DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND!!!

Well, it’s all over now, folks. There are no more soccer games and no more crazy goals and no more meeting at the bars to hang out with excited fans. But man, what a run.

On Sunday night, us SUPER kids met up with people from my lab at a bar on campus to watch the Germany-Brazil game. We all knew that the home team was missing two of their most valuable players and everyone knew that was going to alter the play of the game. But no one, NO ONE, could have predicted the game that ensued. 11 minutes into the game, we had scored. (Somewhere along the line, I started to to use “we” to describe the relationship I have with the German soccer team.) By the time 30 minutes rolled around, we had four goals. At halftime, the score was 5-0. I kept turning to Marissa asking her if this was real life. After every goal, everyone screamed as if it were the first and most exciting. I learned later that at the city center, there were streamers and confetti. Because no one expected such a high scoring game, there were no more streamers after the fourth goal. When Brazil finally scored late in the second half, no one even noticed. The next day, there were German jerseys with the date of the game and 7:1 on the back. There were other places 7:1 showed up on the Internet, but we don’t need to talk about that. Everyone was happy and dancing and singing and drinking. Our little group of Americans just sat and stared at the craziness. We were going to be in Germany as they played for the World Cup. What?

The tree cube thing

View from the top floor of the tree cube thing

Downtown Nagold

On Wednesday, we took a trip to a town an hour away called Nagold. There, we saw a building made out of metal and trees. It was a cube made of metal, standing three stories tall, with trees sprouting from the bottom and crisscrossing all the way up on all sides of the structure. Built in 2012, the greenery is still young and hasn’t grown to its full potential yet. The idea is to coax the trees into growing together around the whole building to provide its own shading system. The architects who built it hope to use the technology in the future to build houses using trees to shade the house and cut down on costs. The structure was cool to see and the idea is very environmentally friendly, an idea that is much more prominent here than in the US. (We don’t really like to conserve. We are much too materialistic for that.) We were given a presentation about the project and its development and we got to see where the trees had started to grow together. When we were done there, we walked to the center of the town, which took a whole 10 minutes. Of course, it had been raining since 4 days before, so we were getting drizzled on at this point. We were given 30 minutes to roam free before our lunch as a group. Marissa and I, of course, took the opportunity to go shopping. All the boys looked at us like we were crazy. It was fun! Then we ate lunch and got hot cocoa. We got to talk to all the SUPER kids and chat about everything and nothing.

Representing with the Wildcat A

Let me tell you a little bit about where I work. I spend a lot of time in the Fraunhofer now. This is a huge, confusing building that contains labs and offices. It is its own company, but is associated with the University of Stuttgart. Tons of biological research goes on here, and I am a part of that. The lab where the dispenser resides is on the top floor, in the newest part of the building. It is air conditioned (!!!) and is usually very quiet. People walk around the building in white lab coats and goggles. There are posters of past projects everywhere and just looking at the labs makes you feel smart and sciencey. The tiles on the floor look like cells. I’m not sure if that was on purpose or if I am making that up, but I’m going to roll with it anyway. I sit in the little lab and roll around in the chair and print things and feel really cool when it all works. Often, it is frustrating and I don’t know why something doesn’t work, but I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how science is supposed to go. I have increased my skillz, moving up from lines to a grid and some circles. Half the time something works, I have no idea why it did and I’m not sure how to replicate it. It’s great fun. But again, such is science. I’ll keep working on making things better and more precise and figuring out how the machine works. It’s fun when I am successful, and still pretty fun when I don’t. I’m happy that I still have a month left to work on this project.

It rained most of the week and was quite cold. When we had a barbeque with the lab again on Thursday, it was pretty chilly to be sitting outside. Thankfully there were enough people that we all stayed pretty warm. We had another BBQ because there was another dorm party, this time at my dorm. On one hand, if you need something, say a bathroom, your bathroom is right there! Awesome! On the other hand, if you need something, say sleep, your bed is right there. Not awesome! It was cold and it started to pour at one point, so overall I was not very into this dorm party. I went home and went to bed early. I woke up at 3 am and could still hear the party going on. I was very thankful to be in bed at that point.

