Busy Again

Ok, so only Kelly voted, therefore Kelly wins. More posts it is! And anyway, there is just too much that happened in these last few days for me NOT to post. An update is required!

Exploring
On Sunday, I finally went to Trier! I reeeeeally wanted to go, so I ignored the weather and hopped on the train. It ended up being a great decision! While it did eventually start to rain, it kindly waited until around 3 in the afternoon, after I had already seen everything I wanted to see :)

I LOVED Trier. Yes, it is very touristy (as can be expected since it is the oldest city in Germany), but I didn't mind being in the majority again for a day. There certainly aren't a lot of tourists in Saarbrücken!

Trier's architecture is gorgeous. Lots and lots and lots of churches, as well as the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps, 3 Roman baths, an old Roman bridge, an amphitheater, a lovely palace, at least 8 UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites, gardens, museums, the Mosel river...it was just all wonderful.

The best part was that, although it was Sunday and therefore the churches all had services going on, the Trierer Dom, or cathedral, actually let tourists in anyway - while I wasn't allowed to sit with the non-tourists, I was given a song book, and directed to a place where I could stand and hear/see everything. The organ, although intricate and beautiful, sounded slightly dissappointing (quiet and not as...hmm, filling? as I would have liked) but the singing definitely made up for it. LOVE. I wish I had time to go back again, but I probably don't :(

Work
Well, the second wave of my experiment was supposed to start this week. However, over the weekend my lovely hamster cells decided to grow too much, get too crowded, and die. Damn. That means another week of cultivation and a week-long setback. Oh well! It also means that I have time to work on other projects, get some background research done, and explore the field a bit more, so I guess it could be a good thing.

Social Life
Because, yes, I have one again! At least partially. It is totally weird living in a country where people are used to making friends slowly, when I know that I am not going to be here that long! I miss having someone to go out for dinner with, to go to the movies with, to go shopping with, to go to a pub with...here it's mostly just me, and I know it is possible that it could be that way for the whole three months. But alas, in the last week I have gone out 3 times (dinner, shopping, and a public viewing!), and I've traded Handy numbers with multiple people (which means I actually have some people in my phone, other than my landlady!), so I'm actually starting to feel like a normal person again. And that's great!

I mentioned a public viewing. That was today! Deutschland gegen Ghana. We won, yay!! And what a brilliant experience it was. Somebody told me Germans weren't patriotic, but that person has clearly never been to a Füssball match. This was
BONKERS! I went with four colleagues from work, and it was fun...but I need to do laundry now, because everything I was wearing smells like beer. Apparently, whenever Germany scores, it is necessary to throw your cup in the air. It ended up being a bit like those misting machines they have at amusement parks in the summer, except with beer. Nice! Also, while I realize vuvuzelas are a great for expressing support for your team, I'm starting to think that they might be the most annoying instrument ever invented.

RANDOM GERMAN FACT: If it's your birthday, you bring a cake for everyone else!