the last week of camp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Final week of camp! Sadly though I am with the Kinders all week doing “Down on the Farm” camp. On Monday I went in at 9 am and there were only 13 Kinders for all five of us staff members. Because of the large number of staff and small amount of kids, I only worked a few hours in the morning, got a four hour break, and then worked a few more hours in the afternoon. The day went by pretty fast and nothing too exciting happened. It was another training holiday and that’s why there weren’t too many kids. But that afternoon I did find out that I will be going to the away camp on Wednesday and therefore I am really excited.

Today I had the 5:30 am shift so that I would have the right shift an not have to work over 12 hours tomorrow when I go to the away camp. Man was it dark and cold this morning and so hard to get up. One again I count my blessings for my childhood life because when I got there at 5:30 am and the director wasn’t even there yet to open the center, a parent and kid were already waiting so he could be dropped off. I mean no wonder that child ends up having behavior issues in the afternoon… he gets there before 5:30 in the morning! And today I didn’t even get to go on the Dairy Farm field trip with the kids that I was actually excited about! Instead I had to go cover someone at the CDC again and I was with the toddlers. Seriously, that age group scares me. the CDC in general scares me. I have no idea how I am ever going to have my own child but I definitely can’t work with anyone younger than the age of six. No joke I was so uncomfortable I wanted to cry! Then when I got back I only had to work one more hour and then I was free!

This lack of sleep and unhealthy diet issue is really getting in my way! I am just tired, drained, and sore all the time and it prevents a good workout! Instead I have been sleeping and on the internet since I got off….

Tonight we are going bowling to have one more big bonding time together before Abby has to leave on Thursday. I think it will definitely be fun and I’m really excited.

I don’t know how much I will actually keep up with my blog this week since I will be packing, cleaning, and not doing too many exciting things. So my break down for the week is this:

Tomorrow I am going to the away camp and I will basically be there all day and night. I leave for the camp at 7 am and then I work in ratio until about 5pm. Then I am staying there for the family night BBQ to get one last time to say bye to all my 1^st through 5^th graders as well as say goodbye to the staff for the summer.

Thursday I am going to breakfast in the morning at the DFAC again for one final amazing hot breakfast for really cheap. It is also field trip day with the Kinders and I am pretty sure we are going to a Ranch and horseback riding. That should be pretty cool and I will make sure to get lots of pictures (but I can’t post them if the kids are in them). That night I think we are trying to have a bonfire or some sort of fun activity since it will be our last night in the barracks.

Friday I go into work at 9 am and then at some point I will be pulled out by my POC to come do a final room check and get our stuff. I then go back to work until 1 pm and then we leave for Nurmberg for a hotel for the rest of the night (where we won’t actually sleep) and at 4 am Saturday we will be at the airport to come home. Friday is also PJ Party day at the center so thankfully I wont have to wear my hideous uniform on my last day.

The week seems to look like it will go by pretty fast as I write it down and I hope that it does. I am ready to come home and I can’t wait to see all my friends and family again!

I will update you if my week changes or if anything exciting happens =)

it's decided... I'm Moving to Switzerland!

August 11th and 12th

This weekend was seriously the best weekend of my life! On the 10^th we ended up having cake first and then going to a place called Brazil’s for dinner. All I actually got was a strawberry colda and tortilla chips with cheese on it because I got so full on cake. We then went downtown to the Irish Pub to celebrate Abby’s and my birthday ad it was pretty fun. Only a small group of us went and I really didn’t drink much at all but I still had a good time.

On Saturday we got up at 4 in the morning for the last time for our final weekend trip. It was our last 5:30 am train and the last weekend to have such long train rides. It took 7 hours to get to Interlaken but when we got there I instantly fell in love! Interlaken is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life! The mountains were gorgeous and it was so cool to see some that still had snow on them while people were also out boating and tanning on the lake. It was honestly the most beautiful had and everyone was so nice. A lot of people speak English there so it made it really easy to find our way around (plus everyone knew the hostel we were staying at). Interlaken is like THE PLACE to go to do adventurous stuff. Of course we were going canyoning, but we saw so many paragliders, hang gliders, and tour groups leaving to go rafting, bungee jumping, sky diving, zorbing, etc. that’s when I knew this was my kind of place!

Our hostel was also the coolest place ever! It was honestly like its own little village and it was comforting to know that it has been voted the #1 hostel for a long time. The hostel had its own bar, night club, restaurant, beer garden, game room, etc. It was awesome! After we put our stuff in our room and got ready for canyoning we waited out in front of our hostel to be picked up by our tour guide and got to learn just how rich people in Switzerland are! There were people flying fighter jets around and doing cool tricks just for practice and we saw one lady walking her dog while riding her horse down the street! Talk about insane! Next thing you know this guy with no shirt on comes screeching up on his bike and asked if we were the 7 girls going canyoning. We had no idea we were just a short walk away from the meeting spot for our canyoning experience and our tour guide just came down to walk us over there so we could get ready to go.

We had the coolest guys as tour guides ever! One was from New Zealand and the other was from somewhere in the States but I forget where (I think somewhere small like Delaware or something). They were cracking jokes the whole time and were just about the coolest people we have met in Europe. After we finally put on all our gear, we took a 20 minute van ride up a narrow twisty road towards Young Frau mountain over near saxteen canyon.

Canyoning by far was the most insane and best experience of my entire life! We were jumping off cliffs, sliding down waterfalls, and making our way through the river and down the mountain. I could not ask for a better time! I will admit there were a few times I was scared for my life but overall I was totally in my element and loving every second of the adventure! On one of the jumps my foot actually slipped so I did not jump out far at all! I thought for sure my legs were going to clip the side of the cliff, I would face plant on the water, and just be down for! It was the scariest moment ever but luckily I did not hit the rocks or the water hard at all. Also on one of the drops down a water fall I got caught under the waterfall so the current wasn’t pushing me anywhere! I felt like I was going to drowned but I finally came up and around the water fall! It was the coolest time of my life! Nora was even super cool and did a flip off of one of our extra jumps near a water fall! It was the most fun I have had since I have been here!