Our boyfriend at the Lindt factory in Zurich

PAELLA. YUM.

On Friday, I dropped Varun off at the train station so he could take a “man journey” as Marissa called it. While Marissa and I went back to Switzerland to see her family one more time, he went to Frankfurt and Cologne. Fun fact! In German, Munich=München and Cologne=Köln. Just so we don’t sound so ignorant. We found out later that in both Frankfurt and Cologne, Varun attracted many Arizona Wildcats. In both hostels, he found U of A shirts and hung out with them around the city. Good job, Wildcats, on getting around the globe. Marissa and I left for Zug early on Saturday morning. After lunch with the family, we were set loose in Zurich, where we spent the next many hours happily shopping. When we got in at 11 am, it was hot and a jacket was not needed. Near the end of our shopping, it started to pour. We had already been on a mission to find some rain boots. After finding some, in the kids section for me of course, we pulled them on and ran through Zurich in rain boots but no jackets. Many people stared and probably muttered “Damn Americans,” under their breath. We went back to Zug and met with the family for yummy, yummy Spanish food. There were 9 of us at the table and we were all hungry. We got paella, and boy was there a lot of it! A pan a meter in diameter was brought out. It was covered in rice and veggies and all sorts of seafood that I didn’t know how to eat. That’s what happens to desert dwellers when placed around seafood. It was delicious and a learning experience and overall I think I need to go back. Yep, definitely. After that, everyone but the parents went back to the Zurich train station to watch the Netherlands-Brazil game. Inside the train station they set up a public viewing, complete with three screens, seats, a VIP section, and sand on the floor. The game wasn’t super interesting, Brazil’s psyche still recovering from their earlier beat down, but it was an interesting place to watch the game. We all went home after and promptly fell asleep.

Public viewing at the Zurich main station

The next morning, I didn’t get up until 10 and then we didn’t get out of the house until almost 1. It was ok though because not only did we get eggs and chorizo for breakfast, but we got handmade tortillas and enchiladas to take home with us. So I wasn’t complaining. Marissa and I got to the Zurich train station again and decided it was time for ice cream. We found some, ate it, and then got Chai lattes for the train ride back home. We had to leave pretty early so that we would actually be in Germany for the Final. When we got back to Stuttgart, we were waiting for the train back to the university when who should I see but Varun. It took him a few glances to realize that he in fact did know this person standing directly in front of him. All of us together again, we all went home and changed and then headed over to the bar on campus. It quickly got very busy. On the trains we had seen public viewings that were full at 6 for a game at 9. This was no laughing matter for the Germans. We bided our time until the big event began. The game was nerve wracking. No one was scoring, even though both teams thought they had at some point. I think when Götze finally scored in extra time, the whole country exploded in cheers. Like it probably was heard in Brazil. It was insane. Jumping and yelling and beer and screaming and everything. Everyone started yelling when the refs didn’t call the game over after the set time was done. As soon as the German coach was put on the screen smiling and hugging an assistant, the whole place went ballistic. The Germans had won the world cup for the first time in 24 years. And I was in Germany when the Germans won the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. We joined in the craziness and then watched until the ceremony was done. From there, we went to the city center to see what was going on there. What we found was...just...Germany winning the World Cup for the first time in 24 years.

People on the light poles

Doing a chant in the middle of the street

Just...Germany

All we saw was people everywhere. People in the streets, people walking, people staggering, people on light poles. There were massive German flags and fireworks and broken bottles everywhere. Everyone was chanting something, sometimes two blending together in the middle. Wherever you were, that was the chant you were screaming. People would start their own cheers and then everyone in the vicinity would join in. We walked around for about an hour, taking in the chaos. Then we were all tired and ready to go home. The subways had a different idea, though. Unbeknownst to us Americans, since we don’t really know what public transportation is, the trains stop running from 1 to 5 am. And it was 1:20 am. We tried walking back, but we realized we would eventually hit forest. We walked as far as we could, and then went into the station and tried to sleep until 5. There were guys working on the station, but we didn’t bug them and they didn’t bug us. When 5 sharp came, so did the train. And it was packed. More than half the crowd got off at the university stop. As we were walking back to our rooms, so were at least 100 other students. It was madness. I went up to my room and was out until 1030.

