Sunday, April 17, 2011

Calling it Home

So now we have a new place to call home.

 

Okay, so maybe this isn't the exact address we call home, but I can claim it as a neighbor....sort of.  Well, I'm not even sure it's in the same zipcode I'm in, but it's close enough that we loaded up the kids after school one day, visited, looked around and were home for dinner.  That counts as a neighbor, right?

So The Herd has stampeded it's way into Germany, stirring up as much dust as possible in our wake.  The Army encourages us to "blend in" as much as possible....which we all (meaning military families living overseas) laugh at hysterically.  Even without an Army uniform, we stick out like sore thumbs.  My sweet Scratchy tries to blend in even adding the neccessary scarf to complete the look:

Too bad that all the locals stop and stare and point at her neon red hair.  She can be quite the spectical walking in the market.

Itchy, on the other hand, is just herself...she's too busy to be concerned with what others think and that probably makes her blend in the best.


The boys have adjusted well, stretching their airplane-cramped legs in their new environment.



There isn't much that has slowed us down.  We're adjusting to the new environment.  New people, new sounds, new sights, new smells, and new tastes.  It is sensory overload from time to time, but we manage.  When we first arrived it was exhausting.  A couple of hours in the market downtown left me drained, mentally, physically, emotionally.  But now it's not so hard.  I use my handful of German words and the locals are kind enough to help me learn a new one or two and use their (pretty extensive) English for me.  I can buy carrots and potatoes from the market with no help now!  Ein kilo karroten, bitte!  (One kilo of carrots, please--although I'm not sure my German spelling is as high speed as my German speaking!)  Not bad for 3 1/2 weeks.  Scratchy and I even ventured downtown on the bus by ourselves to buy produce yesterday.  She loves riding the bus.  It allows her to people watch and see the city from a slightly different view.  I like riding the bus because it means I don't have to park the Herd-mobile in the (tiny) parking garages downtown.  I am legal to drive in Germany, as I passed the driving test.  I occassionally drive over to the S family's house (they live off-post) and I drive around on our post but I have yet to brave the parking garages or the autoban....both make me a little nervous.  We have friends here that drive a Suburban.  Yes, the giant tank of a vehicle can be driven over here, but they don't take it into parking garages (it wouldn't clear the overhead clearance rail anyway) but they park it (parallel, no less) on the street.  So I'm sure one day I will take the Herd-mobile into town and live to tell about it.  Let's just hope our insurance company doesn't drop us after a few claims from scraping the van up on the concrete walls in the garages...

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