After we canyoned down the mountain and then had to hike back up in all our wet heavy gear (in the mud and dirt up the side of the mountain we just came down…. Oh joy…) we went back to the meeting spot. They gave us free beer (that only cost 50 cents they said), bread, and real Swiss cheese. Since we were the last group we got to have as much as we wanted.  It was absolutely insane but I guess it was a good way to celebrate my 21^st birthday! Our guides were also super cool and circled spots on a map of all the places we should go, what was going on that night, and where to eat dinner. So after we went back to our hostel and changed, we set out for the Golden Anker restaurant for dinner. Now normally the food can be kind of expensive (but also in bigger portions) but we got the back packers menu that was a little bit smaller portions and only 15 Francs for the dinner. Anneke and I split the Gnocchi dinner which also came with some werid clear vegetable and asian noodle soup and a four bite salad with a really good dressing. The coolest thing was that we finally got free tap water and free bread at this restaurant! The waitress said it used to be law in Switzerland to get free water and a newspaper at any restaurant and even though it’s not law anymore, most places still do free water at least. Even though we had just eaten so much bread at the canyoning meeting place, we filled up on even more bread here. Our Gnocchi was super delicious in a gorgonzola sauce with tomatoes, broccoli, and peppers and it was also amazing to dip the bread in the sauce. It was probably one of the best meals I have had in Europe… but it could have also been the hunger from canyoning and the fact that I was just so in love with Switzerland! After dinner we came across this awesome church choir singing in a plaza and a Chocolate shop. The choir was amazing and they were singing such beautiful gospel hymns.  Then the owner of the chocolate shop was also extremely nice. He gave us each a free sample of any truffle we chose and he even let us take pictures behind the chocolate counter with our chocolates! Because he was so nice all of us ended up buying something from there. I got this cute little milk chocolate swiss army knife and it was absolutely delicious.

After that we walked back to our hostel extremely exhausted. We didn’t even make it to midnight for my birthday! We were all in bed by 10:30 and talked until about 11 or so.

The next morning we got to sleep in a little bit. We had one other girl in our room that we didn’t know and man she made sooo much noise when she came in and left! She came in probably about 12 or 1 and then was dropping her iphone with an alarm that kept going off and dropping all her stuff and leaving at like 4:45 am!  I was so mad because she just kept making so much noise! But when we finally all woke up at 7:30 am I just could not believe it was my 21^st birthday and I was in Switzerland! For the free breakfast we got at the hostel we had more bread and Swiss cheese as well as a bowl of cornflakes served with room temp milk. I also had about 3 cups of mix in coffee and made sure I filled up as much as I could because I did not have any Francs left and barely any snacks left in my back pack.

After breakfast we got on the local bus system and headed to the lake. They didn’t really have beaches like we see in California, this area was more grassy or like rocky beaches. We found a beautiful spot on the water with a grass area to lay out on and the cold water right near us. It was amazing! The water was so blue and clear, the air was crisp and fresh, and the sun was so warm. There was a church service going on down the lake a little ways and so we heard morning choir singing. I feel like everyone around Switzerland sings or something because the whole congregation was singing and they sounded so good!

After a while of hanging out in our bathing suits, Nora got the courage to dive into the lake. I followed her and did it too because like she said “we are only here once and we might as well take advantage of every opportunity”. It was soooooooo cold but the coolest thing ever. I mean come on…. I jumped in a lake in Switzerland and layed out by the water for my 21^st… how cool is that? I mean yeah I did go to all the bars and have a huge party…. But I know I will still do that when I get back… but not many people can say they had the adventure I did in Switzerland. I was still pretty bummed not to be home but I definitely enjoyed my day.

After hanging out at the lake for a few hours it was time to head back to the train station and start our 7 hours journey back. Most of us were still hungry and wanting souvenirs when we got back to the train station so we started looking around. Another cool thing about Switzerland…. They take debit/credit cards. Almost nowhere else in Europe does that so we were all very excited.

Our train ride back was pretty boring and standard as usual, but on one train we had a group of monster children behind us running up and down the hall screaming and tackling each other. It was really annoying really fast. But other than that it was just crazy to think that we were on our last train journey in Germany!

After we got back Anneke, Nora, Chikyra, Abby and I went to the ice cream place down the street and splurged on big sundaes to celebrate my birthday! It was really cool! The place has like a 10 page menu all with these extravagant ice cream sundaes! I got a chocolate and cookie sundae and it was absolutely delicious! Anneke and I also split a chocolate and banana waffle…. It wasn’t as good as it looked but hey, who can turn down bananas and chocolate? We then all went totally overboard and had more cake when we got back from ice cream and we were all sitting in the hall way on our computers trying to talk to family.

It was the most amazing trip ever and I would totally move to Switzerland! I am so happy we saved this trip for last. It has been extremely hard to have motivation to get to this point and I know at one point I did not even care about going anymore I just wanted to come home, but I am so glad I went. I thought Paris stole my heart…. But Interlaken definitely takes the cake! I want to go back and have more adventures there! Only one more week until I am home!

Last full Friday at work!

Finally Friday! It was a training holiday today so no one was doing PT this morning outside our window and there were barely any kids at the center. All in total we had about 25 kids. I had to take over one of the camps this morning for a little bit but it wasn’t hard at all because they were building a Kinect rollercoaster and there were only about five kids. But then during my break I had a hard time working out! Apparently when it is training holidays everyone still goes to the gym! There were more people in there today than I have ever seen all summer! All I was able to do was keep on my elliptical for 45 minutes! There was nowhere to lift, do abs, or do kettle bells or even stretch!

When I went back to work I ran the SAS (school age services) Olympics. It was a great idea and took a lot of prep time but it did not run as smoothly. I had the kids break into teams, design a team flag, show off their flags and team during opening ceremonies, and then had some team events as well as individual events. It went ok but the kids were not always the most enthusiastic or nice to each other.

