted to take care of it straight away too. He made sure to tell me that if anything like that happens again to tell him right away and not to wait until the end of the week. Note taken.

Onto a better subject!..

After school, Brittany's supervising teacher had invited us all to go to her house (a nearby village up a curvy road on a mountain/reallybighill) for dinner. There were a TON of people there. I think most were teachers and teachers' spouses from Smith Elementary on base. It was really fun. There was all kinds of Mexican food, margaritas, and lots of talking. One guy even got out a guitar and played and sang. He was pretty good. It was fun to have that music in the background. We all had a good time just talking and eating and drinking margaritas. Oh yeah, one teacher made an ice cream cake, too. So good.

It was a fun evening. We came back around 7 or so. Tomorrow is an early morning. Terry, Al, Jenna, and I are leaving the apartments at 5:30 a.m. to catch a 6:30 train to Cologne. It takes about three hours to get there. We'll hang out there all day and be back around 9:30 Saturday night. Sunday=sleeping in.

My back is still hurting, but it's not quite as bad as it was this afternoon. Hopefully I can push through tomorrow and then rest up on Sunday. Falling on the ice sucks!

The teacher's house that we went to has this view from her house and some of her windows. I can't remember the name of the castle. Something that has an L or two in it. I'll find out the name. Her husband is a technology person at my school and his office is in a back corner of the library, so I see him all the time. haha. I took a picture of the castle at night when it was lit up, but that photo didn't turn out very well.

Cheek Dive on the Black Ice

There was black ice on every ground surface this morning: parking lots, roads, sidewalks, steps. Everywhere. The snow must've melted yesterday and froze overnight. I stepped out onto the sidewalk today and felt my foot slip out from under me warning me to be careful. I walked in the snow in the yarded areas uphill to school this morning. One spot was where a sidewalk to enter into a building was not covered with grass, therefore not covered with snow. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground.

I normally am not a person who ever falls. My foot will slip out from under me, but I hardly ever actually fall, especially all. the. way. down. Apparently I shrieked during my fall as Al saw me disappear behind the dumpster as he was walking in the road and I in the grass. I do not remember this as I do not even remember the fall it happened so quickly. I do remember lying on my right side on the ground. My right cheek was the last thing to hit the ground. Once I realized what happened and how badly it hurt and how startling it was, I yelled a lovely explicit phrase. Al scooted over to me and helped me up. Good thing he did; I felt like I was stuck to the ground.

As we were making our slower-than-usual walk to school, I could feel my cheek getting hot and probably red in color. My head also started to ache a little. Good thing I keep a few ibuprofen in my purse. We got to school and my cheek felt warm and pink all day long. I finally got to look in a mirror around 1 this afternoon to see it was pink, had a few red dots on it, and one little place that was skinned up. Wonderful! Not too bad. I was partially so surprised about the whole fall, but scared at what it could have been. I hit my face on the sidewalk. I could've broken my nose or my cheek bone. Luckily I didn't.

Not until about 9 or 10 hours later did my right side start to feel sore. I'm feeling more sore now. I'm developing a nice bruise on the right side of my thigh, I think. My back is hurting, but I can't tell if that's related to my fall or just my crooked spine. Either way, I'm feeling sore and know it will feel worse in the morning. At least it's Friday. I'll wear jeans.

I felt less bad about my fall. Just on the rest of the treacherous walk to school I saw two students fall. I found out one or two other teachers fell (or admitted to falling!), the really nice German custodian at school fell, Terry fell twice, and a few students told me about their falls that morning before school started. It was awful out this morning!

My battle wound:

School itself was fine as usual. I got a lot of work done, but realized how busy being a librarian can be. I didn't think I was going to get my lunch eaten without being interrupted. I did get it eaten, though, don't worry.

After school was a discipline committee meeting I attended with my supervising teacher, J. Because a specific student was mentioned at the end of the meeting, I was able to bring up an incident that happened walking home from school on Monday that involved this student. I hadn't brought it up yet to anyone because I was kind of embarrassed about it.

There is one student who I've noticed is always checking me out since Day 1 at Baumholder Middle/High School. He never did anything inappropriate; I just always noticed him looking at me. When we actually interacted at school (which was only once or twice), he acted shy or neutral.

During Monday at school I instructed a biology class on a certain note taking graphic organizer the school uses. They are about to begin science fair projects accompanied by a paper, so the teacher wanted them to have this schpeal. One boy in the front was just awfully smiley at me, but nothing weird or anything.

These two boys were in a gaggle of about five boys walking home from school around 3:45 Monday afternoon. They were all horsing around, walking slowly, being loud and carrying on as boys might do. None of these boys seem like particularly bad students, but just .... not the top, over achievers, I guess.

Anyhow, I was walking faster than them and didn't want to be behind them the whole walk home, so once I caught up with them, I just went around them. As I was walking down the hill in front of them, I could hear all their comments of, "She's finer than a lead pencil," "She's finer than a sharp thumbtack." There were quite a few other clever phrases--some I couldn't quite hear and a couple didn't even make sense I can't remember what they were now.

I was embarrassed. I was really annoyed and irritated. I didn't know what to do about that situation. I was far enough away from them I just kept walking and acted like I wasn't listening. I'm sure they knew I could hear them. How rude of them. I am supposed to be a teacher figure to them. Just because we were right off school property does not mean they do not have to respect me. It's hard because I know that some of these boys think I'm cute. I am not much older than them. I am much smaller than most of them. What was I supposed to do?

My roommate suggested I tell Terry or J. After I mentioned it to the two male student teachers, they acted like it wasn't a big deal at all, so I didn't know how I should feel about it. I was going to tell J., but then I got too embarrassed about it. How was I to bring that up? I feel like because of my age, size, and gender I may get treated like that sometimes or walked on a lot. I've experienced that in the workplace before because I'm young, cheery, cute, and a girl: people think they can walk all over me or think I'm dumb. It sucks. So I need to make sure it doesn't happen, but I also don't want to overreact to situations. Plus, I've never experienced this specific situation before (i.e. a student), so I didn't have any past experiences to base it on.

Anyhow... Today, though, that first boy was mentioned at the meeting. I asked, "Wait, what about M.?" They told me a little about him and that he has behavior management problems, especially with disrespect. I said, "Yeah, he was inappropriate toward me walking home from school the other day. I heard him and (I described the other boy. They knew who I was talking about.. that whole group of boys who pal around together) making comments about me." J. and the assistant principal were glad I told them and the assistant principal is going to put a stop to it. I'm glad I brought it up. But it still embarrasses me; I don't know why.

Tomorrow is Friday, thank goodness. After school, one of the supervising teachers invited us to her house for dinner. We are all going to that. Saturday, some of us are taking a train to Cologne all day. I'm looking forward to going to a big city. Sometimes I feel stranded out here in the boonies. It will be nice to get away from base and a small village for a while.

The fog has rolled in over Baumholder

and it is a little eery. It came on Monday during school hours and has stayed. It is thick, so thick that I cannot see very far out of the library's windows. It almost puts me in a trance, like it is creating a whole other world where something spooky or magical could happen. I want to look out the window all day. I have never seen fog this thick.

Here is a photo looking out on of the library's window. The bottom two photos were taken looking out of my apartment window Monday evening after school.

This week has been good. I have instructed three different sections of seventh grade geography researching countries to decide it they are developed or developing. These students know nothing about using databases, researching, or taking notes. As I instructed each class, I could see my own improvement. Explaining things better, more thoroughly, asking them more questions to make them think. Overall, I think it went well. It's as if Ball State never gave me instructional time in front of real students... guess I can hope to get experience this semester.

Yesterday I was able to go to the mail room and the commissary. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from my grandparents and a box from Aaron. My grandparents' letters are the best. They write a little page everyday (give or take a paragraph) and alternate who writes each day. They tell me just about the goings on of there day. They make my heart smile. I also felt like a little girl again--in with the letter were two Valentine goodies. One was a package of cardstock hearts of different colors that say things like, "Love Bug." The other little goody was a package of red, 3-D foil heart-shaped stickers. When Baxter, Cameron, and I were little, our grandparents went to their house in Florida every winter. They usually left right after the New Year and didn't come back until March or April probably. Throughout those months, we missed them terribly; those months seemed so long without them in Farmland. However, they sent the most fabulous packages to us in those orange-y yellow envelopes with the bubble padding inside. They just sent little things like pads of paper, pens, Valentine treats, maybe an Easter surprise. They also mailed us postcards telling us what they'd been doing and how much they missed us. I still have every single on of those postcards in an accordion folder located somewhere in storage. Needless to say, my little letter and two Valentine goodies brought back those feelings from my childhood getting a Winter Package in the mail from Florida.

