Salsa, Silliness and Studies

What happens when you take a group of biomedical sciences/engineering majors out and teach them how to salsa? Good times! I was part of the group that went to Cologne Saturday night, and I had a whole lot of fun. The dance instructor was really good and he switched to giving the lesson in English for us, which was nice (learning the steps were hard enough, there is NO way I could have picked it up in a foreign language). It seemed kind of strange to be dancing the salsa and other Latin dances in Germany, but whenever I think of what authentic German dancing would be, I just end up picturing guys prancing around in lederhosen... Which is not preferable. Anyway, I really appreciate how convenient it is to make it out to Cologne for a day or even just an evening.
It seems like another thing that everyone is talking about is Karneval, but how can you resist? When a whole city starts masquerading about in outlandish costumes, it's kind of hard not to notice. What I like the most is that everyone gets into it, even adults, and the costumes can be completely ridiculous. While taking the tram to and from the city, I've noticed everything from full-body flamingo outfits to ears of corn. Unfortunately, there is a bit of a rowdy side to Karneval, and one of my host sisters came home with a big bruise across her cheek where someone had accidentally ran into her in a crowd. Just a warning to be a little more attentive than usual.

So aside from this weekend's Karneval launch and salsa fun, this week has been pretty low-key. I've been working quite a bit on physiology reading and other random school-related activities. I did go out in the city the other evening to grab some food, and even after being here for almost a month, I am still impressed by downtown Bonn with its squares and statues. Walking through it almost every day to class has become almost commonplace, but for some reason seeing it at night shocked it back into unfamiliarity and I'm glad I had my camera with me to take a few quick pictures. In other news, Andrea and my host mom had some kind of out-patient heart procedure done, so she's been taking it kind of easy and we've been doing some minor chores around the house. Maybe later we can ask for her insight into the German health care system. That's all for now folks-- Tchüss.