I haven’t felt home sick for the whole time that I have been here. I’m going to attribute that to my maturity, the accepting attitude of the people around me, and the little family that I have made here. Of course I miss my family and friends, but I have not once thought that I would rather be at home this summer. That being said, there are a few things that I will be happy to come home to. Here they are, in list format.

• Not having to ask for still water. In general, just water. Bubbly water is freaking weird and I will never get used to it. Also, at home there is free water and it is everywhere and it is usually cold. They don’t believe in frozen water here, so most of my drinks are not cold. The water situation at home is one I am excited for.
• Not having to pay to go to the bathroom. I realize .5 isn’t a lot, but why do I need to pay to do a natural bodily function? I do not get it and it makes me sad.
• Air conditioning. It’s true, there are not many days here that it is necessary. But when it gets to be 85 or 90 outside with 50 to 70% humidity, there is no escape from the heat. Buildings are hot, your room is hot, the subway is hotter, and the only moving air is any breeze Mother Nature decides to send. You are pretty much trapped in the hot and sticky. Even if it does get to be 115 at home, at least inside you still may need a blanket.
• Knowing what is going on around me at all times. I recognize that I am in a country that does not speak my language normally, and that I would be a stupid, ignorant American if I expected all conversation around me to always take place in English. But, not laughing when everyone else in the room is howling because you literally have no idea what just happened is not the best feeling in the world. I’m not trying to complain, I’m just excited to not have so much of a language barrier. Stupid and lack of sarcasm is one thing, but general nonunderstanding is something I will be glad to be rid of.
• Having my own bathroom. That’s not a foreign country thing, that’s a dorm living thing. But still.

I would make a list of all the things that I will in fact miss quite terribly, but that would never actually end and ain’t nobody got time fo that.

It was a crazy week, but one that most people don’t get to have. Hopefully I’ll never have to sleep in a subway station again, but it makes for an awesome story. I still can’t believe how lucky I am to be here and experiencing all that I am. I’m in love. Over and out. Oh, and DEUTSCHLAND!

Forever and always,

Taryn

More Adventures That Were Had

Starting this past week, we will be doing tours about once a week until August. Since most of the kids in the SUPER program work for different institutes, there’s a tour of most labs, showcasing all the cool stuff they all have. It’s a little like a bragging contest. But I’m cool with it because we get to see some pretty fantastic stuff. Some are just a few hours long, but others take the whole day. Most of the institutes are very mechanical/robotics/typical engineering stuff. Which is still interesting, but obviously I’d rather see body stuff or chemistry. On the whole, though, I think that what we get to see can get anyone excited about science and the advances that are being made here.

Flight simulator

The wood moving thingy

On Monday, we were taken to the Institute of System Dynamics. The first thing we saw was a flight simulator. This flight simulator was different than other flight simulators because it used pneumatics to power it. When I asked someone what that meant, they told me that they use 7 tanks of pressurized gas to move the partial cockpit around to imitate flight. They let a few of us run a simulation with one of their guys. The screens showed an animated version of the Frankfurt airport, and it was cool to watch the whole contraption move. The rest of us got to sit in the cockpit as a photo op. From there, we trekked to another part of campus. Unfortunately for us, at this point it had decided to completely pour. Marissa and I had hoods, but Varun had to beg for some umbrella room from other people in the group. The next attraction was also outside. It did happen to be such a shape that allowed us to take cover under it. The interesting part about this piece was that it was a 14 mm thick wooden thing that was passively anchored at only one of its corners. The other three were mechanically powered and would move in different directions. The wood moved and changed its shape a bit to conform to the demands being put on it. It was pretty nifty. The last and coolest part of the tour was a robotic arm. It was also powered by pneumatics. This arm was modeled after an elephant’s trunk and is safe to touch. This is apparently new technology, because in the past, robots have been caged and are very dangerous to work around. It was actually controlled by a PS3 controller and it moved in some crazy ways. Marissa took a go at it. When Varun stepped up, it stopped working after 5 seconds. So he broke it. Damn kids. The tour was definitely over at that point.

