Nadja. I’ve
been hanging out with her quite a bit. She asked a few of us to join her at the
movie, but everyone else bailed. Nobody else wanted to watch a movie in German,
but I didn’t really care. I figured I’d still understand the general story, and
be entertained by the visuals. Visuals: a couple pretty wicked fight scenes,
and more boobs and I’d expect from a movie back in the States. Aniol and Aina
met us after the movie for cruising around town. Michael joined us too
randomly. After climbing around Mathildenhöhe and dinner at Café Chaos, we
called it a night.
Nadja and I
were on bikes so we took the long way home. She would rather be outside at
night than in a bar. She does have a favorite bar, but I haven’t been there
yet. We rode the pump track in the park, then climbed a tree. Yep, she asked if
I knew of a playground nearby but settled for a tree. We hung out in the tree
until it got too cold, then headed home.
Our next
adventure was a long Sunday bike ride in Marburg. 47 km round trip from the
Hauptbahnof to the castle where we picnicked.
After the long day in Marburg, we headed back to her flat to hang out
for a bit and relax. She has a pretty cool spot all to herself on the top floor
of her building. Exposed beams and good views may cost her a bit more, but it’s
worth it.
These are the roads between downs. Some are dirt like this, and some are nicely paved. It's amazing to have such nice paths that get you out of town.
This area is pretty flat, so we could see the castle on the hill from far away.
Church in Amöneburg; where Jesus wears weird clothing.
Church interior (image found online.)
Lunch time below the old castle at Amöneburg
We layed out a blanket and hung out on that patch of dry land in the middle of the river. Not a bad place to take a break and give my butt a break from that horrible bike saddle.
It looks like Jesus is wearing a woman's nightie. Maybe that was the style 2000 years ago.
We stopped for a while along the river to take a nap and watch the clouds.
The weather
heated up here over the last couple days, and she invited me to go play
volleyball at a lake. I invited others again, but it didn’t really work out.
Maybe it was too short of a notice. We ended up riding a bit out of town to
Grube Prinz von Darmstadt. It’s a small lake outside of town where people like
to bathe nude. It’s a really cool spot. As you ride up to the lake from the
street, it’s all college people, and past the clump of trees, it’s the nude
zone. It doesn’t seem to bother people that there isn’t much separation between
the PG zone and the Nude zone. I don’t care. To each his/her own. The water
isn’t too clean. It’s no Nacimiento. We swam for a bit, which I didn’t expect.
I didn’t bring swim shorts so I swam in my regular shorts. It’s not a problem,
but I was cold for a long time afterward until I made a fire.
I had
brought a small bundle of wood that I had collected from Karlshof that would
make a good fire starter. I took the first run to gather bigger pieces of wood,
and she took the next 3. I was very proud of my fire. I brought my knife,
thank’s Vin for that awesome gift, and shaved some old wood for tinder. I only
used one small piece of newspaper, and not long after the first spark we had a
nice small fire going. Of course, I had brought the necessities for s’mores. I
didn’t have normal mallows, or graham crackers, but I found decent substitutes.
The marshmallows had a slight flavor to them, and they were in all sorts of odd
shapes. The crackers were low sugar butter cookies. Still, we made it work. I
sharpened a stick, but it was too short, so Nadja took my knife and made
another one. She insisted on doing it herself. She doesn’t like playing into
the “female” role. I can’t call her missy, and she doesn’t want me to carry all
her stuff. Gender roles are a big deal to her, so I have to watch out and not
treat her like a girly girl.
Again, we
initially thought it might be a group outing, but it ended up just the two of
us. I’m not complaining. We stayed out there pretty late and kept the fire
burning. We made s’mores and I even heated up a strawberry over the fire. It
was pretty good. I’ll be doing that again for sure. I also peeled open a
banana, slit it down the middle, and added chocolate. I set it on the top log
and let the chocolate melt. Again, the experiment was successful. Next time I
make a fire, I’m going to bring all kinds of food; crackers, cookies, fruits,
chocolate, peanut butter…. I think s’mores are just the tip of the iceberg.
Nobody does
a similar thing here in Germany. They don’t roast stuff on a stick. They bring
small portable BBQs and use charcoal. The night before I leave for Austria the
moon is at 99%, so I’d like to plan a night out by the lake and invite people
for swimming and s’mores. I think it could be super fun. Even if the water is a
bit gross, swimming is swimming and it’s just plain fun. The fire will make it
all better anyway.
I’m sitting
at school writing this. It’s 8:45pm and the lab is almost empty. I came here to
do work, and instead wrote this. German class was shitty today, and I could
barely stay awake. Nadja says I’m improving, but it doesn’t really feel like
it. I messed every sentence in my writing exercise today and on Tuesday. I need
to study German more. But I also need to work on Design more. But I hate not
knowing German. But I hate studying the material in class. I have my own
sentences I want to learn. I want to learn other vocabulary and verbs and
common phrases. “Ich muss auf Klo.” I have to pee. Or the less formal “Ich muss
pissen.” It is no piece of cake; “Ein Klacks.” I had to ask Nadja those ones.
She speaks to me in German a lot, and I feel bad for having to ask her to
repeat it, or say it in English. I think she appreciates it when I try to speak
German. I ask dumb questions, but I have to.
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