2 Month Checkup

We've been happily living as expats for two months now, so I thought it appropriate to documents my thoughts on what I'm thinking is still the 'honeymoon' phase. The weather's lovely and summer is in full swing here in Frankfurt, complete with festivals, bike rides, and picnics galore. I'm glad we moved when we did so that I could have ample time to fall in love with this city, this culture  (which I have.)

What I'm loving right now: 

--Staying out late on the weekdays-- joining the rest of the city in the mass migration towards parks/river banks to partake in picnics and drink bottles of cheap wine.

 Going to the grocery store hungry = purchase of too much junk food

--Drinking my normal afternoon iced coffee with a not-so-normal bonus lump of vanilla ice cream

--the friends we've made; our willingness to try new things, to be able to text each other and be meeting up within 30 minutes because our schedules are just. that. open.

We dubbed ourselves the "HausFraus" (house wives) this week. I think we'll keep it. 

-Planning for upcoming travel adventures with Annie & Mike's parents

-GERMAN FOOD! It's 10:15 and my mouth is watering for some schnitzel. Actually, today is Friday, which means I'll meet Mike for lunch at the Friday market for the best bratwurst and potato salad we've found thus far.


Different Routines:

-- We stay up WAAAAY late now, at least till midnight (gasp!) At 'home' we were in bed by nine, and it was really hard for us to gather up energy to do anything on week days. Not anymore.

-Trivia night! I'm loving our new Monday night event, even if I can only contribute two answers in four rounds

-- Traveling on weekends-- No weekend will be left behind. Each is carefully planned out with places in need of exploring

--Meeting Mike for lunch during the week


I totally miss: 

--My teacher friends

--Parentals

--The beach... and St. Augustine summers in general

-- Diego (!!!)

--Spicy food... particularly of the Mexican variety (food just isn't spicy here...)


I didn't quite know what to expect when moving here, but so far, it's quite lovely. 

My goals for this next month are to hunker down and learn more German, make it to the beach, and maybe (maybe?) exercise some more.

:)

We Found a Castle (a.k.a. Awkward Picture Day)

Sunday began pleasantly enough. We boarded the U-Bahn with our bikes, and headed out to Kronberg, a sleepy town without much to do (especially because Sunday, everything is closed.) We found a country music block party (more line dancers!) and some cute German buildings. 

Then we started riding uphill. And more uphill. And then I had a meltdown from riding uphill which included a few choice words and a slight tantrum...

But then we stopped here so I could get over my pouting. 

(Mike was gracious enough to walk his bike with me without complaint up the rest of the incline, 

a gesture I found quite endearing.) 

We finally reached Konigstein and parked our bikes.The day was saved!

We lost ourselves for the next couple of hours exploring the ruins of a long-forgotten castle... its surprisingly chilly cellars, stairs leading to nowhere, and massive tower with an expansive view of the city. It was quiet, and we could check out wherever we wanted. 

Mike scaled some walls (we need to take this boy climbing for real...) 

Climbed up a ton of stairs for a view over the town and clear to Frankfurt. It was lovely.

And now for the "Awkward Family Photos" portion of this post: 

Michael misses the 'let's take jumping pictures' memo--

 ...and then he ends up with pterodactyl hands

We're in a cave. It's cold. And we can't see a dang thing until the camera lights up. 

This would have been a nice picture. Except I look like I'm on the toilet. 

Michael is cleaning off my bag after hocked a loogie on it.

"I thought it was a rock! It was camouflaged!" 

Michael wants to start a blog that features pictures of people taking pictures with iPads. 

He finds it hilarious. 

As you can see, I'm really excited to be here. 

More adventures to come this weekend!

A Week's Worth

Last week was chock full of spontaneity and an abandonment of the routines I painstakingly established  the two weeks prior. Before, I was waking up and enjoying coffee over the Bible. Exercising. Being productive. Blogging.

Last week, none of that happened.

Monday
Michael and I found ourselves out late 4 out of 5 weeknights last week, which again threw off the routines we set but was worth it. Monday nights are now reserved for a trivia team we've joined (go team Schnitzengiggles!) and although we're both pretty awful at all things trivia, it's a fantastic time and something to look forward to. The two questions I knew last week were "What book of the Bible were the 10 Commandments given?" and I could name the song that was playing as N'Sync while most Germans chose Backstreet Boys. I win. Our team won, which was incredibly satisfying even if I really didn't contribute.

Terrible picture, but worth posting because I nearly got our team in trouble for having my cell phone out. Whoops. 

Tuesday
I believe it was the warm sunshine that beckoned to greater things, places to explore, bathing suits to be reunited with. I sought out a lake with a friend who grew up in Orlando and, like me, was in need of some Vitamin D and sunburns. And even though the lake was a filled up quarry (meaning heavy machinery views on the horizon) and the 'sand' was more like chalky dirt, my heart sang as I found my happy place soaking up the sun sans sunscreen and cooling off with quick dips into the lake.

Tuesday night we decided to try out this huge event with an international meetup group. There ended up being waaaay too many people in a tiny space, and quite a few members of an older set looking to find a companion, so we started our own party on the riverbank and bought cheap beers from a nearby market. Much better... although we did re-enter the venue to hit up the dance floor, which played fantastic hits such as "Dame mas gasolina" twice, "Suavamente," and "Gangham Style." We were there more for the people watching, which was epic.

Wednesday
I was all lazy in the morning; by noon I had summoned up the desire to get out of my PJs and out into the real world to be productive. I then received a text from Martha which said, "Want to go to the zoo?" Um, let me check my (empty) schedule... YES! So we walked down to the zoo which ended up being really awesome as far as zoos go. It was filled with baby animals-- good thing the boys weren't there, because we had all the time in the world to stare and squeal and take a million pictures of all the babies. Afterwards we stuffed ourselves silly with pizza and gnocchi and IPAs. I'd call it a good day.

