(an I-love-my-life moment)

The rollar coaster of being abroad continues.

Spring is coming and I can already tell it's going to change my life completely. I think it's going to make everything not so goddamn depressing.

I've finally been interested in taking walks again. Exercise and sunshine make everything so much better. If I'm depressed when I leave the house, I'm not depressed when I come back.

I'm starting to remember why I love Berlin so much. I leave the house and within 20 minutes I've found something weird.

On my last walk I found a outside petting zoo that just takes donations. Today I was also lucky enough to find a good cup of coffee and a view of the TV Tower and river. Not so weird, but still great.

There's also this amazing smell. I don't know if it's the grass or dirt or throw up that's not covered by the snow anymore or a mix of all three plus dog poop, but whatever it is it reminds me of what I think of as my crazy Berlin days, which may or may not have been so crazy.

I never remember the weather affecting me as much as it has this year. I get depressed and I think, why? Whyowhyowhyowhy, I don't want to be depressed. Then I think, oh hey, the sun hasn't shown it's bloddy face in OVER TWO WEEKS MAYBE THAT'S WHY.

But that's all different now. Now the weater is just going crazy. It's raining, it's snowing, it's sunny, it's cloudy. Usually it's doing at least three of those things at once. Sometimes it's schneeregen (sleet-ing?). I teach the kids "it's raining cats and dogs". They laugh. I cry.

My favorite fruits and vegetables are getting better and cheaper. And since in Europe it's the law that you go grocery shopping every day this makes a pretty big impact on my life.

(homemade salsa. homemade by me. be astound)

I've been pissed at both German and English lately and have mostly tried not to speak at all. This has proved to be difficult, but people seem to like me more.

(Germans: this is one of those things we Americans call a "joke" or "Witz" in your language. Now start taking some initiative and start recognizing them yourself. You don't have to laugh or anything crazy like that, just make a small polite smile.)

Italy!

Let's talk about the most important part first. Food and drink.

I stayed with an Italian friend of mine and we drank about 5 or 6 espressos a day. Normally I drink tea in the morning, so this is crazy. I would normally get a macchiato, espresso with a bit of milk. This or espresso is normally 80 or 90 cents!

At this machine below espresso was only 45 cents...and it was good.

For breakfast they normally eat something sweet like a cookie (biscotti, but just a cookie, not like our biscotti) and espresso. This, to a person who thinks a combination of protein and carbohydrates is very important in the morning, sounds crazy. But hey, cookies!

Wine is more common than in Germany and people may go from wine bar to wine bar drinking house wines and eating these things...

And they may eat a Frittelle with an espresso (which will be called a caffè)

Then they might be so weird as to get bread from a vending machine.

(ahem)

Everything else was just really beautiful. We visited a couple different cities.

This is Bassano...

Padova...




(Biggest square in Europe apparently)

Italy (Venice and around Venice) is beautiful! Who would have thought?!

Venice...

(This is the very famous "Bridge of Sighs", some people think it's called that in a romantic way but it's because it's the way to the prison. The advertisements ruined it for me.)



(This is my favorite)


(Great lady)

Carnival was starting while I was there. On my last day in Venice there were people wearing masks everywhere. Carnival is only once a year, but apparently the stores selling masks see enough tourists that they're always open.

And to end my great week in Italy...a carnival party.



When does my Italian class start? Where do I apply for scholarships?

Christmas

(Yes, that's Sauerkraut!)

Christmas Day

Snow - After Christmas

New Years

Aftermath

New Year's Eve was actually pretty dangerous. I'm now thankful for how many fireworks are illegal in Minnesota. Drunk+fire=bad.

The last of Thanksgiving and Fall before Christmas and Winter

Is it winter? I'm still going to open market today. It's December, there's no snow. People are still eating Kürbis (Pumpkin). I'm wondering if the extra batter for my pumpkin pie is still good or where I could find somethings that purees and what that has to do with questioning whether or not it's winter.

Today I'm going back to Boxxi today for some cheap fresh fruits and vegetables and I'll hopefully be back for the Trödelmarkt (flo market) tomorrow. These pictures are from two weeks ago.

(Cheese and More...)(123 grams of More please!)
(I love the way this guy to the left is looking at me and how I didn't notice it at the time.)


(I also like how this guy isn't looking at me )

And here's the last post about Thanksgiving. Here are some of my favorites of the hand-Turkeys the kids drew at school. They're supper awesome and I had them hanging up in my apartment for the big day. I may or may not give them back (well, ok, I'll give them back, I promised.)

(An American artist wanted to buy this one, but he couldn't afford it)