On the plane headed back to Phoenix I wrote:

I have honestly been blessed this summer. For the past 24 hours I have been flooded with gifts and cards and hugs and kisses. While I am so excited to get home, I am not going to lie. I am really going to miss the Strother family. They have been so loving. Jen has become such a close friend and the kids are a source of such pride for me. I look forward to the day I return.

Wattenheim has been such a great home to me for the last 3 months. I will miss Nadine (the neighbor's horse) and the running path, Jagerhof and wine schorles, Ute and Jorg. Germany is a country full of flavor and freshness. A country where the local farmer is famous and medieval weapons are a favorite collectors item. A country where castle ruins are the backdrop to daily life, and where alcohol is the beverage of choice for any occasion. A county that always has room for one more festival and one more wurst. It is a country whose past is one to be exalted, shunned, and rememebered, and where modesty is a trait awarded at birth. It is where the environment and community are top priorities and the garden gnome reigns as king. For the past three months I have learned about a culture as well as myself. I have learned that patience can get you through just about everything. That I wouldn't be a traveler without email and that my family and friends are what keep the sparkle in my eye. I have learned that children say the craziest things, and yet their innocent comments can teach us so much. I have learned that trust is the key to life, and that no one can get through it alone. I am so happy I took this summer to breath air on the other side of the globe. I am so happy that I went out on a limb. And I am so happy to be on my way home.


Signing off from Germany,
beth o.

Ciao todos!!

Well...alex left yesterday morning and i can honestly say that we had a whirlwind of a visit. So many good memories that we will reminisce about for years to come.

We got back from Italy early wednesday morning--1 a.m. to be exact. We had the most amazing time---seeing both Rome and Venice. Unfortunately we did not make it to Florence, but that will just have to happen on another visit. I absolutely LOVED Italy (Katie...you would love it!!!!) Rather than try to give you the total recap of our adventures, I will give you our "highlights" that we put together at dinner once we got back here to Wattenheim.

• Our Canadian boyfriends: Jefferey and Anthony. "When in Rome..." drink 4 bottles of wine and give kisses as the bus pulls out of the station! Loved it.
• In a random hole in the wall restaurant when Alex and I were SOOOO hungry: "What's the problem?"..."We're hungry, we need something to eat"..."We have no food, look, we have nothing!"
• Sleeping in a metal box (literally) in Venice during a lightening storm
• Our French boys: Jonathan and Julian (although they told us to spell their names with G's....I dont think so...Gulian?)
• "We're gonna die" says Alex as she looks out the window of the plane and sees the light from our wing, mistaking it for another plane about to hit us. She was a bit tired.
• Black-eyed Peas: "My hump, my hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps."
• Tearing up the dance floor at Alba D'Oro's club in Venice
• Our little Italian shuttle driver that met us at the airport in Venice: too cute and perfect.
• "I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away..." sings the 50 yr old Gondole driver as he pushes out of the port. HahahHA
• Our first waitress in Venice and the Italian lessons she gave us.
• The guy that said we were cheap for not eating at his restaurant. Uh....excuseee?
• Santa Lucia's rotting feet. No seriously, we saw the body of Saint Lucy. Crazy shit.
• "La mano la mano la mano..." a man yells at me for not covering my mouth while yawning. I was so over it.
• The little hole in the wall where we got water and found out about the "Tribalistas"
• The little Italian girl walking like a model...and all the adorable Italian kids in general.
• The shuttle driver yelling at us saying, "uh...I guess you want to stay in Rome? Not getting on this shuttle?"
• Translating for the annoying American couple that obviously wasnt used to traveling and gives a bad name to us all.
• Beth drinking 1/2 a liter of red wine and Alex sneaking 1/4 liter into a water bottle to take back to our hostel.
• The PERFECT/INEXPENSIVE breakfast on our last day in Rome
• Sneaking apples from the buffet at some random hotel.
• Not finding any molestable statues (Alex!)
• The ancient penis on the Colloseum: aparently there was an ancient version of ALex w/ the same sense of humor.
• Umm...did we mention Jeff and Anthony?
• The consistent walking issues of Italians. Apparently everyone gets a cane for their 50th bday.
• The little Jamaican boy on our Colloseum/Forum tour---so adorable.

alo all...

so i have a hilar story. i know it has been a while---i havent updated about the weekend etc so bear with me. i will start with tonight's activities and work my way backwards because, well, i am cracking up inside about the events that just unfolded...

