Garmisch

Hello all! I have just returned from an adventurous trip to Garmish (located about an hour south of Munich, right at the southern tip of Germany). We left after school Friday and made the 3 hour drive in time to  sit around the fire making smores. Someone who arrived before us had attempted to make our jobs easier and put a tent up for myself and Mary (she is a Truman grad from 08 who now teaches in Vilseck). The thing was too small for us to fit in the cots she had brought and a little lopsided so the first night was spent sleeping on the ground and was a little rough. I still can not get over how much the temperature drops at night. It was about 40 degrees that first night and I could not get warm. But, such is the life of a camper.

We spent all of yesterday hiking through the Alps. We started by traveling through a beautiful gorge (see pictures on facebook!). That trek wasn't so bad so I fooled myself into thinking hiking in the mountains was no big deal. Boy was I wrong. We hiked up and up until we reached a Biergarten where we stopped for drinks and a snack. I had a Nuremburger wurst. It had a white casing and was seasoned with what looked like basil. Looked kind of scary, but it was good! We then continued higher up the mountain until we came to another restaurant. One of my mentor's friend's boyfriend owns the place and met us with smiling faces and shots of schnapps for all! Huzzah! We had been hiking for about 5 hours at that point so we decided to take a gondola down (not the kind that goes in water, the kind that is hanging on a thin line by a clip making for a very  questionable ride down the giant mountain). It was a gorgeous day. The gorge was a bit scary because it involves navigating through a narrow, slippery ledge where people are stopping at random for pictures and pushing you from both directions. The two women that did that part of the hike with me did not seem to realize that these beautiful sites were all new to me, so they essentially ran through that part of the hike and I caught up later. I have never really been on a hike so I was very worried that I wouldn't be in shape for it. It was much more than I expected considering we were with dogs and children but I did not have to stop unless the group did. I was really proud of myself for doing it! See, we would be more fit as Americans if only we had beautiful sites like the Alps to hike through! It was really long, but beautiful afternoon.

We ended the night by going to an Indian restaurant to celebrate the 40th birthday of one of the teachers on the trip. Everyone ordered something different and we passed things around and tried it. It was my first time having Indian food. I ordered some chicken in a tomato and butter sauce served over rice. It was really good! I also had nan and DUCK! It was a great night spent laughing and sharing food and stories. We had a private dining room complete with a cake and a sparkler to light it up!We all slept like rocks that night. Mary and I moved into a bigger, nicer tent with my mentor teacher and her partner. We had room for the cots so we were off the ground which made for a much warmer, restful night.

It rained all day today. It was disappointing, but we were happy we at least had yesterday to enjoy the great weather and views of Garmisch. We decided to spend the day at the indoor schwimbad (swimming pool). This is not your typical indoor pool where there is one area to swim and a baby pool. They have a large, "cool" pool that turns into a tide pool for 15 minutes of every hour. They have 2 children's pools, a hot tub, a sauna, and a hot pool where you can relax. There were 5 diving boards, all of various, but rather high heights. They also have 2 water slides, one that is straight down like the green one at Hurricane Harbor. I went down it. My butt still hurts and I screamed like a little girl the whole way down but I did it! It was a fun and different way to spend the day. Germans love these schwimbads. They have one in virtually every town and they are always so busy. Again, why doesn't America have more things like this? Water aerobics are great!

We headed back to camp for "linner". All but one family in the group decided to pack up the cars and head back a night early, my group included. Just made more sense to sleep in our warm, dry beds and be able to get things done tomorrow. For those who have been asking, baby Kate did pass early Saturday morning. Paige's sister has decided she would like her to come the week after this one so she will have someone there after everyone else has to leave. So I will be working with Paige this week to get planned for when she is gone. It is good that Kate is no longer suffering and that she is at home with God. Please continue to keep Paige and her family in your prayers as they deal with their incomprehensible loss. She seemed to enjoy the weekend away, surrounded by people she loves.

First weekend trip was a success! Next weekend, Berlin! But first, a week full of the stuff I came here to do :) Hope all is well! Thanks for keeping up!