On Crossing "The Pond", Ice Cream & Tupperware

What a whirlwind the past two days have been! As I sat on the plane in North Carolina, waiting for the mechanics to fix multiple problems with the plane that was going to carry me across the Atlantic for the very first time, I began to contemplate my upcoming overseas adventure . I experienced a stream of emotions including hope, nervous, excited and amazed. Amazed that I would be spending two months in another country. Amazed at the fact that I will not be the same after this experience. Amazed at the possibilities for adventure.

Well, I’ve been in Germany for 36 hours - in Baumholder for the past 7 hours - and already I’ve had a great time. After dinner with some co-workers, we headed over to an ice cream shop. I had been warned that the shop does not allow you to stay and eat your ice cream at a table if you get it in a cone (it's even printed on the menu!). You can only eat at the tables if you order your ice cream in a dish. Of course, we all ordered cones AND sat at a table - see picture for proof - such rebels (ha-ha!).

Since it doesn’t get dark until 10pm and the town is incredibly safe and quiet, we decided to walk around the local pond after the ice cream. As we walked, the previous consultants began to give us their top ten list of reasons to like Baumholder. The first item on their list was that it gives you an authentic German expeirence. During this conversation, we passed a bar. A woman who had just left the bar was walking on the opposite side of the street. She heard us talking, stopped us and asked if we speak German. None of us do and we told her so, but she asked us to wait for a minute while she went to retrieve her friend who does speak English. He followed her out and translated for her, and she invited us to a Tupperware party tomorrow evening at that local bar. The man told us that if we came, we’d get a free drink. Not sure if that was an "authentic german experience" or if we'll make it to that party, but I got a funny story out of it.

My mom arrived in Jacksonville on Friday! After I picked her up, we headed out to St. Simons. I kept forgetting it was the 4th of July, and we found that many of the restaurants that we'd chosen as places we'd like to go were closed! At the one we finally found that was open, the cashier told us that they were closing in an hour, and when we complained that everyone was closed, she said, "We're on island time", and smiled. We chose not to head down to the beach, because it was so crowded and we couldn't find a parking spot.

Yesterday, we took a trolley tour of Savannah. Even though it rained for most of our open-trolley tour, it was fun. We were able to hear many of the Savannah facts and see sights that I have not encountered during my 8 weeks here. I'm posting a picture of the oldest Catholic church in Georgia. I was able to get a great shot of this lovely building!

Although we didn't make it to The Lady & Sons (Paula Dean's restaurtant), we did visit her little store that's attached to the restaurant. Paula happened to be milling about and was kind enough to stop and take a picture with me! (Just kidding - that's a cardboard cut out, in case it's not obvious).

Today, we're headed to Hilton Head Island, even though rain is forcast. And tomorrow we'll drive home! I'm so looking forward to tomorrow!!

Georgia's Coast

I just returned from a day trip, with one of my co-workers, to Jekyll Island and St. Simons Islands. Having seen them all, I can now officially make my decision about which of Georgia's islands I like the best. Trouble is: I think it's a tie. St. Simons is great. It's a wonderfully laid back beach community, with great little shops and lots of charm. Hilton Head is a wonderful place too. Hilton Head is bigger and has more to do, and it seems to draw a more sophisticated crowd than any of the others. It also has more sophisticated shops and restaurants. I do know that I was not really impressed with Jekyll. It is a great beach, but it was just smaller and not as pretty as St. Simons.

With all of that said, I was glad that we got to witness 4 sea turtles being released back into their natural habitat after rehabilitation at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. We then headed up to St Simons Island, and saw the lighthouse, which was also fun. I just love visiting lighthouses! We didn't climb this one, because we were just tired from the heat.

It was such a humid day that we couldn't stand to remain outside. After being out for a total of 3-4 hours, we were beat! Today may have been the most humid day since I've been here. I guess I'm being prepared to return to NOLA!

Speaking of going home: I get home in 9 days! I am anxious to get back home for a short time, to my house and to spend time with YOU: my family & friends! See ya soon!

Contemplating...

I finished a novel I've been reading today. It's called Color of the Sea by John Hamamura. Finishing this book has me feeling contempletive today - pondering honor and integrity and the following question: How do we preserve our purity and wholeness in a world so desecrated by human madness and cruelty? This is the question that challenged the Japanese boy who is the main character in the book.

