Wow who would have thought that Budapest would have been my favorite trip so far. As a European country that was rain by the soviet union and is so close to Asia and the middle east, Budapest is the most intriguing culture. It is truely a mixture of Asian, European and Indian cultures. The food is amazing, there are natural spring that are transformed into large "baths" where you can relax in 110 degree natural water, there is a fortress, great night life, and so much history.
The beginning of the trip was not very smooth. Actually is was really scary at the time and funny now. We had to take a night train because it was a 12 hour trip. We had two transfers and then got on our last train (which was 8 hours) and finally fell asleep. About and hour into our rest the ticket guy woke us up and when he looked at our ticket he said, "Where are you going?" we said budapest and he said we were on the wrong train. We couldnt figure out how but then we realized that the train we had been on slpit into two trainsin salzburg and we were on the wrong half. Needless to say it was 3 in the morning and we had to figure out a new route to budapest and sit at a run down old train station. Luckily it worked out but boy were we nervous and SO SLEEPY!
We stayed in a loft style youth hostile and were treated really well. It was a nice hostile for only 12 euros a night! We had dinner the first night and I can not get over how good their food is. WOW! If you ever see a hungarian restaurant go!!
The next day we explored the whole town. The opera house was beautiful and huge. There was a castle and we tried to imagine being princesses hahaha. We went on a walking tour where we learned a lot about the history of Hungary and Budapest. They have a really sad history of a horrible monarchy and then being taken over by Nazi germany and then "saved" by the soviet union. It wasnt until 20 years ago that they were free from oppression.
Saturday night we went on a bar crawl and hung out with some people from england. When they heard it was the american independence day they said "oh thats the day we gave you the colonies" i said gave us oh no you mean we fought and won them... there was a short history lesson and then we were friends. :) it was cool listening to them talk with fake american accents and talk aout steorotypes of eachothers countries. I had a blast.
Really budepest was amazing and a suggest it to anyone!
Miss you all!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Salzburg Austria... The sound of Music Tour!!
Salzburg was AMAZING!! I was astonished by the beauty in Austria and how green and gorgeous everything is! We had a little hostel trouble (they lost our reservation) but my mom taught me well and needless to say i ended up getting us a private room worth way more for the price of the dorms. :) We arrived in Austria pretty late for our first night we just went to sleep as soon as we settled in. We woke up the next morning bright and early for the sound of music tour. It was so exciting. We were singing songs on the bus (which was decorated with sound of music pictures) and our tour guide was so funny. We learned a lot about the true story of the family and the filming process. The funniest thing i learned was that everyone loves the sound of music but the Austria's. Actually, they hate the movie because it is not true to the real story and it was "a rip off" of a movie they originally made. Also the front of the house is a different building than the back and the inside is actually a hollywood sound stage. We saw a lot of buildings that were in the movie including the cathedral from the wedding scene. It was as extraordinary in real life as in the movie... SO BEAUTIFUL! The Maribel Gardens (where they filmed Do a Deer are astonishing. We walked through them for a long time just taking everything in.
In Salzburg there is also a fortress. From what I understood, until last century Salzburg was its own country and not part of Germany. Its a very independent and proud city. The fortress was really cool. Salzburg is also where Mozart was born and raised. :) There is lots of Mozart memorabilia throughout the city. I was able to see his houses! I was sad to go but we saw so much and I suggest it to anyone that comes to Europe.
In Salzburg there is also a fortress. From what I understood, until last century Salzburg was its own country and not part of Germany. Its a very independent and proud city. The fortress was really cool. Salzburg is also where Mozart was born and raised. :) There is lots of Mozart memorabilia throughout the city. I was able to see his houses! I was sad to go but we saw so much and I suggest it to anyone that comes to Europe.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The reality of the Military
Two stories... real eye openers...