Varun breaking the robot

The robot Varun broke

Varun not breaking the robot

Tuesday we had another tour. This one was for the Institute of Machine Learning and Robotics. We got a lecture on the basics of machine learning before we got to see anything tangible. Machine learning is exactly what it sounds like: machines are learning about their environment by exploring it. They’re basically big babies, touching things to see what happens, and then being internally rewarded when they discover new information. It’s a super cool concept. And who doesn’t like robots? The guy who talked to us did not seem enthusiastic about his robots being used in a medical or healthcare setting, but whatever. When he had explained what kind of equations are programmed into the robot and how they work and all that jazz, we actually got to see one do stuff. They had built a mock living room where one day, their machine will be able to move and push things around to explore. For now, they are still getting the programming right. They could, however, show us how interactive the robot was. It had a Kinect game console as a head/camera, two arms with grabbers on the ends and a rolly thing as feet. It could be calibrated to someone’s hand and then it would move as the person moved. So that’s exactly what we did. When Varun volunteered, I whispered, “Try not to break this one.” Apparently it wasn’t very quiet, but the robot dudes didn’t seem to hear, which was the most important part. Thankfully, Varun did not continue his streak, and the robot worked just fine. It was actually really cool. He could grab things and move around. The robot even knows where its other parts are because, try as he might, Varun couldn’t get one arm to touch the other. After that successful robot venture, the tour was over and we all went back to work.

The dispenser in my lab

My lines!

After a bit of waiting, I finally got to start working on the project I came here for. The 3D printer that my lab was supposed to have gotten in March still hasn’t arrived, but another lab associated with ours got a dispenser, which we realized will serve approximately the same purpose as our theoretical printer. I got to start using the dispenser, figuring out how it works, where things go, what buttons to push, everything. I probably haven’t made very much progress, but I’m getting there. The goal is to decide which of two different materials is the best to print in a 3D manner. The substance I’ve been using so far can be very viscous. We need to optimize the concentration so that the point that it changes from liquid to gel is at room temperature. Then we need to make sure that the substance stays cold so that we can print with it. It’s a very engineering problem. Finding a solution to a problem that helps solve another problem which will help determine the answer to the original question. So far, all I’ve printed are a few lines. You can judge my 10 mm long lines if you want, but I think they’re fantastic. I’m super excited to get to continue playing with the machine to see what it can do and what I can make with it.

On Friday, Marissa went to watch the German football game with some friends who live a half hour away. With our trio down one member, Varun and I decided to get dinner and watch a bit of the game. Actually, dinner was the important part, and not so much the game. We ate Italian and then got gelato. We took our gelato to the Schlossgarten (surprise!) and sat in the grass. This proved to be quite entertaining because all the German fans who had just watched the game had come out of the public viewing and were quite intoxicated and loud. For some reason, there was a professional drum line somewhere behind us, many tents around us, and drunk, screaming teenagers all about. We went home early because the next day was going to be an early one.

