It's Only Up From Here

Yes, Its been about 3 weeks since my last however my week days have been very busy  and the past weekends used to adjust and travel to Berlin; and I mean I finally have time to actually blog after a bomb at the train station (second found this year) was found. waiting for my LAST language class at the library to start. Stars in Babelsberg. "Its, beginning to look alot like Christmas" My Advent Calendar. Each day you open the numbered section that corresponds with the day and eat your treat. Having Tapas at a restaurant in the city with my Spanish class We have also had our first snow/rain (sleet) of the year, the weather tends to stay between -1 and 5C.. Not too bad. My Christmas break begins tomorrow!! Its crazy to think almost half of my exchange is over.

New Palace, estate of Frederick the Great. Also known as the last great Prussian baroque Palace. On the top is 3 people holding up a crown. This Saturday, Nick, a student also on my program came up to visit me. Although unsure with timing and such, we eventually realized we would be able to spend the say together. At first we were like: we are meeting at 10am, we'll probably walk around for a little and the day will fly by; however we ended up gunning it and the time was moving slowly or us walking too swiftly ahah as we managed to walk all of Potsdam and Babelsberg by 6:00 plus eat two doners (and my local guy remembered me SCORE) each and walk around Kaufland because what junk food does "bio company sell?" The Flatowturm, only the start-shaped moat and building have survived the years. The Neo-Gothic Belvedere  attached to the tower was added after the towers completion. The Brandenburg Gate, and the Christmas tree and market behind it. ...

This past weekend (November 7-(9)) was cause for celebration in Berlin. In remembrance of the fall of the Berlin wall just 25 years ago on top of politician and guest speakers; there were performances and little concerts in the city (the largest by the Brandenburg Gate where my group was unfortunately denied access because the park was TOO FULL.) anyways we were able to get a great spot by the Reichstag and watch the releasing of the balloons (most of them.. we did see countless pedestrians walk around the city and take balloons and walk off with them that went around the perimeter of the city where the wall once stood. Being next to the Berlin Wall gives a feeling that is honestly unexplainable (not bad nor good... just a mix of all at once and just a tad overwhelming). Walking around the Museum Island and subsequently its markets that I personally never knew existed with just about any type of good you could want from cooking-ware to pens and souvenirs. ...

Yes, It's a miracle, I'm still alive *insert applause*. Originally aka this whole break I was saying I would update on the whole break at once which I will do now with an overview however I am regretting this now! Somewhere between the lack of sleep and the anticipation of school plus no haircut in about two months (tried to end the streak yesterday but the shop shut down literally as soon as I got there) has me re-thinking so come next break I WILL MOST DEFINITELY STILL POST ONCE A WEEK. So.. I attempted to get the pictures up today, however they aren't working because of the file conversion, I guess my computer is having a bad day. 1.) Attending a fellow FLAG CBYX'rs birthday party, spending the night and getting a tour by boat of "New Venice" which is an area of Berlin connected by a fairly large canal system; courtesy of his neighbor. 2.) Volkswagen factory, not many photos because cameras and all that aren't allowed in most areas. 3.) Braunsch...

Well, the title says it all. This whole time I was under the impression that our Oktober break began this week (Yes, even with my planner and mobile calender I still got my dates mixed up.) So I actually have one more week until it begins. Also I was going for a nice auburn color to write this blog due to the season but.. I couldn't find it xD This past week hasn't been too crazy and I've had plenty of time to study and reflect on my time here thus far.  Thursday was the school "Probierstube" aka talent show and it was probably one of the best showcases and  definitely one of the most organized I have seen. Even though it took place in such a small area (our cafeteria) which is another reason on top of the increasing amount of staff and students that the school is once again expanding its campus and in the process of constructing another building. The show amazed mostly due to the musical talent for example 5th graders who were playing Bach or watching a middle...

WW2 bomb found in Potsdam last week? Yep and no big deal, just can't use a few streets for a couple hours, woopty do! Anyways,  this weekend following a short week due to the German National Reunification Day. Starting with our early 3 hour morning ride to Szczecin, Poland ( which, by the way, is so Americanized with KFC and Shell gas stations almost everywhere and of course McDonalds) to pick up furniture and then a 3 hour drive across  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to Rostock. Poland was okay, my first-impression wasn't great as soon as we crossed the border we went from smooth Autobahn roads to bumpy streets and abandoned buildings which I mostly overlooked due to the new language and later learned that Poland has their own currency and doesn't use the Euro YET. Throughout the 3 days we basically built the kitchen from scratch and then assembled tables, chairs and shelves which was pretty fun ( I love feeling like I'm doing something.) We also took a little time to s...

Hopefully this color doesn't hurt your eyes! This week ( a B week in school) has been just as active as the previous, so I will give a few highlights. * Language Course. * Exploring and buying doughnuts from a foreign market. * Early out day at school (left at 11:30.) * Asking for directions to a film store and getting a bio-metric photo * Meeting and gardening at host-grandparents. *  Spending a night and half a day in my host family's cabin * Gardening and house work at the cabin * Beginning to read my first German books This post will now cover two weeks as I was unable to publish due to a 3- day cold (from headaches and coughs to nosebleeds.) Anyways, I am better now. Just the Autobahn On Saturday we drove about 2 hours to the Hanseatic city of Rostock where we moved furniture into an apartment for my host-siblings. We will go back next week to finish the rest. While in Rostock I caught a nice view of the Baltic and a billboard saying Denma...