1. Yesterday we walked to the bowling alley on base with a group of children. There is a group of soldiers coming home very soon and for them the garrison is getting decorated with signs and yellow ribbons. As we were walking by a cluster of signs this little boy (i cant use names) pulled my arm and said "Look Miss Beth, Look!!" He pointed at a sign of him and his brother that said, "Forever in our hearts, finally in our arms, Welcome Home Daddy!" His dad has been gone for 15 months! he started talking about all the things he would do with his dad when he came back and how much he missed in. It brought tears to my eyes to think about how much this family had sacrificed to defend our country. It brings a new perspective to soldiers and the strength of them and their families. There is also a 5 year old girl how is waiting and waiting for her mom to come back (in the same group) and asks me at least twice a day if it is the end of June yet.
2. There is also the other end of the story. A 6 year old in the child care center approach me really upset, talking about how her dad was going on a 15 month deployment to Afghanistan in a couple weeks. I watched her little heart break in front of me. how can these families do this... WOW! To be in constant fear all the time about whether of not they will come back and having to live 15 months without them... trying to keep their relationship and attachment. It astonishes me.. the strength of these children!
1. Yesterday we walked to the bowling alley on base with a group of children. There is a group of soldiers coming home very soon and for them the garrison is getting decorated with signs and yellow ribbons. As we were walking by a cluster of signs this little boy (i cant use names) pulled my arm and said "Look Miss Beth, Look!!" He pointed at a sign of him and his brother that said, "Forever in our hearts, finally in our arms, Welcome Home Daddy!" His dad has been gone for 15 months! he started talking about all the things he would do with his dad when he came back and how much he missed in. It brought tears to my eyes to think about how much this family had sacrificed to defend our country. It brings a new perspective to soldiers and the strength of them and their families. There is also a 5 year old girl how is waiting and waiting for her mom to come back (in the same group) and asks me at least twice a day if it is the end of June yet.
2. There is also the other end of the story. A 6 year old in the child care center approach me really upset, talking about how her dad was going on a 15 month deployment to Afghanistan in a couple weeks. I watched her little heart break in front of me. how can these families do this... WOW! To be in constant fear all the time about whether of not they will come back and having to live 15 months without them... trying to keep their relationship and attachment. It astonishes me.. the strength of these children!
Camp Army Challenge
For the past two weeks i was in Bitberg (North west) Germany for an army camp for middle school and high school students with deployed parents. It was a sports camp and we were able to do really fun outdoors stuff like rock climbing, ropes courses, and hiking. i was put in a special group though that was a leadership group that worked hard to prepare a briefing for a FOUR STAR GENERAL!! So exciting!! It was so weird and such a culture shock (yes the military is a culture in itself) to hear so much about military children's lives. Their goal was to compile all of the individual bases youth issues to create the five main issues that effect military youth in europe. I was so proud of how hard they worked and how amazing their finished product was. I mean for the most part they did it all on their own. They also created a Public service announcement commercial for the Military channel (AFN) and a slideshow of the camp. They worked so hard.
While i was in Bitberg i did a little traveling. I went to Trier which is the oldest city in Germany and saw buildings used during the days of the Romans. We also saw of course a cathedral (it would not be a german town without one) and we werent able to get to Carl Marx house but it is the town he grew up in!! We also went to Koln which is a huge city in Germany with lots of shopping and... get excited....... the Lindt chocolate factory!! i dont know about all of you but i LOVE Lindt chocolate! mmmmmmm So i got to see how they make those wonderful truffle ball things. YAY!! We also saw a cathedral there that was bigger than Notre Dame... Crazy! It was to elegant and elaborate. I could have spent a good hour or two just seeing everything in it. Us five interns had a nice dinner together which was really nice becuase we had not all traveled and ate at a restaurant before then.
I will be getting pictures posted soon... I just had some camera trouble and am now trying to collect pictures from friends and get them up. But i at least will have some up early next week of our trip to Austria this weekend!! Get excited... sound of music tour!!
Hope all is well with everyone,
Love Beth
While i was in Bitberg i did a little traveling. I went to Trier which is the oldest city in Germany and saw buildings used during the days of the Romans. We also saw of course a cathedral (it would not be a german town without one) and we werent able to get to Carl Marx house but it is the town he grew up in!! We also went to Koln which is a huge city in Germany with lots of shopping and... get excited....... the Lindt chocolate factory!! i dont know about all of you but i LOVE Lindt chocolate! mmmmmmm So i got to see how they make those wonderful truffle ball things. YAY!! We also saw a cathedral there that was bigger than Notre Dame... Crazy! It was to elegant and elaborate. I could have spent a good hour or two just seeing everything in it. Us five interns had a nice dinner together which was really nice becuase we had not all traveled and ate at a restaurant before then.
