BLACK GIRL (small world)

Hello friends! The purpose of this blog-like thing, is to document and share my travels, experiences and hair woes during my semester abroad in Germany. My goal is to learn more about German culture and hopefully discover what it’s like to be a person of color in Germany. Feel free to ask me questions, give words of encouragement and share your study abroad stories with me. Enjoy!

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Germany: The Lost Photos

So, I refuse to upload all my pictures from Germany on Facebook (Ain't nobody got time fo dat)! So if my friends and family want to check out some awesome photos from my German experience, check out my Flickr!

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Thank you Ashley for the words of encouragement! I don't even know you totally well, yet you understand where I'm coming from!

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I Don't Want to Leave

So I woke up this morning at 5:55 am.  I had planned on waking up at 6:00 am to do my homework, but my host family beat my alarm clock to the punch in waking me up.  (This is not me complaining about my host family.)  I proceeded to lay in bed until 6:45 am checking my various social network accounts.  I’m supposed to be do my homework as I’m typing this, but I can’t.  I don’t want to do it, however  I only have 2 more days of class.  Though I don’t want to get ready for school, I only have 2 more days of having to do this!  What am I getting to?  My semester is coming fast to an end and I’m very unhappy about it.  I feel that I’ve already been cheated because our Schorndorf group has been the only group to leave Germany in April instead of May.  I feel that I’ve just gotten to a place where I’m comfortable with everything, and now I have to leave.  Yes, I’ve complained about a few things, but I’d rather be here complaining, than have to go home.  It's bitter sweet, because I'd like to see my family and friends, but going home means going back to reality- realizing that your German studies are finished, that you only have a year to figure out what to do with your adult life, that you will most likely spend the summer on your parents couch, depending on them for 4 months of summer, dealing with people who won’t understand how amazing the experience was and how frustrated you are.  This will not be a summer vacation for me, this will be hell! People will ask me what was the hardest part of studying abroad?  My answer is realizing that you have to go home. 

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Since Keely got engaged, I think that ring in Zach's pocket was burning a hole! Actually this pic is about a month late, but the love is still there!

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My 21st Birthday!!!!

Why is the 26th of March the best day of the year? Perhaps because I was born!  I have to say that I had a pretty good birthday being treated like a princess and what not! Huge thank you’s to my host family and my friend Jan for making my birthday special so far from home!

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Muenchen Part 3:  Jesus... Take the Wheel (marriage proposals and other pictures)

I was days like this that I was jealous of the study abroad students in Thailand and Tahiti.  Instead of laying on a each learning  French in French Polynesia, here I am in a cold ass Germany in front of Neuschwanstein!  Was it pretty? Yes.  Was it cold? Yes.  Everything was wet, slushy and considering that the us driver wouldn't take anymore people up the mountain, we had to walk in snow and horse shit the whole way!  Once we climbed the top of the mountain, we waited with millions of our fellow Americans and Japanese (they're everywhere) for 20 mins in the cold.  On the bright side, my classmate was proposed to at the top of the castle (congrats Keely)!  Along with the pictures of our fabulous time, I just threw in some randoms from Munich.

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Muenchen Part 2: Dachau Concentration Camp

I'm not really sure how to start this post off, but  I'm sure that my friends and family will find it interesting.  So for our second day in Munich, we went to Dachau, which (if you don't already know, it was a concentration camp in Dachau, Germany and was one of the first to open.  I'm not gonna go into too much detail, but I will say that visiting this place was very sobering, though not as brutal as I anticipated.  I'm not saying that the events that took place here, weren't sad enough, but I expected to see more vivid pictures and artifacts in the museum itself.  Either way, it is an experience I suggest to everyone.  Wanna know more on Dachau? I've posted a link below.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005214

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St. Patrick's Day in Muenchen!  March 17, 2013

So I'm not one to take part in St. Patrick's Day festivities, considering that I'm not Irish, but after spending all day in a damn palace, a drink was what I needed!  Was it cold? Yes.  Was it crowded? Yes.  Did You Have Fun? Hell Yes.  Good food, good company, Guiness and Irish music? I must say that it was better than any St Patty's party in Des Moines or Denver!

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Muechen Part 1: Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but these past couple of weeks have been hectic!  Anyways, I went to Munich 3 weeks ago and had a wonderful time.  Of course there were many things to see, but I just can't put it in one post. So here's some pics from the Asam Kirche (my favorite), the Deutsches Museum, and the Residenz Muechen, 

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Ludwigshafen heute? HATED IT! Waking up late this morning? HATED IT! Today's weather? HATED IT! The train that was 45 mins late? HATED IT! Coming home at 21:30? HATED IT! Having to stay up an extra 30 mins to register for fall classes? HATE IT! I'm having a rant moment, because today was the first time that I felt that I truly hated everything and everyone in Germany. Considering that I don't have to go to school until 10 am, I'll suck it up and deal with it.   

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Can I just say how much I'm feelin' this song?! "Augenbling" by Seeed is clearly my pre Club joint that I listen to when I want to feel more emersed in German night life! Especially now that I've been put on to Peter Fox, I'm quite satisfied with this song :)

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It's a black thing: Interacting with people of color abroad

So today I was walking in the market place with my friend, Jessica after lunch. We stopped in front of a store so that Jess can look at this scarf.  Next to me stood an African woman (I didn't catch her name) who said auf English with a hint of African twang: "Hello Sista, how are you today?" I replied, "I'm doing well, how are you?"  She went on asking me where I was from and what I was doing here, etc.  After we went our separate ways, Jess asked me:

"Is that normal?"

"What?"

"For her to call you 'Sista?"

I simply replied "Jess, it's a black thing"  I explained to her that even though we have different cultures, as black people, we recognize and acknowledge one another as more than strangers, but as old acquaintances. I personally think that it's a connection that all people of color have, especially when you are a visibly and outsider or minority. Was denken Sie?

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In preparation for the trip to Munich and visiting Dachau (a concentration camp), a friend posted this on my Facebook profile.  Apparently, there were more concentration camps in Europe during the Nazi reign.  Definitely an interesting read and I encourage everyone to read this and truly count your blessings.

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Tübingen, der Uni-Stadt:

So since I've arrived in Germany, I've gained interest in Tübingen, which is a beautiful city! My host mother is a proud alum of the University of Tübingen and it's definitely a prospect for graduate school, considering that it's one of the oldest universities in Germany and it costs about 1/3 the cost of most American colleges! Tübingen is definitely a university city, considering that most of its inhabitants are students.  While here, our group was assigned a graffiti project, which I took several pictures of the art work, but I can't seem to figure out what the letters TBS mean. Any clues?

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Ausflug mit den Gastfamilien, Schloss Lichtenstien, 23/2/12

So went to Schloss Lichtenstein (which is a castle) with the other host families and had an awesome day.  The weather was extremely cold, to the point that despite my thick hiking socks and insulated shoes, my toes hurt from the cold!  Thank God for warm KinderPunsch!

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You know you're in Germany when you go to McDonald's and see this!

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Laing - Morgens immer müde

(I forgot to add the video to the previous post... my bad!)