Win some, lose some

Saturday the 10th was pretty uneventful. I was going to hang out with a few friends, but plans don’t always work out.

The weekend got a lot more exciting on Sunday. I went to Köln with Katie, Lauren, and Madeline. We dropped our things off at our Airbnb, which was within walking distance of the Dom (a hugh upgrade compared to last time), and headed out to explore all of the Karneval festivities. We went out again that night to a club our Airbnb owner had recommended, but the place ended up having an entry fee of 20 euros. None of us felt like shelling out that much, so we went decided to go into the place next door. The place looked pretty cool from the outside, but when we got in we found that the club was filled with mostly 50+ year olds. I still had a great time dancing to all of the Karneval songs though! We decided leave, and found a more age appropriate club that we danced at till about 2.

It was hard getting up for Rosamontag, but we all managed to throw on our costumes for one last Karneval celebration. After getting some breakfast at Kamps, we headed out to watch the big Rosamontag parade. It lasted forever! At the beginning of the parade, none of us knew that the Germans have a method to getting flowers and candy. We were getting frustrated trying to catch flowers that weren’t being thrown our way. Luckily, we ran into some Germans who heard us speaking English. They gave us a few pointers, and within minutes all of us had handfuls of Strussjer (flower bouquets) and Kamelle (candy)! It was such a nice day, that the cold wasn’t really an issue. A few hours in, however; the sun disappeared, and the blue sky transitioned into snow flurries! It was a one of a kind experience watching the horse drawn floats pass by, flowers and candy flying with the snow flurries, and catchy Karneval tunes blasting. The spirit of Karneval is contagious! When we couldn’t catch any more Strussjer, we headed to an Asian restaurant for dinner. It was nice to thaw after being outside in the crazy weather. That night, we headed to a club called Roonburg. Great music was playing; or I just really like Karneval songs. Anyways, it was a perfect end to the Karneval holiday.

Tuesday morning, we packed our things and hopped on a train back to Bonn. We had class that afternoon. I went to bed pretty early on Tuesday because I was starting to feel under the weather.

Our program had an excursion to Bayer in Leverkusen on Wednesday. A tour guide showed us around the Bayer communication center and shared with us the history and current projects of Bayer. It was neat seeing how the company packages the same drug differently based on where the drug is being sold. The Baykomm center was super interesting. There was a lot of fun interactive technology that we were able to play around with. I had German and 211 that afternoon. After class, the Morocco group met to try and sort out details for some of us no longer feeling comfortable with going. I didn’t appreciate some of the close minded and stereotypical thoughts thrown my way. One money comment really irritated me, so I would like to clarify that I am paying for all of my travels out of my own pocket, using money I saved for years working as a babysitter, cashier, janitor, and waitress. I was feeling pretty crappy by the end of the day, mostly from whatever bug I caught during Karneval but also the whole Morocco ordeal.

Classes started early on Thursday. I was feeling worse than I had earlier that week. I was just trying to make it through the day. I didn’t want to bother my host family when I got back, but they could tell I was sick. Anyways, my host mom is amazing and gave me fever and cough medicine.

Friday, we had a Galentine’s gift exchange. It was a cute and fun celebration. I got some great chocolate, gummies, and cute astronaut pug socks curtesy of Darby! After class, I went home to take it easy for the weekend.

Saturday was pretty crappy. I felt super dizzy and confused and I threw up. I spent the rest of the day in bed sleeping. I’m pretty sure I came down with the flu, because all my symptoms check out. 

On Sunday, my fever and aches were gone. I just have a lingering cough now. I went for a walk with my host mom, and have been working on homework all day. I know I needed a weekend off, but I hope I can do something more exciting next weekend.