Photo dump

Hello!

I have a ton of photos I'd like to share from the last few days. There isn't really a consistent theme, although the sun was out during each of those days, so I guess they all have that in common! The weather here has been absolutely beautiful for the last week - I needed that! I even have a bit of a tan already....

So the first thing I'd like to share is from last Monday. Aengus has had his first couple of ticks already, which even the people who live here are saying is really early, so I went to the pet store to buy him some anti-tick stuff. While I was there, I saw this:

Yes, that's Hunde-Bier. Dog beer. Beer for dogs. I swear, only in Germany.

Moving along... I meet every Thursday with Anke, a neighbor here in Kasewinkel. She is a German teacher by profession, and is also interested in improving her own English, so we meet once a week to speak a little English, for her, and a little German, for me. She is really helpful. We usually met at her house, although this last Thursday she called and asked if I would like to take our meeting on the road to the Baumberge, or "tree mountains." I had driven by there - it's about 30 minutes away by car - but had never hiked there, and was excited to go! It was beautiful. Here are a few pics from our trip:

We walked for about an hour and got to this awesome restaurant/cafe where we sat outside for a bit on the patio:

It was great.

Then Friday was school again, but it was the last day before "Osterferien," or the Easter holidays. It lasts for two weeks (so I don't have school again until the 20th of April), and for the equivalent of high school students here, it marks the last day of classes before they head to University. They still have tests to prepare for and take, but their classes are now over. The diploma they receive is called an Abitur.

Martin picked me up after class on Friday, and we walked through the city with Inma, my friend from Spain, to meet John at the Stuhlmacher - that old bar/restaurant I have mentioned before. When we arrived at the Domplatz, where the huge farmers' market is held, we saw this:

It's traditional for the "seniors" from different schools to meet there after class on Friday, to celebrate being done with classes. They had whistles and were shouting and seemed to be having a great time. The German "Ordnungsamt," or state office that maintains order in German life, was there to be sure nothing got too out of control, but the students were living it up.

From there we walked to the Stuhlmacher, and encountered these students along the way:

Each group of students from each school had their own t-shirts made up for that day. This school's shirts say "Abibama - Yes We Can!" Their diploma, remember, is called an Abitur. I'm sure the rest is obvious...

A bit later in the day, John, Martin, Aengus, and I rode over to Handorf to visit Martin's dad in the cemetery. Friday was his birthday, and because Martin's father was a lover of schnapps, Martin goes there every year to pour a schnapps on his grave.

The day before was Aengus' first time walking next to a bike, and he did amazingly well - like he's been doing it all his life. It is so common here for people to bring their dogs along on the bike, and it looks like Aengus will fit right in! We'll still get our daily walks in, though.

And lastly, here are a couple updated shots of my garden:

I didn't finish it until dusk, thus the dark photo. So far I have carrot, leek, and tomato seeds planted, as well as zucchini and cucumber plants. Those tomatoes in the foreground will go in pots, as well as peppers. I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Hope you're all well!