Sarah and I are living with the Host Family Wolfe. They are wonderful people. The husband is an architect for the city and the wife manages the strawberry, asparagus, and rose farm. They twelve year old twins, Sarah and Philip. I am trying hard to practice my German because my host family does speak great English. It is difficult to communicate, but we have fun trying to figure out what we mean. Mrs. Wolfe cooks dinner for us every night and it is better than going out to eat. Her food taste like it came out of a professional kitchen! We have also had fresh strawberries which are sooo delicious. They make a homemade jam that Sarah and I went through by our second breakfast, and a puree that we put on top of ice cream. Let me just summarize and say that I really look forward to dinner every night. The way the house is set up, Sarah and I almost have our own apartment. We are on the ground floor which has a private living area. We have our own kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom that we do not share with the host family. It is really great!
So far I have had a wonderful time in "class." I have always learned better when provided with a live example and that is exactly what Germany is. In Bonn we visited the "House of History," a four story museum full of charismatic displays of Germany's history. You don't realize just walking around the city that you are standing in a place that has been an active member or the world's history, dating back to early Roman times. In Cologne, we visited the Zoo, Sports Museum, a Gestapo prison, and went to the top of the Cologne Cathedral. The zoo was probably my favorite place seeing as I am a giant animal lover. It was a beautiful zoo that mesmerizes you into believing you have just stumbled upon some animals in the wild. We got the opportunity to go behind the scenes of the elephant enclosure and check out the operations. Being a equine girl, it the whole set up was almost like my dream barn on a giant scale haha. We even got to meet a couple of the elephants and feed them treats! The next stop was the Sports University of Cologne. Aside from being a university, this is the place that tons of professional athletes come to train and seek medical advice in the areas of biomechanics and orthopedics. Oscar Pistoriuos even got his cheetah blades studied here! The students that attend this school must pass millions of physical sport test to be admitted. You practically have to be an Olympic Athlete to get in. The Gestapo prison was a great way to start studying about the Nazi ruling. It was very personal because we had the ability to see what people had written on the walls during their imprisonment there. Finally, the Cologne Cathedral. The Cathedral was completely mind-blowing. The bones of the three wise men where buried here and we were able to see their gold relic. I also got to light a candle to commemorate my Mimi. I could very much appreciate it from the ground, but unfortunately I had to go to the very top. Personally, I felt more comfortable on the ground, rather than trekking up the steps of the two thousand year old cathedral to reach the very peak, over fifty meters off the ground. It was a breathtaking view, though I barely was able to peak at it while focusing on my death grip on the roof. Overall, Cologne was an amazing city.
We have just arrived back home after going out to eat with our family. I got pressured into eating what looked like to me a fish that had been pulled out of the ocean. It was very difficult not to gag but I managed to chock a bite down. When in Germany do as the Germans do!
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