We left Thursday afternoon around 2:30 and, after some stops, got down near Tuttlingen around 7:00. Tuttlingen to Neuhausen is typically about 10 minutes, but we hit a line of cars waiting to enter the festival before we even got to the actual town of Tuttlingen. Because of this we pulled into the festival grounds around 8:30. Long, slow drive at the end there. Anyway, the forecast had said that there would be light rain each day (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) with a possible thunderstorm Thursday night. When we arrived at the grounds it wasn’t raining.

Awesome German flag car.

We grabbed the tent and made our way over to the festival entrance where you exchange your paper ticket for a wristband. Long line there, too. When we got in line it wasn’t raining. By the time we entered the check-in tent half an hour later, it was raining torrentially. Luckily, I’d worn my rain jacket. Sonja and Björn were not so fortunate – just had sweatshirts. I won’t describe everything that happened that night, but basically imagine the worst rain you’ve ever been in, save for, say, a hurricane. Ok now imagine worse than that. Seriously. That’s what the weather was like while we set up our tent and brought stuff from the car. The only

very fortunate thing was that Sonja’s tent was one in which you set up the outer tent first, so we had something to stand under while we set up the inner tent. That’s the only reason we had a dry place to sleep that night. Needless to say, the pants I was wearing were out of commission for the rest of the weekend and my shoes were wet for most of it – Gore-Tex is not supernatural, contrary to my own previously-held belief, unfortunately. My rain jacket surprisingly held up quite well, leaving my sweatshirt underneath wet only where water dripped down from the neck. Couldn’t believe it. Although the situation sucked in general, it really didn’t bother me that much. I just accepted that I would be a bit wet for the weekend and decided not to let it get to me. Worked out well. Getting anywhere the rest of the weekend was pretty ridiculous, by the way. Just mud everywhere, around 4-5 inches deep in the bad areas. Constant suction-cupping sound. It was hilarious seeing all the ways people tried to protect their shoes/themselves.

Got up the next morning and it was raining once again (it stopped about an hour after we got everything into the tent the night before haha). We waited a bit and it stopped, so we went to the car and grilled lunch. Delicious steaks, sausages, and zucchini. After that we went over to the festival. I’ll do a mini-review of each band below (pretty much just as an excuse to put more pictures haha), but I’ll finish the general info about the weekend first. Festival for the rest of Friday. The sun actually came out in the late afternoon and it got a little bit warm – probably up to around 60-65 when it had been in the low 50s (and was for the rest of the weekend). Got back to the tent around 1:00 that night/morning. Fantastic day.

(Middle photo: Yeah, that’s 3 guys peeing near the woods who happen to be lined up in perfect German flag order. I doubt that was an accident. Awesome.)

When we woke up Saturday it was completely pouring again. It didn’t let up, so we didn’t get to grill that day. That hurt the morale a little, but we substituted with cereal and a peanut butter sandwich. Actually the peanut butter was just me. Europeans are very much not into PB like we are back in the States. I said how I like to put it on sandwiches (paired with Nutella is a new, delicious discovery), with crackers, with celery, and that many candy bars have it. All of those things grossed Björn out. He said his dislike largely stemmed from the fact that his Aunt used to send him a big thing of peanut butter every Christmas. I guess he got sick of it. Anyway, we suited up in rain jackets and ponchos and headed over to the festival again. Another day of excellent music, although definitely much colder.

It was not raining Sunday morning, which was excellent because we’d planned to pack up the campsite. I had to leave Sunday night in order to be back for work on Monday, so I was going to take the train in the evening instead of going back with Sonja and Björn, as they weren’t getting back to Darmstadt until around 4:00am (leaving after the last show). After we packed up the site and were at the car grilling some food, the idea came up of leaving at that point and not going to the festival at all that day. That totally sucked, and nobody supported it at first, but the seed had been planted. We were all quite cold at that point (it was in the high 40s to low 50s with a decent wind and on and off drizzle – not ideal), and we were also worried about being able to drive out of there. The parking areas had early on become mud fields. Local farmers had started coming in as early as Friday with their tractors to tow cars out. We thought we’d be able to make it out as it was at that point, but we were worried what would happen if it rained again that afternoon or evening. Weren’t sure we’d be able to get out if that happened. Plus, I wouldn’t be there to help because I had to take the train in the late evening. Anyway, we ended up deciding to head home. None of us were happy with the decision, but it seemed like the right one at the time. Just a really sucky situation. As it turned out, the weather improved later on rather than get worse, so we probably could have stayed. You know what they say about hindsight, though.

Overall, totally awesome time even without the shows on Sunday. Oh, quick note on pictures: I only had my little Canon point-and-shoot with me, and I’m not yet used to how much battery life it has. I took a lot of HD videos of the shows on Friday (might make a little compilation video at some point?), so by Friday night it was pretty much dead. Fail. I managed to grab a couple pictures on Saturday before it died completely. So, plenty of pics from Thursday and Friday, practically none from Saturday and Sunday. So it goes. Now on to the short concert reviews/descriptions.

Local Natives – Never heard of them before. Liked their live show. Gonna check them out more.

Bigelf – Screaming metal band. I’m sure some people like it, but just really not my style.

We Are Scientists – I’d heard them before, but their live show was also quite good. Played a lot of songs from their brand-new album “Barbara.”

Vampire Weekend – Good show. Basically a less-processed version of their albums. And a fun time, as you’d expect from a Vampire Weekend show. We didn’t get too into this one because we were in the back waiting to head over to Florence after.

Florence + The Machine – Hands down best concert of the festival. Blew me away. When I listen to her album now, I just keep thinking of how each song was played at this show. I wish they’d release a live album soon, but I don’t have high hopes. Florence is an excellent performer, and you could really tell she loved being up there. Sonja and Björn had never heard her before, and they both absolutely loved it. Björn agreed that they were the best show of the festival, and Sonja said they were one of her favorites (hard to decide because she has different associations with different bands). If you get the chance to see them live, do it.

Jack Johnson – Caught the last 20 minutes or so of his set. Good guitar work, though quite mellow. It’s good in certain settings, but didn’t work too well for the mood at the festival at that point. They also mixed this super-cheesy wave/surfer background with the live video of him up on the screens.

Faithless – Didn’t know them before the festival. Really, really awesome show. I don’t really know how to describe them. Just check them out if you’re interested. One of their famous songs is “God Is a DJ” (which they played. ‘Twas great). Sonja said she’s seen them live multiple times, loved them each time, but then hardly ever listens to them at home. I can definitely see how that could happen. It’s music that, for me, is much more suited to a concert than headphones. Oh, almost forgot. They had one huge, regular drum set, but then also this gigantic percussion contraption? I don’t even know what to call it. Just check out the picture. It was insane.

The Strokes – This was the major disappointment of the festival, unfortunately. It was great to hear their songs performed live, and they did a lot of my favorites, including “Is This It.” (I’ve been waiting forever to hear that bass line performed live.) But that was it. The lead singer was definitely on something. He stopped after every single song to make some comment that was usually dumb, had to ask another band member at least 4 or 5 times what the next song they were playing was, and forgot the lyrics twice during “Last Nite” – during the chorus each time! I mean, c’mon. He was really just not into it at all. Like I said, awesome to hear their songs performed live, but that was about it.

(after this, my camera was pretty much dead and would just grab one shot here and there if I turned it on and took the photo immediately)

Shout Out Louds – Had not heard of them before. Good stuff. Gonna check out their albums.

The Gaslight Anthem – I’d heard of them, but had not heard them yet. Not the kind of stuff I would typically listen to, but has some potential for good driving music. Further investigation is required.

The Hold Steady – Another that I’d heard of a lot, and in this case I’d given the album a once-over, but I was excited to hear them more and see what they’d be like live. Not sure how I felt about the show. On the one hand, the lead singer had a lot of energy and was really into it, but then he seemed out of place next to the rest of the band who were not very lively, just seeming to play through the songs. Also, as captivating as the singer’s performance was, he hardly said one word to the audience between any of the songs. Not a strong connection there.

Phoenix – Great, as expected. Good show, and really awesome to hear their songs live. Played all the ones I was hoping for.

