I'm Lindsey, your travel agent

This was my first full week at the middle school/high school and it went great. I am so happy there. Today was a teacher work day, so all the teachers were calculating grades and submitting them. I, however, got to watch many online tutorials about a new program the school has bought. It is the information specialist's and technology person's job to figure it out and then teach the teachers how to use it. Needless to say, my head was bobbing. I realized today, I could never work at a computer all day long for my job. I need to get up and move around some. I think that's a good thing. I also got to have a lunch at the DEFAC (or something like that) on base.. like a mess hall, essentially. It's all-you-can-eat for $4.25. There's a line with a meal to choose from or another line with things like burgers. There's a salad bar, other things to make nacho stuff. Also a dessert area. Pretty neato. It was nice to see someplace new on base. Plus I was able to eat with J. and the technology person from Wetzel who is way cool too.

After school, I basically spent all my time figuring the weekend out. Originally we'd hoped to go on a military-sponsored free trip to Munich and Dachau. We tried to sign up earlier in the week when there were quite a few spaces left, but since we aren't in the military, they told us to call back on Friday. So we did. It was full... supposedly. We were disappointed. I did a lot of researching (thank goodness I'm a librarian.. no one else really did anything to help) and found out we can take a bus from downtown Baumholder to nearby Idar-Oberstein. My thought was we could go there for the day. It is known for it's gems and stone-cutting. There is also this apparently pretty neat church up in a rock on the side of a mountain or huge hill.

Some other student teachers went to Ramstein after school to book their Spring Break trips with the travel agency there. The teacher who drove all five of them offered to take them all to Luxembourg tomorrow. I am jealous... :\ Oh well, though. I was wanting to go to Idar-Oberstein sometime before we left in May anyhow. It would be a waste to not go someplace so close. It will be a good day.... plus, I can probably buy a piece of jewelry! And it is awesome to be in Germany and I am absolutely thrilled I was given the chance to come student teach here--the opportunity of a lifetime! I just don't want to sit on base all weekend, so heave-ho, let's go!

Tomorrow will be low-cost, too. I think it's only about 4 euros for the bus ride. And it's also nice to know about that bus because we can take it to the Idar trainstation and take trains out from there. Some other girls were freaking out wanting to book a better day trip for tomorrow and wanted to go further away. I got to do all the research... yay for me... Everyplace was too far away. The nearest place they wanted to go was about 3 hours away. It could've worked except for the bus back to Baumholder in the evening.. the latest bus was about 6:45 or so. Too early. We wouldn't have had much time in Heidelberg (the nearest place they settled on going. They originally wanted to go someplace even further away. For one day... ?).

We also realized today that we got screwed over by the chick at the travel agency on base here when we went to Trier a couple weekends ago. We tried to get the weekend train pass for 5 people that is only about 30 euros. We explained what we wanted and she pretended like we couldn't get that. She made us buy two train tickets to Trier and two back (we had to include 6 people; only 5 could be on 1 ticket). All four tickets were 40 euro a piece. Yeah. Sucks. We could've spent about 60 euros between six people probably for the train pass. So at least now we know there is the actual cheaper train pass. All you have to do to buy it is go to the train station where there is a machine. You pay there. That's it. SUCK. Live and learn. Everyone gets cheated when they're abroad at least once. That's been mine this trip... so far...

Tonight, we used the RTT travel through Ramstein base (good deals for people connected with the military) to book a three-day weekend in Paris on President's Day weekend. It will be Jenna, Terry, Al, Quintin, and myself. I am so excited. It's three days and two nights. We get to go to the Jardin du Luxembourg, Notre Dame, the Opera House, Fragonard Perfume Museum, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triumph, Eiffel Tower (ride to level 2 and can pay 7 euros more to go to top). We can also partake in a three-course dinner at a restaurant and the Seine River cruise at night. We will also go to Versailles, Dome des Invalides (Napoleon's tomb), and the Louvre. The first time I went to Europe with my awesome high school French teacher the summer after my freshman year of college, I was only there for a couple of days. Many of the things included on this trip I did not get to do back in 2008. Most of it I saw the outside of, but was not able to go in, such at Notre Dame (there was an event going on inside), the Opera House, the Perfum Museum, and I did not go up in the Eiffel Tower, on the Seine River cruise, or to Versailles. I am so excited about this trip.