The castle on the hill

Getting closer

At the base of the castle

   With no big trips planned for the weekend, we decided to stay in Germany and explore somewhere we hadn’t been yet. We decided upon the Neuschwanstein Castle. This is a castle built in the 1870s for Ludwig II, modeled after the operatic style of the composer Wagner. It was never actually finished on the inside because Ludwig died a mysterious death before it was completed. It is also commonly known as the “Disney” or “Fairy Tale” castle. The closest town is right on the German-Austrian border, so that we could see the Austrian Alps. We got a regional train ticket that allowed us to have up to 5 people on it. We could go anywhere in Germany in one day for 45 euros. With three of us going on a there-and-back trip, it was an awesome deal. The not awesome part about it was how long it took us to get there. In the morning, our first train left at 7:35 and we finally got to the ticket counter at 1. The next English tour of the castle was at 5:05. For the next few hours, we wandered around the town, bought souvenirs, ate lunch, and then took a bus up to where the castle is. We spent two hours up there, looking at it, eating ice cream, taking pictures of the awesome views around the area.

The front of the castle

Courtyard and surrounding area

View from the castle balcony

                                                                                                                                At 5:05, we lined up and were let into the castle. We were told we weren’t allowed to touch anything or take any pictures. That definitely did not happen. (I touched the butt many times.) Once insides, it was incredibly opulent. There were colors and designs and swans everywhere. Ludwig was known for his love of swans, so they showed up quite a bit in the décor. We were only shown a few rooms because many of them have been left unfinished. The staff runs the tours efficiently. One tour is very shortly followed by the next. Unfortunately, the business-y air took away a bit of the feeling of actually being in a real castle. Extra unfortunately, there were two screaming babies in our tour group. In a hall made of mosaic tiles and marble, it became quite difficult to hear what our guide was saying. It also flustered her a bit. The tour lasted about a half hour. After that, we passed through two gift shops and then saw the kitchen and pantry. We were able to see more of the castle after the real tour ended, which I appreciated. We were even allowed to go out on a balcony and take pictures of the view from many feet up. When we exited the castle, the only way down was to walk, as the buses stop making trips at 3 and it was now almost 6. We walked down, caught another bus, and stopped at the train station. We waited for a while for the train to come. We were anxious, knowing how long the trip back would be. Thankfully, we finally got smart and bought playing cards to bring with us on all our future train rides. We played Go Fish and Varun taught us how to play Poker, kind of. Our return trip had only three switches. On one of the train rides, we were sitting behind a bachelorette party of about 10. For the whole two hour ride, they were all drunkenly singing. Sometimes they would sing in German, and other times unexpected tunes such as the Backstreet Boys were yelled. It would have been more entertaining if they had been better and we wouldn’t have been so tired. On our last leg, the wagon behind us was full of “hooligans” we decided. Shot glasses on necklaces, girls straddling guys, sunglasses inside. Oh, it was great fun. We returned home at 12:30, at which point I promptly put on my pjs and went to bed.

Sunday we all got up whenever we damn well pleased. Which meant about 11 or 12, followed by more lounging. Our big event for the day was making our American breakfast. Just think about it real fast: does anyone actually know how to make pancakes without Bisquik? Because we certainly did not. We attempted and got things that were more like thick crepes. They were still good. And we didn’t find any syrup so we used honey instead. Which has a similar consistency. After we ate this big meal, we were all ready for nap time. The rest of the day was spent lying in bed watching tv and it was glorious. We all greatly enjoyed the relaxing.

Even during a pretty normal week, everything is still so different and fascinating. We can walk around the city center with bottles of beer, or we can go sit in a garden and not see stars until 11 at night, or we can sit in a bar on campus run by students. The pace of life here is slower and has a greater emphasis on human intercourse, as my grandma would say. There are great thinkers here doing incredible research, but these people take time to do other things besides work. They’re encouraged to do so. Travel is a big part of life, and relaxation is important. Meals last for hours, not minutes and drinking is social, not to get hammered. People here are accepting of others’ differences and dare to be different. Fashion is important to men and women. Everyone dresses well, but they don’t dress for others. Name brands aren’t big here, but looking good is. People say hello and goodbye (“Hallo” And “Tschüss”) to everyone all the time. Also note that there is a particular, sing-songy way to say “tschüss.” Being outside is a popular pastime, usually exercising or hanging out with people. All of these things just add to my love of this country and the culture on this side of the pond. I can’t think of any moment since I got here at the end of May where I wasn’t happy to be here, to be experiencing new things, and to be making new friends. I am incredibly thankful to be on this journey. While there are people to thank, I really should remember to thank myself as well. Ok, sappy moment done.

