From cats to doughnut holes

Since I only have 5 weeks left in Germany, I figured I had better give you all another update before I leave! A lot has happened in the space between my last email and this one, so I am afraid that I must pick and choose my stories to tell or else this email could get ridiculously long. In continuing with the themes of blind cats, soccer, and work, I will give everyone a brief update.

I haven’t had much time (or patience) to stop by Ute and Mattias’ house lately, but I did haphazardly stumble upon them (again) one morning while on a run. While Ute was filling me in on the latest happenings of her life, including a new orangish-brownish-blondish hair color, I heard Mattias meow in the distance. He was attached to a retractable leash and I had figured that he meowed because he had circled 3 or 4 trees and could no longer move. Well, Ute thought differently proclaiming: “He has found another Pfifferling!” I thought she was talking about some little bug or something, but no- to my total shock, Mattias had found a chanterelle- an orange-fungus that smells kind of like apricots. In other words, that blind cat does find mushrooms! It was at that point that I began to question my own sanity…Blind. Cat. Finds. Mushrooms. For. Lady. With. Hair. Of. Tiger. Chanterelles are delicious, by the way.

As far as the soccer team goes, it now goes without me. I was kicked off in April because I am considered a semi-professional, having played for a division 3 soccer team in college. In my opinion, it probably doesn’t take a semi professional 3 full days to recover after a game, but none the less, I had to leave. I am now afraid to even go close to Zähringen, where my team club is located, because I single handedly caused my team to go immediately into last place. That’s right, as a fine- they had to forgo all points earned for every game I played in, (3 for a win, 1 for each goal). On the bright side, they would have probably finished 3rd to last anyways.

With the job, everything is starting to finish up. I still bring beans to work, and have now adopted the lunchtime name “Eliza the Mesoamerican.” My last day is in 3 weeks (woo hoo!) and then I’m free to roam about wherever I please. Nothing is set in stone, but I do have rollerblading to France on my mind right now. Oh, and rollerblading here is considered cool, just to let all of you haters out there know.

To fill in some of the gaps between now and waaay back in the last email…
-I have briefly travelled back to the states- where I settled a dispute between a homeless man and another man in the Philadelphia train station with the use of doughnut holes.
-I attended my program’s final seminar in Berlin, where we were graced by Angela Merkel’s appearance (Chancellor of Germany). I also met the US Ambassador to Germany and his lovely translator (said in a sarcastic tone because I believe the US Ambassador to Germany should speak German) .
-I stayed in an ancient wood cabin in the heart of the black forest for a weekend. The house is owned by the forestry department and can only be rented by foresters, so my roommate (forester) rented it out for his birthday. In attendance: Pig on a spit, 10 crates of beer, 25 foresters, about 6 Black Forest cakes, and maybe 40 sausages. The only thing somewhat healthy at the party was fruit, which was soaked in schnapps.
-I witnessed the biggest cultural event of my time in Germany: A traditional carpenter (Zimmermann) embarking on his 3 year wanderjahr. As tradition holds, before they go they must be outfitted with a single gold hoop earring. The piercing is made with a hammer and a nail! In his case, it was done on a wooden stump.

Oh, to conclude this email, I have a job when I get back to the states (woo hoo)! Just to quickly sum it up (because this email is getting really long)- I am the new Cranberry Isles Sustainability Fellow for Greater Cranberry and Little Cranberry Islands, located off the coast of Maine (combined population: 120). It is my job to make the islands “green.” To be quite honest, I am really scared and picture this job to be something along the lines of “Survivor” on CBS. Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well and I will be back in the states on July 17th!

Take Care,
-Deutcheliza