I will be getting pictures posted soon... I just had some camera trouble and am now trying to collect pictures from friends and get them up. But i at least will have some up early next week of our trip to Austria this weekend!! Get excited... sound of music tour!!
Hope all is well with everyone,
Love Beth
Friday, June 12, 2009
Munich
Last weekend we went to Munich! Me Kalyn and Maggie had so much fun! We rode the train (my first time) and I was able to see how beautiful Germany is! Seriously i wish I could find a place in the states with this much green.
It rained all day on Saturday which was kinda a bummer but we made the most of it and explored the sites. Munich is a pretty crazy town. We really embeded ourselves in the culture and spoke as much german as possible. I am slowly learning the basic so i can at least get my needs met. Munich reminded me a lot of san francisco with street performers and thousands of people rushing through the streets. A lot of people would bump into me and not even react. For how slow paced German life seems this town was quite shocking. Its so bizzare to wonder the streets and see so much history all over the place. THe buildings are hundreds of years old (something we never experience in the states)The rain kinda kept us from doing tours so we just explored on our own. The main plaza is called marienplatz and it has a huge cathedral with a glockenspiel. Hitler did a lot of speeches in Munich during the war and prior to its beginnings.
We ran into so many Germans celebrating their bacholor parties. The were hilarious. Dressed up like women and singing drinking songs. We even ran into a guy dressed as a viking singing Opera!! :) That made my day! (I have a video but its not posted yet) Next we headed to the hofbrauhaus... It was just like in the movie beerfest. There were so many tables and a huge culture shock was the fact that you just sit at a table with other peopel you dont know (which I guess is common in Germany) So we filled a table with some people from Hungary. During dinner we had live traditional german music, people dancing on tables. being dressed in laderhoisen, and some many different countries represented under one roof. CRAZINESS. I had a blast. The beer mugs were almost to heavy to hold.
After dinner we went to our hostile. It was a room with 10 beds divided into 3 sections. But the blankets were amazing (def better than the baracks we usually sleep in). We woke up the next morning and explored and had breakfast then headed home. :) Great trip great trip.
It rained all day on Saturday which was kinda a bummer but we made the most of it and explored the sites. Munich is a pretty crazy town. We really embeded ourselves in the culture and spoke as much german as possible. I am slowly learning the basic so i can at least get my needs met. Munich reminded me a lot of san francisco with street performers and thousands of people rushing through the streets. A lot of people would bump into me and not even react. For how slow paced German life seems this town was quite shocking. Its so bizzare to wonder the streets and see so much history all over the place. THe buildings are hundreds of years old (something we never experience in the states)The rain kinda kept us from doing tours so we just explored on our own. The main plaza is called marienplatz and it has a huge cathedral with a glockenspiel. Hitler did a lot of speeches in Munich during the war and prior to its beginnings.
We ran into so many Germans celebrating their bacholor parties. The were hilarious. Dressed up like women and singing drinking songs. We even ran into a guy dressed as a viking singing Opera!! :) That made my day! (I have a video but its not posted yet) Next we headed to the hofbrauhaus... It was just like in the movie beerfest. There were so many tables and a huge culture shock was the fact that you just sit at a table with other peopel you dont know (which I guess is common in Germany) So we filled a table with some people from Hungary. During dinner we had live traditional german music, people dancing on tables. being dressed in laderhoisen, and some many different countries represented under one roof. CRAZINESS. I had a blast. The beer mugs were almost to heavy to hold.
After dinner we went to our hostile. It was a room with 10 beds divided into 3 sections. But the blankets were amazing (def better than the baracks we usually sleep in). We woke up the next morning and explored and had breakfast then headed home. :) Great trip great trip.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The kids....
