German Bakeries and Broken Couches

I realize that I have not blogged since we got here and will probably leave many things out. I apologize if I skip something important.

Ruben and I moved into our new apartment about a month ago. We love it very much. It is 1500 sq ft. 3 bedroom 1 and a half bath, and has a utility room with a washer and dryer. It is a walk up, located on the 3rd floor. Our ridiculously stereotypical but very kind landlord Mr. Boll lives below us on the 2nd floor. Now here is the attention grabber, on the 1st floor is the German Bakery owned by our landlord. We can hear them start baking around midnight and when we walk to our cars (which we park on the street) we can smell the delicious pastries. Their Mohn (sp?) is my absolute favorite. The stairs are a pain in the neck when it comes time to sweep them!
We have a balcony overlooking our neighborhood. Ruben has already put a grill out there and we have grilled steaks so far. We have many plans for that little grill.
Our household goods, everything we shipped from the states, got here two weeks ago. I felt like I could finally breathe once I got it all unpacked. Also, I feel like the most organized person ever because there is not a single closet in our home. We have 3 wardrobes packed full and shelves all over the place. My couch was broken in the move. The supports were destroyed. My heart is broken but now Ruben and I can get something together. My large armchair made it. Another tough break was our brand new Martha Stewart cutlery set was snatched by the German movers, and my stateside (Samsung Galaxy S Android) cellphone was snatched out of my wardrobe. They even took the charger ever though it is US voltage. We filed a police report for the cell phone and will claim the rest.
My car is here as well. It does very well in Germany. I missed it so much I almost cried when I got it back.
We have not been able to travel much due to having so much going on, but we did make it to Schloss Heidelberg. It's a beautiful castle about 45 minutes away. The town of Heidelberg is beautiful in itself and has a river running through it. The bridge that crosses the river is covered in old statues. America is so young!

The castle is very difficult to get to. I had to climb up to it three times due to everyone being in a completely different place then deciding to visit the castle after the bridge. Some parts of it are falling apart but I think it looks awesome that way.

We have made some very good friends since we got here. Well, John was kind of a carry over from Keesler since he and Ruben graduated Tech School together, but everyone knew each other from Tech School.

Paula is the other wife I have gotten very close with, I would be completely lost without her. I haven't seen her all week and am looking forward to our wifey date tomorrow. We went to a Prehistoric Museum or Das Praehistorium for her birthday. It was very fun, we all got to wear little audio guides so we could get the tour in English.
We have many plans to travel so that will come soon. I promise to blog in a much more timely manner from now on.

Love and miss everyone from back home!

4th of July: Celebrating America in Another Country

We spent July 2, 2011 watching fireworks at Vogelweh. For those of you from back home that don't know what that is, it's the base where Ruben will be working at next year when they move his squadron.
There was a cute little carnival with all the basic essentials. A ferris wheel, bumper cars, overpriced games, and shitty expensive beer. They also had some live bands that did a bunch of covers of American hits. Although I'm not sure anyone told the last band that "Walk Like an Egyptian" is not very well known by the younger crowd, their set list was outdated to say the least. The first band was awesome though. Everyone loves Germans willing to cover Gnarls Barkley.
The fireworks display didn't start until 10:30 at night, 3:30 pm Texas time. I know that sounds really late but the sun wasn't even fully all the way down yet. Even when the fireworks show was done the sky was still a faint blue. The sun sets very late here and rises very early, like 4:30 am early. It's definitely making the jet lag more difficult to overcome.
The Air Force made the fireworks show worth our while. However, UNT and the Rangers game last year definitely outdid it. It's important to keep in mind we are in another country. One that goes to bed at 10 pm and doesn't care about Independence Day for Americans. Most of the Germans thought that July 2nd was Independence Day. How do you explain that you are just celebrating it a couple of days early? I'm sure they would have thought we were nuts. 
It is very much more apparent how strange everyone does things in the states. Small things like celebrating holidays a couple of days early seem so odd now. I am now starting to question a lot of my daily habits and find myself lost without any sort of routine.
Today is the actual day to celebrate so I am hoping that I will get to see some fireworks. Is that really how to celebrate independence and the birth of a new country? See... questioning everything.
Off to the BX now. I need some converters and tasty German wines.

Love,
Val