Die erste Woche [the first week]

 One week has passed since I boarded a plane in Bozeman, Montana, and took off for Frankfurt, Germany (with one stop in Atlanta on the way over, which was phenomenally relaxing).

I'm still working out exactly how I want this blog to serve my (and your!) needs and how often I'll log in to post something. I'm hoping that over the course of the next ten months I can collect a series of funny stories, comparisons, contrasts and other observations to share with you, but sometimes this blog is just going to be a travel blog. And for today, I'm just going to post a little bit about my past week in the Rhine-Main region of Germany.

So, here's the set-up: my fiancée Alice was a exchange student seven years ago in this region, and she's stayed super close with her host family. Her host sister Evelin, in fact, came to visit us last summer with her boyfriend Andreas, and so this week they returned the favor by hosting us at there apartment in Alzey, Germany (Alzey lies just south of Mainz in the Frankfurt metropolitan area in the southwest part of the country).

Andreas and Evelin discovering American portion control at the movie theater last year in Bozeman.

Alice reunited this week with her sister Evelin.

Andreas providing me with a much needed Döner--more on this shortly!

To give you a taste of what Alice and I were up to this week, I'll provide one highlight for each day of the week (And I'll go ahead and rule out German sweets now, so that you don't have to read a blog about what Paul had for dessert all week).

Montag [Monday]

I had three very German meals. 

1. Frühstück [breakfast]: in true German style, we pigged out on bread, salami, cheese, Nutella, jelly, honey, smoothies, orange juice and coffee. 

2. Mittagessen [lunch]: Döner--as pictured above. This piece of German-Turkish amazingness deserves its own post.

3. Abendessen [dinner]: Onion schnitzel with fries. It was der Hammer [the bomb].

Tuesday [Dienstag]

I checked another state capital off the list. 

The ritzy part of Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hesse.

Germany has 16 federal states, and I've been to 14 of them so far (soon to be 15 after orientation in Cologne). It shouldn't be a problem for me to make it to that 16th state of Saarland this year, so I'm upping the ante and trying to make it to every state capital in Germany. We spent Monday exploring the state capital of Wiesbaden, and  then  Friday in its twin city (and another capital) Mainz, which means I have six more capitals to go! (Düsseldorf, Erfurt, Hannover, Magdeburg, Saarbrücken & Schwerin await.)

Mittwoch [Wednesday]

I met another Fulbright scholar/Chicago Teach for America corp member.

Enjoying lunch in downtown Frankfurt with Whitney.

Next summer after Fulbright, I'm moving to Chicago to begin my two-year commitment with Teach for America. It just so happens that Whitney has the same three years ahead of her. Alice and I headed into Frankfurt to meet her in the flesh. We had a blast, and Whitney was awesome, of course. 

Donnerstag [Thursday]

I met another Paul with German-Russian heritage.

Paul, Paul and Andreas.

Evelin and Andreas took us out to burger restaurant with their friends Jenny and Paul. Paul was born in Russia, and Jessie also comes from a German-Russian family. What was really cool was to find out that all of our families were part of the Volga Russians that left Germany to farm the plains of Russia hundreds of year ago. Obviously, my relatives ended up in America, and theirs eventually came back to Germany. 

Freitag [Friday]

I hung out with little German kids. 

Eating Nachtisch [dessert] with the girls

After a summer of working with younger kids at the Boys and Girls Club, I, crazily enough, have been missing the company of children. Evelin's sister and her two little daughters came over and we made pizzas together. I've never spoken German with kids this young before (ages 5 and 2), but I got such a kick out of it. After lots of asking, the shyer, older daughter finally told me the one word she knew in English: "no."

Samstag [Saturday]

I visited a castle on the Rhine.

Just hanging out at a castle.

No need for further explanation. 

Sonntag [Sonntag]

I had a nice last evening in Alzey. 

Last night with Andreas and Evelin. Photo credit: Alice

We had such great hosts in Andreas and Evelin, and it was a very relaxing way to transition to Germany. Tomorrow the adventure continues as we take of for Cologne for orientation!