Happy belated ‘Murica day, my fellow ‘Muricans.

Forever and always,

Taryn

Switzerland!

We have been travelling para mucho tiempo and so I missed some very valuable writing time. The past two weekends we went to Switzerland, so this post will cover the happenings of both weeks. Because I'm a slacker. But enjoy regardless.

After what seemed like a long time in Berlin, we got back home to Stuttgart and started in on another week. Thankfully, the week was short as well; another holiday in the southern part of Germany gave us not only Thursday but Friday off as well. Here’s what went down.

Public viewing downtown

After nearly falling asleep numerous times at work on Monday, we all got back to our rooms and then promptly left for this thing called “public viewing.” This is a phenomenon that does not occur at home in the States because we do not share the same love of football/soccer as the rest of the world does. What happens is basically a massive party on whatever day of the week that a Germany game is on. A large area is sectioned off, usually in the middle of the city in a park. Then this space is filled with tables, food and drink vendors, and giant TV screens. Finally, the people fill in all the empty spaces. And I mean ALL the spaces. There were possibly one thousand or more people, all screaming and wearing white German jerseys. Every time Germany scored a goal, beer was thrown, there was dancing on the tables, there was singing and yelling, and generally just chaos. It was one of the strangest experiences I have had yet. Simply because I have nothing to compare it to. It was a wild night, and something that will happen a few more times, as long as Germany keeps doing well. The next two days were pretty uneventful, compared to the previous weekend and Monday night’s public viewing. The real fun started on Wednesday night.

Zermatt

View from our room

Marissa’s parents live in Switzerland and were kind enough to extend invitations to their home whenever we want this summer. This weekend, they also had a holiday and decided to take a vacation. We were fortunate enough to be able to join them on their trip to Zermatt. I quickly found out that this is where the real Matterhorn is located. (Side note: it is nothing like the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Its beauty is incomparable.) Unfortunately, Marissa’s institute didn’t take Friday off, so Varun and I went on vacation with Marissa’s family without Marissa. Luckily for us, her family is great, and while we missed her, we still had a fantastic time in the mountains. We took a train to Zurich on Wednesday night and then another train to Zermatt on Thursday morning. The only way to get into Zermatt is by train because gas powered anything is not allowed in the town. I saw a lady mowing her lawn with a lawn mower that had a cord. There are electric taxis and horse-drawn carriages and walking, but no cars. Thursday was cold and rainy, but we still walked around the town. We visited the Matterhorn museum and learned about the treacherous first trip up the mountain in the late 1800s. After reading about how difficult the ascent and descent is, none of us were gung-ho about making the trip ourselves. We got hot chocolate to warm up and then went back to the flat and watched soccer games. This became a running theme for the trip: go out adventuring during the day, come home and watch soccer until everyone fell asleep. It was a good pattern.

Suspension bridge we crossed

One of many creeks

Just...wow

Water running through the rocks

I swear this is just a really big picture. It didn't actually exist in real life.     

                                                                                                                                                                                                          The next day was a hiking day. We took a gondola a ways up the mountain and then hiked back down. We crossed a suspension bridge that moved quite a bit as we crossed, but had an incredible view. Then we found a playground and everyone played. The parents teeter-tottered while the kids climbed and swang. We ate our lunch here as other families ran around and had their lunches as well. Once we were good and full, we began our descent. The hike itself wasn’t difficult, but it was complicated by the fact that I wanted to stare at the scenery and not where my feet were going. Everywhere we looked there was a postcard-worthy view. We stopped many a time to take pictures of all that surrounded us. Halfway down, we stopped to get a snack. We got an apricot cobbler thing that I don’t know how to describe besides the fact that it was delicious. We continued on our way and found a stream where we could reach in and touch the water. If there weren’t such pretty rocks in the water, I would have kept my hand far out of that water. It was glacially cold. But really, because it was glacial run-off. We collected the best rocks and then left to warm our hands up. Near the end of our trek, we found a path that lead to a bunch of bridges that ran next to a gorge. The water was blue and beautiful and ran over so many rocks. The stairs were barely big enough for my feet but everything that surrounded us more than made up for that and the splinters we received from the railings. When we finally made our way back to the flat, it was time for football. After many hours of hiking, we all wanted to relax a bit. We made dinner and talked and watched sweaty men kick a ball around. It was quite enjoyable.  