Thursday
I don't remember Thursday. But I believe we took it easy after all of our social events earlier on in the week.

Friday
Met Michael for lunch at our new favorite Friday spot, a farmer's market type deal that has the BEST bratwurst we've found thus far. Afterwards I met up with a girl I'd met at the Tuesday night event for eiskaffee and we decided to randomly hop on the touristy "Apfelwein" train, but after finding it doesn't run on Fridays, went for the sightseeing boat instead. It was lame. But we had fun anyways.

Boat view. Nothing spectacular.. same view can be seen from bridges. 

Squeezing the life out of summer-- even if it looks a little different, the same desire to do everything outside and with ice cream in hand is still there. 

Enjoy your week!

Rudesheim am Rhine

Have you ever imagined yourself cruising down the Rhine river, 

stopping off in the little towns to experience a bit of German culture and romance?

We experienced just a taste this weekend on an impromptu visit to Rudesheim, one of the towns on the Southern end of the Rhine itinerary.

It was one of those "I-can't-believe-I-live-here" days. 

And Rudesheim supposedly isn't the prettiest town on the Rhine?! You mean, there's better than this?

I don't know about that. 

We had no agenda, no sites to check off the list. 

Just hopped off the train and started walking the streets of this quaint little town. 

Liken it to walking around St. Augustine. It was busy, but not in an annoying way. Mostly tourist shops and biergardens. Stopped for ice cream, of course, my new daily habit. 

Meandered through the yard of the wine museum.

We took a cable car to the top, savoring the views of the surrounding vineyards and towns.

Had to have a glass of Riesling at the top-- I was afraid it'd be too sweet, but it wasn't sweet at all. I guess German Riesling is different than what I'm used to? I'll have to look into that. 

 I'm impressed, Germany. Truly, I am. 

Who is this guy?!

Ephesians 5:1-2
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

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These verses gave me goosebumps this morning and filled my insides with joy. I'm in the middle of a book on the character of Jesus...  I stole it from Annie a while ago and every time I picked it up, considering starting it, I hesitated because in my mind I thought, "Surely I know a lot about who He is; this is probably for people who are new to the faith."

I can be so lame sometimes.

I'm savoring every day of this study, because honestly, I'm realizing I don't know much about who Jesus really was. My mind carries this image of a bobble-head Jesus, with white robes and long flowing hair and a beard. He's also generally blond and blue eyed, always smiling gently, and maybe he's quiet and hugging children. Kinda weak and effeminate, honestly. Maybe I imagine this because there's this giant, somewhat creepy painting of Jesus taking up a huge wall in the back of my childhood church that kind of embodies this kind of Jesus...

Okay, not blond and blue eyed, but definitely creepy with that mustache and pointy beard and sketchy eyes

As I'm still in the beginning stages of this study, and it's encouraging me to imagine Jesus as a.. well.. real person. He didn't start really being all Jesusy until he was in his 30s, so what the heck was his life like before that? I mean, he was a child who I imagine played with neighbor kids, the adults watching him grow into a teenager and eventually a mature young guy. He scraped his knees, played with his sisters and brothers, watched his earthly daddy work and eventually learned the trade of carpentry. He had a sense of humor and was probably one of those guys that people just loved being around. (I have friends like that!) He ate meals, probably had friends he hung out with, went to the market, helped his mom make dinner... I dunno? Does this make sense? Were his siblings annoyed by him and that he never got into trouble? I would have been. Did girls think he was cute? Did people think it was weird to be 30 and not married, since, you know, they got married at, like, 15? Did his mom and dad look at him and wonder when he was going to embody the whole 'savior' part of the deal that God told them about 30 years ago? Can you imagine the pressure Mary felt to raise the son of God right? Ugh, I can't even imagine what it would be like, every decision wondering if that was the right choice or what.

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People are willing to listen to you when they have some sort of respect for you, or they admire qualities that you possess. Like teachers; the kids connect and want to learn when you get down on their level and make whatever it is you're trying to show them relevant to their lives. I think Jesus was like this... not some super-religious dude who was holier-than-thou and unable to get his hands dirty. He got down on our level and was like us. With all our crap... he was just one of those guys you wanted to be friends with. That's why people listened to him. He didn't have to stand on the street corners and tell people they were doing it wrong and going to Hell if they didn't repent of their evil ways. 

I mean, hellloooo, Jesus wasn't white. and the Bible says not particularly attractive, either. This picture blew my freakin' mind when I first saw it. Jesus was dark-skinned? Whaaaaaaat? And why isn't he smiling/laughing/crying/emo like all the other pictures of Jesus?

Jesus loved being with people, and usually the kinds of people that were kind of rough. (Maybe like people you'd find at Walmart?) His parents were poor, children, really. When he was born, the announcement was first made to shepherds, dirty people on the fringes of society. He was born in a BARN. Which smelled like poop. He didn't care what society thought and talked to the people most hated... tax collectors, prostitutes, people with leprosy.

My image of him is so skewed; I love this study because it's helping to unravel (UM, I just spelled that word with two As... TEACHER FRIENDS AHHHH) my misconceptions of Him being a person that is so 'above' us. But really, He was just like us, just with a supernatural ability to not give a crap about what people think so he could pour into people who needed love the most.

I want to love like that, to 'keep company with God' and to

 'learn a life of love.' 

Thanks for sticking with my ramblings. Writing helps me sort through my own thoughts; hopefully it will encourage you to challenge your own views on who the heck Jesus was. Do you see Him as a bobble head, too, and not someone whose life you could actually emulate? Maybe grab Beth Moore's book, appropriately titled, "Jesus," and try to figure life out with me...