So now I'm feeling more knowledgeable about travel here and I still have a lot to learn. I am glad that I am adventurous (is that the right word?) enough to put forth the effort to find things to do and figure out how to get there... and do it in a pinch. We've planned ahead some weekends and know now how we can get the weekend train passes more easily. Hopefully things will start going more smoothly. It's hard when we don't have transportation and are stuck out in Baumholder. The nearest train station is a 20-minute drive from here. There are usually more than four of us going on one trip it seems. Terry is the only one with a car and she can only fit four other people in her car. And since we aren't in a city, there isn't a subway or anything like that to use. It's a little difficult, but we're figuring it out. Learning is good.

Just a left-handed person living in a right-handed world

Monday and Tuesday have both been a good start to the week. Monday was filled with many mindless tasks and manual labor in the library. Sometimes the job consists of that... and I kinda like it. J. had me cut down some boxes that had been used to ship new books to Baumholder MHS. She advised me to always save boxes because you'll need them eventually, i.e. for discarding materials. So I cut the tape (slowly, painfully taxing, difficult to do) so the boxes could be folded flat and then stored in a closet. I'd gotten through all but two of the boxes. She came out to chat and watched me cut the next-to-last box's tape. She said, "Okay, this is too painful for me to watch. Let me do the last one! What's wrong?? Is it because you're left handed and the scissors don't work??" Yes. That was exactly it. I had such trouble getting those scissors between the flaps to cut that heavy-duty tape! It was pretty funny.

*Note to self: make sure I have a pair of left-handed scissors at my future desk in my future library.

The day was really nothing exciting, but good nonetheless. I got home to a sickly roommate. Everyone has been getting sick with throat stuff that requires antibiotics. Luckily, Jenna has no throat pain. Jenna has had a lot of sinus drainage, pluggage, froggy voice, and a yucky cough. Throughout the evening, she started to develop a fever... 99.5, so at least it wasn't too high. I Lysoled everything.. a couple of times. And hid out in my cold room that I keep the door to shut (I keep it that way because I like it that way. And on a positive note, less germ multiplying!) and Jenna hid out in her room and slept. She planned to not go to school Tuesday and go to the doctor.

One girl was "deathly ill" on Sunday night. She only slept an hour--she has strep throat AND tonsillitis so badly that she was throwing up most of the night and had a bad fever. She was taken to the krankenhaus (sick house, a.k.a. hospital) on Monday, driven by Terry's Mercedes Ambulance Service. She was given medicine, told to not go to school until at least Friday, to not be in contact with anyone, and is hopefully on the road to recovery! Looks like her roommate will be spending some nights on the couch next door.

Tuesday was a pretty busy day at school, so it went by pretty quickly. I talked with a few teachers who want me to do some researchy things with their classes. I am starting to do more of the regular library processes on my own.. since some of them are not every single day type things, it's going to take a few times before I get it down. Today I dealt with the overdue notices, which made me feel like an idiot in front of J., no juicy details, just stupid little mistakes. Hopefully she doesn't think I'm an idiot. We actually get along very well. She is so hilarious; I love being with her! And she's great at her job, too. I am sure to learn a lot.

Terry wasn't able to take Jenna to the doctor today because she has some fluid thing going on in her eye. As she describes it, she is "watching Mardi Gras in her eyeball." Haha! Not fun, but a funny description. Anyhow, she does not have a detached retina (luckily found that out today), but she did have her eyes dilated and therefore couldn't drive. Jenna was just told to rest up and maybe could go to the krankenhaus tomorrow if she needed to still.

After school, J. took me to the mail room and to the Commissary. I still haven't gotten my package from Dad yet!.. and he mailed it out on Friday the 14th. I'm starting to get a little worried about it. I hope it is safe. I also haven't gotten the letter my grandparents mailed to me. I am so anxious! When I do actually get to the mail room (clear on the other side of base), it's such a disappointment to not have anything. :/ Oh well.... I do have the internet to communicate with everyone.. and a phone line. But mail is still nice. :) At the Commissary I got some more Lysol, butter, and cottage cheese. Clearly life essentials.

