Life

I have one word to say about the Delirious? concert: Awesome. Just awesome. Well, actually maybe I have another: Loud. Am I getting old? (Don't answer that, Andy!) It was really, really loud. But, I left without any broken toes and while I had no personal space whatsoever, really couldn't see anything happening on stage and smelled more body odors (none of which were my own, thank you!) than I would have preferred, it was still really, really awesome.

And in other small victories on the German front: I found eggs at the grocery yesterday. They were tucked away in the very back corner of the store (they're not refrigerated here). And as I was walking away with my little carton of eggs, I noticed that I had received the wonderful added gift of a chicken feather (yuck!). While I am not vegetarian in that I eat meat and animal byproducts (eggs, cheese, etc.), I quickly become a vegetarian when the source of my food becomes identifiable. This led to an enjoyable pastime for my brothers of discussing, during dinner, the source of our particular meal. Something like....."I wonder if this meat loaf came from a big cow or a small cow" or "What part of the cow does this cut of meat come from?" It was just lovely and something for which I will be forever grateful to them. (I think you don't even have to read between the lines there to detect the sarcasm.)

So last night I made brownies with the eggs....my Mom sent some mixes (yep, guilty of not making brownies from scratch) and we have a get-together later this afternoon to which I was asked to bring something....."maybe brownies?" (Question came from an American, although it's a German get-together.) I hope, I hope, I hope that they taste good. My oven here is different. It's a circulating air oven (literal translation from the German). So it bakes differently. They look okay, but a little flat. So we'll see how they turned out.

I just have to share that I'm currently drinking black licorice tea and it's absolutely delicious!! I was skeptical, but it's yummy. Just thought I'd let you know. :o)

Last Sunday, we went for a walk in the vineyards on the mountain. It was pretty cold, but we were well-bundled and it was so beautiful, because the leaves on the grape vines are changing color. And because we haven't had major frost, the grapes on the vine were still edible. David said that once the grapes have been harvested (which they already have), anything that's left can be picked by passers-by (normally you are not allowed to pick the grapes, unless you own the vine). He even said that they intentionally leave grapes on the vine, following the Biblical principle of leaving part of the crop for the widows and the poor to harvest themselves. I'm not sure if I believe that part, but he seemed pretty sincere about it. So we ate quite a few grapes during our walk, a really nice afternoon snack. Here are some pictures: