Coffee from a Reusable Ceramic Mug

WM 2006 (A.K.A “Welt Meisterschaft”, A.K.A. “World Cup”) has hit Germany. Actually, it hit Germany while we were on vacation, but we are just getting our game on. Cliff and Sarah have had their game on since the beginning, and they have some photos and commentary on the WM culture on their blog too.

With all of our love to Adrian, Maria Jose and Lucas (our favorite Argentineans), we won!!! Today, Germany played Argentina, and it was a great game.Funny thing about the WM is that I am starting to talk as if I know anything about football – by the way, when I say ‘football,’ I mean the game played with the feet, as opposed to ‘American football,’ which really has nothing to do with the feet. Sarah, Cliff, Natasha and I are enjoying speaking of the national teams as if we have been fans for longer than a month! It’s great.

Coming back from the trip to the U.S., Matthias and I discovered that Germans do have some patriotism left. As a general rule, the Germans are not the patriotic type. They kind of got that beaten out of them with the whole WWII thing. At the moment though, there are German flags everywhere!! In fact, unless you live in the U.S. or a third world country, the WM is pretty much the main story of the day. It’s bigger than the Olympics and even bigger than the Super Bowl is in the U.S.

Today was the first time Matthias and I have had a chance to watch Germany play. Sarah organized a place to watch, and she, Cliff and Sarah held our table for an hour and a half before the game started. I would have been there as well, but apparently, on the days Germany plays, the traffic patterns are all shifted to prevent cars and buses from going through town. I hoped on a bus intending to get to the restaurant quickly, but I needed up going in a wacky direction and walking of 20 minutes anyway. Cliff was nice enough to order a Ratler for me as I approached.

The game was a nail biter! It was more exciting than watching 24, which we all know is terribly exciting! This game went into overtime and eventually penalty kicks to give Germany a 5:3 victory. We were surrounded by German fans, so there was much screaming and jumping around after each goal or attempted goal. We were all jumping up and down like fools by the end. The Argentineans were beyond disappointed after the game, and we are hoping that Adrian will still talk to us after this one.

I am slowly learning to appreciate the theatrics of football players who throw themselves on the ground in apparent pain in a pathetic attempt to get the referee to give the opposing player a penalty. I think this is the reason football is not so popular in the U.S. Who wants a sports star who acts like such a sissy, even if it is a game winning strategy (the Brazilians are brilliant at it)?

At the moment, the Ukraine is getting clobbered by Italy (sorry, Natasha, they are getting clobbered; I do still want them to win though). Most likely, Germany will play Italy on Tuesday, and I will have a couple of days to try to taunt Elena about the upcoming game. The next game also coincides with the 4^th of July, so we plan on doing a double celebration at Natasha’s. I may where my American colors then; today I dressed like a German flag – a recently discovered advantage of having a colorful wardrobe.

After a 6 hour nap, I am up again. I added a couple of photos to the previous post, and the rest are on our yahoo photo site.

We are back in Regensburg and both feeling a little loopy from all of the travel. First of all, the pictures are coming… I just need to upload them and sort them out, but I’ll get around to it when I can think straight again. I have already had complaints from parents who have gotten spoiled with quick access to my life!

The vacation was awesome! We saw so many great friends, and we saw some of America’s most beautiful places.

We were impressed with the Grand Canyon, but Yosemite blew us away.

I re-remembered my favorite part of camping - the relaxing! There is nothing like hiking 10 miles to the top of a cliff, throwing off the heavy back pack and looking out over a panoramic view of Yosemite valley! I felt like I could fly. Granted, the actually hiking was tough, and we basically had stiff legs for the entire trip, but it was soooo worth it. There’s nothing like being dirty and mosquito bitten for a few days while carrying a big heavy pack on your back…..

Back in southern California, we spent a few afternoons at Newport Beach near Irvine.

It is a great place to flop in the sand and let your mind drift. I think I finally processed a lot of random thoughts that were piling up in there. The last two afternoons we went there, the surf was way up. The swell at the ‘wedge’ (a jetty next to the beach that helps create monster waves) could have been 15 feet high. Crowds gathered to watch the crazy young guys trying to catch the monster waves.