I came home to find Jenna feeling much better. She looks better, sounds better, was up moving around. I am glad. I feel less worried about being exposed to the BSU Student Teachers' Plague. Maybe it will miss me! I can only hope.... Though I'd rather come down with what Jenna has than than the throat ickies. Cross my fingers, cross your fingers!!

Tonight will be filled with relaxing, chatting, reading, and chicken and rice. Also, it started snowing today more than I've seen it snow here. It started in the mid to late morning and didn't quit until late afternoon. The wind was something fierce this morning. As we were walking to school, Quintin and Al mentioned it felt like we were in Funcie Muncie! Nooooo! It was very windy. Anyhow, that wind must've been the front end of this snow. There is actually a little bit on the ground. Not all of the snow stuck, but a little bit did. The roads and sidewalks are very wet and maybe a little slick. It was awfully pretty, though.

Here are a couple pictures from outside my apartment window... I'm sure most of you have memorized the view by now, but here's the snow that stuck.

End of Week 2

Friday at school went great. I got to stamp books some more, do a little cataloguing of new books, other types of "grunt work," as J. puts it. It was a good day. I was really tired, though. Being a teacher is hard work! Getting up at 6, walking to school for 15 minutes at 7:20 in the morning, being there all day. Teachers can't leave until at least 3:20.. school gets out at 2:50. Anyhow, it was a long week. Every teacher was glad it was Friday. I heard one teacher say, "Four day weeks are worse.. it's having to cram five days into four." I never thought about it that way!

We had a "family dinner" on Friday in Emma, Kristen, and Brittany's apartment. Emma and Al made "hobo dinners," which are cooked in foil. We had the choice of chicken, potatoes, some veggies or beef, potatoes, some veggies. There was a salad, some corn, and mac and cheese. It was a nice little dinner. Jenna and I left because we weren't too interested in the game others were playing (a game of horrible dares!!). So we came back to our apartment and watched The Hangover. It's a funny movie. First time I've seen it.

Saturday we ended up not being able to go to K-town (Kaiserslautern) like we planned. The other teacher who was going to drive was sick. So on Saturday, Jenna, Emma, Terry and I rode with Kaye to Ramstein. We got to ride on the autoban! It ruled! There are some places where there's a speed limit of about 60 mph, but otherwise there's no speed limit... we went about 95 mph. It was scary, but it was so fun! There weren't all too many cars on the road, but still not light traffic either. Anyhow, I'm so glad I can say I did that! :) At Ramstein, we used the travel agency there, and we booked our spring break trips! So excited for that. On Saturday evening, Emma and I researched and booked hostels and stuff like that for our spring break trip. Cairo, London, and Amsterdam. Oh Em Gee.

Spring break is completely planned now, except for our rides to and from Frankfurt (start off and end of the trip). That shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Saturday evening we just kind of sat around after getting stuff planned and booked. I read a little bit before bed. Got to sleep in on Sunday! It was great.

Terry picked me, Jenna, and Al up around 11:30. We went into town and ate at the Zum Stern in Baumholder.

I had my first wiener schnitzel. It was pretty good. It's pork that is thinner, but a good flavor and not dry or anything. The particular one that I got was the laegier schnitzel (or something spelled like that), which had these onion things on top. The schnitels came with fries and a salad. I also had a beer to drink. I am not a beer fan, but this beer was pretty good. It was from the tap. I've heard the beer here is less carbonated than what we have in the U.S. It also seems less watered-down. Anyhow, it was pretty good.

In the afternoon, I worked on a little bit of school stuff and then Al and I went on a walk around 3 in the afternoon. We were gone for over two hours! It was a great walk. First we walked around base for about 45 minutes or so. Saw some mole hills (there's a lot in Germany), climbed a tree. Then we decided to walk into Baumholder.

From our view up on The Rock, we can see a church steeple, so we set out to find it. We found our way up to this neat walkway with a lot of little churches and stuff in the middle of it. We ventured around and saw so much. We ventured around the little streets that go up and down hills, cobblestone walkways; it was so neat. We went into a cemetery. I was hoping it would be older than it was, but many of the death dates were from the 1980's to the present. There was one section, though, that we couldn't figure out. We think maybe this little section is for soldiers from Baumholder who died during WWII. All the stone markers were the same, the dates were from the 1940s, and in front of this square area, were different wreaths. One even was from the US Garrison Baumholder.

