Absinthe Does Not Make the Heart Grow Fonder

What Hollywood taught me about drinking absinthe:

• Moulin Rouge: A green, glittery fairy will dance and fly around singing songs from the Sound of Music.

• Eurotrip: You will hallucinate and hang out with an overweight fairyman.

What real life experience taught me from drinking absinthe:

• Hollywood lies...

There are two other things I learned after my night at the absinthe bar.

The first is do not, I repeat DO NOT, let a fiery sugar cube burn your throat. I hear it hurts like hell. Watching Derek struggle to live as the sugar cube seared off the inside of his esophagus, I concluded that I never want to experience that fiery, burning, sugary hell.

RAIN IN BERLIN: HITLER, CURRYWURST, & THE CHOCOLATE TITANIC

It's warm here in Erfurt. I mention this because I've only seen the sun twice since living in Erfurt this summer.

Erfurt weather has 3 options

Option 1: Cold and rainy.

Frequency: 48%

Option 2: Cold with biting winds at night.

Frequency: 48%

Option 3: Sunny and hot, but not Oklahoma hot, Germany hot, which means it's 85 degrees with no air-conditioning.

Frequency:4%

You may be thinking this sunny weather is a Godsend, right? Wrong. I'm hiding inside Cognito, my favorite free wi-fi (pronounced wee-fee in German--insert laugh here) place in Erfurt, because I simply don't know how to handle the sun anymore. It's scary and bright and I fear my skin will alight in flames if I stand in the sun too long.

So, I will think of colder, rainier times. Like my trip to Berlin.

*I did not say better times, because I will rant just as much about this weather

HURRICANE FESTIVAL: TRAIN RIDES, MUSIC, & HANDBROTZEITS

Before I left for Germany, I found out about a huge concert festival in Germany called Hurricane. I checked out the set list: The XX, Bassnectar, Justice, Florence & the Machine, Blik 182, Mumford & Sons, the Kooks, the Shins, and all the rest of the bands I don't know.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I was in love. I needed to go to this concert. It was in Germany. I was going to be in Germany. Sometimes the universe likes to surprise you with the most amazing opportunities like seeing your favorite artists perform in a different country.

Then again, sometimes the universe likes to be a cruel bitch.

HURRICANE = SOLD OUT.

I cried.

But, then the sour patch kid universe turns sweet and offers up an apology for its cruel joke. The universe put Nora Denner in my path, who, on the first day of meeting me found out I wanted to go to the festival and found me a ticket.

VISIT TO MY FANTASY LAND: INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA

Everybody I've ever told I'm studying German: Why did you choose to study German?

Me: Well, let me tell you a little story about Innsbruck, Austria.

So imagine the coolest place ever, times that by 1,000, and then you know awesome Innsbruck is to me.

10 years ago, my dance company went on a dance tour through some parts of Europe. The best part of the trip was dancing in Innsbruck for Tanzsommer. 

I fell head over heels for this little strip of heaven in the Inn Valley between high mountains.

Ummm, hello most beautiful place ever

Who Invited Ronald McDonald Into My Bedroom?

I love food. Wait, it's more than that, I love EATING food, TASTING food, DEVOURING food, etc. I'm okay with this. I realize that, yes, some things DO taste better, than skinny feels and I plan to eat every single one of those--probably multiple times.

So what's the point to all of this? Well, I do love the idea of being healthy. Eating to an excess, sometimes set off by running for a nice 7 minutes, then stop and walk for 4 minutes, followed by maybe another 7 minutes of jogging. I haven't quite mastered the running thing, yet.

I've been thinking lately a lot about my eating and exercising habits. Here's the breakdown.

• Pre- Germany: I kept a steady routine of jogging and doing lengthy workout sessions with my Nike Training App. It felt great, too, energizing and refreshing. I was even eating ledd sweets, cooking healthier meals. I even stopped partaking in the drunken munchie festivities. 
• Germany: I have gone running all of 3 times in the 30 days that I've been here in Germany.

*And here's an excerpt on what happens when I do go run.

Me: I went running today. I feel pretty good about myself. Maybe I'll even get TWO scoops of ice-cream today!

Caitlin (American SPICE participant): Oh cool. I ran for about an hour today. I feel pretty good, too. I think I'm going to go have some fruit.

Me internally thinking: Bitch. I only ran for 10 minutes. I'm going on the Devil Wears Prada diet. I just won't eat and when I feel like I'm about to pass out, I'll eat a cube of cheese. Yeah, that seems like the best solution.

WAFFLES, CHOCOLATES, TRADITIONAL BELGIUM FOOD, AND MY FIRST MUSSEL

When I stayed with my friend Jacqueline and her family two weeks ago, her mom, Korinne, was kind enough to treat us to a day in downtown Brussels. Boy, was it amazing! I couldn't believe my eyes when we walked into the Grand Place, the central square of Brussels. All my dreams came true in this moment. Angels began to sing. Heaven's gates opened.

Chocolate stores were everywhere. The smell of fresh waffles was in the air. I stood in shock for minutes for I was in Willy Wonka's world now. A world where dreams come true and then everyone leaves satisfied and doing cartwheels of joy.

Of course, I couldn't go running and screaming down the streets to all the chocolate right away. Corinne made us eat lunch, which looking back now was a good thing. I don't think she would have been able to handle my sugar rush on an empty stomach.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

I went to Belgium last weekend to visit a friend from the University of Oklahoma. Jacqueline's family lives in Waterloo, Belgium because of her father's job with ExxonMobil. So I took my second solo journey to a different country. Travelling alone is not a scary act for me anymore, but because I was travelling to Belgium, a French/Dutch speaking country, I felt out of my element.

Not only was the language different, but the train system and schedules. It was an enormous stress attempting to figure out how to take a regional train to Waterloo from the Brussels main station.

But, I made it with a smile on my face, as Jacqueline picked me up from the train station at Waterloo. Seeing a familiar face was so comforting. Yes, there are Americans studying with me in Erfurt, but they are just as foreign as the local Germans. 

I soon learned that the driving system in Belgium is CRAZY! I've seen roundabouts before, but I have never seen Belgium ROUNDABOUTS! They have at most five lanes of cars circling round and round. Adrenaline coursed through my body at the fear that at any moment something could go wrong in this circle of death. But, nothing happened. Oddly enough, the system worked. 

I still would never like to drive in the tiny, there is no possible way two cars can fit into this two-way street, streets. I am NOT that sufficient of a driver. I would let go of the steering wheel and cover my eyes at the imminent death that was soon to come to me.

Jacqueline, on the other hand, had no problem navigating her way through the streets to her Dutch style home. 

The first day we did the classic tourist visit to the Lions Mound at the Battle of Waterloo