Some of the best parts of our time were just random conversations with friends. We had a little party for my birthday; Frankie made his wonderful spring rolls for me! It was cool to see how everyone has grown in the past 2 years. For example, Artan is married and owns a house! Christele is working hard at her law office, and she seems to be getting a lot of clients. She was nice enough to let me constantly talk to and touch her belly when she wasn’t working so I could play with the baby due to arrive soon. We even went to a spa with Angelo and Christele to get massages; that was awesome. This awesome lady worked on me and introduced me to a new muscle in my neck. On the last evening, my old astronomy /outreach partner, Kyler, joined us in the jacuzzi and we got to touch base on the important stuff happening in his life (you’ll be getting more e-mails from me on those topics soon, Kyler).

When we returned to Phoenix in the middle of the week, Mark took us on his cowboy tour. He took us out to my cousins place, which I like to call “The Bosler Dude Ranch.” It’s more of a trailer than a ranch, but there are lots of horses and dogs.

From there, we went to watch his friends do some team roping. That’s where two people chase a little cow, and one of them lassos the horns of the cow while the other lassos the hind legs — poor cows. They looked a bit depressed at the prospect of a night of running and getting lassoed over and over again. I also surmised that ropers must have a lot of shoulder problems. When I asked Mark’s friend about it he said, “No, not really.” Then he proceeded to point out that 90% of the people there that night had shoulder surgery, and then he decided that maybe they did have problems with their shouldrs. I started thinking of how I would do a yoga class for ropers…

The topper of the evening was a local bull riding arena nearby. That was scary to watch! Luckily, no one died that night (actually, I don’t think anyone has died at this ring, but it could happen with those big beasts). One guy did get kicked in the head that night; he walked a bit wobbly for the rest of the evening, and someone offered to drive him home. I think Matthias liked being surrounded in cowboy culture. Actually, most the trip he kept throwing in an extra ‘Darn’ or ‘Dang’ into his sentences to sound a little more like a cowboy. Once in a while he’d throw in “them damn Mexicans” just to sound liek a real Arizona red-neck (I am so proud). He even started putting some twang in his A’s. I made him stop it because when he does it, I start talking like a cowboy!

So, that’s the trip in a nut shell. I promise to add photos soon…..probably when I am up in the middle of the night with the jet lag.

It seems like a long dream, but somehow, we are back in California…..

The trip has been fabulous!

Here is a brief summary:

At the moment, we are in Santa Barbara visting with Adrian, Maria, Lucas and Denis. Adrian is preparing his famous Argintinian barbeque tonight (I get veggie burgers, but I can still savor the joy of the meat-eaters).

Here are a few photos from the journey thus far.

This song expresses how I feel about our vacation……..

California

by Joni Mitchell

“Sitting in a park in Paris France
Reading the news and it sure looks bad
They won’t give peace a chance
That was just a dream some of us had
Still a lot of lands to see
But I wouldn’t want to stay here
It’s too old and cold and settled in its ways here
Oh but California

California I’m coming home
I’m going to see the folks I dig
I’ll even kiss a Sunset pig
California I’m coming home

I met a redneck on a Grecian isle
Who did the goat dance very well
He gave me back my smile
But he kept my camera to sell
Oh the rogue the red red rogue
He cooked good omelettes and stews
And I might have stayed on with him there
But my heart cried out for you California

Oh California I’m coming home
Oh make me feel good rock ‘n’ roll band
I’m your biggest fan
California I’m coming home

Oh it gets so lonely
When you’re walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
Just gives you the blues
Just gives you the blues

So I bought me a ticket
I caught a plane to Spain
Went to a party down a red dirt road
There were lots of pretty people there
Reading Rolling Stone reading Vogue
They said “How long can you hang around?”
I said a week maybe two
Just until my skin turns brown
Then I’m going home to California

California I’m coming home
Oh will you take me as I am
Strung out on another man
California I’m coming home

Oh it gets so lonely
When you’re walking
And the streets are full of strangers
All the news of home you read
More about the war
And the bloody changes
Oh will you take me as I am?
Will you take me as I am?
Will you?”