We made our way back during the gloomy evening as it started to snow a bit. It was a lovely late afternoon stroll.

"Stamp with a purpose!"

My day was fabulous! I actually got to do stuff!! Check in books, check out books, meet teachers, meet administrators, stamp the school info thing in new books that were being processed into the system. J. told me as she was walking away from my work table, "Stamp with a purpose." She wanted to make sure the school stamps were on the back inside cover, the title page, and on a page in the book.. preferable page 25. I'm not sure why. Different librarians have different page numbers they like to stamp inside the book. Her number happens to be 25. She also said, make sure the ink is on there and it's centered. Stamp with a purpose.

J. had to leave right after school to have something taken care of, so I stayed after while a distance learning student took a test. I then closed the library down and took her test to the office so it could be faxed. That student talked with me and was curious about me; she was so sweet. It was great. AND best of all, J. is happy to have me there. (Unlike my last supervisor who hated me being there).

However I'm feeling overwhelmed with all the things that are required for student teaching. See, I already had it all done.... but it had Wetzel information, not the high school information that I now need. So now I'm scrambling to get it all re-done ASAP (major sucko), and some information I can't actually get until tomorrow at school. Oy. Oh well.... it'll get done.

A few teachers have already recruited me to help with projects and everyone is just super nice. And actually, the elementary teachers were all very nice, but my supervisor just acted like I wasn't there basically. I'm pretty sure she felt I was a threat to her. More power to me?

So I found out yesterday that the Wetzel teacher, let's call her Mrs. C., didn't even want me. She mentioned to J. how she didn't want an intern and that it's so much extra work to have an intern.

Might I note that part of becoming an educator is this whole internship/student teaching with an experienced teacher. In order to become an educator, an experienced educator had to help you out. So, it's common courtesy to do the same for people who are learning to be educators. It's a cycle. You educate people of all ages, whether it's elementary, high school, or adult students learning to become teachers. Oh Em Gee. ;)

Okay, so. Two girls are student teaching at Wetzel (where I was for those whopping 1 1/2 weeks) and will be there the entire time. I found out today that Mrs. C. was in a REALLY good mood today. (We never saw her in a good mood previously, fyi.) She was obviously glad to be rid of me. One student teacher went to get books for her kindergarten class next week, and Mrs. C. helped her pick out LOTS of books. Wth? She started asking her how she was, what she needed help with, etc.

Mrs. C. also apparently sent an email out to all the Wetzel folks... except Liz and Sallie (the student teachers there). She consciously had to leave them out of the e-mail. Student teachers are put onto the e-mail list of whatever school they are at. So, for instance, I could send an e-mail to every single teacher and staff member at Wetzel, just by typing in "#Wetzel" to the recipients box. She must've typed different teachers' email addresses in one at a time or something to leave my fellow student teachers out of the email. I wonder what that email said.

Oh well again. I am better off not being there, but I just can't stop thinking about those students and how they are not getting a good elementary library experience. I also feel bad for the teachers there. The media specialist is supposed to be a resource to the school. He/she is supposed to collaborate with the classroom teachers. I tried to do that. I think she felt threatened by that. I could tell the teachers were excited to have a young, enthusiastic future media specialist there who was going to work with them. I feel bad that I can no longer do that... I hope they are not mad.

Anyhow, tomorrow is Friday. I get to learn about J.'s overdue policies and sending notices out. Alright!

Today ruled!... but started off on a stinker note.

The day started off not great. I was still tired. I just can't get enough sleep at night considering I have to get up so early. Anyhow, school sucked because I just kept stepping on my teacher's toes. I just can't do things that way she does them apparently. And by that I mean she doesn't do anything. And I actually want to do something and interact with students.

A first grade class was in. Their teacher has been teaching them about non-fiction. She had my teacher read a non-fiction book about a famous African American. The class was already antsy and distracted after having a fire-drill in the middle of their library time. *By the way, this class actually gets to visit the library once a week during the middle of the morning...for at least 30-40 minutes, while the other classes only visit for 15 minutes at the beginning or end of the school day. That is IF they even visit. So weird and sad.* Anyhow, while students were selecting books, I offered help to some of the kids but they didn't take me up on it. Their teacher said, "Let her help you if you need help. That's why she's here." After that, some students asked me for help.

