Ansbach and Wurzburg

This being our first week in the country and next week being our first 40 hour work week it was suggested to only do day trips this weekend. Which actually works perfectly because it gave us the opportunity to see Ansbach, our town, and to figure out the train system on a short trip to Wurzburg with less pressure.


Saturday afternoon we decided to head into town after not hearing anything from the girls out at Illesheim, I have NO idea how to spell that, our base decided to head into town. A quick taxi ride dropped us off in the middle of everything, at the castle. Which was less than impressive and under some construction. Ansbach is actually a pretty small town. We walked ALL over it with no problem. Don't get me wrong my feet are SORE, but it wasn't like trying to walk from one end of Davenport to the other! As my group of girls were getting done checking out the train station we ran into the our friends from Ill. I think I'll call the other base Ill. for short! It's prefect! Anyway we spent the rest of the night together and finished the evening at an Irish Pub in town. It was a fun evening.


Sunday was a much more organized trip. We decided to go to a Wine Fest in Wurzburg with both bases of girls. That's eleven people to walk around with...it's a lot of people to keep track of! We were to meet up at the Wurzburg train station around noon, but turns out we connected with them while on the train! So off we went. The wine fest was good for some awesome food! I had a bratwrust on a bun, a crepe with Nutella, and a glass of "sweet" wine for lunch! It was delicious! There is a castle, the residence, and a fortress in Wurzburg. We made it to the Fortress. It was a LONG climb up through a grape yard to get there! It felt like my first weekend in Heidelberg! I was pretty surprised that I made it all the way up. By the time we got done there it was time to head back to the train station. Wurzburg was a fun city to walk around, but I could have taken a tram back to the train because my legs were like jelly! And now my legs are quivering and cramping from all the abuse! Time to find someone to take me to the Commissary for Aleve and/or Mortin IB!

Oh yeah...here's some of what we did all week!

I guess I have neglected to mention some of what we have been up to in our "off" hours around here! Monday was the day we landed so basically we came back to base and crashed but Tuesday was a little better. After work we were taken for a quick Commissary trip and then spent the evening all having dinner together. We had wanted to go bowling but the ally was closed on Tuesdays. Instead we went bowling on Wednesday night. It was fun, but we only managed one round because there were so many of us it was taking FOREVER! But it was nice to check out what seems like the ONLY spot on base that is open after 7pm! On Thursday night everyone, except me went and had some fun on the playground here on base. Apparently there is a MONSTER of a metal slide down the road a bit. So they had fun, but I was too tired and there was...you know...a really interesting part of my book...bad on me I know! But really it was just one outing that I missed! Friday night I took the trip to the German store and the half of our friends were moved to the other location. I think the girls in the apartment above us went out and about on base for the evening, but my apartment all stayed in and chatted because we all signed up to work on Saturday. I can't imagine what we'll be up to next week!

Deutschland at last!

So here I am finishing my first week in Germany, otherwise known as Deutschland! I have had more jet lag this trip than I remember from any other...however, this may have something to do with the week long marathon of paperwork and training meetings. I have never sat around so much at the start of any trip.

There are 6 other girls living and working with me here on Katterbach Base and 6 more girls working on another base about 40 minutes away. We trained together all week and had a pretty good time getting use to the base. We hope to travel together on weekends even though we are now apart! My roommates are Kelly, from Missouri; and Erin, from California. Yes there will be two Erins this semester! I'm the only Iowa girl this time around. There are three girls living above us all from California, they are Janeel, Ally, and Rebecca.

Today I observed all day at the CDC and had a really great time. I started my day with the an Infant room, the babies were really lively and happy. Then I went to a Toddler room and watched the chaos that is Lunch. Then I had my own lunch, it's so nice to be able to spend your hour break at the apartment! After lunch I looked in on a Pre-School room, another Toddler room, and I ended the day in another Infant room. It was a LONG day, but it was fun to visit the different age groups!

After work our Camp Adventure "leader" took my roommate and me to the local German grocery store. Long story short we are supposed to shop on the Economy (AKA Germany); but will probably be able to beg privileges to the Commissary from our co-workers. But since I never really felt like I was LIVING in Germany last time around I decided to embrace the rules and head out...I may have been completely out of food with no other options at the time as well. It worked pretty well, I got mostly basics, but nothing that is going to last forever or anything. I tried German mayonnaise, which turned out okay, as well as some pre-packaged lunch meat. Both were better than expected; however the meat only came with two servings and no way to re-seal to I had two sandwiches for dinner along with some delicious tiny green grapes and Pepsi Light!!! We are supposed to be able to get a weekly ride to German store, I think I'll be able to live with that!

I'm digging in and starting work right away tomorrow. They have a special thing going on and needed extra help and since both my roommates volunteered I thought I should too! It'll be a short day only 4 or 5 hours, THANK GOD! I think after that we'll head into Ansbach to check things out and get a feel for the place. On Sunday we are thinking about going to Wurzburg for a wine festival! That whole plan could change, but I'm pretty excited to be getting off base.