Aaron mailed me some things I needed: my backpack(!), a pair of less-bulky tennis shoes, a jacket, and a few shirts. My roommate got to experience my excitement of receiving my backpack. I held it in my arms, jumped up and down, and rejoiced with, "Eek eek eek! Backpack backpack backpack backpack!" I also feel I should inform you I got my "eek eek eek!" from Fran Drescher on The Nanny. I love her.

We've been trying to fix this whole Egypt trip. Not going so well. We tried calling RTT Travel, which is a German travel agency who works with U.S. Army and Air Force personnel and others associated with the military, including teachers and student teachers. They will not let us cancel our flight. We get ZERO dollars back. They will not let us just change our flights. ZERO dollars back. Not good. United States citizens are being told to not travel to Egypt. We are U.S. citizens. W.T.F.

So last night we called P.J., who is the liaison with the schools here. She was more than irritated about the situation. She said we deserve our money back or credit to change to a different trip. Today she was to call RTT and speak with someone much higher-up than the gals who work the counters. She was supposed to call us this evening. I have yet to hear word. Cross your fingers please! We were also told that we can probably write a letter to the Commander at Ramstein and maybe he can remedy the situation. I hope this works out! We are in no way going to Egypt, even if we lose $702.87 dollars. Who's counting and being exact?.. Jenna and I know what we want to do instead: Ireland. And I am thrilled about that. I just hope I don't lose all my money.... ugh. So that's been a major stress on me the past few days. Wouldn't you know we book our two and a half day trip to Egypt a week and a half before Hell breaks loose there? Just my luck. I am trying to keep my head up that I won't lose all my money.

I am having issues with a direct deposit situation. I've already submitted information twice, yet it still was not working. The second time they actually received the paperwork and something was wrong with it. Last night I called trying to see what went wrong. My dad is having to take care of everything back in Indiana, but I have to make the calls and figure out what's going on so he can do what needs done. I called and the lady had to put me on hold. When she came back on, she couldn't hear me, but I could hear her just fine. The call was lost or she hung up. I was SO frustrated. Just as I was about to call back, Liz from across the hall, ran in our apartment in her towel freaking out. She needed to use the phone. She had the cotton-end of a Q-tip stuck in her ear. Oh. My. Gosh. It wasn't funny, but it kind of was. We couldn't even see it in there. We tried using a flashlight. She and Jenna both called their mothers who are nurses, and they said to have her lay down and someone pull up on her ear to make the ear canal smaller and make the Q-tip more visible. Still nothing. Nothing could be done last night.

Liz went and saw the school nurse first thing this morning, but she couldn't see anything. We are wondering if the Q-tip never had the cotton on the end of it to begin with. Maybe Liz was just so freaked out she thought she felt it in her ear last night. She doesn't feel it today. We can only hope. It would be so awful if she had ear/hearing/eardrum damage after this.

There was a faculty meeting after school today, but it did not last long. Then the student teachers had a meeting with Terry about our big Learning Assessment Model Projects. I have no idea where mine will end up going. I don't think Terry is sure where is will go either. I feel worried, but really more annoyed about the entire project.

Here are photos of the book display I made Tuesday. J. wanted me to put together a display for Black History Month.

My back has been hurting terribly lately. There are so many knots and so much gristle and tension in my back from my crooked spine. It is horrible. Ibuprofen isn't even really helping. Tonight I laid out two towels on the floor and did some stretching and some yoga. It helped. I need to keep doing it everyday. However, I need to buy an actual yoga mat. Our floors are linoleum, so the towels only worked for some of the stretches and poses. Even with my tennis shoes on, my feet still slide on the tile floors. It was very frustrating. I just wanted to do a warrior pose (one of my favorites). The yoga and stretching give me hope to be able to get through the next three months with this horrible back pain and discomfort.

