the Final Countdown

*cue GOB and cheap pyrotechnics*

First of all, I have posted a ton of pictures on Snapfish (for those of you non-facebook users)... so if you haven't received an email invitation to see my pictures (apparently the only way one can see pictures on Snapfish), and/or are required to register just to see the pictures, send me an email and I will hook you up. So... go look at my pictures :)

So, I have a semi-official timeline for my final month here in Germany:

May 7-9 : visit Hamburg with my former German teacher from Olaf (a Hamburg native in her mid-20s, so not creepy, I promise :)
May 9-12 : visit Berlin, sadly alone (no one to go with... sad.)
May 12-17 : my very last weekend in Berne/Oldenburg - crazy!!
May 17-20 : visit Copenhagen and stay with some obscure Danish relatives of my Dad's
May 20-26 : visit the Royers in Ramsau (am Dachstein), Austria! I'm so excited to get to go back!!
May 26-29 : visit Vienna (once again, alone)
May 29 : GO TO ITALY FOR THE SUMMER!!

As you may have cleverly deduced from looking at that, I have a very busy few weeks of preparation before all that travel takes place. I tell you, planning is stressful. Well, lack of time and money is stressful, which makes planning itself quite hard on the ol' nerves. Speaking of money, how might one afford to go on all of these trips? The answer: Eurail pass. I'm not sure how the rail systems agree to it, since it probably jips them out of a ton of money (unless it pays off by taking away from air travel?), but it somehow allows you to travel within (up to) five countries on five (or more, depending on your needs and pocketbook) days within a two month period. I'm paying what it could easily cost for two of these trips to make them all - nice! There are still some kinks to be worked out (such as whether the overnight from Denmark to Austria will count as one day or two, and forwarding my luggage), but overall I'm very excited and grateful to be able to do all of this traveling. I am, however, bummed that there are some countries I won't be able to (afford to) hit in my remaining time here (including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland)... but that just means I'll have to come back eventually. I'LL HAVE TO.

Once in Italy, however, there are some locations that will be at a more convenient distance: Southern France (Marsaille and Nice), the Basque country, and most importantly, GREECE! Greece is the only MUST on this list, but if you look at a map of Europe, you can see how really quite close Liguria, Italy (my future home) is to the famous French cities and the Motherland of so many Boise folk :) Also, my dad has another batch of semi-obscure relatives in Gothenburg, Sweden, who have invited me to come visit them. I'm going to try and arrange it (since Ryan Air flies out of Milan to Gothenburg). It's also where a friend of mine has not-so-obscure relatives (grandparents) and has spent the last three or four summers working in a cheese factory... hey Daniel, if I mention your name will I get some sort of discount??

As for things here on the home front, things have been... complicated. Although things are not by any means awful, the mother and I seem to have some "irrevocable differences" that I've been largely unaware of up until recently. It's not the end of the world, and most of the time we get along quite well... there are just some things that don't seem to add up. However, we're both trying our best and it seems to be working out well (most of the time). She even took me into the city center of Bremen yesterday just to show me around, which was quite kind of her. We had a good time together :)

Good things that have happened:
-I had an amazing time in Spain! We were completely blessed with beautiful weather (even though we were supposed to get two days of rain), and got to know the city relatively well for only four days! It was seriously wonderful, and it made me SUPER excited for my future Mediterranean living plans :)
-our sheep had her baby!! Lissy and Nate are the proud parents of the now two week old Sandmeer (named by Jakob)... Lissy has gotten feistier and won't let me near the little bugger so I can at least pet her... or, you know, pick her up... Nate is now across the street living with a bunch of other (male) sheep, and we've received a couple of new boarders: a black sheep and her (slightly older than Sandmeer) baby. Apparently you have you separate sheep in the summer to give the females an, *ahem*, break from the males. Otherwise babies get born at the wrong time and can freeze to death (happened to a donkey at the zoo- still very upsetting for the donkey... true story). I WILL pick up that little sheepie before I leave here, you mark my words.
-Linus turned 1!! We went to the zoo (hence aforementioned true donkey story) and had a really nice time. There were a few little dinky rides and a walk-in goat area where one got mauled by goats upon exposal of purchased animal feed. Linus, who loves goats, did not appreciate them as much up close and personal. Personal trauma aside, I think he had a really nice birthday :)
-The weather has FINALLY picked up and we're experiencing some nice SPRING weather! We're outside in our HUGE backyard/garden a good part of each day, which is really nice (if not still a bit chilly).

Man, I really DO love bullet points.

So maybe if I posted once a week (like my more dedicated Au Pair friends), I wouldn't have to write so much and, thus, use so many bullet points... but lets be honest, that's just NOT going to happen. I hope you've all embraced it... because, well, I have.

Alles Liebe,
~Julia~