Drachenfels and Vonnegut

 One of my favorite moments of the whole program was when I hiked Drachenfels with Katherine and Julia in mid-February! After spending a freezing six days in Berlin and Rostock, I was desperate to get some sun and jumped at the invitation to hike with them. We set out from the town of Königswinter and made it to the forest after almost getting clipped by a few passing cars. Then began the long ascent up, and though it might have taken a few hours to reach the top, the hike didn’t feel like a trudge at all. I’m used to speeding through hikes – I like to reach the top, fast – but Katie and Jules hike more slowly than me, which I found that I actually liked! We spent the time talking about anything and everything while we explored some caves, jumped streams, and frolicked in a Sound-of-Music field. I had a great time!!

When we got to the small café at the overlook, I was awestruck by the view: North-Rhine Westphalia had never looked so pretty. Texas-style clouds, clear blue skies, Germans in repose, and beautiful landscape in every direction – it was amazing! I got a coffee to reward myself for exercising before we reached the very top, the Drachenfels ruins. The ruins were pretty, and the view was gorgeous, again. After the hike down, we made our way to Brauhaus Bönnsch for beer and Spatzle. A great day! I only wish that I’d found the time to head back before the program ended – I wanted to see the Siebengebirge in full bloom!

My books for the second week of February were Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. Cat’s Cradle was…interesting? I’m not sure how to put it but I got the feeling that the actual plot of the book was kind of unimportant – that the plot could have been something totally different and I would have gotten the point equally well. And that idea made for a strange experience because I couldn’t quite tell if the whole thing was a big joke on me. Maybe that’s the point? I don’t think I’ll ever get Vonnegut. That being said, I actually liked my second book of the week, Slaughterhouse-Five! I wanted to read it ever since I learned that part of the story of Billy Pilgrim – surviving the Dresden firebombing in a meat locker – was based on Vonnegut’s life. That section didn’t disappoint! It was truly moving to read. I even enjoyed the discontinuous narrative and the alien abduction sections. I just wish that someone else had written it – Vonnegut’s writing is so dry that everything feels like a farce. For the first book, 4/10; for the second, 8/10. Since both were short, I’ve included two quotes for this week of the program:

“God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close to mud as man sat up, looked around, and spoke. Man blinked. ‘What is the purpose of all this?’ he asked politely. ‘Everything must have a purpose?’ asked God. ‘Certainly,’ said man. ‘Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this,’ said God. And He went away.”

-Cat’s Cradle

 “Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”

-Slaughterhouse-Five