Then I got to start my weekend off early since the numbers were so low. I think my supervisor knew it’s been a long week for me plus I wanted to just get out of there to start packing so he sent me home over an hour early from work. Tonight we have birthday cake for Abby and me and we are hoping to go out for dinner and drinks tonight.

It’s going to be another sleepless night as we head off to Switzerland at 5:30 am tomorrow morning. It will be a great way to celebrate my birthday by canyoning in Interlaken and a good final trip while being here.

I’m sad to go but oh so ready to come home!

last field trip day =(

This morning a few of us went to the dining commons on base for breakfast and it was soooooo good. I had pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns, and tons of fruit and it was delicious. Everything I have been really craving plus two cups of real coffee. It was a really great way to start off the day.

Then it was my last field trip day with the kids! I was really happy because I got the older kids that I have been bonding the best with. And today they were really great. We went to Scholls Thurn Amusement park btu once again it was a weird type of amusement park. There were only like five rides and only one of which was a little kiddy dragon roller coaster. But I did go on a few rides with the kids and I saw some really cool animals! They had like a little zoo there and the animals could come right up to the fence and touch you! The amusement park is also set up in little cities like a medieval city and a western city and that was pretty cool as well. I went on this one ride that was really fun. It was like a water slide but you don’t get wet. You take a raft for two people and walk up this huge ladder to go down this crazy slide that then just stops and you are skidding across like astro turf.  It was really fast and crazy!

The kids were really really good and I had a ton of fun with them today! It was my last day with a few of them and the day just went by way too fast! I am so glad I got to be with them today though and I was sad to say goodbye to them!

After work I got a really good workout in and then went down town to get ice cream with a few girls. Of course I then locked myself out of my room and had to go to a different building to get the same key. Apparently this is not the first time this has happened to the girls here because when I walked in the guy knew what building and knew I locked myself out. He was really nice and just gave me the master key and told me to bring it back.

So tomorrow and Monday are training holidays which means I will get basically no sleep tonight because the guys party in the room right across from me and it’s so loud you’d think the party was in my room. I also found out the place we are supposed to eat at tomorrow night for Abby and my birthday is closed tomorrow so I don’t know what I am going to do. I just want to come home so bad. Coming home is just not coming soon enough.

sleepy sleepy wednesday

Today was just so tough! I got so much sleep last night and yet somehow I was sooooo tired today. I just could not open my eyes and I felt like such a zombie. I somehow barely got to ten and then when I got home I figured I would take a half an hour nap and then workout but I slept for my ENTIRE break and I was still extremely tired! I drank more coffee and I was still dead. All day I just could not tell you what was going on. One the bike ride I take the kids on for Wheels on Wednesday I just slowly biked and did not talk the whole time. And even when I wanted to be enthusiastic I just couldn’t. Today for large group we did a “Who dun it?” mystery and I was the sherriff in town talking about the robbery that happened but the whole time I was getting my country “y’all” talk on I felt like my eyes were forcing themselves to close and my body just wanted to collapse.

By the end of the day my whole body was drained and all the kids knew it. I felt bad because my mood and body language rubs off on them and I don’t want them to have bad days. I don’t know what is going on.

So of course today after work it’s been cookies and candy and no working out. Haha what can I say I just love the sweets. Hopefully I can just catch up on sleep and be back to my two workouts tomorrow and feel rested.

slow start to the week.... ten days and counting down!

August 7

This morning when I woke up we had the craziest 10 minute storm ever! I thought for sure there was no way I was going to be able to get to work and I had no idea what I was going to do! And all the guys outside had to just stand in it during PT. they were standing at attention in this crazy wind and pouring rain! Then when it stopped just in time for me to bike to work I saw all of them laying in the muddy grass to do sit ups! I felt so bad for them! Then when I was biking I passed this group where the guy in charge who calls out in a chant the “1,2,3” didn’t even skip a beat and said “don’t run me over” instead of “1,2,3” in perfect rhythm it was so funny!

Then this morning I had more kids so excited to see me and make more birthday cards for me it was so cute! It’s going to be like a weeklong celebration and that makes me have a little bit motivation to not want to come home like right now. Anneke and I then struggled to make the electricity trick with a potatoe work and I was just glad to get off for my break. I got such a good workout and then of course proceeded to eat more cookies. It’s so bad! I just need to get rid of them!!! Then the afternoon went by pretty fast and I got the kids to do a worksheet of the rebus brain teasers where it is a riddle based on a word oriented in a certain way like:

And once they got how it worked they really had fun with it.

After work our PC was here again and we had one final meeting and then went to a really really good restaurant for some more schnitzel. We weren’t able to go to the stables on base (where they train horses like in the restaurant) because it closed yesterday for a month! It was sad! So we went to a place called the schieshaus and it was really cheap for a ton of food. I got a half portion of food and it was still  A TON of food. It was insane that we went so late though! We were lucky we even got food! We got there right as the kitchen was closing! This schnitzel I got was plain schnitzel but it was the best stuff I have ever had! And their pommes (fries) were amazing too. Haha I actually mean it this time when I say tomorrow the diet starts…. Except the cookies I still have, birthday cake and Mexican food Friday, and a huge sundae on Sunday night haha!

I am so tired and I am excited to get some sleep!

August 6

Today was an up and down sort of day. The kids were really great and they have already starting making me birthday cards and singing happy birthday to me even though my birthday isn’t for six more days. It really put me in a good mood and made me super happy. The technology camp also built a circuit board that hooked up to the radio and sang Happy Birthday to me! The day went by super fast and it is insane to think that we only have one more week left. The weather has been super crazy and cold which I guess is typical for Germany.

After work I went on my run and then I went to the LIDL to turn in my recycling. I have been doing really good about working out and staying on track to keep in shape for when I come home but then I ruined it all at the LIDL. I got a Euro from recycling and the only thing that was a Euro was a bag of cookies and since I was so hungry from my run that I just basically ate the whole bag on my walk back to the barracks! My sweet tooth is so bad! But I’ve decided that I don’t mind as long as I continue to work out the way that I am.