The Temper Trap – My only experience with these guys before the festival was listening to their Bonnaroo set on NPR. I listened to it again today and it’s a good set, but I like it a lot more now that I’ve seen them live. They were set up symmetrically on stage. Lead singer dead center. Drums behind him on the left, raised. Keyboard on the same platform as the drums but to the singer’s right. Guitar on stage with the singer a bit left of the drums, and bass same thing except a little right of the keyboard. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it made them seem more impactful somehow, especially when coupled with the expansive songs. The lead singer here was one of my favorites of the festival. Like Florence, you could tell he honestly loved being there. I love that. Great music to boot. I will say, though, that they seemed like one of those bands that might always be a little better live than on studio albums.

K’s Choice – The only song I’d heard by K’s Choice before this weekend was “Not An Addict.” Shout out to Cilla Patterson for including it on a mix CD she gave me back in….10th grade maybe? Anyway, chose these guys over LCD Soundsystem per Sonja’s recommendation. Some might object to that choice, but I figured LCD would be around for a while, and while they(/he) are on my list of bands to check out, haven’t given them much time yet. Didn’t know when I’d ever get a chance to see K’s Choice again. Was not disappointed with my decision, either. Really great concert, both musically and performance-wise. Definitely gonna be checking out some of their albums.

Tegan & Sara – Never seen them before, but they were exactly what I expected – engaging show and excellent music. They had a nicely mixed set that showcased their varying types of songs. They played a lot of my favorites and then some from their new album that I didn’t know as well. Props to them, too, as they were playing at the same time as Beatsteaks and Prodigy, not exactly quiet bands.

Alright, that wraps it up. Really long post, wow. Well done if you got all the way through that. Check out the Facebook album for more pictures.

- Johnny

After that we got back in the cars (don’t worry – the drivers only took a couple sips) and headed for Bruges. I had intended to watch “In Bruges” before the trip, as I’ve only seen the first half hour or so, but I didn’t have time. Bruges was nice, though far more touristy than we’d expected.

We got some lunch, Marc got a jacket (he only had a t-shirt and had been looking for a jacket anyway), and we walked around the city a bit. We ended up walking longer than we meant to, actually, which resulted in us cutting it very close for getting to Westvleteren abbey on time. Before I get to that, though, an explanation of Westvleteren:

Westvleteren Brewery was the main point of this trip. Westvleteren is one of 6 Trappist breweries in Belgium, and one of only 7 in the world (the seventh is in the Netherlands). Trappist breweries are run by monks and are the only ones allowed to label their beer with the “Authentic Trappist Product” logo. You can find 6 of these 7 breweries’ beers at pubs or liquor stores, and some of them, such as Chimay, are quite famous (and quite good, I might add). The one you cannot find at any pub or store (at least not legally), is Westvleteren. This beer is sold only at the abbey and at the abbey’s store located directly across the street. When one buys it, he agrees not to sell it to any third party. Westvleteren brews three beers – the Blond, the 8, and the 12 – but the 12 is by far its most famous and well regarded, and has been rated “Best Beer in the World” multiple times. Because it is so good, there is of course a “black market” for it on ebay and elsewhere. A quick search found that one bottle of the 12 goes for around $40 on ebay, whereas one crate at the abbey is 50 euros for 24 bottles (around $2.50 per bottle). Also found someone selling an oil painting of the Westvleteren 12 bottle cap. Basically, people really like this stuff. I have to say that the difficulty involved in obtaining it probably adds to its quality a bit. You cannot simply go to the abbey and pick some up (I use simply loosely here, as Westvleteren is located in a rural part of northwest Belgium). Nay, you must reserve your beer ahead of time. The only way to reserve it is to call the brewery on their dedicated “beerphone” during any of the three-hour time blocks listed on the website. The line is constantly busy; one can call for the 3 hours straight and not get through. If you do get through, you are limited to one crate of beer, they give you an appointment for picking it up, and you give them your name and the license plate number of the vehicle you’re going to use to pick it up. Only one name and license plate number per order per month, and the phone number you used to call is banned from calling the brewery again during that month.  We were fortunate enough to reserve two crates because we had two cars and two people calling. Our appointments were at 16:00 and 16:45 on Saturday, and the brewery closed at 17:00.

