natelia: Meeting the others.

Sunshine through the trees

Aside from Saturday's Beerfest, I have not done much of anything this past weekend (unless you count watching True Blood and laying out to work on my tan as notable activities). The few things I did do to prepare for the trip (SEVEN DAYS LEFT) include cat-proofing my living arrangements (when I'm away, the kitties get restless), shopping for some clothing essentials and slowly increasing my dairy intake (from none, to a little bit) so as to avoid getting seriously sick when I am in Europe.

This evening found me at the house of a future trip companion; the group we will be traveling with for the second half of our tour gathered together for an orientation and potluck, where we did introductions, went over trip information, and were given trip materials (such as a book of facts about Germany [courtesy of the German Consolate], travel tags and backpacks). I already knew six of my traveling companions (although sadly, Elia couldn't join us tonight), but the remaining seven were strangers to me. However, all of us were in some way or another connected to Renate, our fearless leader, who teaches both French and German language courses at the junior college, and for a few, this wouldn't be the first trip they have gone on with her. There are also an overwhelming amount of ladies on this trip; in fact, we outnumber the fellows 10-to-3. But who knows what the group we're meeting up with in Berlin (26 high schoolers from Texas) will be like...

Jesse engaged in reading all about Germany

Of course, the best part about our meal was the food: four kinds of salads, Käsespätzle (a favourite German food, second only to Spargel in my mind), a sauerkraut and meat dish, and some delicious looking desserts that I didn't even have room for. I had to head out early, but it was a great start to what is certain to be a fantastic trip.