I have already started packing to come home and I have successfully packed one carry on already. Other than that I just uploaded all my pictures and wrote my blog for the weekend. Not much really happened today. It’s going to be a slow week I feel like.

Back to Munich!!!!!

August 4^th and 5^th

Saturday morning was once again another early 5:30 am train to start our way back out to Munich. Thankfully I was able to get some sleep the night before because man was it a long day! Once we got in to Munich we went straight to our tour at Dachau. The tour took 5 hours and it was all standing and walking! But it was all very interesting and our tour guide really knew his history. If it wasn’t so hot and there were more places to sit I may have like it a lot more, but nonetheless it was definitely an intense experience. Our guide really knew all the straight facts that were all so different from the perspective we get in our history classes. He talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly that all the countries did throughout this time and I learned a lot more about how Dachau came to opening and how Hilter came to so much power. Before it was a concentration camp it was a factory and at the time of the depression everyone lost their jobs. Then when it first opened it was called a “reeducation center” for people that had political views that were not the Nazi’s views. I also then learned all about the different physical and psychological tortures of the camp and what it would have been like to be there. It was just absolutely mind blowing. Our tour guide told us about these pictures he saw of when they hung someone by the wrists and then a Nazi guard literally tore the guys body off leaving his arms dangling and his body on the ground. The guard then proceeded to stand on top on the prisoner and pose for a picture with thumbs up. I just will never be able to understand how anyone could ever do something like that. I could honestly go on for hours (especially since I was on the tour for five listening to constant stories) about the camp there. They had dark rooms where they just held prisoners for a year at a time and the prisoners could only keep track of time because thye got hot soup every 4 days. Men went insane in there and would commit suicide, and if they survived they were brought out into the sun and forced to stare at the sun in which they would go blind in 20 seconds. If you were injured or sick on inable to work for some reason or another you were killed. With every room I walked through and the more I learned I started to be in disbelief that anyone could have ever survived. Then of course it really got to me when we finally got to the gas chamber and crematorium. Our tour guide would even walk us through there because he said one time was one too many. It was just absolutely insane and I got really choked up and teared a little. It was just so hard to see and it is insane to me that there are still genocides and killings every day. There are memorials that say things like never again and warn the living and yet somehow mankind just doesn’t learn. It was very sad and depressing but also very worthwhile to see.

                After that sad trip we then went on a fun beer challenge (except not really a challenge more just like a beer tour) through the city of Munich. We met so many people from all around the world and that was the best part of the tour. Of course we could have gone to the different beer houses on our own but the experience of meeting people from everywhere was so cool. We first had a beer made in Munich in a bottle that we just walked down the street with. In Germany you can seriously go anywhere with any sort of open container of alcohol and it just felt so weird to walk down the street drinking a beer! Then we headed to an outdoor beer garden and that was such a cool atmosphere. These older gentlemen just loved the crowd of young people that came in and wanted to chat it up. Then as we were leaving the beer garden our entire tour group sang happy birthday to me and a few other people that had birthdays in August. It was super embarrassing and one of my roommates has a picture so hopefully I will get that soon. After that we headed to a few more places and we got to experience all types of different beer house atmospheres. We saw people in the traditional lederhosen (or however you spell it) and saw some traditional dancing and the Haufbrau house. I even tried the Pope’s beer which I am not sure why it is called that; it was really loud in the bar and could not hear the tour guide talk about the beer. All in all it was a really fun night and even though I did not drink a lot (cuz the beers we had to buy ourselves were expensive and I really do not drink a lot of beer) I still had an amazing time. We then got on the tram and headed to our hsotel

The tent was the coolest hostel ever! It was super laid back and everyone was so nice! When we go there there was a bonfire and the bar at the hostel was still open. People were playing music and singing and just having a relaxing night that you would if you were camping in the woods. But all of us were so tired that we just got our blankets and went to bed. Where we slept was literally a huge party tent with 100 bunk beds in the room. Since we got there late we all had top bunks and it was really interesting to try to get into them because there wasn’t a ladder to get up onto the bed.

                In the morning we were able to see more of the grounds and I thought it was really cool. It was just a giant area for people to camp out at and they had a huge bathroom and shower area, a kitchen, pinics areas, a volley ball court, a bar, and a café that was super cheap. I got a ton of food and coffee for only 2 Euro and it was a great way to start the morning. We then headed to our tour of Neuschwanstein. It was a two hour train ride there plus a bus to get the the base. It was the most beautiful area I have ever seen in my life! We then took a carriage ride almost to the actaul castle and then walked the rest of the way up. It was just so beautiful and it’s understandable why Disney used the design. Of course now Disney pays the castle owners and Germany every year for stealing the design but it was just gorgeous. Only 30% of the castle is complete inside and Kind Ludwig of Bavaria was just a nut who built all these catsles he didn’t have money for and so they were never finished when he died, but man it was just so cool. I was also able to eat ablskeevers and drink the fresh spring water from the Alps. It was awesome! After seeing the outside, getting some souviner shopping done, and eating, our tour group went down the back way and hiked down the mountain through the forest. It was gorgeous! The most beautiful water fall ever and the best walk of my life! We got down to the base and back to the bus just in time because without warning we watched a curtain or pouring rain just come at us. It was completely dry not even sprinkling where we were and we just watched the storm come down the mountain and a minute later without any warning rain it was absolutely pouring.

                All weekend we had great luck of getting everywhere on time and making all the trains until that afternoon. Because of the storm and a road block our 5 minute bus ride took over an hour and because of that delay we missed every train going back to Munich. We then had to get on another bus for another hour to catch back up with the train to get to Munich. From there we got back on a train and headed home.

It was definitely a long and grueling weekend but probably my best trip yet. I had the BEST time with the girls I went with and I really learned so much about the places I went to. I could go on forever about what I learned at Dachau and about crazy Ludwig whose death is still a mystery, but because it was such a long weekend I can’t even remember. It was an amazing weekend and I am so glad I went.

fast fast Friday

Today actually went by surprisingly fast. I felt like the beginning part of the morning went by insanely fast. Then when I went to the gym and although time went by fast and I worked out for a good while, it just wasn’t as good of a workout as I wanted. My body is definitely tired and does not like trying to get back into a routine of working out.

