t2: how to have a feast

My mother-in-law is visiting this weekend for Thanksgiving, except that she didn't come until Friday, which means we had to have a second celebration. Necessarily. It was fun to play hostess and roast my first turkey. Okay, so she took care of the turkey, but I watched. I mean, I don't really eat meat usually, so I had no clue. I've never spent a whole day preparing for a meal like this before, so it was definitely a learning experience. I'm so glad we had some great friends to share it all with!

you will have to start with a full refrigerator

and wash multiple sinks-full of dishes

on a chilly day like today, you can always chill some things outside since the fridge is as stuffed as your belly is going to be

you might have to sneak away for a book break every now and then

the cats will be ready long before the turkey is served

but finally the spread will be out, friends will arrive, and you'll be having such a nice time you'll completely forget that you wanted to take more photographs of the evening.

in the black forest with Goljan

All this studying has worn on me more than I thought it would, or at least in a different way than I thought it would. There are moments where it's exciting to put it all together and see how much I have learned in the last two years, or to realize that I am done with sitting in lectures. But there are other times when it's really hard to focus and everything jumbles together and I feel like I don't know anything. Sometimes a change of scene can help a lot, and that's when I realize that I am in the most perfect place to be this summer. I put on my headphones, loaded with an audio lecture, and head out to the Black Forest.

It is so beautiful here. I wish there were a way to upload the sounds and smells, just as easily as I can upload photographs. You can always hear at least 3 distinctly different birdsongs, along with the wind blowing through the trees, and the occasional trickling brook. Some areas just smell like dirt and fallen leaves, which is lovely in its own right, but sometimes you walk through a place that smells like pine and a deep nutty vanilla sort of of scent. I'd love a candle that captures that.

Digitalis!

Of course, medical students are always thinking about pathology. Fortunately, I have managed to pet wandering cats without getting Bartonella henselae or Pasturella multocida, I drank from a mountain spring without getting sick from Giardia lamblia, and I haven't gotten any terrible tick-borne viral illnesses either.

It is incredibly peaceful, a welcome sanctuary and reprieve, even if I am listening to Goljan.

cooking in a european apartment

As you can see, our kitchen situation is pretty limited here. I'm beginning to get a bit bored with it to be honest, but for the first two weeks it was a lot of fun to see how creative I could be. I don't have any recipes to share with you, but maybe the following pictures will spark some ideas. We had several meals that turned out to be quite good. They began with me pulling out the few ingredients that fit in our mini fridge and throwing something together, each step of the process inspiring the next without much foresight. Then we would sit down to eat, commenting: "hm, not bad..." (a few more bites)  "actually, it's pretty good..." (a few more bites) "Mmm, this is great!"

this recipe + carrots + garam masala

note: that's Turkey the country, not the bird, but I'm to lazy to re-edit the photo

this idea came from here. it's delicious

downtown Freiburg

I have only spent one day in downtown Freiburg. Actually, only half of one. It's pretty sad, but I'm trying my best to accept that that's just the way things are for now and it's just for a limited time. 28 days actually.

Freiburg is much livelier than I had expected, at least in comparison to our quiet neighborhood on the edge of the Black Forest. Close to half the street traffic is probably people on bicycles, so there are bike lanes everywhere! We really just wandered about the city without a plan (or as we would say in German, wir sind gebummelt), but the day was filled with many little pleasantries. Like stumbling upon the former home of philosopher Edmund Husserl,

or unexpectedly interesting spots around the university.

Hmm.. what else have I got? I didn't bring my camera, just my iPhone, but here are a few more pictures for you. Hopefully, soon I will return to the city and will have more of a story to tell.

Münster Cathedral

Beer, of course.

sitting on the steps

of Augustiner Platz

where they even have an Occupy movement.

what to do when it's 80 in chicago in march

watch a movie on the lawn at night

play with shadows

eat lemon macarons

take a bike ride along the lake shore (my first time!)

 

watch the clouds drift by

listen to the birds chirp

grandma & grandpa's house

Aside from cat-sitting over Spring Break, I also went to Ohio to watch my sister throw the shot put and weight at the NAIA indoor national track meet. She twirls a 20-lb. weight over her head! I was quite impressed. The stadium was not too far from my grandparents' home, which helped to bring pretty much the entire family there - my parents flew in from Texas, one aunt from Maryland, two more from other Ohio cities, their husbands & kids, even a great Aunt & Uncle. It felt like Christmas.

Grandma & Grandpa still live in the house in which my mother spent most of her childhood. They have been saying for about a decade that they are going to move, but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. Growing up, we visited them once or twice a year: almost always at Christmas, and often some time during the summer. This house holds so many memories. Here is a sort of photo essay in attempt to hold onto them.

The bedroom where I stay. Homemade quilts.

The window I would run to as a child in the morning...

...to look for snow!

The coolest bathroom wallpaper I've ever seen. I still wish Grandma would let me color it in.

The milk-man's door offered loads of fun in the summer time.

Check out those colors & patterns. What more could you want from a basement?

Well... maybe that...

The pantry, full of Grandma's canned peaches and pears, applesauce and jams. Once my cousin and I hid in here from our younger sisters for hours, or at least it felt like it to our young internal clocks.

The refrigerator my grandparents got as a wedding present 57 years ago. Still functioning.

Ping pong!

That's my grandfather's garden way in the back. And the tree I loooved to climb. There used to be 2 peach trees.

A family reunion. Actually, both of my grandparents have ancestors in this photo, but that takes a bit of explaining...

The kitchen table: for breakfast in the morning, the "kid's table" during all other meals. Grandpa always gets the best seat - right in front of the heat register.

Still poinsettias. Told you it feels like Christmas.

The painting that hangs in the dining room.

Almost always a quiet, peaceful place.

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