Getting back to what I was saying before – we wandered around Bruges a bit longer than we meant to, to the extent that we were not sure we would make it to Westvleteren in time. If I had said that before you would have perhaps thought, “Oh that sucks, but not too big a deal, right?” Now you understand just how big of a deal that would have been. Marc and I were a bit more stressed out than the others, for they had the GPS in their car and knew how much longer until we arrived. Marc and I did not. We were just driving along behind them watching the minutes tick away. Towards the end, when it started to look like we might be getting close, I put on “Carmina Burana” to add another 10 points or so to the epic value – the Burana never fails in that department. After a few (very stressful) wrong turns and slow trucks ahead of us, we made it…..

At 16:52……

8 minutes before the brewery closed.

We parked the cars and literally sprinted between the buildings trying to find which one was responsible for beer distribution. We found it, and, gasping, asked the guy working there if we made it in time (it was 16:52, but we wanted to be sure). He said we did, and checked our names off the list. We loaded the two crates into the cars, and took a deep breath. Then we went to the brewery store/bar and a few of us bought a glass of the Westvleteren 12 so we could taste exactly what we had just gone through so much trouble to obtain. I think we all had this fantasy that it would somehow turn out to be awful. Thankfully, that was not the case. It was indeed delicious. Quite delicious.

Back in the cars once again to head to Brussels for the second time that day. (Never thought I’d say, “Off to Brussels for the second time today.”) We checked into our hostel, and then while the others showered and got settled, I left to meet up with Katie and Darcy who were in Brussels for the day on their day off from the WWOOF farm. Also met PJ, their couchsurfing host who had spent the day showing them around the city. We watched the England vs. USA World Cup match on a big screen in a pub-type place, and PJ and I discussed the Westvleteren brewery and Belgian politics. Cool guy. After the match we met up with the rest of my friends, got Belgian fries for dinner (really good), and then went to a pub to hang out. Really great night. Back to the hostel for some much-needed sleep. The hostel was great, by the way. We booked a 6 person room, which in most hostels would consist of 3 bunk beds and maybe a private bathroom. Instead we pretty much got a whole flat. It was two levels, the main one and a loft, complete with a couch, kitchen, clean bathroom, and an entire separate bedroom. And the beds were comfortable! Really lucked out on that one.

Got up Sunday morning and headed out to explore Brussels. We originally intended to check out Brussels in the morning and early afternoon, then head to Antwerp, and then to Aachen, Germany to watch the Germany vs. Australia match with Stephan’s friend. We ended up not going to Antwerp and just staying in Brussels longer. I liked that because although it would have been cool to see another city, it would have been just a checkmark on a list because we would have seen less of Brussels than we did and probably hardly any of Antwerp. Won’t get into too much detail about Brussels – lots of walking and sight-seeing. I really liked the city. It reminded me of Boston in terms of being somewhat dirty, but in an endearing way. This should probably go without saying, but, yes, we got Belgian waffles and they were just as delicious as I’d hoped. We saw the EU Commission and Parliament buildings as well as many other historic Brussels buildings. The day was great except for one major thing – Katia either lost her wallet or had it stolen from her (note that that’s Katia, not Katie). Not sure which. Regardless, she was out 500 euros cash (!!!!) and had to block all of her cards. So terrible. She spoke with police and got an official report, but so far nothing’s turned up and none of us expect that anything will, unfortunately.

In the evening we left Brussels and drove to Aachen. We met up with Stephan’s friend Frank at the World Cup “Public Viewing”. I had expected a bunch of people sitting around a public square watching the game on a big screen. I very much underestimated things. It was a huge crowd, and getting through it was like at a concert, complete with lots and lots of pushing and jostling. I ended up behind a bunch of ridiculously tall people (seriously, unusually tall) and had to constantly move around to see past them. I was able to see better as the game went on and the crowd shifted. It was still completely awesome despite not having the best viewing spot. When Germany scored, which they did 4 times, the crowd went insane. So great. It was a slow process driving out of town after the game was over, but it was also really fun because everyone – seriously, everyone – was honking and yelling and blowing horns the whole time. Marc and I cruised along, honking here and there, windows down, blasting The Black Keys’ “Rubber Factory.” An excellent end to an even more excellent weekend.