Then the second half of the day seriously flew by. The musical talents camp put on a concert and large group today was bubbles so the kids were constantly busy and always moving around so before I knew it it was five. I also did not have to sit outside during water play and since it was Friday I was allowed to play a movie. So I sat and watched a movie and next thing I knew there were only four kids left in the center.

Nothing too crazy or memorable happened today. My run after work also was not up to par and I really do not plan on doing much tonight. Part of me wants to go out and do something but I am also just tired and for some reason I rather start parking and be completely packed for this weekend than do anything. Looks like a lazy night in by myself tonight I am sure.

Only 16 more days to go!!!!

I should have known today was going to be a long, hard day when I went back to bed instead of going to the gym this morning. I woke up and did not feel good at all and when I looked in the mirror I said “no wonder everyone asks me if I’m feeling ok and if I am tired! I look terrible!” I decided that going back to bed for two hours before I had to go to work (since it’s field trip day so I do not have split shift) was a better idea than sticking to my workout plan today. Let me tell you, those two hours made a world of difference! Time also went by so slowly because after I heard my roommate get up and leave this morning I thought I must have over slept and my alarm didn’t go off so I jumped out of bed and realized only ten minutes had gone by! It felt so good to sleep a little more even though I had already gotten a ton of sleep by going to bed at 9 pm last night.

So today for the field trip we went to Wurzburg to take a tour of the residents palace (the building I took a picture of on our random trip there with the fountain out front) and see a botanical garden. I sweet talked my way into have a combination of 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade boys and gave them a speech that this was their once shot with me and with the staff member they are normally with. They were pretty good on the way their but then they slowly started slipping. The inside of the palace was amazing! We weren’t allowed to take pictures so I can’t show you what it was like. But basically each room you walked through got more and more extravagant with real gold trimmings, paintings, a room that was entirely mirrors, and stucco decorations everywhere. I can understand why their behavior started slipping though… it was hot, there was nowhere to sit, and honestly this stuff is boring at their age. I loved it though and I am so happy I basically got a free tour of this place.  Then it was my bad that my group and Anneke’s group didn’t get a chance to go buy ice cream or candy or spend their Euro on whatever they wanted so I told them that if there wasn’t a place at the gardens I would make it up to them by buying them ice cream the next day from the store but only if they were good. So they were already rowdy and then the gardens just killed them. It was hot outside and then the green hosues were even hotter, there was still no sitting, and once again learning about plants is not what young kids really like doing. So I felt really bad but I had to break the bad news to them that they weren’t getting ice cream because of how bad they were at the gardens and the walk to the bus and on the bus. But on the plus side I loved the gardens! It was cool to see all these new plants and plants that I just have never seen. I saw a banana plant with an actual blooming flower and baby bananas on it! I then also got to try a cocoa bean! It was hilarious seeing the kids try it because they thought it was like the chocolate they buy at the store! I had to explain this does not have tons of sugar and milk in it and they were all trying to spit the cocoa out, but I actually liked it!

We only did those two things but seriously it was the longest day ever and EVERYONE was like falling asleep on the bus. So it was nice to have it quiet for about 30 minutes. After work I was able to get a good ab workout and a run in. On my run I got quite some funny comments. Some people doing community service noticed I’ve been running every day and they said “so you’re just running everyday now aren’t you?! You know you’re too skinny right?” I then had an older man say “work it!” and one girl told me it was such motivation to see me run and good for me for running. Haha it was kind of nice to hear those kind of compliments because I felt like a big fat kid trying to wobble around after eating a whole cake! I feel so lame when I run so when I heard those things it made me feel like I looked like I could actually run.

While on my run I put my camp uniform and undies in the wash (since I am seriously not washing anything I actually care about) and then came back to find out the washer filled but didn’t run and there were no other open washers. Finally, I had to move all my soaking clothes to a different washer. The laundry take forever here so needless to say it’s going to be a long night.

Also what is really said is I have already started packing my duffel bag to come home but I haven’t packed for my weekend back to Munich as well as Dachau and the castle! I can’t wait to come home!!! 16 days!

Uhm hii august????!!!!!

So once again I had to go over to the CDC this morning to help cover some people and it was just another learning experience. Of course the pre-k kids were great right until Nora walked in and we had to get them ready for breakfast, but it wasn’t too bad once we got them to sit down and eat. But instead of going back to the SAC today at 9 I was needed in the infant room until 10 when I go on break. I have never really worked with infants before and man did it stress me out!!! I was so glad another Camp A staff was there because I have no idea what I would do! They all needed diaper changes, a lot of them started crying, and I seriously just no idea what to do with babies. Honestly, working in the CDC is so much harder! The girls that work there have it tough and they are still so good at their job! I know I could never do it and so I have so much respect for what they do!

Then I was able to get a really good workout on my break as well as get some of my room organized. Then when I got back to work it was a pretty relaxed afternoon. I am now always in charge of wheels on Wednesdays so at 1 I take the kids with bikes on a bike ride around the base and then at 3 I let all the kids with scooters, roller blades, and skate boards ride around the elementary school play ground. After that I was just helping monitor the playground at the center until the numbers got low enough that Anneke and I were able to get off early.

After work I was really good and I followed through with our plan by going for a run. I ran around the base 2 ½ times and it took about half an hour. It was so exhausting and extremely hot! I even came back to my room afterwards and did a short little ab workout. I am really serious about getting back into work out mode these last few weeks so that when I go back home I will stay with being in the routine of working out.

But finally tonight I mean it when I say that I am going to bed early. I am extremely tired and I want to just catch up on sleep. I keep saying I’m going to bed early and then next thing I know I see it’s 11 pm.  So sorry for anyone (mostly family) I said I was going to skype/ talk to today…. It’s 8:30 pm bed time for me!!!

Always eating the most unhealthy foods......