One little boy wanted a book about sharks. I said, "Okay! Do you know where those would be? " He didn't know. So I said, "You can find it in the section we were talking about today. Do you remember what that was?" He didn't remember. So I told him it's in the non-fiction section. So we started to walk over to the non-fiction section, and my teacher stopped me. She informed me that they aren't allowed to check out from the non-fiction. They can only check out from the picture books.

A seven-year-old boy can't check out a book about sharks?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I was pissed.

So then I had to tell this little boy he couldn't check a book about sharks out, but that he could come back on his own later today or tomorrow and check one out. Apparently she thinks it will be too disorderly if they can check out non-fiction while the class is there, so they have to do it on their own time.

Does this also sound a little lazy to you?

So I felt bad about this. Another boy walks up to me and wanted a Star Wars book. Silly me for thinking I can work with him using the catalog computer. So we go over to a catalog computer and look up "Star Wars." We found two picture books (the only kind they can check out, remember) and they were checked in. I work with him to get to the place on the shelf where they are.... They weren't there. Shit. After looking for a minute he told me two kids in his class had checked some out last week. AHA! They were just checked in and still on the cart behind the circulation desk!

I worked my way back behind the desk to get the books off the cart. The library aide informs me there's a Star Wars book on the cart. Well, no dip, lady. I know how libraries work. I've been going to school for it for four years now. Plus I've worked in one for 2 1/2 years. And this is your first time EVER working in a library and you shelve things wrong. Then I find the other book as she's starting to point it out to me. I already knew it was on that cart. I just said, "I know" and NOT with a smile on face as I usually wear.

I go to the little boy and present him the two books to choose from. He quickly made his choice and got in line to check-out. My teacher starts explaining to me why her idiotic rules are in place. The first grade teacher was also surprised to learn they cannot check out non-fiction books. I could tell by the look on her face she was not thrilled and found it absolutely ridiculous too. I was also told they can't use the computer to look up a book. I was so livid after this... and I was so sad and mad for the children's sake! Those poor kids are getting such an awful elementary library experience. I wish they could check out things they wanted and that their librarian was fun and nice and had a personality. I hope they someday like libraries. This school library, though, is hurting that chance. I was so mad I had to walk away for a moment to gather my cool.

So after a while I was able to make my way over to the first grade teacher. I thanked her for encouraging her students to let me help them. I also apologized for the class being disorderly if it was my fault. I explained that I did not know they were not allowed to check out non-fiction or use the catalog computer. She was on my side. She said, "Yeah, neither did I!" The look on her face said it all. That made me feel better.

After they left, I basically got told I was the reason the class was disorderly and that I threw off their entire routine. Of course my teacher doesn't have the balls to actually tell me it was my fault. That pissed me off even more. If she would've just said it, rather than being so passive aggressive, I wouldn't have been so pissed. I am so glad I am not like her. Seeing her and how teachers respond toward her make me much more confident in my abilities to be a school librarian someday soon (hopefully).

Later that day I stepped on her toes AGAIN. I just couldn't do anything right today apparently. I'd told her Mrs. R. invited me to the yearbook club meeting after school to see what it's about and maybe get involved with it. I told her this and asked if it was okay if I went to Mrs. R.'s room at 2:30 for this meeting. Normally teachers leave at 2:40, you see. She said that was perfectly fine. So when it was almost 2:30 and I was gathering my things up, I said, "See you in the morning!" even with a smile on my face and cheer in my voice. She surprisingly exclaimed, "Okay!!?" I said, "I'm sorry, is that not okay?" And she said it was fine. I don't know why she was so taken aback by it... we'd already talked about it! Does she have a screw loose?

I couldn't wait to get out of there. I hurried away scolding myself at everything that happened today, dreading coming back tomorrow to a really awkward situation.

Yearbook was fine and Mrs. R. told me I didn't need to stay the whole time. So I made my up the hill and then down the road to the Middle School/High School. My supervising teacher, Dr. J., there (for my second half of the semester) wanted me to drop by sometime this week. When I arrived, she asked, "Can we talk off the record?" I said, "Suure!" as we made our way to a back corner.