This first week has been very busy! Lets start with last Saturday: Saturday began early with a 6:00 WAKE-UP, in which we all woke up for our last meal in the Kloster which filled us before we grabbed our bags and headed to the Bahnhof in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. After arriving to the station early and dealing with a few incidents including a man hailing Hitler at one of our group members, and an evacuation due to a bomb threat (unaccompanied luggage) that was handled calmly and orderly considering the Bahnhof has no security other than a few patrol officers. Following the continuous delays and our free-time to explore: just as we learned we would return to the Kloster, the Bahnhof re-opened and the large Cologne/ Hannover group was rushed to their train. Just as the rest of us ( East, South and Northerners) were going to head to our train; a group arrived which lead to a mix up and checks t see if someone missed their train which led to us missing ours and because the...

As you are aware I have been at language camp for a while now and so far the experience has been great!!. Sometimes I miss home but I know I have a lot of supporters.  I was very grateful to receive some letters from my Host Family. danke!    Here are a few Photos of what my kloster/campus has to offer.... das wohnzimmer (sitting room/den) What is Language Camp without a lesson??   PLAYED IT! After class and preparation, we have to still make room for fun xD   Just to give you an idea of the age of my Kloster (Monastery) Here are a few of Historic objects that are found throughout the halls.  (How many of them do you recall?) der Kutsche (Horsedrawn carraige) die Nahmachine (sewing machine) das Waschepresse (laundry press) Well there you have it just a liitle glimps of history! Tomorrow I will head out on another field trip so I look forward to sharing this with you over the weekend..

Ohhh come on!!!! As many pages that are in my passport book you managed to restamp a stamped page (really!) When I arrived in Germany the Customs lady stamped my PERU page : (     darn On our way to Hedersleben, I realized just how green the German countryside was.....                             After getting settled in and taking a tour of our Campus.  It was dinner time, I must say that Schnitzel was the Scnizzel (Fantastic!!) The next morning for breakfast we had bread and cheese before heading to class for the first time.  Day 1 we covered the alphabet and numbers or shall I say (Alphabet und Zahlen) after being in class I realized just how difficult it must have been for my non-spanish speaking groupmates when we were in Peru. (I'm not conquered it's only been the first week)  We got word that we would be taking a field trip to the town of Quedlinburg which would cost 1...

 A Journey of a lifetime...has already begun. It's official! I'm 16 and going to Germany On Friday I departed California for Maryland (nicknamed the Old Line State.) After two flights; No complementary beverage, and a seat by the plane's engine : ( I arrived at BWI and was swiftly greeted by my grandparents! After grabbing my luggage we headed to their house (about 20-30 minutes away) where two of my cousins awaited my arrival  (Chris who I haven't seen in almost 2 years and Alena). After catching up with all of them, Chris and I sat around an chatted for a bit (as growing cousins do). I whatsapped with my Mom and a few group mates until I finally fell asleep at about 3:00 am (the result of sleeping through both plane rides.) On Saturday I woke up to a nice breakfast (bacon, eggs & biscuits) I headed to the outlet mall with my Uncle A.T and cousins for a bit. When we returned I relaxed watched a bit of tennis, I was then surprised to see My other cousi...

Well followers,              My time has ended in Peru an I would like to share just a few more exciting moments.  If you remember when I begun this journey it was for Community Service and I did that, however I will say it was far more than.  Community Service, it was like a home away from home.  The people of our town (Pallata) will always remain in my heart and mind.    The clouds hover Peru on a daily but what a great sight to see.... I told you all that the view was great!!!! That's right y'all, I've made it to Huaynapicchu, What a hike!!!  Kristin, Kelly and I as we reach Huaynapicchu, Yaay!!!! This is one of many great views while hiking to Huaynapicchu & Machu Picchu My group with Maribell, Freddy (Got to give love to the cook), Miguel (The Man who knows how to keep things in order, "On Peruvian Time" lol) & Feliciano (Who showed us ho...

It's the weekend, everyone so I'm back!!!!      I want to Thank everyone for checking out my blog, I am still looking forward to your questions or comments.  However, until I get some I guess that means I am keeping you informed.  This week has been a busy work week for us  Just a little glimpse of our upcoming market for the village Don't mind me, I'm paying attention.  after all this is our lunch. It was being prepared the Andean way of Pachamanka. (lamb,chicken and a Variety of potatoes) Yum!! The smell was divine. After we returned back to work, we decided to take a look at how our market would actually work, Here are a few villagers selling their homemade goods that we can use as keepsakes. BEAUTIFUL!!!! is all I can say about the village that I'm living in, Look at the view.... We finished out our week with a bonfire that Feliciano and Miguel made for us.  We also had a change to...