As usual, here are the Facebook albums: Part I and Part II.

- Johnny

During the week we’ve working in the garden, and both agree that working in a pair is so much better.  At night we’ve cooked dinner, gone running, and sometimes made delicious popcorn.  Belgium popcorn seeds are potentially different because the popcorn seemed a bit chewy.  We also were helping our boss prepare for her first woman’s meeting by typing up song mantra lyrics and designing cards with images/messages that went with the theme of the meeting.  Again, not our thing but we went with it.  All the women were great, and it was just fun to sit and chat between the songs.

Saturday was our day off so we decided to head to Brussels.  The trains stop running by midnight, and we had until 10 today, Sunday, to be back at work, so we wanted stay in the city for the night.  Since it was last minute planning and we’re doing our best to save money, we ended up looking into couchsuring to have a place to crash for the night.  Ya, sorry mom and dad but I didn’t tell you this before.  I’m posting it now because I obviously made it back safe and sound.  The website is a networking site for people to find a place to crash for a night while they’re visiting a city.  The best way to do this is obviously traveling with a friend, but also finding a host who has references (preferably international) that can vouch the person was nice and their places was safe to stay.  If you are lucky, like Darcy and I were, you’ll get a host who will take you out around town to show you the sites.   It probably helped that we brought him freshly picked strawberries from the farm, but he Pieter was also the perfect host.  He spent the whole day with us and was a great tour guide because he knew so much about the art, history, and culture of the city.  I won’t go into too much detail, but I had a few firsts, such as eating local Belgium waffle, seeing a red light districts with prostitutes hanging out at windows, and more.

Manneken Pis

There were a couple of places showing the World Cup (like the Bozar), and eventually we ended up in a French district at a community center with a giant screen to project the games and a small bar.  Johnny and his friends from Germany were spending the weekend driving through Belgium to different breweries and were spending the night in Brussels.  Johnny met up with us for the ended of the England v. USA game, then everyone got together to grab fries (Belgium fries – fried twices) and hang out at a pub.

Pieter made us breakfast then walked us to the train station since he had to leave town as well but to go vote for the latest, and controversial, Belgium elections.  We had made it back to the farm just in time, and spent the day picking zucchini.  Now we’re craving zucchini/banana bread and hope to make some this week!

Less then a week of farming left then we’re heading back to the states.  We’ll be arriving in Boston this coming Friday night and then back in Northampton on Sunday!

Unfortunately, outfits were not included.

Stuffed Peppers

When Katie arrived last Thursday she asked what I wanted to make for dinner, and we decided to try stuffed peppers. Neither of us had made them before. We bought some ingredients we thought might be good and then went home and looked up a recipe online. The recipe we found was pretty complicated, so we abandoned it and just made it up ourselves. (The one point we did get from the recipe was to boil the peppers first. Might not have thought of that.) First, we cut the tops off and boiled the peppers. Also got some rice going. Katie cut up the tops along with some onions, and then I grilled the two while also browning the beef. Once the veggies and rice were done, we combined them, added them to the beef, and threw in some tomato sauce and oregano. We grated some parmesan cheese and mixed that in as well (the parmesan was straight from a small Italian farm! My friend Davide recently brought it for me when he came back from Italy). We then took the peppers and filled each of them with the beef mixture. Despite not measuring a single thing, the mixture filled the peppers perfectly with not a single grain of rice left over. I couldn’t believe it. Tossed the peppers in the oven for about 15 minutes. We were both really happy with how they turned out. I’ll be making this one again for sure.