Today was pretty interesting. This morning I had to go over to the CDC (child development center) two cover a room before Nora got there because two people called in sick. I was alone in ratio with the kids (pre-k age) for about 15 minutes and it was insane how quickly they went from listening to me and being nice to just going nuts. It was a lot of work and so frustrating because I couldn’t get them to listen or do anything! I felt awful when Nora came in because I am sure she was thinking “why is it so crazy in here?” of course when she came in they all listened and did what they needed to in order to get ready for breakfast. It was just so tough but definitely a good learning experience. Then when I got back to the SAC I helped Anneke out with the green screen movie project by helping the kids make masks and costumes that they needed for the movie.

On my split I had a really good workout and felt really good about myself. I also had to go get myself an energy drink because I had such a late night last night trying to get my computer to work. I have no idea what is going on but it freezes and crashes every 15 minutes and I could not get anything to work. My computer was checking the disks for problems and stuff when I rebooted (I am not really sure what I am talking about because I am not good with computer and it makes it really hard).

The energy drink really helped because the rest of my afternoon went really well. I was able to shake off the confrontation with the staff member I had the day before and I had a lot of fun with the kids. I played the games with the kids during large group activity and I even gave in a had a cinnamon roll for snack (instant regret!) and chilled in the computer room for the afternoon. Today I also saw the biggest dog ever! I swear it was half dog half bear! It was like five times larger than the dog in the movie Beethoven!

After work we went to the large grocery store with our PC and I got some banana chips and some German candy (yep… once again with the healthy). Then we had a meeting and went out for dinner (I didn’t get anything though cuz I ate a healthy dinner at home) and then ice cream (or course I got that haha). Now I am just trying to catch up on sleep and start thinking about what I need to do before I leave for back home! I can’t believe it only two and a half more weeks!!!!

My Amsterdam Weekend

July 30

Today was just not my day at all!!!!! I woke up so tired and not wanting to go to work at all! Then I froze all the way to work because I didn’t wear my sweats. It was like 90 degrees on Friday and sunny and today it was freezing and windy! Thankfully the morning went by fast but then when I left work it was still freezing and raining! I had to ride back in the rain and I was so cold when I got back!

Then I feel asleep again when I meant to work out and this time it was on the phone with Will. I was just so cold that I got under the covers to talk to him real fast (completely prepared in workout clothes and everything) and next thing I know, I woke up to the loud sound my phone makes when the person on the other end hangs up! So then I put my sweats and jacket on to go back to work and it looked still overcast, rainy, and cold but it was hot! When I got back to the center, the worst part of my day happened. I just had some not so fun times because I got into a confrontation with a staff member and it really did nto go weel. I ended up crying more than once at work it kind of sucked.

Then I tried to eat some amazing looking left over chicken wings but they were gross and still red on the inside so all I ate was a pb& j sandwich and WAY too much left over cake. Yeah real healthy… I definitely feel a lot better about myself from Friday not working out, a ton of unhealthy and huge portions of food all weekend, and not working out today… yay…. NOT. Tomorrow some changes are going to happen.

July 29

So we got back in from the Red Light district about 12:30 am and we actually got the most sleep I have gotten my entire trip here!!! We slept in until 8:15!!! It was amazing! It was also nice to go to sleep with the Olympics going on and wake up… we were always watching reruns and the live stuff it was so cool to watch. After we got all packed up we went to the restaurant right underneath us for breakfast. I got some French toast and coffee. It was really tasty! They make it differently than we do in the states but I couldn’t really understand what the waitress was saying. All I know was I put some strawberry jam, syrup, and powder sugar on it and it was amazing! After that we headed to the Anne Frank house. We got there before it opened and there was still a huge line already. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside, so I can’t show you what I saw, but all I can say was it was really intense! All the stairs were extremely steep (as in you were hitting your knee on the next stair up with every step)and creaked really bad. It was just such a crazy feeling being inside her house! All along the walls were excerpts from her diary as well as explanations on what used to be in that room (because all the rooms were unfurnished. Her dad wanted it that way). There were also videos from different people that knew her. One was her dad talking about how parents never really know their children because the whole time he never knew she had all these fears and thoughts because she never showed them. We got to see where they hid (in the back of the house behind a bookshelf doorway) and how the rooms were set up. One room was a couples bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen. It was just absolutely insane and almost a weird eerie feeling as you walked through the house. I kept imagining how they ever got by without making any sound or going anywhere. What really got me was the footage from the concentration camps and the war as well as the videos of people like her best friend and her dad talking. It just really made you think about what life was like and how people lived. She was only 13. I couldn’t imagine living and hiding like her… and too be able to write like her. I had that crazy feeling in my chest almost like on the verge of tears and my skin was cold and crawling. It was just unbelievable. I can’t even describe it any better than that. She described all the different rooms of this tiny, narrow, three story house that was really not good enough to live in. it was an unforgettable experience and it makes me really interested to see Dachau next weekend.

After the Anne Frank house we only had about an hour and a half before our train left… so what did we do??? Of course… more shopping. But this time I actually bought stuff. I found some cute little things that I actually thought were worth is and I was happy with the money I spent. Also while a lot of the girls were still searching all the stores, I went over to a cheese shop I saw earlier in the weekend and sampled some cheese. I ate green cheese!!! It was pesto cheese and I was completely intrigued. They had all types of cheese with all different flavors and they were all so good. It was like putting cheese and spread on a cracker but all in one little bite of cheese! I’m really glad I was able to try most of the food Holland is famous for before I left!

Then we had the train rides of hell coming back! Every train was delayed and our super long train ride took forever because it kept making random stops (for who knows what reason) in the middle of no whwre. We also had annoying people sitting around us, a rude ticket checker, and just an uncomfortable time in the train. It took us almost an hour and a half longer than it should have to get back. But all in all Amsterdam was pretty cool. Everyone there was so nice, helpful, and most of them spoke English. I am glad I got to visit and I really wish I could have gone to at least the Van Gough museum. I don’t think I will ever really want to go back to Amsterdam, but I am at least glad I got the experience.

