Caroline's Bday n' Such -By Ruth

9-17 12:20am

Happy Bday Caroline!! Tomorrow we will celebrate with a morning run and Friday with some cake at her au pair family's house. Friday we might go to an open stage drum circle at a coffee house, and top off the night with an 18 nightclub jaunt at Kultfabrik.

Today we landed on time (11am) & Caroline took us on the train to her studio. I was so exhausted I couldn't think straight! Jack caught a cold over the fight so he rested for a bit when we first arrived while Caroline and I took a short stroll around the blocks of her 'hood. At 1:30 Caroline rode her bike to work and I walked around the nighborhood streets. I bought sandwiches for Jack and me from a local bakery, wandered around a nearby garden and park, roamed through a grocery store, and sat on some benches to watch the scene. People were milling about all over - walking their dogs, pushing strollers, bicycling, running, etc. The city was abustling and it was a beautiful scene to witness. The weather couldn't have been nicer - a colorful, bright fall day in the 60s. After bringing Jack the sandwiches (a delicious salami and tasty fresh mozerella) we curled up together and took a nice, deep nap!


We awoke at 5pm, freshened up, and took a long walk to and through the Englischt Garten together. The city was very clean and very vibrant! Many people were riding bicyles. The architecture here is intricate and majestic! The city is very lush, the air very fresh. Many people drive smart cars (the small, electric cars).

At the park we watched surfers ride rushing waves that poured out from under a bridge on the river. There was SO MUCH activity at the park! Besides the surfers there were people jogging, bicycling, playing soccer, volleyball, badmitten, frisbee, and a few different people were tightrope walking on tie-down straps wrapped around two distant trees. We came across a drum circle and we clapped our hands and watched them play and dance. That's when we were invited to the coffee house Friday night.

All in all it was a beautiful day. Jack and I returned around 8 & we left with Caroline to eat Doners (uufkas) downtown, just a few UBahn stops away from her place. We sat outside and talked about all her experiences since being in Munich, including her boy adventures! It was very fun. Then we got ice-cream... I had a scoop of cookies n' cream & one scoop of banana. It was delicious and I couldn't help notice the portions were absolutely tiny in comparison to America's serving sizes, but I appreciated that. We wandered around the city until almost midnight. Caroline showed us some very beautiful buildings: the courthouse & this one particular church were absolutely gorgeous.

Now we are crashing. I have a pretty sore throat and am hoping very much that I'm not coming down with something. Poor Jack is still getting over a rough cold. Aaron arrives tomorrow at 2pm. Caroline will open her gifts tomorrow! That will be much fun! I am so thrilled to be here, espcially with Jack! I LOVE Jack with all my heart and Caroline is amazing!


9-18 1:40pm
Yesterday was a BDAY BLAST. Although I suffered a severe sore throat from something I caught on the way over, I made the most of the day. Caroline and I went for a 3-mile run in the morning in the rain. We ran through the city, in and out of the Englisch Garten & along the river, running over and under bridges in a lush, nature-filled, beautiful scene! At one point, while trodding down a wet, gravel-covered hill, I felt the immense splash of a single rain drop explosion on to my scap. It fell sqarely on the middle of my head, directly where my hair parts, where I could inextricably feel its coldness, wetess, size, and pressure. I was so aware of it, I could picture its burst as it hit me, and I reflected on how it seems that every time I'm in the rain I feel a cool drop on this area of my head at least once, on my part. I shared this thought with Caroline as we jogged along and she remarked that she too has experienced the same thing. I wonder how many others experience or even notice this occurence while they're in the rain? I imagine most people are trying to keep their heads covered. And this is exactly why i don't: because I enjoy EXPERIENCING the rain. The awareness of that single pronounced drop is a moving moment because in that moment I am fully in the present. There is no other thought, no other feeling but the awareness of that cold, wet splash that seems as though it were aimed so perfectly at the middle of my scalp in order to seize my attention. If the drop fell a milisecond too late, or my footing was an eighth of a step behind, I would never have been awoken to this experience of awareness! This seesms to happen exactly once every time I'm in the rain, and what a beautiful, peaceful moment that is!

After our runs we showered & emailed Chris Lison to try to plan an earlier arrival in Muelhaussen. We took the U-Bahn to Odeonplatz then walked 1/2 a mile to Marineplatz to catch this "Running Sushi" joint where for 10 Euro you can eat all you want within an hour. The food rotates on a 2-level conveyor belt and from where we sat we could slide open the glass doors, reach in, and pull out whatever food we wanted! It was fun - our plates were stacked so high! I've never had so much sushi for so little price!