There, we talked about how awful the elementary librarian is and how I am learning nothing. By sending that e-mail out to the teachers, I'm TRYING to create work for myself.. That's not how student teaching is supposed to be. Dr. J. told me when she found out I was coming, she e-mailed the elementary librarian saying, "YAYY!!! We have an intern!!" That librarian responded by saying she didn't even ask for one and, "Did you see all the extra work we have to do??" She didn't even want me.

J. was wanting us to talk with Terry to see if I could just go to the other elementary school, Smith, for the rest of these eight weeks (where there is a good librarian who would like to have me!) and then go to the high school. Or maybe I could just do the rest of my weeks at the high school with her. She called Terry on the spot, right there. They talked about how the Wetzel situation is just not good for me and that I am learning nothing. Even though I am earning a K-12th grade teaching degree, it would at least be better for me to have full time of good experience at the high school, rather than half good experience at the high school and a worthless experience at that elementary. Terry agreed straight away.

When J. hung up the phone, she exclaimed, "You report here tomorrow morning!" I was thrilled! I was so excited. I haven't stopped smiling since 3:15 this afternoon. I am so excited to go to the high school. J. is so awesome.

As we were walking out the library doors, I mentioned that maybe the Smith librarian would let me observe her a couple times or something. J. even mentioned that it might be arranged I could go Smith maybe one day a week or something similar. That would be awesome. Stay posted for more info as that may or may not develop!

She also told me not to worry about my first teacher's feelings. She said they weren't worth it.. especially because she didn't even want an intern in the first place. She also said not to worry about contacting her. She would do it all and explain there was a miscommunication or mistake or something and that I'll just be at the high school from now on.

I couldn't be happier. today started off awful but ended as the best day yet!

MLK and Day 1 of Week 2

Yesterday was MLK Day, so we had that off school. Yeah! Slept in until 10:30, woke up to my roommate making a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. She made me one too, what a sweetheart. Then I fell back asleep on the couch until 12:15. After being awake for about 5 minutes I was informed that Kaye would be here in 15 minutes to take us to the grocery if we wanted to go. And we did want to go.

So we went to the Commissary and a German grocery store in Baumholder. Got some things for the week and also got some different cheeses and some Greek yogurt at the Germany grocery. It was a successful trip.

We didn't do much all day, and it was great. We made some fish and chips for dinner. We watched a movie. I uploaded and captioned pictures. Then I wrote a blog from the weekend and added pictures onto that. All of that took all evening and night. I just worked on it while we were doing other stuff. Got to bed kind of late last night. Oh well.

Today was the first day of the second week of student teaching. It's a short week since we had Monday off! I sent the email out to teachers letting them know who I am and that I'm available for help with research projects, special projects, reading a story, or doing a book talk. I received some great responses.. and really soon after I sent the email out, too! I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Terry took Liz, Sallie, Al, and me to the post office after school. After that, we came back to my apartment for a Tuesday with Terry meeting. We talked about a lot of stuff and we all are feeling stressed out. I don't think I would feel so bad if I knew what was going on with my student teaching. It's going to be hard to do the big unit project being at each school for only half the time and not having a whole lot to do. Hopefully it'll work itself out.

We're starting to plan weekend trips again. Stressful, but I can't wait for them.

We ate tortellini for dinner tonight, baguette and cheese. We're watching Love Actually right now, but I really just kind of want to go read too.

Terrific, Totally Tight Trip to Trier

DAY ONE: JANUARY 15

Kaye drove a few of us to the trainstation at 7:40 Saturday morning so we could begin our journey to Trier. Frau Nelson drove her car and a couple of us; she was able to park her car for free at the train station. In total, there were six of us going to Trier: Quintin, Al, Frau Nelson, Jenna, Emma, and myself. We had a blast. We arrived at the train station around 8:15 or so...we got a bit of a late start. The train came at 8:32. It was awfully chilly outside, but not too bad. It was probably in the 30s, making its way up to the 40s. We had a kind of chilly day with overcast skies. We switched trains in Saarbrucke to get to Trier.

When we got to Trier around 11, we walked around. I was immediately in love with the architecture styles throughout history in this big town. It was quiet, yet a lot was happening; there were quite a few people there but yet it was quiet. I knew it was going to be a relaxing weekend.

