Journey to Marburg

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I can finally say I am getting the hang of how things run in Marburg, Germany! I left Texas on Sunday, February 22nd and it was quite the experience just getting to my town. I flew into the Frankfurt airport, which let me say is HUGE, and take a train to get to Marburg. My plane ride over was actually not too bad...t was just undier 10 hours. I sat next to this married man from Norway, who was the first of many to point me in the right direction. Once I landed I had to take a bus to get to my train. I think i asked at least a dozen Germans if the spoke English and then if they could help me get to Marburg.
Once on my train, I met my first German friend who helped me get my 2 HUGE bags on the train. After I arrived in Marburg, I was so relieved when I saw my group waiting for me with a sign. Our group met at a pub where we were welcomed with a free beer of choice! I am determined to like beer by the time I leave! Our group arrived throughout the day and finally around 7pm everyone from our group was moved in. Even though I was running on 2 hours of sleep, I decided to join the group for a night out! Oh I forgot to mention this was the last night of Carnival in Germany. So throughout the entire day I had seen people dressed up as cows, pirates, you name it, I saw the crazyness at the airport and even on the trains. Marburg was in full celebration throughout the day and night and our American group (about 30 people) decided to join the fun. We went to 2 pubs, both were absolute CHAOS!! Drunk Germans everywhere dressed up in these ridiculous costumes!
My next eventful day was Wednesday, my first day of class. I wake up to find out that there is a bus strike and none of the buses are running. Let me mention that I live in Wehrda which is 30 minutes away by bus and at least 1 hr walking. Plus I have no idea how to get into town. It took us an hour to get a taxi and I was 1 hour and 45 minutes late to my first class..beginning German. This class was kind of traumatic! I walk in knowing maybe 5 words of German and the instructor starts speaking very fast German and maybe 1 word of English every 50 german words. Thank goodness my class is mostly people from our group who are at the same level I am. I seriously sit in class and laugh everytime the teacher asks me a question or yells at me for my horrible pronunciation of the words. This is first night I had a decent night of sleep. These Germans know how to party..every night it's all about the beer. On one of our nights out I did recieve a rose from a Canadian/German. He had yelled at us our first night in Marburg for being "loud Americans" and I saw him again. I guess he felt bad and got me the rose?
So last night I went to this bar that is very cheap and is located at one of the student dorms!! It happened to be a going away party for some Slovakians. It was a crazy group of people filled into this tiny bar. But I did finally find a beer I like! Don't remember the name, but it has peaches that have been soaked in wine in it! So good! Also, they have these Turkish "Donors" which are so yummy and cheap. For 2.80 euro I can get this pita-like bread that is filled with all kinds of veggies and topped with this amazing sauce! I hear the meat is good too, but it looks sketchy so I stick to the veggie one.
I am looking forward to the actual semester to start, which isn't until April. I hear it gets even more fun when all of the students are here and the weather will finally get warmer! The sun broke yesterday, which is the first since December! The weather is definitely an adjustment from wearing bathing suits and flip-flops 24/7! Tomorrow my group is going to Cologne, which is known for their beautiful churches and food. We are going to a brewery and chocolate museum...should be a fun day! I think that pretty much sums up my first couple of days in Germany! I absolutely love this place and the people!! Oh and the food of course! ;-)

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Photos

Flying in
View of Frankfurt from the plane.

Favorite Beer
At one of the pubs with the first beer I can actually say I enjoyed..the one with the peaches!

2 Germans and an American
Some friends I met at the bar at the student dorms.

Foosball
One of many games I lost of foosball!

New friends
Kaitlin from our group and our new friend from Spain!