THAT IS FREAKING ITALY!

OMG Matterhorn selfie

Clouds at our level

Zermatt from the gondola

The next day was full of more nature. We woke up and began our ascent. We took the gondolas until the gondolas stopped and then we took a cable car. The snow started about halfway up the mountain, but it was hard and packed. As we gained altitude on the Little Matterhorn, the view of her big sister got even more fantastic. When we reached the top of the 12000 foot peak, it was very cold. Like, really cold. So frigid I hadn't been that cold in more than a year, thanks to Arizona's incredibly mild winter. It was also quite bright. We walked through a tunnel through the mountain, where we really started to feel the elevation. I do believe my jaw literally dropped open in awe when we exited the tunnel. We were surrounded by mountains and clouds and snow. We were on top of the world and we could see everything. But I could see Italy and Switzerland at the same time, so I really felt like I was seeing the whole world. We played in the snow. And by played in the snow I mean I got snow shoved down my jacket. There were many snowballs that were really more like iceballs. At the very tippy top of the mountain was a platform for all your tourist needs. We could see the tiny circle that was Zermatt, and the clouds that seemed to be below us, a little Italian town that I felt I could touch if I just stretched enough. But mostly snow. There was mostly snow. Pretty snow, smooth snow untouched by skis or snowboards. There were a few brave souls climbing a peak to our right. When we got our fill of the sight, which is mostly impossible, we took the cable car back down the mountain.

After all the lack of oxygen, we decided to get some exercise. That meant shopping. There was plenty to look at. Unfortunately, the prettiest watches were 100000 euros. Which made my $45 watch sitting on my wrist feel very college cheap. After some money spending, but not too much, we went to Marissa's family's favorite restaurant in Zermatt. There was beef tartar and red wine and veal and general yumminess. We all had a great last night in a town that never seemed actually to exist in our realities. The next day was a travel day. We got up, said goodbye to the flat and the Matterhorn, packed out bags, and took a three hour train ride back to Zurich. The rest of the family went back to Zug, but Varun and I had another 2 hours until our train to Stuttgart left. We just wandered around the city, counting how many H&M stores we could find (5), seeing if we were smart enough to find the river (we did), and hoping we didn't get lost in this new city and miss our train (we didn't). We took another three hour train ride back to Stuttgart and happily fell into bed.

Main street in Zermatt

Because I am me, I got sick as soon as we got back from Zermatt. Monday I left work early and went to sleep. When I tried to get up on Tuesday morning and discovered I couldn't, I decided to take a personal health day. After being abroad for a month and being on the go the whole time, a day filled with sleep and tv was much appreciated. Marissa and Varun took care of me, making sure I didn't touch anything or cook stuff. Thanks guys. By Thursday I was feeling better, which was good because it was a long day for me. A lab associated with the one I work with had received a dispenser, which turned out to be pretty much a 3D printer. We got a four hour tutorial on it, making everyone involved late for the Germany vs. US football game. I rushed over to where everyone was watching the game. It was a little awkward to be surrounded by a bunch of Germans. When the American team did something good, the 6 Americans in the room would awkwardly slow clap and look at each other from across the room for support. In the end, of course, we did not win. But both teams advanced to the next round of play, so it was a success overall. After the game was over, we went over to another dorm party. After being in Germany for a few weeks now, we have all gotten more used to how things go here, including the crazy dorm parties. This one was much much much better than the first one we went to. I think we were too overwhelmed by the chaos to really appreciate the fun, but this time we were prepared for the all the craziness. This time we also were with a group of SUPER kids, so having people we knew around made it much more enjoyable. The music was better and the company was fun as well. Again, it was a crazy party. We saw multiple people walking around with buckets of sangria. Yes, buckets, like the kind you build sand castles with. They contained about 5 liters of sangria and each one had a bunch of long colorful straws dangling out. Those Germans, man.

