This is where I am right now, at this very moment.

I am in Normandy sitting on a patio watching Aaron chop wood. That is him down at the bottom of the hill. Also around are rabbits (I will post some pictures of the baby rabbits later) and chickens. Not pictured are ducks, the fish in the pond back there, pigs and quail. Also six cats and a dog.

Just so you don't think I am lazy I spent the morning in a different strawberry patch. Strawberries are becoming my helpx thing. Once Jennie and Kevin, the English people who live here in Normandy, heard I had some strawberry experience, it became my task. I will be a strawberry expert soon.

Also on the docket while in Normandy. Catching and eating fish, and perhaps killing a chicken or a rabbit and subsequently eating it. I don't know how I feel about the rabbit. They are so freaking cute, but we will see. I hear it makes a really good meal.

We also have picked dandelions for dandelion honey. It is an excellent way to use all those weeds that are in your lawn. We picked all the pedals off 400 dandelion heads, while I was sniffling like mad, and they are currently infusing in water for the night. We will make the rest tomorrow so I will let you know how that goes.

A note on Paris. It was wonderful. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. French people actually do walk around with baguettes which is great. And only one person was super snooty. Oddly enough it was the guy at the tourist information place where Aaron asked for a map. But the thing is, he asked in French, and the guy still looked like he couldn't be bothered. It was an ominous start, but things only exceeded our expectations from there. The weather was beautiful, high 60s, the flowers were out in full force. Paris is beautiful in April. Pictures to come later! But beware if you want to eat there, it is really pricey.

Normandy is also beautiful. Tomorrow we are going to the Normandy landing beaches and to the American cemetery where Aaron's great uncle is buried. It should be interesting.

I am going to oggle the baby bunnies for a while now.

Look at the pretty pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/rwummer/EuropeRomeNaplesTodiVeniceMunichGrossenhain#

A link to some of the nice pictures I took. Enjoy!

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Please read here for a fun and interesting little tid-bit of Berlin's history.

So Berlin has been really interesting to be in. Also, I am staying with Leah, one of my dearest friends from high school who moved to Berlin after college, so it has been really wonderful to see her, since she is mostly an ocean away from me most of the time. Berlin is a really interesting city with a history that is amazing.

We got here Monday and spent yesterday at museums that deal with the East and the West and saw Check Point Charlie where the USSR and American sectors came together. Today there is nothing more than a sign and a little building, but it is an important reminder nonetheless. There is also a museum we visited about all the escapes and escape attempts from the east to the west and some of them were really incredible. One such story was of a man whose wife lived in the east and he lived in the west. So in order to solve this dilemma he found a woman in the west who looked like his wife and after a while of dating her, married her. Then he stole her papers, went to the east, got his real wife and took her to the west. This is pretty crazy stuff to do. Also, I was wondering how the other woman felt, but the museum didn't focus on that. There were also many escapes with tunnels, secret compartments in cars, and one of two families in a hot air balloon. All amazing and crazy things to do.

I have been liking Germany very much. Also, I get spoken to a lot in German. I think Aaron and I look German. We definitely don't look Italian, so it is an interesting change.


Some other fun German tidbits:
1) They like to drink tea
2) There are pastry shops all over the place, which is great
3) Rules are generally well followed... Like people wait to cross the street and things of that nature.
4) People are friendly.


I am going to load pictures now.

Happy Easter

I hope you all are having a lovely easter. I hear it is unusually warm on the East Coast. It is normal warm for Northern Germany in early April.

Just a quick note... We dyed eggs and ate them for breakfast. The eggs are from the chickens here on the farm. They are really tasty. Also, the Easter Bunny comes to Germany as well and leaves little baskets outside your door full of little chocolates and dyed eggs. Then you eat, go for a bike ride, eat some more, have tea, play soccer, eat again with tea, play cards, use the internet. This will all be followed by a shower, more eating, and sleeping.

Also, there is normally a bon fire on the night before easter, but it was raining. We are holding ours after easter, probably on Tuesday.

Life is pretty tough right now, I am never even remotely hungry when the next meal is, yet I eat anyway. When the food is as fresh as it is here, one must eat a lot, afterall, you never know when the next meal will be. Actually it will probably be in about 40 minutes. We eat every four to five hours, just in case there isn't a tomorrow.

Now I must go shower, which happens a lot less often then eating.

I am alive, and I am in Germany

Happy April Fool's. Hopefully you weren't tricked too badly so far today. Anyway, a quick update.

Aaron and I arrived in Munich a while ago where we spent 8 days with his relatives. It was a really nice city and it was fun to meet some of the foreign relatives. We spent a day in the snowy alps and a few walking around Munich. I ate a doner, weiss werst (I don't know about the spelling of that) which is a white sausage that tastes pretty good. Also I had had lots of Hellis and Weiss beer. Both were good. I will get some pictures up of Munich in Berlin, our next stop.

Right now we are at a farm in Northern Germany, around Bremerhaven. We are staying with an older couple, two other helpXers, one is British and has been here for over a month, the other is French Canadian and arrived a few days before we did. So far I have become an experienced strawberry patch weeder and maintainer. It took me and another person four days to finish it. It is a lot of work, but it looks really nice now. The food here has also been great. Almost everything we eat they made themselves. Apple juice, apple wine, apple everything, all sorts of veggies that are canned or frozen... there is a lot more in the summer when it is growing season, but everything tastes really good now anyway.

Farming is fun when it is warm, like the last few days, around 60. Today has been really cold. Around 40. No fun, but we have had a lot of tea to keep warm. There are also sheep and chickens on the farm. That is interesting. The sheep baah a lot. It is pretty funny. They don't like the cold either.

I have been liking Germany a lot. The most noticiable differences from Italy are of timelyness. The Germans are on time, and don't cross the street without a signal. I am more at home with such rules and timelyness.

I think I have lost all ability to spell. My brain is too confused with trying to pick up bits of other languages. Ah well, I will remember it eventually.


So there is a jumbled update for you. Please excuse the spelling and disorganization.