Of course, my simple answer to this question is to just trust God. But, isn't that a trite and simplistic answer? I think that knowing what it means practically can be so much deeper and more meaningful. The boy in the book was a Buddist. He was so intensely spiritual and aware of his inner self and committed to growth. Those of you who know me know that I'm not advocating Buddism. I just think that these are areas that we neglect so often...

Anyway, I could not put this book down! I loved it and higly recommend it.

Tell me, what are you reading right now? I'd love to dig in to some other great stuff. I'd also love to know your ideas about answers to the question that challenged the Japanese boy.

Rain! Rain! Go Away...

Madeline and I headed out to Tybee Island for a little beach time yesterday before hitting the Latin festival that was going on in downtown Savannah. Unfortunately, our beach time was cut short by some really dark clouds, which turned into rain as soon as we got in the car. We headed downtown and ended up parking near Paula Dean's restaurant, Lady & Sons. Unfortunately, at 4:00 they were already booked for the evening, so we were not able to eat there.

We walked down to River Street to hit the fiesta, but it continued to rain, so we found ourselves at a wonderful restaurant called Vic's On the River. I had Wild Georgia Shrimp over Stone Ground Grits with andouille sausage and tasso ham gravy. YUM, YUM, YUM!!! It was so good! Also, this is the second restaurant that we've been to that served us biscuits with orange marmalade... a southern thing, I guess. The marmalade has been scrumptous both times.

A neat fact about the building that houses Vic's: Workers, who were renovating the building in 1901, uncovered a map that was drawn on the wall. It is a map that was hand drawn by Union soldiers detailing General Sherman's march from Tennessee through Georgia. The building was used by General Sherman's troops during the Civil War. A small portion of the map remains on the wall under glass in the restaurant. Pretty neat to stand in front of that map and imagine the scene that might have taken place there over 100 years ago!

After the rain stopped, we checked out Fiesta Latina. I was sorry we had just eaten, because there were so many great smells coming from their food tents. I guess we missed the dance troupes with their colorful dress, but the music was fun and the people who were dancing seemed so passionate! I really enjoyed watching them!

The Pirate's House

Today we went to lunch at a restaurant in downtown Savannah called The Pirate's House. The Pirate's House is considered the most historic spot in Georgia. When colonists arrived from London in 1733, they planted a garden in this location. Their original crops failed, but from this same garden were distributed the peach trees which have since given Georgia a major crop. The Old Pirate's House first opened in 1753 as an inn for seafarers, and became a meeting point for bloodthirsty pirates and sailors. The Pirate's House is mentioned in the classic, Treasure Island, which says that Captain Flint died in an upstairs room in the Pirate's House. Today, the restaurant serves yummy southern-style cooking, including black-eyed peas, cabbage, chicken pot pie, collard greens, squash casserole, biscuits and cornbread. The food was great. Above, two of my co-workers and I are pictured with Capt Jack Sparrow!!

Hilton Head Island

I visited Hilton Head a few years ago, and before today, I remembered it as a typical tourist beach. Boy, was I wong! I guess we barely left the condo & beach where we were staying during that trip. Today, one of my co-workers and I spent the day on Hilton Head at Coligny beach and touring Sea Pines Plantation on a trolley. Hilton Head is beautiful, and there is so much to see and do there. We spent the whole day and only saw a small section of the island. I was impressed with the number of yachts - They were everywhere! To the left is a picture of Bonnie and me with the yachts. The boat to the left of us is named "Trust Fun". We thought that was cute, so I had to tell you since you can't make out the words in the picture.

To the right is one is of me at the top of the lighthouse, with crazy hair because of the wind, and below is a shot of our view of the lighthouse from those comfy, red rockers.

MFLCs

Military & Family Life Consultants (MFLC): I finally have a picture of the other MFLCs who I work with. Bonnie (far left) and Madeline (3rd from left) started yesterday. Carol (2nd from left) and I have been here 4 1/2 weeks. We have begun to mesh and are getting along well! As you can see, everyone is proud of the scarf I'm currently knitting. Ha!

Stunning Savannah

It's difficult to capture the beauty here with a camera, but I've tried. Look at those trees! Wouldn't you love to live on this street?

The Half Way Mark

I'm excited to have made it halfway through this first assignment! Four weeks down, four to go. I think this assignment has been hard because it was my first. Although I was disappointed that my first assignment was in the States, my mom said from the start that she thought it would be a good thing. I agree with her. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with jet lag, getting around another country without knowing the language and using different money, on top of learning a new job. That said, other consultants tell me that no two assignments are alike. My next one is in Germany. I'm looking forward to it!