(Cheese)Burgers with Grilled Mango & Pinapple, Homemade Fries

We went to Heidelberg on Saturday and got back late that night, but we were hungry and determined to cook the food we’d already bought. We cut up a mango and a pineapple and left them to be grilled later. Grilled some onion and grated some parmesan cheese. I took the ground beef that remained from the stuffed peppers and made three hamburger patties, mixing the onion and parmesan right in as I was making them. Katie chopped three potatoes into wedge shapes, boiled them, and then covered them in a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, and some various spices. Grilled the burgers, pinapple, and mango and put the potatoes in the oven. A little bit later we had delicious, homemade fries and a cheese/onion-infused burger with grilled mano and pineapple on top. Awesome.

Asparagus and Chicken Casserole

This was my dinner tonight, taken from a recipe I found online with some of my own modifications. Took a while to prepare, but it turned out well enough. Chopped up an onion, red pepper, two celery stalks, and asparagus, and cubed some chicken. Cooked the chicken and then set it aside. Cooked some egg noodles and set those aside as well. Put the onions in a pan and then added the red pepper, celery, and chicken after the onions had been cooking for a while. Added chicken stock to that and let that boil for a few minutes. At that point, added sour cream and oregano and stirred it up. Took a casserole dish and spread some of the chicken mixture on the bottom. Then placed the chopped asparagus on top, followed by a layer of the noodles. Added the remainder of the chicken mixture onto the noodles, and then topped it off by sprinkling parmesan cheese. (If you see a theme in these meals with parmesan cheese, it’s because the wedge Davide gave me is quite large and I want to use it up by the time I leave. Luckily, this isn’t difficult, as it’s also quite delicious.) Put the dish in the oven and cooked it for about half an hour. The flavor was excellent, but overall it was a bit watery. If I make it again I think I’ll add less chicken stock and grill some of the vegetables a bit more to get rid of more of the water. Still, very tasty.

I made dinner for everyone again, but this time had help from another girl who works on the farm.  Going to need to learn the difference between pans because apparently, according to my helper, I cooked the ‘meat-replacment’ in the wrong pan and it got a little messy.

Afterwards I took a short walk outside the farm, past the railroad bridge and through a forest. Of course, I made a few friends on the way.

If you stare at cows long enough, they always waltz right up to the fence.

I’ve never seen a fenced deer before, so getting two feet close was awesome.  But then I noticed an old man down the street standing outside his door giving me the stink eye, so I moved on.

On my way back, I passed by the cows again and the black/white one stared at me.  I got to the bottom of the hill, and just as I was entering the path through the forest I heard a ‘moo’.  I looked back to the see that the black/white cow had come to the fence and was staring again.  Got mixed signals about this – did he want me back or was he telling me to beat it?

If you hadn’t read my earlier posts, I’m going to be in the village (or town?) of Ternat, Belgium for three weeks wwoofing.  I’ve been wanting to wwoof for a while, but it was my friend Darcy who initiated that we try to find a farm in Europe while we were both still on this side of the water after studying abroad.  She ended up finding this little organic farm that’s just a 20 minute drive outside of Brussels.

I arrived yesterday evening after my weekend trip to Germany to visit Johnny.  For some reason the cheapest flight from Frankfurt was to London first and then to Brussels, instead of a direct flight to the city.  No problems with flying, though I almost got in trouble at Frankfurt for carrying my bike tool kit, but Heathrow didn’t seem to mind.  The train from the airport to the Ternat train station was somewhat easy, though a few bumps that slowed me down.  The kiosk only took a specific credit card so I had to go to the desk, I had to transfer at Bruxelles-Nord, but the time table didn’t label the train the same way as the website, the second train was a little late and didn’t have any information on the train to specify it was the correct one, and finally when I got to Ternat station the payphone only took the same specific credit card and most of the shops were closed.  But!  I managed to get a hold of my boss.

Bruxelles-Nord Train Station

I was picked up by my boss, Rozelinde, who lives in a trailer on the farm.  There’s a kitchen, living room, main bedroom, and a guest bedroom for me and Darcy to share.  As much as I wish Darcy was here (she’s off biking for a week with her family), it is nice to have a week to settle in and figure out how to fit all my stuff in the room.