After walking around for a while seeing neighborhoods and St. Maximin church, we found ourselves at the majestic Porta Nigra. It seemed to pop into view suddenly and I was excited--I love ruins. Porta Nigra was the main gate into the city of Trier when it was the second headquarters of the Roman Empire about 2,000 years ago. The Porta Nigra protected the northern part of the town. Once you walk through the giant doorways into the town, it reminds you of the opening scene from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It's kind of like streets, but there aren't many cars. Many of the streets are bricks or stones, people are walking everywhere, the buildings are gorgeous. Just very picturesque.

We were having trouble deciding where to eat and we were very hungry. We ended up eating at a great, well-priced Italian Restaurant called Fornalli Ristorante. I ate some gorgonzola penne, and it was fabulous. I also drank a Fanta. Fanta is Europe is SO good. I have been itching to have one! And I got my fix. It was so good.

After lunch, we walked around a saw a lot of neat buildings and churches. We went into a church called St. Gangolf. We ended up splitting into two groups. I was with Terry (Frau Nelson), Jenna, and Al. We were trying to get to some ancient ruins, but got lost in a neighborhood or two. It was really interesting to see an average neighborhood, though. We also saw a big cathedral, St. Matthews. St. Matthew is the patron saint of Trier. We saw Karl Marx's house. We did get to see the Roman Bridge that is still in use too. We finally found our way and saw the Roman baths, called Barbarathermen. We saw the outside of the bigger Roman baths: Kaiserthermen. We also saw the Sudallee.... we aren't sure what it is. Perhaps a cistern. These pictures are of the inside and outside of St. Gangolf.

This is a creepy building we saw and we aren't sure what it is. Because of the sign outside, we know it was only in use during WWII. We wonder if it was a prison. During our walk to find the ruins and baths and what not, we found Karl Marx's house.

We were supposed to meet Quintin and Emma at 4 at the hostel we were to stay at, but we were running late and got there around 4:20. Luckily Emma and Quintin had gotten there and checked in. The three of us got checked in (18 euros a night, not bad for a really nice youth hostel) and put our stuff in our room. We had a six-person room for five people. The owners didn't think anyone else would come tonight. We had a key to our room, so we took our valuables with us but left our clothes in the room. We took Terry to her hotel... and we got lost again. We were tired, we were hungry.. but we at least had a beautiful sunset to enjoy. We got to Terry's hotel and she got checked in after waiting forever for a person to come to the front desk.

She dropped her stuff off in her room and we went looking for a place to eat. We had trouble finding anything right there. Her hotel was basically right across from the train station. We went to this weird kabob place, but only Al got dinner. We all just got something to drink and shared some fries. Then we left, and Terry was wanting another beer... but we couldn't find any place! So she and Emma got a burger at Burger King. Al, Jenna, and I got some gelato at a shop right next door. Then we ended up looking for this place recommended to us by the desk person at Terry's hotel. When we finally found it, we realized it was a night club that wasn't even open. So Terry went back to her hotel and we decided to walk around to find a pub. Some of us could get food and we could all have a drink. We were just having problems finding anyplace!

We all had to use the bathroom really bad, and this posh hotel let us use their's. They were odd bathrooms. Funny signs on the doors to let you know guys or gals, sexy silhouettes on the stall doors, apparently naked pictures of women above the urinals, and an open area at the sinks where you could see a man's hands in front of you at the sink. It was so strange. After that, we found a little pub called Alt Trier where we each had one drink. By this time, it was probably only 8 or so, but we went back to our hostel. We all got into our pajamas, got ready for bed, and played a few hands of cards. Crazy eights and Egyptian Rat Screw. And a round of Bullsh*t that I did not partake in.

After that we all got into our beds and decided to play Truth or Dare. It ended up just being Truth, but we had so much fun. We did this for hours... until at least 12:30 a.m. We talked about all kinds of things about ourselves. One person would ask a question and everyone had to answer. We took turns asking questions. It was so fun and we really got to know more about each other. Then we told ghost stories and got ourselves creeped out. It was a really fun night.

DAY TWO: January 16

The weather was gorgeous!! It was sunny and the skies were blue with white, puffy clouds. Part of the afternoon, I didn't even wear a jacket.

We got up around 8:45 in the morning, and I was the first to hop in the shower. Because I didn't even think to take a towel, I had to use my pillowcase. If you paid a little extra, they gave you sheets and a pillowcase. All we had to do was strip the beds in the morning and take the linens downstairs. The hostel was either called Zum Hostel or Hille's Hostel.. there were two signs. We met Terry at her hotel around 10 a.m.