July 28

So the 20 minute power nap actually worked out. I felt really energized and ready for the day. We finally made it to our first train on time and I literally just caught up on sleep by sleeping on every train into Amsterdam. When I finally woke up and started looking at what Holland was like I was really surprised at what I saw. It was so cool! It was a lot of fields, all the hosues were made of brick, and EVERYONE rode a bike! I also actually didn’t know Amsterdam bad a bunch of canals. So when we got to Amsterdam I thought it was so cool with all the canals throughout the city. The city was packed with people and there were bikes everywhere! They also have the right of way and will run you over if you are in the bike lane or in their way! It almost reminded me of San Francisco but in a different way. On the main street we were on there were restaurants, souvenir shops, and hotels galore! The entrances to hotels were tiny little doors with steep stair cases that lead about the shops. Ours was a tiny little place that was split between the upstairs of two different restaurants so there were two different doors and to get in the not main door, you had to ring a bell and say what room you were in in order to be let in.

After we checked in and put all our clothes and stuff in our room, we headed out to see the town. On our way to Dam square (the major city center) we stopped in a tours place and got a map as well as booked getting into the Ice Bar (where the entire bar and glasses and stuff are ice) and a boat tour. We were really excited to do that stuff later in the day, and we had a huge to do lots of things we wanted to see before the boat tour so we headed out with our map and figured out this huge path we could walk to see everything we wanted to see. Well, typical us… we got lost… and all the girls got side track with every little souvenir shop we passed. We wanted to actually go inside the sex museum, the hash museum, and the torture museum… but none of that happened. We wanted to see a windmill and go to the only market left in town that sold fresh, warm stroopwafels and that didn’t happen either. I didn’t even end up eating real Dutch food (which is mostly Indonesian I found out) because we went to a pizzeria instead. But what we did see were a lot a canals, some cool houses and house boats, the entrance to a park, the I am Amsterdam sign (I (Am)sterdam), and the outside of the wax museum, the outside of the Van Gough museum, and a few other museums near the I Amsterdam sign. In case you can’t tell… that is the biggest thing I have been frustrated about while here… we go to all these different countries and we do not get to do a lot of stuff. I saw a lot of cool buildings and got to see the city on all the canals on a boat tour (once again and amazing experience) but I did not learn as much as I wanted to because there were a lot of people on the boat that were all speaking different languages and talking to each other. I did learn that some canals were wider than other and were all manmade based on class and what the canals were needed for. Also all the houses have pulley posts on the outside because the staircases are so narrow and steep inside that you can’t get goods and furniture in your house. So just like all the cartoons, you have to lift the piano on the outside of your house and bring it in through the window! During our boat tour (as everyone was going over all the purchases they made) I started thinking about how I should have started collecting some sort of item from everywhere I have been. The one thing I haven’t been doing (which is probably why I get so annoyed by it) is shopping.  So after our boat tour I finally decided to find something cute to get. I also got fries (because Amsterdam is also famous for those) and I got my first stroopwafel. While inside this huge souvenir shop I also got to watch the Olympics on a big screen and I was so excited to see Ryan Lochte win (and beat Michael Phelps) in the 400 IM. It was actually probably the high light of my day to be honest. After all that fun stuff we went back to our room at relaxed and watch more of the Olympic games in our room before our reservations at the Ice Bar at 10:30. I got to eat my stroopwafel and watch the Olympics and rest on my top bunk. It was amazingly perfect and my food was so good. The fries were perfect and amazing… the best I have ever had and the stroopwafel is not my new favorite cookie/dessert. It looks like it’s going to be crunchy like a waffle cone type thing but it’s chewy with syrup in the middle and it’s just so sweet and good.

Then we made our way to the Ice bar. It took forever to get there and we should have known something was weird when a lot of people did not know where this place was that we each paid 16 Euro for. When we entered the place it was this small area with this weird music video of an ice queen awkwardly dancing on the screen. Basically in this bar, you pay 16 Euro for entrance fee, two “drinks”( in a glass the size of a shot glass that is made out of ice) and like a weird trippy 3d movie and 30 minutes in this 10 degree below freezing room. It was really odd and some of the girls really started freaking out that it was some weird thing where we were going to get taken and like killed. I think is was a cool concept but such a tourist scam and not worth 16 Euro to watch some Eskimo dude roll down a snow hill in a 3d movie and stand around in a big coat and gloves freezing my butt off. After that we went to the red light district. That place was crazy! I couldn’t believe how these girls are all dressed up just standing in these huge windows and guys just come up, knock on the glass, come in and the girl closes a curtain to show she’s busy! There wer ealso live erotic sex shows going on at every corner and just massive amounts of people! The only cool thing I did there was get a scoop of stroopwafel ice cream (it was AMAZING!). It was so sad to see this girl in a window that looked like she was 12 and almost just as sad to see an ugly old lady below the 12 year old. They really had a type of girl for any guy that has any type. I also feel like a few of them were men and not actually women haha.

July 27

Today was Anneke’s birthday and it made the day really fun and interesting. Work was pretty hard because a lot of the kids were super tired and cranky from having a camp out the night before (which means they didn’t sleep at all). So all day they were cranky and I could not get them to participate in any activity or be nice to each other for more than 2 minutes at a time. It also did not help because I was super tired for some reason. On my split I tried to work out in my room and I was literally falling asleep while trying to do an ab workout and I ended up napping on my floor. But some kids were still good and they were so cute because everyone made Anneke birthday cards. After the day was finally over, the staff threw us a “welcome here, happy birthday Anneke and bon voyage” party/ potluck. Not a lot of staff actually shwoed up and yet there was still enough food to feed the entire continent of Africa! There was seriously so much food I was full after just appetizers!!!! And Miss Betty was seriously cooking in the kitchen the whole time! She never came out and the food just kept on coming! All together we had chips, guac, chicken dip (my favorite), salsa, rice, texas toast for pulled pork sandwiches, beans, pasta salad, corn on the cob, chicken wings, chicken breast, ribs, homemade bbq sauce, rice, tons of drinks, and of course the cake! Miss Betty also gave Anneke and I birthday gifts, but I didn’t get to open mine because Karissa gave them both to Anneke and said they were from Miss Betty and Anneke didn’t know there was a problem until she opened both and each box had the same thing in them! It was really nice of them but what sucked was that we were there until 9 pm! As in we still had not left work at all! But after we finally came home (with tons of left overs and our gifts), we got ready really fast and went out to Habeneros for Anneke’s birthday. It was really fun and it was happy hour so I was able to get 2 drinks for 5 Euro each. By the time we got home and ready for bed and packed for Amsterdam it was already 1:30 am and we were going to be getting up at 4 am to get to the train station. I decided it wasn’t even worth it to go to bed and I just stayed up through the night and I only took a 20 minute power nap.

