POLKA POLKA POLKA

This past weekend was KARNIVAL!  Karnival was absolutely awesome, and I went out to parades three of the five days because I wasn't prepared for the hype and needed a rest day in between each party day.  But I enjoyed those three days immensely and would definitely recommend America adopt this tradition.

I would describe Karnival as a cross between Halloween and Mardi Gras: five days of costumes, parades, candy, and drinking!  We started out at AIB with the rest of the students and ate Berliners (jelly-filled donuts) and compared last-minute costumes.  The room was packed with what felt like a group of giddy children getting ready for Halloween -- there were witches, lions, Indians, 80s ladies, and disco dudes.  I found a cute little Sailor dress that I will be keeping for many American Halloweens to come!

We left AIB and walked across the Rhine to find the first parade.  People lined the streets with bags and beer bottles while tractors (yes, tractors) pulled giant themed floats. "Alaaf!!!"  Cheers erupted in the streets.  "Kamelle!!"  Costumed people threw candy to the crowds.  Traditional dance teams marched in their uniforms to the music played by the floats in front of them.  Brynn and I actually saw our little host-sister and host-mom walking in the parade on more than one day!  We screamed with the crowd and filled our bags with candy and lost our voices by the end of the festivities, but it was all worth it.  

After such a fun, exhausting weekend it pains me to be back at school.  We have a physiology exam coming up in the next few weeks, as well as our first presentation to enmodes.  In all honesty, I feel very overwhelmed by this project.  What is killing me is that i don't think there is a way to look inside of a human from different angles in a way that lets you see all of the organs, nerves, etc. that are in front of the heart.  I guess I'm used to having more direction but I am very lost. 

We went to the Bayer Communications Facility this week too!  Bayer is a huge company that makes everything from human painkillers to flea medicines to crop pesticides.  We had a nice tour through their high-tech exhibition and got to play with a lot of new toys, like virtual reality goggles.  I watched a short video on bees and how they're vaccinated against a parasite that will kill the hive in just two years.  We also took pictures using a green-screen to put funny backgrounds behind us.  Overall it was a very enjoyable experience.

Green-screen fun at the Bayer Communications Facility

^ A veggie I don't get enough of in Germany

Romantic

Some of my German friends and I at the Bonn Rosemonday parade!

Strange costumes 

One marching band of many

They use TRACTORS to pull the floats! Felt like I was back in Texas for a minute.

The floats were massive and always had people sitting up there throwing "Kamelle" at the spectators! The dude in blue was there to make sure no one got in the way of the tractor.

Costumes and candy(:

Brynn and I in our Karnival costumes

The street was literally packed with people.  Good times, good times.