Jenna and I are relaxing with a girly movie right now. Her mom sent her a box that she was able to pick up from the mail room yesterday. In it, were 15 movies! Wednesday is almost over, which means we're more than half-way through the week. High five!!

Idar-Oberstein and Bernkastle-Kues

This past Saturday ended up being a lovely day trip with Jenna, Al, and Terry. Others were going to go with us to Idar-Oberstein, but they canceled last minute. Because it was only four people going total, Terry just drove us in her car. Awesome!

Idar-Oberstein is a quaint, charming town not too far from Baumholder. It is known for its gem mining and stone cutting. Needless to say there is a lot of jewelry there. And a lot of knick knacks made of rock... Anyhow, it's a quaint little place with a lot of shopping. I bought a couple jewelry items, one being a pretty amethyst ring for 29 euros, a pair of boots, and a long, super cute sweater jackety thing. Great deals on everything. It was a fun morning.

Besides the shopping, there is a church, Felsenkirche, built into the side of a mountain/hill/rock. It was constructed during 1482-1484. Al and I hiked up to it, but it's closed from November through mid-March. It was still really neat to see. Maybe when my dad visits at the end of April/beginning of May we can go there and go inside. I've heard it's pretty cool.

There are also two medieval castle remains if you hike up further. One is only a tower left, for the most part, called Burg Bosselstein.

The castle that is highest up has more left of it--Schloss Oberstein. Both are really sweet and you can see great views of Idar-Oberstein. Schloss Oberstein has a seasonal restaurant in it.

We ate lunch at a place called Cafe am Markt, where are enjoyed sandwiches and dessert for really inexpensive prices.

After lunch we decided to drive to Bernkastle-Kues, which we thought was much closer. The drive was up high in altitude with some of the most beautiful scenery and views I have ever scene. It was classically German. The ground was covered with snow, every small town we went through had a tall church steeple, the tall Black-forest-like trees had snow on them, the groves of fir trees were covered with snow. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a photograph. It exists now only in my memory. The drive closer to Berkastel-Kues, though, was down the mountain. I have never been on such windy roads, especially on a decline. The curves were so sharp, it was like doing u-turn after u-turn after u-turn. It was kind of scary, but definitely an experience everyone should have. As we arrived in Bernkastel-Kues it looked eerily like Trier. Terry informed Al, who was running the GPS, "If we're in Trier, I'm going to beat the shit outta you!" It was hilarious.

We were not able to stay long Bernkastle-Kues because it was farther from Baumholder than we thought, and Terry didn't want to drive on the windy mountain roads in the dark, considering it gets dark around 5:30 here. After seeing the medieval castle remains high up on the hill as we stood along the Mosel River with a lovely swan floating infront of us, we hit the windy, German roads again for the drive back to Baumholder. This all never would have happened without Terry's GPS, who gladly informed us of the 900 approaching round-abouts and if we needed to turn around as soon as possible. It was a fun trip. The drive home was hysterical. Terry was being hilarious and informed us we were seeing the "True Terry." Jenna, Terry, and I had a ball.

We stopped at a gas station on the way home to fill up. Jenna bought me a Coke, a Cherry Coke (my first German Cherry Coke!), and some chocolate--she owed me five euros from earlier. I must say the Cherry Coke is not as good as usual. I think the Cherry flavor is stronger, which I liked, but the Coke here tastes different, so I didn't like the cherry mixed with this certain Coke as well. But it was still good. And German chocolate is fabulous.

When we got back to base, we ate dinner at the DFAC (dining facilities). That was where I'd eaten lunch on Friday. The mess hall, essentially. This time I got the standard cheeseburger, mashed potatoes, and Fanta and it was good. We sat next to a 28-year-old soldier, Jay. He was a nice, young, open-minded man who had been in Iraq. Because he'd just gotten back, he will not be deployed to Afghanistan like 99% of the rest of the soldiers on base. We did ask him what he thought about the U.S. being in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he feels like we are needed there. They did not have any kind of structure in Iraq and now they are starting to have some. He also said that because of Americans being there, the Iraqi citizens see how they have been living and that life can be so much better. He thinks it's good we are there. He also admitted that Afghanistan is much worse and more dangerous. What a situation we are in.

Sunday involved sleeping in until 11:30 and walking into Baumholder for no reason. It was a good weekend.