After lunch we wandered around downtown Munich, Caroline as our tour guide. We got to get a feel for the Munich city life: the shops, the trains, the hustlin's and the bustlin's...We stopped by all the little tents in the markets & were taken aback by the breathtaking beauty of the flower shops! The colors were so vivid & even one petal could hold an array of shades that melted into each other. We took many pictures, that unfortunately were ruined. It was much fun though - Jack bought a few postcards & we stopped at the hardware to get batteries for his mini flashlight.

I didn't talk much because my throat was burning with soreness. It was very red & inflamed - it felt like a block of lumpy cheese was stuck in the back of my throat. It looked and felt like a throat infection. Caroline, thankfully, gave me a treatment of antibiotics that she fortunately had and offered to me!! I was so grateful!! Even though I had terribly achy muscle and felt feverish, I still enjoyed myself. I just didn't have the usual energy to be overly enthusastic about anything. And within days, the antibiotics knocked that infection right out.

The architecture in Munich is incredible! Each building is a force to be reckoned with - they are mighty stone palaces covered with intricate carvings and sculptures as well as towers, terraces, archways, etc. The courthouse we saw the other day was especailly beautiful. There are many streets that are for pedestrians only. MOst streets & all sidewalks are made with brick or cobblestone. Every structure, including lampposts, were constructed with the utmost delicate detail. Everything looks as though it took a significant amount of time to create and was built painstakingly. Needless to say it is impressive and gorgeous! The most impressive structures by far are the churches. The complex design of every square inch is mind-blowing. To think that many of these buildings underwent some kind of renovation after World War II is crazy to imagine, as it must have taken an incredibly long time to restore!

We wanted to make it back to Caroline's studio by 3pm because that was when we were expecting Aaron to arrive from Nice. When we got there & he wasn't around I checked my email to see if I had sent him Caroline's cell # (which I hadn't). I discovered he had written three times to tell me that he had not only missed his plane from Amsterdam back to Nice the other night, but that he had missed two trains that would have taken him from Amsterdam to Munich! Despite all the turmoil he was still determined to make it to Munich & so he would have a lot more luggage with him than he had initally planned. I was so happy he had decided to still make it out! I met him at Berklee and, although we've kept in touch, it had been 5 years since we've seen each other! I was able to touch base with him via Gmail chat & I gave him Care's cell & info on how to travel from Hauptbaunhauf to Caroline's stop, Prinzpergentenplatz. We aranged to meet at P-platz at 1:15am.

While Jack napped, Care & I went to the grocery down the street to get cough drops, apple cider vinegar, and milk. We came back and TOTALLY YUCKED IT UP!!! Shared stories, caught up, etc. and did a couple rounds of full body massages! Earlier today she opened her gifts. This is what Jack and I got her:
-Burned CDs:
-Gang of Four "Return the Gift"
-Joan Osborne "Relish"
-The Streets "Everything Is Borrowed"
-A two disc compilation of mainstream techno that I am currently loving that I call "Club Bum 1 & 2"

-A tee shirt with Fischer Price "Townspeople" on it that reads "Chilling with my People" Dude, she is f'ing IN LOVE with that shirt!! :)

-A Holy Dang Dance Party black zip up hoodie that is a little big (men's small) but fun nonetheless and she loves it! :)

-A bag of sunny side up candy gummy eggs

-edible candy teeth, or "Teef" that make you look like you have crooked, decayed, & missing teeth when you wear it

-A Bottle Beer Bong that jack picked up for her in Grand Bend, Canada. She used it twice that night and Jack and Care's friend Britany used it as well! Hella fun!

Around 7 we left for the cheapest grocery store near her friend Brooke's apt so we could gather beer, wine, & taco ingredients. Jack bought a bottle of scoth for Sean Brants called "Old Keeper" 'cause Sean has a dog named Keeper who's pretty old I guess.

We enjoyed tacos at Brooke's which was very, very fun! Company included Britany, Brooke, Caroline, me and Jack. Britany baked Caroline a cake! We had an extremely nice time getting to know on another. Everyone was very nice, very funny, and very sociable. Brooke is from Virginia and Carline met her at an English-speaking social gathering a few months ago. Britany went to MSU and studied in Freiburg with Caroline two years ago. They are both here working, but Brooke's internship ends in November. I really felt very fortunate to have met them! It felt like we were all old chums by the end of the night!


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