WOw. I dont even know where to begin. Working with these children is so eye opening. They have been through so much between having their parents fighting in the middle east, moving from, not state to state, but country to country!!!, and having to grow up pretty fast. They seem so different than the american children in the states. They talk about war and moving on a daily basis. I have made friends with two children and watched them move the next day, and I have only been here a week and a half.
I work split shifts becuase they are still in school. 6-8 (yes in the morning) and 1-5. But soon i will be working 6-3 monday-friday which will be much easier.
They are soooo much fun though. they call me miss beth and usual fight for my attention (since I am new) which always makes a person feel good. I have a few (I cant use names on the internet) that ask me to sit with them all the time. Some of them have never been to the states so when I tell them I am from Cali questions come flying. They are so interested in what it is like "over there." We play a lot of board and card games. i have never seen kids so into organized games with rules but I am not complaining. I dont think I could ever get tired of playing skip-o. :)
There play equipment is SOOOOO awesome. I even have fun playing on it. I am pretty sure most of it would not be allowed back home (too big and dangerous) but it is crazy cool.
The staff is really awesome. They have taken us under their wing and made our stay here feel as close to home as possible. They are sooo sweet and I am really thankful to have such wonderful people working with me. They have invited us to hang out after work and one person even took us to have home made pizza which was so good especially since all we have here is a microwave and refrigerator.
I am going to get some pictures posted soon. I left my camera cord at home so i need to find a way to get them on my computer. I cant wait to show everyone pictures of my trip thus far.
Much love to everyone,
Beth
I work split shifts becuase they are still in school. 6-8 (yes in the morning) and 1-5. But soon i will be working 6-3 monday-friday which will be much easier.
They are soooo much fun though. they call me miss beth and usual fight for my attention (since I am new) which always makes a person feel good. I have a few (I cant use names on the internet) that ask me to sit with them all the time. Some of them have never been to the states so when I tell them I am from Cali questions come flying. They are so interested in what it is like "over there." We play a lot of board and card games. i have never seen kids so into organized games with rules but I am not complaining. I dont think I could ever get tired of playing skip-o. :)
There play equipment is SOOOOO awesome. I even have fun playing on it. I am pretty sure most of it would not be allowed back home (too big and dangerous) but it is crazy cool.
The staff is really awesome. They have taken us under their wing and made our stay here feel as close to home as possible. They are sooo sweet and I am really thankful to have such wonderful people working with me. They have invited us to hang out after work and one person even took us to have home made pizza which was so good especially since all we have here is a microwave and refrigerator.
I am going to get some pictures posted soon. I left my camera cord at home so i need to find a way to get them on my computer. I cant wait to show everyone pictures of my trip thus far.
Much love to everyone,
Beth
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Dachau and Regensburg
Yesterday was Amazing!!
Some of the national guard Sergeants from New orleans have become our friends. They have been awesome making sure we are taken care of and helping us out. Yesterday we went with them on a moral trip becuase someone who calls himself "the mayor" (I think he is just in charge of the barrack) invited us which was really awesome.
First we went to Dachau. It is the concentration camp that America found during WWII. It was such a moving experience and I found myself holding back tears as I moved through the different rooms. One building was all the history with pictures and documents from the camps running. Next we moved through the camp and got to see all the barracks they lived in. They were so small. The beds were only 5 ft long and stacked 3 high with no ladders. The bathroom was just 15 little bucket type things. It was really sad. The saddest parts were the crematorium and the gas chamber. Prisoners were told that they were going to take a shower and would take off there clothes in one room and then go into a room with shower heads and it was actually a gas chamber and they would die while taking a shower. The next room was the crematorium. So they were moved from the "shower" and burned and there ashes were buried. They also had firing ranges (a lot) where they would line them up and kill them in large amounts. They had a lot of memorials throughout the camp and some burial sights that just had the numbers of how many ashes were under them. The germans, from what i hear, accounted for each death and had to document each prisoner they had. Which seems like a lot to me if they were just going to torture and kill them anyways. They were beaten, starved, and force to stand still for hours on end. They even had to build their crematorium. It was an experience I am glad I had and I am glad America found this camp in 1945 and it was stopped and learned from.