Trip to Ilesheim

Back to Thursday which means another field trip. This time we went to the Ilesheim school age center (where my friend Katie works, but she works at the CDC). It was about an hour and a half away and we were going there to have a field day with their kids. They only had about 20 kids and they only have two camp adventure staff and one permanent staff that run everything. The center was quite small and very different than ours. For the first time the kids stopped complaining about the Schweinfurt center and actually couldn’t wait to go back.

It was an interesting day with the kids for sure. Since there were so many kids, and our permanent staff figured that somehow their two camp A staff had everything planned and under control, they did not step in with behavioral issues or helping with transitions. So also for the first time, Anneke and I really stepped it up and ran camp. We immediately had no problem helping run and explain games like red light, green light, and we also really stepped it up with coming up with activities to do, how to manage all the kids, and how to run the programs. We all did Blitz and had to lead 2 songs each and we all dove right into managing the kids, splitting them up, and working as a team even though we had just met the two camp A interns at the Ilesheim site. When we finally got out to the field for activites after lunch, it was so hot that the kids only lasted through tug of war and potato sack races and dizzy bat relays. We were supposed to do a lot more but they had absolutely no shade and only a small jug of water to bring out. Afterwards we had snack at the center and we ended up leaving their kind of early. But since the ride was so long, we were only at our center for an hour before I got off work.

Tonight is going to be a long but fun night. First, Anneke and I are going for a run (well, more like jog since neither of us really run… but still be proud because I also went to the gym this morning haha). After that I am going to a eat a super healthy (NOT!) burger that the lead staff member I have become so close with made for Anneke and I since we did not attend the dinner at his house (it was only for the CDC interns) and I am actually really looking forward to the burger. And then my favorite part of the night… I’M BAKING!!!! I am so happy that I get to bake and I hope it turns out alright. I am baking a cake for Anneke’s birthday tomorrow and I am decorating it with a ton of frosting (because I have two things of frosting for one 13X9 cake) and tiny little cookies (so that I will stop eating them haha). I am also packing up for Amsterdam and finishing my last assignment for Camp homework. I can’t believe I only have 23 more days left! I am super excited! It’s crazy to think there are only 3 more weekend trips including this weekend and only 3 more weeks of work after this weekend! I feel like I still have a ton of food here that I am going to end up throwing out (sad but probably for the best since it’s all not really that healthy haha) and that I still need to do so much!

Constant battle with the bike.... gggrrrr

Well today has been quite the rollercoaster of ups and downs today. This morning with the kids was ok. I am definitely starting to feel more welcome and like the kids actually like me because I had a lot of them hanging on me, talking to me, hugging me, and asking me questions. It was overall a pretty good morning. I then came home and felt so productive because I worked out and did my laundry at the same time. I was doing an insanity workout and an abs workout while I had my laundry going. This is when a down started…. The washer and dryer absolutely DESTROYED my clothes. I had it on cold water, delicate, low heat… everything to keep my clothes looking good…. But no my absolute favorite pari of actual nice shorts (the light blue ones in my Paris pictures) and awful. They are discolored, faded, and the creases are like worn and ripped. The washer actually ate my clothes like no joke. And that happened with pretty much all my clothes and I am just so upset because especially with my shorts I spend a lot of time to find ones that are not short shorts, they are good material (not just ratty jeans), and will last… and I definitely don’t have the time or money to replace like 5 pairs of shorts and 5 shirts…. So I’m really pissed. And then during the middle of my workout my computer just froze up and crashed. I have no idea why. Then I went back to the center and lunch wasn’t even that great. I was so mad that things had been going so perfect and now I was having the worst day ever.

But then things kind of turned around because for Wheels on Wednesdays I got to go on an actual bike ride around the base with the kids that brought bikes. I got to miss large group activity and when we came back from the bike ride we were able to hang out in the computer room which is the coldest room in the center so it felt really good. And then snack was bomb! Apples and goldfish!!!! My perfect snack. The afternoon was really chill too because after I watched the kids who had scooters and roller blades instead of bikes ride around for about half an hour, I was able to cool off again ad relieve the staff member that had a movie playing for the afternoon. It was escape to witch mountain (yeah the super old one) and it really made me laugh because of the acting skills and awful graphics haha. Then after work Anneke and I rode our bikes over to the mall. I bought some more granola (a healthy snack option for the rest of the summer) and I looked at a bunch of different stores. It was also really nice to spend a lot of time with Anneke outside of work. After the mall we went to the really cool restauarant famous for their schnitzel downtown. I had my first schnitzel and it was actually pretty good. I had a pretty basic one in a cream sauce with some werid side that started with an r that was like little dough droplets. It was actually pretty tasty.

Then another down… as we were riding out of the plaza I had my second bike crash =( We were riding up this hill that had this weird bump and the top and I didn’t have enough momentum to get up to the top. So I tried to put my foot down and catch my balance, but of course since I am too short for my bike I started rolling backwards back down the hill. Before I knew it I ran back into Anneke who was riding behind me and crashing into her made me fall over into this concrete planter box and into a bush. It was so bad and it was right in front of a café full of people. And of course I fell on to the same ankle and leg and got all bruised up and scratched up worse than before. I quickly got out of there and rode home. It was absolutely insane.

So overall all not a terrible day, but not a good day either. I just want tomorrow to be better and I am ready for Amsterdam this weekend!!!