Home Sweet Home

My plane landed in Atlanta yesterday at 4:15pm!!! I made it out of the airport at around 6:30pm and headed straight to my dad's house! I had a wonderful experience in Germany but I'm glad to be back home with my family and friends. The next few days will be full of spending time with family and friends. Next summer I am definitely planning to travel abroad again! Maybe Italy, maybe Africa...I'm not sure yet :)

End of the Program Cookout

Tonight we had our end of the program cookout. We had grilled pork chops, grilled sausage, baked potatoes, and a full salad bar. It was absolutely delicious! Germans are experts on the grill!! We also had a beer keg :) I won 7th place in the photo competition for this photo:

Wine Tasting

Last night the entire group attended a wine tasting at the restaurant across the street from our hotel. It was my first wine tasting and my first time ever really drinking wine. The vineyards the wine was made from are on Dragon's Mountain (we climbed it earlier in the program). We started out with dry wine and as the dinner progressed we ended with sweet wine. Everyone was drunk so we took a stroll along the Rhine River to calm down and then had some ice cream. I had sooo much fun but I'm paying for it today!

Fun with David's Family

David's brother is in the US Air Force and is stationed here in Germany. David's brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew came to visit over the weekend in Weimar! We had a blast!! His nephew, Denim, and niece, Jasmine, are ADORABLE!!! :) Pictured is me with david's sister-in-law and niece, David and his niece together, and his nephew Denim!

Buchenwald Concentration Camp

We visited Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Weimar on Monday. We were able to meet and speak with a man from Israel who traveled all the way to Germany with his son and brother because his grandfather was a prisoner at Buchenwald in the 1930s. Much of the camp has been torn down because of deterioration but pictured is the white experimentation table, surgical tools from the infirmary, the incinerators, the camp entrance and an original jeep used at the camp in the 1930s and 40s.

Cemetary Gardens in Weimar

One thing in Germany I find interesting is their beautiful cemeteries. They actually garden them. You would think walking through a cemetery would be creepy but it is actually very serene and peaceful...definitely the environment one would want to be laid to rest in! Pictured is a lady gardening a plot in a Weimar cemetery and some other beautifully gardened plots at the same cemetery.

New Photos Coming Tomorrow...

Sorry I haven't been able to upload any pictures!!! I left my lap top in Königswinter :( Tonight is our last night in Weimar; we are heading back Königswinter tomorrow. Tomorrow night we are having a wine tasting at a fabulous restaurant right across the street from our hotel. Thursday we are having final discussions and Friday is a free day plus cookout to celebrate the end of the program. I will be flying out of Frankfurt Saturday and I'll be back in the states Saturday night (Eastern Time!!!)!!! I will post new pictures when I get back to Königswinter tomorrow plus give everyone an update on our fieldtrips over the past week :)

Laundry Day

So today I officially ran out of clean clothes and there is no laundromat in Weimar. I went to Müeller's and bought a bottle of dish detergent, came back to my room, filled the sink up with hot water and went to work!! My hands now look like prunes!! I have my clothes hanging up all over the place air drying. Sometimes you do what you gotta do to get by!

In Weimar...

We arrived in Weimar Friday morning and then took a tour of the city. My instructor told us that we would have no internet access here but of course the entire group raised hell so guess what...we got access!!! Some of the group went to Munich for the weekend and some went to Prague. Me, David and Kyle stayed back in Weimar. Today Kyle and I are going SHOPPING...my favorite past time :) I also have to catch up on my journal entries...it is due to Dr. Noll, our program instructor, in a few days...YIKES! I get back to the states June 5 and then begin summer classes on June 10...FUN! I'm looking forward to a relaxing last weekend in Germany...

Last Night in Berlin

Tonight we are packing up and getting ready to move to the next city. Tomorrow we will be traveling to Weimar by train. On Friday we are taking a city tour of Dresden and Saturday and Sunday are free days. My roommate and I have been discussing going to Prague, Czech Republic for the free weekend but we are both exhausted from all the activities!