Next we needed to get a little happier since we were all feeling really down from Dachau. We went to Regensburg, which is where the pope is from!!!! We were able to see and walk through his cathedral he went to. And under the cathedral was a tomb where old bishops and higher ups were buried. Some of them in the 1400's!! Wow. We got there really late so we were not able to do much looking around becuase everything closes at 6 in germany. We did see someone in Laderhoisen (spelling??) though!! So cool. And we had an authentic german dinner in a biergarten. It was really good. It was called Schienbraten. mmmmmmm Pork with beer sauce and really crunchy sourkraut. Except there was this thing. i dont know what it was called but it was best translated as a potato ball.... ewww it tasted like gelled potato. If you ever come to germany do not get one... it was GROSS! overall it was a great trip and I cant wait till next weekend... we are either going to go to berlin or on a castle tour witht he base where we get to see 3 castles throughout germany!
Some of the national guard Sergeants from New orleans have become our friends. They have been awesome making sure we are taken care of and helping us out. Yesterday we went with them on a moral trip becuase someone who calls himself "the mayor" (I think he is just in charge of the barrack) invited us which was really awesome.
First we went to Dachau. It is the concentration camp that America found during WWII. It was such a moving experience and I found myself holding back tears as I moved through the different rooms. One building was all the history with pictures and documents from the camps running. Next we moved through the camp and got to see all the barracks they lived in. They were so small. The beds were only 5 ft long and stacked 3 high with no ladders. The bathroom was just 15 little bucket type things. It was really sad. The saddest parts were the crematorium and the gas chamber. Prisoners were told that they were going to take a shower and would take off there clothes in one room and then go into a room with shower heads and it was actually a gas chamber and they would die while taking a shower. The next room was the crematorium. So they were moved from the "shower" and burned and there ashes were buried. They also had firing ranges (a lot) where they would line them up and kill them in large amounts. They had a lot of memorials throughout the camp and some burial sights that just had the numbers of how many ashes were under them. The germans, from what i hear, accounted for each death and had to document each prisoner they had. Which seems like a lot to me if they were just going to torture and kill them anyways. They were beaten, starved, and force to stand still for hours on end. They even had to build their crematorium. It was an experience I am glad I had and I am glad America found this camp in 1945 and it was stopped and learned from.
Next we needed to get a little happier since we were all feeling really down from Dachau. We went to Regensburg, which is where the pope is from!!!! We were able to see and walk through his cathedral he went to. And under the cathedral was a tomb where old bishops and higher ups were buried. Some of them in the 1400's!! Wow. We got there really late so we were not able to do much looking around becuase everything closes at 6 in germany. We did see someone in Laderhoisen (spelling??) though!! So cool. And we had an authentic german dinner in a biergarten. It was really good. It was called Schienbraten. mmmmmmm Pork with beer sauce and really crunchy sourkraut. Except there was this thing. i dont know what it was called but it was best translated as a potato ball.... ewww it tasted like gelled potato. If you ever come to germany do not get one... it was GROSS! overall it was a great trip and I cant wait till next weekend... we are either going to go to berlin or on a castle tour witht he base where we get to see 3 castles throughout germany!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Pictures of training
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPOvrLGx5L0
This youtube clip has pictures of the semester training!Enjoy! I leave in 8 days!
This youtube clip has pictures of the semester training!Enjoy! I leave in 8 days!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The reality of it all!
So i just got an e-mail from camp adeventure saying that my plane ticket will arrive TOMORROW in the mail!!! I also recieved my paperwork for my work visa... I cant even read it.. :) its all in German! Honestly I dont think I realized how quickly I will be leaving... only 1.5 weeks... wow honestly... I am a little scared and overwhelmed... In only 12 days I will be on the other side of the world....
Monday, April 6, 2009
Donation letters!
So i sent out all my donation letters today fingers crossed!! only 7 more weeks! I am getting nervous about packing... what to bring what to bring... hmmm.... 13 weeks is a long time for one suitcase...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
It's really happening!
I just received an e-mail from camp adventure confirming my dates for this summer! I am leaving in 7 weeks!! I am super excited but still nervous about a 13 week trip in another country!!
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