the trip into germany was nothing short of awful. first we (Mackenzie, Charli, and i) missed out bus out of Portage and arrived at the airport an hour late. apparently the international terminal at o'hare doesn't believe in letting you eat once you go through security, so that was annoying, too.
i ended up in the middle of a four seat aisle in the center of the plane. then i switched seats with someone... for a seat in the middle of a four seat aisle in the middle of the plane. the only good thing about the flight was the tv screen in the back of the seat in front of you that played any movie you wanted and also had video games and other things to do. that made the heat and cramped nature of the plane not quite as unbearable. i didn't end up sleeping a wink during the nine hour flight. i spent the entire time checking my watch and converting the time to different time zones of interest (central, easten, and European).
we finally landed in Paris where we had an almost five-hour layover. some people slept in the seats in the terminal; i curled up on the floor. i actually slept for about 4 minutes. my biggest accomplishment at the Paris airport was asking what gate our next flight would board at... but they didn't know. i used the euros from Logan's dad to buy Mackenzie and i some apples and water.
i was asleep before the second flight got to the runway. not much to say about that one.
Stuttgart was rather uneventful. no one lost luggage, we managed not to lose each other, and we didn't even get our passports stamped.
we've spent the last few days in Reutlingen (RT for short) getting used to the bus system, walking around town, and trying out the local bars. our professor bought us beer yesterday! it's definitely very different from Valpo. i'm not going crazy, though.
it's a long walk from our dorms to the downtown area. there are lighted footpaths, and going this way takes about 20 minutes. riding the bus takes only five, but we really don't want to get fat.... so we walk. also, i live on the seventh floor of my building, so getting to my room is a workout in itself.
i think i'm settling in well. the culture shock is nothing like Haiti, Mexico, etc. i'm sure i will feel homesick later, but i don't think i will be as culture-shocked as some of the people in my group who have never been anywhere outside of the US. i'm just trying to listen to people, speak the German i can, and soak in as much of the culture as possible. while it's different than the US here, it's so much more like the US than Haiti. things close at weird times, and people walk really close to you and don't stop for pedestrians, but everyone has a house and food and a job. i haven't seen a "bad" area yet. those places exist, but it's nothing like the tin roofs and malnutrition we've experienced in Haiti.
tomorrow we go to Tubingen, which is a unversity city about 10 minutes on the train from here. monday, we go to Berlin! there are a few museums i really want to see in Berlin, and we have two free days, so i'm very excited about that trip. i'll update when i get back (and hopefully i can put pictures on by then).