We then ventured to the Dom, which is a church Constantine had built. It is very old and Romanesque style. Connected to it is a Gothic style church that was built later on. We even went inside and saw a little bit of a Catholic church service. By this point we were pretty hungry, so we ate at a little place called Zur Steipe that was very nice inside and very good prices. We had a very authentic, delicious German breakfast, which consisted of rolls, cream cheese, different lunch meats, cheese, and a little bit of lettuce and a little wedge of tomato. I had a cappuccino to drink. Very nice way to start off the day.

We all went our separate ways after breakfast. Jenna and Frau Nelson stuck together around the town center areas, Emma and Quintin rushed off to see things they didn't see the day before, and then Al and I went together to see things we didn't see from the day before. Al and I both kind of go at a comfortable, medium pace and take time to look at the things we want to see. We first went into Constantine's Basilica/Konstantin Basilika. It was so old and so cool. It was built in the early 4th Century, probably about 305. It was once Constantine's throne room. During the 1790s, the French used it as barracks. Now, it is still used for services and baptisms, etc. It costs nothing to go inside.

We went right next door to Kurfursliches Palais. It is a beautiful palace that is pink with white and gold trim. It reminds me of something from Marie Antoinette era. It was probably built in the 1600s or 1700s. Right from the garden areas at the palace you can see the Kaiserthermen, which is the giant bathhouse.

Since we'd seen the outside of the Kaiserthermen the day before, we went to the Amphitheater since it was further away. We had to pay only 2,10 euros to get into the Amphitheater. It was really, really cool. You can also go underneath. When you stand down in the main stage area, because of the design the acoustics are fabulous. You can just talk and your voice is so loud and projects and echoes up to the top. We had a lot of fun.

After that, we made our way back to the Kaiserthermen bathhouse and went in for only 2,10 euros. Because we have International Student ID cards, we are able to get into places for cheaper or for free. Inside was SO cool. There are all kinds of tunnels and rooms underneath to explore. We stayed there for quite a long time.

We both wanted to go up inside the Porta Nigra, so we made our back back to the front of the main town area to do that. It was close to where we were supposed to meet everyone at 3. Terry happened to be sitting at a table very near to the Porta Nigra, so we left our stuff with her and paid to get inside. It was also only 2,10 euros to get in. That was quite a site also. There are three different levels to climb up to. Inside, there is so much intricate stone work, and it was built about 2,000 years ago. I took tons of pictures during the whole weekend.

We all met up around 3 or shortly after to get to our train. I grabbed a bratwurst from a vendor that just opens up to the sidewalk. I knew I would get hungry by the time we got back to Baumholder. The train we wanted to take was to leave at 4:01, but we must've found a train that left a bit earlier that was heading to the same place. So we left around 3:50. We got into the last car and went to the upstairs area. Little did we know that was first class. Oops. We were a little afraid we'd gotten on the wrong kind of train because it seemed to be moving much faster than the one we'd taken to Trier. When the man came around to check out tickets, he informed us ours were not for first class so we had to move seats. It was comical, but relieving to find out we were on the right kind of train and would not be kicked off!

So we moved downstairs to a little empty car with enough seats for the six of us. When the train stopped, we moved into a more comfortable car. The doors shut very quickly, and my hands got stuck in a door. It was awful. It didn't hurt really, but I could not get my hands out to press the button on the door to open it. I kept asking someone to press the button but no one would. Quintin was behind me and he finally realized what was going on, so he pressed the button on my door to open it. Geesh!

The train stopped in Saarbrucke where we were to switch, and we had about a 50 minute way until our train left for Neubrucke. We went into a little convenient type store that reminds me of a pharmacy, but without the pharmacy part. I bought a package of Germany candy that I still have not opened. We saw some nasty hotdogs of different sizes in jars. It was disgusting.

We got to Neubrucke around 6:30 p.m. and Kaye was there to pick us up. We drove back to Baumholder and could not wait to take showers! We all did that and then Emma and Al came to my and Jenna's apartment to watch A League of Their Own. It was a nice time. Then we watched Now and Then. It was a fabulous weekend trip with great memories.