When we first got to the farm, Rozelinde gave me a quick tour.  However it was nearly sunset, so she was rushed to get to her meditation hut.  She said I could come along, so I sat on a cushion and  watched her cover dried cow patties in wax (maybe honey?) then burn in a metal square bowl and I looked outside to the sun setting and the train passing by.  Different for me, but definitely relaxing.  She had made dinner earlier, so though it was nearly 10 we both sat down to eat and chatted for a while.  Once she gave me the wifi password and I checked the usual, I was set and ready for bed.

I was supposed to wake up by 8 this morning for breakfast, but of course I forgot to adjust my phone and it was an hour behind.  The day was spent working in Rozelinde’s vegetable garden.  She had prepared rows of dirt tightly covered with black bio-degradable plastic to prevent weeds, so my job was to put holes in, fill with ash (part of the Homa farming technique), put in the plants, cover with compost, then water.  Each row also has several metal hoops that are covered by a white plastic to create a small greenhouse.

The trailer/garden

I did some more planting, made more mini-plastic-greenhouses, and, unfortunately, some weeding.  Lunch was a group meal with tons of bread, jams, and some leftovers.  In the afternoon, we had tea and cake.  By 6:00, the tools were washed and put away, and I was in charge of making dinner.  I was given tofu-made meat supplement, onion, peppers, zucchini, potatoes, and a bunch of spices, and told to cook. Despite the potatoes being a little funky with wrinkly skin, I managed to make a tasty meal.

Took a shower in the main house. It works wonderfully, and I’m so thankful.  The bathroom back in Scotland was starting to get disgusting and the shower wouldn’t drain.  Tonight Rozelinde was preparing for her new women’s meetings by transcribing song lyrics, so I sang along to see which ones she should use.  Again, something totally different than what I’m used to but I went along.  Maybe I’ll develop a decent singing voice after this?

So now I’m sitting in bed, all warm and cozy.  The train passes by every once and a while (maybe half hour) and it’s kind of soothing.   I hope to post more pictures soon, but it’s kind of hard when I get completely covered in mud while working.

It’s finals time in Edinburgh and I’m close to being done.  I had two exams this week (Chemical Thermodynamics and Music Technology) that went pretty smoothly.  This is my first time taking exams at a large university, and it’s much different from Smith.  Back home, I can pick which day and time I want to take any exams.  Here, there are specific times and a strict format.  Large rooms are organized in rows of school desks, where each is prepared with the exam, the exam booklet, and forms, all of which you have to write the same information over and over.  You also have to have you’re student card showing, and aren’t allowed to get up unless you’re excused.  I didn’t let the stressful environment get to me, but I did have one problem.  I had to do my engineering exam in pen.  PEN.  Who does math in pen?  Let’s just say there were a lot of scratches.

My friend Lindsay from Smith came on Tuesday and we’ve been having loads of fun.  Her first night I made her stay up until 8 to adjust to the time, then I went back to studying for my music final.  When I finished the exam at noon the next day, she was just getting up.  We decided to take a walk around town and to do a few errands (like get her a phone) and see a few sites (Edinburgh castle, Calton Hill, Royal Mile, the castle, etc.).  The rest of the night was a lazy night watching tv and movies.  The video rental place down the street had the same 3 movies and a tub of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream for 10 pounds that Johnny and I got during his first visit here.  Last night we watched Fight Club, but part way through the movie I had remembered that I left the ice cream out on the counter.  We threw it back into the freezer, and after the movie devoured the entire thing.  Half Baked is delicious when half melted.

During the next week I’ll be prepping for my last final and also finishing up plans for my last few trips in Europe.  In two weeks I’ll be in Dublin with Lindsay and Johnny, then after that I leave Edinburgh forever! I’ll be in Brussels Belgium working on a WWOOF farm for three weeks with Darcy!

Also, sorry for lack of posts lately.  Not only have I been busy running around from spring break, trip to Germany, then getting ready for my last finals, but I’ve had computer problems.  I have so many pictures and files on my computer, the disc drive is pretty much full.  I reached a record the other day when my computer read “Zero KB free”.  My disc drive was so full I couldn’t even take a screen shot!  So I haven’t been able to move pictures from my trips onto my computer, instead I have a lot on thumb drives.  Not scary what so everrrr.  Hopefully I can post pictures soon!