Friday came, and the three of us made our way once more to Zurich. Marissa and I got out of work early because it was Friday. For some time, we had wanted to go back to the Schlossgarten in the city center and sit in the grass. So that is what we did. We plopped in the park at 4 and left at 7 to find food before our train at 8. The ride seemed to take forever, and when we finally got to Zug at about 12, we all went straight to bed. Saturday was actually a perfect day. There was nothing I didn't like about it. The rain didn't bother me, my ears didn't care about the noise, and I never got cold. Let me run through this perfect day with you.

The lake in Zug

Old Town Zug

Surprise! Air show!

I woke up when I felt like it and then I got a yummy breakfast cooked for me. Not a bad deal. When we finally were ready, I put on a pretty dress and walked through beautiful Switzerland. We walked to a lake and then got gelato. From there, we continued around the lake until we reached Old Town Zug. It was the classic old European style with shops everywhere and gorgeous views of the lake. We sat down and had some lunch outside. When we finished our delicious meal, we went to the newer part of town and shopped. I got two new pairs of shoes for $45. I actually skipped for joy. I have witnesses that can verify this jollity. After a few hours of shopping, we got some macarons and wanted to eat them by the lake. When we started to walk toward the lake, many other people were walking toward the lake as well. We sat down with our legs dangling over the edge and then the show began. Six incredibly loud, incredibly cool planes flew over us. For the next half hour, they would split off and make designs, then come back together and fly over us some more. It was awesome. After the fun air show, we walked back to the flat and took a break. The whole reason we made the trip for the weekend was to go to Lucernefest, a huge music festival in Lucerne. There might have been 150,000 people there by the end of the night. There was food and drinks and music and people. People everywhere. We spent most of our time dancing to a band from Colombia. When they stopped, we gathered at the lake for fireworks. After such an eventful day, we were all pretty tired after the fireworks. We jumped on the next train back to Zug and were quickly asleep.

Bridge in Lucerne

In the Zurich main train station 

We woke up to the sound of rain. It had been raining ever since we got back the night before. This put a bit of a damper on our day. We lounged around, watching food shows on TV. We packed up and went for Chinese food for lunch. All the spices warmed us up right quick. From there we took a train to Zurich. At the train station, they had set up a public viewing arena, complete with food and a sand pit and tables. Then we took another three hour train ride back to Stuttgart.

Awwww the trio!

While in Zermatt, I heard that my family lost an amazing member. My great aunt Myra had been sick for a long time, but that doesn't lessen the blow. I had always told my grandma that when the time came I would go to Atlanta with her for moral support. Unfortunately, that was not in the cards for me. It was weird to be so far away at a time when family is supposed to be together. I didn't let the loss ruin my time in Zermatt. I knew aunt Myra would have berated me in some crazy, Southern way if I had. When we came home from Switzerland the second time, I got to hear all about the awesome memorial from my mom. It sounds like I missed a fantastic party! I'm glad that everyone celebrated her life instead of mourning. I did the same from many miles away, even though I wish I could have been with the rest of my family. This post, and all my posts, are dedicated to my aunt Myra and all the other people in my life who have ever taught me anything about how to live. I hope I’m doing it in a way she would approve of.

The past two weekends have been super exciting and fun-packed. The next few weekends may be a little more low key, but we still plan on doing plenty of local exploring. Also, it did not leave much time to write about what I was doing because I was too busy doing things to write about! Now that everyone is all caught up, I am over and out.

Forever and always,

Taryn