...so...tonight we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants--Jagerhof. It literally means, "hunter's house." As you may have guessed, the place is covered with hunting "trophies." There are hundreds of creatures---all shot by the owner---lining the walls of the restaurant. Hunting is not my cup of tea, and i'd prefer if people stuck to the fruits/vegies and occaisional chicken, but this guy was NUTS for meat! Everywhere---deer, wild boar, elk, carribou, muskrat. the works.

anyway, we have been to this restaurant once before, so i was prepared. Jen and I walked in, just like before (except this time we had no males accompanying us...aside from 12 yr old camerin). So we sit down and eat our delicious meal and drink our wine. we had seen the owner--aka the hunter of all the animals on the wall---when we first walked into the place. he had said hello, but nothing had been out of the ordinary until......

....we had just paid the bill. he came over and asked if he could bring us two shots of cognac (his treat). Jen looked at me and we said, "sure." Little had we realized that this would extend our evening quite a bit.

The cognac came...as well as a shot for the owner. he took a seat at our table and began to chat. He did a toast to our "husbands." I'll tell you, i could kill the kids. Minutes later, the kids are telling mr. hunter (i dont know his real name even though he introduced himself) that i am their au-pair and that i am, indeed, not married.

Within instants, I am being winked at....whistled at...and TOTALLY BLATENTLY HIT ON!!! Dont get me wrong, guys, i have been checked out and subtly hit on before, but this was OUT OF CONTROL. He asked me how old I was and where I was staying etc etc. I was soon to find out he was 62, but "young at heart." He's "good at shooting a target." I died.

By the time we left the place, he had given me a card w/ his number on it and a bunch of free meat (leberwurst and stuff i was going to buy for my dad anyway). So hilarious. Jen and I left the restaurant DYING.

He asked when we would be back and Jen said we would bring Alex back---we are going to die. It was a great time...Jen and I cracked up the entire way home in the car. Sometimes it pays off to be a girl. Camerin said, "were you uncomfortable?? I wasnt even being hit on and I was uncomfortable! You musst have been dying!" Haha...so great. You know its bad when all of the kids--kids that are usually just concerned with cartoons and chocolate--are suddenlly realizing that this man is just off his rocker. And to cap the evening off, i was given a kiss on the hand and was made to promise that I would come back to his restaurant before going back to the states. So classic. And even MORE classic: the woman that served us our drinks was his WIFE! Can you imagine?? If I was her, I would grab him by the balls and send him to bed!!!!! Ok....enough with that. I just wish I could've videotaped the whole encounter. It was so perfect.


The rest of the week has been great. Kids are being relatively good, but getting a bit restless with the crappy weather. I just cant wait for ALEX TO GET HERE!!! YAYA!!!

Last weekend I ended up going to Heidelburg. It was a beautiful day and I got to tour the Castle there. Another absolutely picturesque town. I just cant describe these places precisely enough to do them justice. Its awesome. Simply gorgeous.

Alright....take care all! I will be leaving for Italy on FRIDAY! And then back to the states on the 4th of Sept.

Tchussy,
Beth

imagine the most beautiful sunset you have ever seen. now times that by ten. then, surround yourself with endless rolling hills speckled with some of the most beautful horses you have ever seen. now imagine that you are the only human for miles. that was me tonight. it killed me that i didnt have my camera...not to assume that having it would really have done justice to the whole scenario...but i could have at least captured a few images to post for you.

i dont know if it is the unusually nice weather, the fact that i can see the end of the tunnel, or maybe some tranquilizers that i was given in my sleep, but i am in great spirits today. the kids were great--we went on a bike ride to see the horses (same ones i ran to this evening) and just had an uber-fantastic day. very little whining and arguing. love it.

perhaps it is the fact that i have now been here for over two months, but today i seemed to have received a lot more "alo"s and "guten abend"s than normal. everyone was out and about--walking the dog, doing a jog, watering their flowers, reading in their doorway, or just sitting with a loved one. it was great. i helped a woman catch her cat. the entire time she was talking to me i hardly understood what she was saying--just that she had lost her cat because it ran out of the house. hilarious. i just smile and laugh and say "ja." i wish i was leaving here feeling completely accomplished with my german language skills, but im afraid to say that just aint gonna happen.

i cant believe i only have 6 more days with the kids---only 6 more days of their summer vacation. wow. it has gone by fast, but i am glad. i will be leaving at just the right time--enough time to feel comfortable and to fully discover how beautiful life is here, and yet not too much time to get sick of it all.

