The days since my last post seemed to have slipped by rather quickly (to my dismay).
Someone pointed out to me the other day that the amount of time I have left here can be counted easily in weeks. I think it's 11 or 12 weeks left now and that just sounds AWFUL to me.
I haven't really noticed time slipping by so quickly, but I think that happens when you get so comfortable in one place that it becomes home and everything that was once exciting is now normal. It was fun to watch the new people in the program come in and experience Germany and Marburg for the first time. It kind of got me back into exploring this small town and looking even closer at things that I see every day. The whole last month has made me take a step back and appreciate where I am and what I do every day.
The language classes started earlier this month and i'm in a much higher level than I was last semester (which is excellent). I love my class because it is incredibly easy with just a few challenges to keep me busy. What's really excellent about this semester is that I only have to do the language class and NOT the culture class. Which means that I get to leave at 12.30 while everyone else has to come back from lunch at 14.00 and stay until 16.00 for the culture class. Believe it or not, those few hours make a big difference in the day. I have more time to walk home, do homework, and read a bit.
The weather has been absolutely AMAZING the last couple weeks. Last Thursday or Friday (I don't remember) everyone passed out on the grass by the Lahn and just went catatonic. This weekend pretty much consisted of everyone getting together and grilling Bratwurst, drinking beer, playing Frisbee, listening to music, and taking naps. Friday night we had a bonfire in Studentendorf with food and alcohol (duh). There were a TON of people there and we had an awesome time and then went off to Schwarz-Weiss to hang out some more. Saturday night was my "birthday party night."
Friend/Twin Chelsea brought over a bottle of champagne, two bottles of wine, and a bottle of rum to split. Emily was visiting from Berlin and kindly offered to help us "empty" the bottles. I don't really drink a lot. I mean, it may seem like I do, but really it's one or two beers every time I go out to drink. I figured since it was my birthday night, I could let my usual facade slide. And boy did I.
The night turned a little hazy with all of the people I ran into and all of the places I went, but I remember being sung "Happy Birthday" to in a ton of different languages.
My actual birthday, yesterday, was very very chill. I went out in the early afternoon to go join the others sitting by the Lahn. After 4 quick hours there, I left to walk around Marburg and ran into some other people on their way to dinner. I joined them and had a really relaxing meal outside in Oberstadt. After walking around the city a bit more I went home and took a nap. Afterwards, I went to Lyndsey's (Mama Aussie) and had tea which ended up just being us drinking tea and watching cat videos. No complaints there.
The rest of the week will probably be filled with more slothful events with the coming of even better weather.
