The Other Side

  
Whew. What a week. Apologies for the complete lack of communication. We've been in Germany for a week now and I'm just catching my breath. And sleeping through the night. Highlights of the past seven days have included:

- Making friends. Mac met two new friends straight off the plane. And as luck would have it, we have spent the week in-processing with their parents!

Note the multiple hands as Mac's new friends (both little girls) "tuck" Mac in.  Also note his nonplussed expression.

 - Jet lag. Or is this a lowlight. Mac did great, Ben and I not so much. We're good now but man oh man.

The faces of jet lag.

- Getting sick. All three of us. Another gift from 33,000 Feet. 

- In-Processing. Imagine you are going to the DMV. Everyone's favorite. And then imagine that you go to the DMV over and over again all day long every day for five days trying to get a form checked off so that Someone sees that your form is checked off and tells you that you are now Fully Prepared for Life in Germany. The most frustrating part of this process is that you are not allowed to do Important Life Things (pick up your car, rent a house, etc.) until you go to a certain class or get a certain form checked off. Which inevitably involves a great deal of waiting room time. 

- Fantastic food and beer. Bratwurst, weissbier, flammkuchen (I haven't forgotten to write about this!), nutella, apple strudel, sauerkraut.

Fun at the faux biergarten on base. We were car-less. Don't judge.

- Selling our house. Contract pending and fingers crossed. 

- Realizing that the military contractor that ships cars *misplaced* ours. They assure us it's not lost. They just have to find the container it is in. Uh huh.

- Finding a home. In a tiny village with rolling hills, a bakery, a butcher, a kindergarten, a flower shop, and a view from our balcony of the town cathedral presiding over the rooftops. More pictures to come. 

On a quest to find the village bakery.

- Mac's first meal. Squash is even less appealing than normal when found encrusted in neck folds. But he loved it! 

- Learning to live on base. We're in temporary housing until our furniture is delivered to our new home. Until then, we're on Ramstein Air Base. (Fun fact: there is no satellite data available for GPS. The location of everything on base has been kept off-grid. Great for the military, hard on a someone who has no idea where they are on a huge base). For non-military folks, there is a commissary (grocery store), a PX (the exchange...the military Walmart, if you will), the Mall (complete with food court, a movie theater, and a Macaroni Grill), a car dealership, and much more. It's Little America.

The town of Landstuhl is to the left (where the US hospital is located). Ramstein Air Base is just above the tree line, center right, below the hills. You can see the clearing for the landing strips and the huge mall in the middle.

Beef jerky with your wine? No?! A Slim Jim then.

 

Our building. We're across the street from NATO headquarters.

- I passed my driver's license exam. Whoopee!!! I'm back on the roads and loving it.

- Surviving 90 degree heat without air conditioning. 

This is what dining al fresco really looks like. He has a diaper on, in case you were worried.

 It's been a roller coaster of a week with several great moments. Finding a house that feels like a home was an answer to prayer. There have been some really funny moments. Like when I was waiting with twenty others to take my driver's exam at 6:45 in the morning after three hours of sleep, saw a lump in my pants leg around the ankle, and pulled out a pair of lady delicates that had decided to stow away. In front of an acquaintance who is now a bosom buddy. Because how can she not be after that. There have been some really bad moments. Tears, anger, frustration. But He is faithful and merciful and for that I am thankful. To be frank, this whole process is really hard. I feel alone, disoriented, aimless, afraid, and just plain exhausted and overwhelmed. This too shall pass. I know. And until it passes, or at least subsides momentarily, I'll hang on tight, take a deep breath, and sip my beer.

PS - Just to prove to Germany that America does not care about soccer, all television on base went out five minutes before the World Cup game started last Sunday.