So the past week has not been too exciting; just another week in Germany.
Thursday evening I gave myself food poisoning on accident by eating moldy raw mushrooms on my salad. I realized it early Friday morning and my body was very upset with me. It made for a rough few hours... I have realized that things just don't keep in the fridge as long here. Grocery shopping only once a week is not practical because the refrigerators are small and the food has less preservatives. We actually go to the store two or even three times a week.
Friday night Ryan and I made it to Fruhlingsfest downtown for a bit just to walk around. The festival is exactly what I hoped it would be. There is a flea market, tons of rides, beer vendors, game booths, fair food, three massive beer tents, a traditional German area, and thousands of happy Germans in trocken (lederhosen and dirndl). We walked around the fair in a mild drizzle, had currywurst and a mushroom dish with bread dumpling, and had a beer on a spinning bar. The round bar was raised on a platform and spinning very slowly so you could enjoy a beer and watch the crowd. The Stuttgarter Hofbrau Festival beer is honestly not that great though. I find it to be a bitter boring ale and will stick to Hefeweizen.
Saturday was a pretty relaxing day of running errands in the rain. In the evening we attempted to party like the local youth. A group of 15 or so trainees got together for drinks at an apartment around 8 pm. Due to the Bulls game that went into double or triple overtime or something, we made it out much later than planned and seven of us boarded a train at midnight to head to Theodor-Huess-Strasse (the bar and club street downtown). Our first stop was a bar called Muttermilch (literal translation is Breast Milk) and it ended up being our only stop. Even though it was members-only night, the bouncer let us in because I tried to speak German, told him with a very disappointed face that we were Americans and because we were all dressed to go out. The drinks weren't horribly overpriced but the bar was packed. Breast Milk was described in my magazine as being a "hang out" bar but on a Saturday night it is the place to drink and dance. We only made it to 2 am and were in bed by 3:30 but it was a fun evening.
I had the day off Tuesday so I watched TV, cleaned and started packing my suitcase for next week. The weather was absolute garbage and I was feeling pretty restless so I walked to a gym, one of three gyms I think in Boeblingen. I was prepared to pay the daily fee to use the equipment but the owner with muscular arms the size of my thigh told me that I could have a "taste" and use the gym for free. I thoroughly enjoyed my two hour workout and cherished every moment of sweating out my frustrations. I was intimidated being the only female in the club but successfully figured out how to change the language of the cardio equipment to English. The other challenge was figuring out how much weight to lift on the machines and what to use in regards to free weights because everything was kilograms. Luckily I remembered the conversion for some reason (2.2 lbs in a Kg).
Wednesday was Labour Day or May Day, a German public holiday here so just about everything was closed and Ryan was off work. Unfortunately the family I work for works on an American military base which follows US holidays so I had to watch Ladell all day. My walk to the train station at 6:00 am was absolutely silent. The streets were empty and bakeries closed. However, there was much liveliness on the Boeblingen train platform. There were probably 50 young drunk men in groups still up from the party the night before. When my train passed through the Stadtmitte and Hauptbanhof Station in the city I noticed that the party was still going on there too. There were drunk people passed out everywhere, police patrolling the area, people cheering and yelling, and garbage and beer bottles littering the floor. I had heard that the German youth enjoys going out the night before a public holiday but I guess the evening before May Day is Walpurgisnacht or "Witches Night" and is a whole different kind of party. Young people go around drinking, partying, and playing pranks on their neighbors and even pranks on public property is tolerated. Young men can also erect their May Pole in their girlfriend's yards to propose.
Since all of the trainees with Bosch had off work, we made arrangements to reserve a table at a beer tent at Fruhlingsfest beginning at 2 pm for beer and chicken. I packed my dirndl, changed while Ladell napped, and met up with everyone at 4:30 pm. Most of them were already two Liters of beer in so I had some catching up to do. It was a blast! Pretty much every German and his mother, father, sister, brother, nephew, etc. was at the festival but our tent was not overly crowded. There are three tents total that each seat over a 1,000 or something. There is the Stuttgarter Hofbrau main tent (crazy lightshow and techno music), the chicken tent (more traditional German songs), and another tent which was very crowded with teenagers. I am glad that we were in the chicken tent and thoroughly enjoyed the old German music. Everyone was on the benches dancing, drinking, and laughing. So two Liters of beer in giant German mugs and a half chicken with bread is included in your reservation. The beer was great and the chicken was delicious but definitely not enough food when one is drinking at a rapid rate. Most of us went out of the tent to get snacks at some point. As the clock approached 8:00 pm, the group was dispersing and some of the guys thought it would be a great idea to ride a carnival ride. I was all in and slightly disappointed when they decided to do the swings. Well these are not just normal swings, they are crazy German carnival swings and I thought I was going to die. We went way high and super fast. It was a great view of the fair, definitely worth the four Euros, and gave me a new respect for a swing ride.
So Ryan and I get to have more fun at Fruhlingsfest when we do it all again with his coworkers next Tuesday. I am very excited!
Today is Thursday and it was a pretty simple day. Ryan and I were both excited to have our faucet in the kitchen sink fixed but it is now actually in a worse state of uselessness. Since we have moved in, the faucet dispenses a trickle of ice cold water so we have been boiling water in a kettle from the bathroom to do dishes. The plumber came today, took apart out faucet, and left us with a faucet that dispenses a light mist. Now what are we supposed to do until he orders the new parts which might be in a month. The sink should be in tip-top shape by the time we leave in August.
Side note - I have officially survived nine months without a microwave and three months without a clothes dryer. First world problems are the worst.
For dinner tonight, Ryan and I stopped at our favorite place for Doner Kebab. Since we had a car full of groceries, Ryan parked on the street and I ran in to order our sandwiches to-go. Unfortunately they were out of our favorite sauce but since I told the owner that we come to his restaurant because his sauce is the best in town, he promised me extra sauce next time. He thanked me for the business, complimented me on my German skills, and told me that I was a pretty girl. The Doner was still delicious but the orange sauce makes it superb!
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