I will be leaving for home in 17 days!! Cant wait to see you mom and pops!! love you all so much and hope you arent too sick of me yet!

Tchuss,
Beth O.

so i have been here exactly two months as of today...and yet i just found a new favorite spot in wattenheim. well...its technically not wattenheim--its actually some gray area between watteheim and necktarhof. it was so great--today was a great day.

we woke up this morning and did our daily dossage of cartoons and had some bfast before heading out on a walk. i swear, if it was up to those kids we would just sit on our asses all day and do nothing. So i told them to get their sneaker and their scooters and we were going for a walk/ride. no questions.

so they got their stuff and i brought three plastic bags as a surprise. you see, last night, when i was running, i found these huge blackberry bushes!! they looked perfect, so i thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kiddos. we got going and when i showed them the bushes the died. we spent about a half hour picking berries and getting poked by thorns and attacked by bugs. when we got back to the house i made a yummy blackberry pie that we shared with the neighbors tonight at an impromptu get together. it was great.

anyway, i cant get ahead of myself. the kids took a nap because they were having trouble getting along. then when their mom got home, she really wanted to get out on her bike and take advantage of the nice weather we had today. so...we all hopped on bikes and got going. it was great. we rode to the next town and then i told jen that i wanted to explore down one of the side roads that went between the two towns. we got going and then we were passed by our neighbors--Segrid. She was in her car on her way to feed her horse and told us to follow her so that we could see her horse.

It was gorgeous!! The horses name is Nadine. It is a beautiful arabian horse that is full of spunk and very strong. She keeps it at this stable that is amazing!! This is my new favorite place. I will run there every night now---it was just breathtaking. You see...Wattenheim is right on the edge of this valley that is completely wooded. It is sooo beautiful and the horses get to roam the fields that are blocked off right on the edge before getting to the forest. If i was a horse, there is no other place i would want to be. So much open space and such a well taken care of area. I just sat there for an hour brushing the horses and giving them loving. Segrid goes there every night and says that I am welcome to come whenever I would like. I was in heaven.

We rode our bikes back to the house--downhill most of the way. I felt so free and alive and happy. Everyone was out riding their bikes or walking their dogs or just walking hand in hand. it was awesome.

I got back...read my email update from my sis!!...ate a piece of berry pie...and cracked up with courtnie. yes...it was a good day. it started with smiles and ended with smiles. not much more i can ask for.

just a week from tomorrow Alex will be arriving and I can show her all of these great things. That way ya'll will know that im not making this sheiza up.

tchuss...
bean.

what can i say...some days i cant stand her and other days i love her. today was a mixture of both. we had a relatively mellow day--just hangin out while it rained outside. i love the rain, but it can make the kids restless after a while.

last night i headed off to bed only to see the biggest living spider of my LIFE crawling right next to my bed. I screamed and ran to find Jen. Between the two of us and Brian's pep-talking on the phone we managed to kill it and get its remains into the nearest trash can. Ugh...it was so gross. I didnt realize how much spiders scared me until I saw that thing. This was no daddy long leg. wowzers.

im beginning my count down for alex's arrival!! today is august 15--almost 16 for me--which means she will be here in 9 days!!! Holy shit!! yeeehaw!

not much else to report. jen signed the papers for the new house tonight and i went for a run. i cant wait to come back and visit...and bing one of ya'll with me. their new house will have 10 bedrooms...ridiculous i know!!! but it will be so great for visitors and extra living space. i love the house---classic german looking house.

i miss caitlin. she must be getting rained on a lot in horse camp---it hasnt let up since she left.

oh yeah...lexi (the dog) slept with me last night for the first time!!! we bonded...i LOVE that dog. she is so smart!! not as cuddley as Cali, but she is sweet and playful and active and clever.

alright...im done. ciao...have a good monday...and i hope to hear from ya.

tchuss (aka bye!/ciao!/adios!/cheers!)
beth.

alo world...

