"It's a rare condition, this day and age..."

Guten tag!

As I mentioned before, the events of Sunday were definitely the highlight of my weekend. I went to Mass in the morning at Liebfrauen, a Catholic Church here within walking distance of my apartment. Here is a view of the entrance to the church, here is a view of the side of the church, and here is a view of the altar. I ate some lunch on the way back to the room where I messed around for a couple of hours until I left in the mid afternoon for dinner with Regine and her family at her home. As her house is at the opposite end of Darmstadt, it was about a thirty minute trolley ride and fifteen minute walk away which allowed me to see much of the city.

When I arrived, Regine's parents and one of her brothers were approaching the house. Here is a picture of them arriving. After I made my presence known, I was led to the back yard, where I met Regine's husband and their 22 month old son. The whole backyard area was really cool. They had their own well and garden, and the grass was like that of a golf course. Here is a picture of the backyard from the back of the house, and here is a picture of the back of the house from the backyard. Notice the sleepwalking gnome on the roof.

The food they served was wonderful (here and here), but even more so were the people. They were more than willing to share their stories with me and were genuinely interested in my thoughts and opinions. Being around such a warm family at dinner was definitely a taste of home. Both Regine, who is from Germany, and her husband, who is from the Czech Republic, are structural engineers with specialties in steel construction. Her father has been an engineering technician most of his life. Her mother is and expert gardener, but works in a different profession. Regine's brother Frank is in the final year of his "diploma" studies, which is the equivalent to our master's degree. As it turns out, Frank, who is about my age, spent the Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 semesters at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, my freshman year! Perhaps he and I may have passed each other on the Quad and not even known it. What a small world!

Here is a picture (from left to right) of Regine's mother, Regine herself, Regine's husband, and Frank, her brother. Here is a picture of Regine's father and her son with the shed for the well in the background. There had been some heavy rain and wind a few days before, so I helped move the shed back into it's original place. Here is a picture of the whole group plus a neighbor girl who spoke Spanish and German. Once again, I got to use Spanish. Perhaps the pervasiveness of Spanish (or any language for that matter) is only visible if one is open to finding and using it. For me, who doesn't speak very much German, Spanish is a welcome respite. And just to share a few more photos, here is a picture of the neighbors' houses, and here is another picture of Regine's son, who by the end finally warmed up to me.

After dinner, I was offered to be dropped off at a trolley station near my apartment. Regine's father drove while Regine's mother, Frank, and myself rode. [As a side note, his experience as an engineering technician has granted him the ability to drive the same Mercedes Benz car for over thirty years, and it is now considered a "historical" vehicle, earning it a special license plate. Here is a picture of it.] And to top things off, Frank showed me which trolley to take back to my apartment and also offered to hang out during while I in Darmstadt.

The whole family was so nice. I am extremely grateful for their generosity and openness. I will be sure to do the same if someone, especially one from another culture or country, visits me. Like I said before, my experience this Sunday has been, on a personal level, the highlight of my trip.

Among other things, it appears that I will be visiting the city of Köln tommorow with a few of the North American students who are also working in Darmstadt through the RISE program. As this will be my first trip within Germany, I am very excited to see how this goes. I'll be sure to keep you posted!