its been a while since an update. today it is rainy and cold. i just woke up about an hour ago--around 11---the latest since i first got here.

so this week was a rough week--i would say the roughest since i have been here. not for obvious reasons, but for reasons beyond my control. i had issues with courtnie all week because she wasnt listening, but it was more than that. i had my first real bout with homesickness. i was having weird dreams involving my old friends and just having a real hard time coming to terms with it all. its hard not only FEELING disconnected from the whole world, but actually BEING disconnected and not being able to come to terms or find validation in the loving look of an old friend or family member. but its over now and i have survived. my positive attitude just kind of slipped away for a second, but i think it has recovered. i can see the end of the tunnel now--i will be back "home" before you know it.

today was a good day---a day of many firsts. we went to the farmers market this morning in K-town and ate some amazing produce and saw my first ever horse meat. Yes, they had a stand at the farmers market that sold fresh horse meat--pretty much the sickest and saddest thing ever. Especially b/c we were headed to Caitlin's Horse Camp right after that.

I went to my first ever H & M Department store and LOVED it. Had so much fun watching Jen pick out 300 dollars worth of clothes for the girls. I swear, within minutes she had 20 different outfits picked out--it was like speed shopping!

After the shopping we took Caitlin to her camp and it was AWESOME! She will be away for the whole week, which is sad because she is secretly my favorite. The place was so cool---there were 32 girls at the camp. They all moved in today and they are ALL german. Luckiliy Caitlin is there with a friend that can translate for her b/c she speaks both english and german. Its basically a huge house filled with horse paraphanalia and they spend the whole time learning how to care for horses and ride. I snuck back into the barn after making Caitlin's bed and had such an interesting little adventure...

Some of the older girls that helped run the camp were in the barn and were taking the horses out to get brushed etc. The horses that werent being pampered were just out grazing or sleeping and were just so peaceful--and there were like 50 of these horses!! So I was sitting there watching them--totally admiring how gorgeous they are--when i look right in front of me and happen to notice the rather enlarged sex anatomy on the male horse that was just "hangin out" in the corral. Well, before I know it, it hops on top of the female horse right next to it and they start mating. It was AMAZING! They got into it too...like the male horse was full on humping...pretty crazy!!!! I called Jen over and she was cracking up. The best part was trying to explain it to the girls. Courtnie asked, "how can you tell the difference between boy and girl horses?" Jen just died and I had to take the answer. I simply said, "Well, boy and girl horses look different. You just have to look closely." Jen and I looked at eachother and cracked up!!! Caitlin was going to be learning a whole lot more at this camp than Jen had her signed up for!!! HAhaha!

After the camp we took Courtnie to her friend Bailey's house to spend the night. She was so excited (and so were Jen and I because it meant we had a full 24 hrs. without her around!). So now all we had was one kid...one kid that went over to Mr. Pat's house for the night. Ahhh....relief.

Jen and I went to a Pampered Chef party. I must say, it was HILARIOUS. I swear, I feel like I have mastered acting like I am 40 yrs old. We sat around and talked about kitchen appliances--all of which Jen had and I had used. I talked my little ear off and won all kinds of prizes...it was AWESOME! We also talked about diets and pregnancy and annoying husbands--so classic. I felt like I was in a play or something and I was just acting it up. Ya'll would've died to hear me. Anyway, I bought a few small things and then we were on our way. We picked up Camerin from Mr. Pat's and went home for a LONG and peaceful night!

Today is a lazy day. I think I will go for a run and then just put on some loungy clothes. Mr. Pat--a friend of the fam (who is basically an extended part of the fam)-- is coming over to cook for us tonight. His birthday was a few days ago and his tradition is to take all of his friends out to dinner one night (which we did on thursday) and then to make dinner for his friends another night. Its really cool too because he went to culinary school and used to be a chef so he's got his shit together. He's impressed with how much I know though. Like he and I will be talking in cooking terms and Jen will just sit there cracking up. Anyway, yeah. Im really looking forward to what he has to make us.

Momma, I am going to call you tonight so hopefully ya'll are home. I'll probably try around 9 pm our time---which is noon your time. I could call earlier, but i dont know when we're eating dinner. Thanks for the mid-week encouragement...you're the best.

alright...back to my relaxing day. hope you are all doing well and enjoying this last month of summer.

auf wiedersehen,
beth o.