3rd Week

July 31
Ok, why didn't anyone tell me about "Google Translate" yet?! I just cut and pasted an email that I couldn't understand and got a fantastic translation. No longer panicked about missing important details about our bills... Wish I'd known about it sooner!

Got a 2nd-hand bike for Mary! And I found BLACK BEANS! Maren took me to a German "Costco" store, Metro, and I was able to stock up on non-perishables. Low and behold there were black beans. I bought, well.... a lot. :)  Stopped at a second hand bike shop afterward and picked up a nice, simple 7 gear bicycle w/basket and everything ready to go. They even gave me a used bike pump for free. Great deal.

August 1
Hallelujah! I found fresh cilantro and hot peppers at the Turkish grocery store behind the OBI! Their produce section was bigger and better than any of the German ones I've been to. Plus I found that they have bags of dry black beans too, so if I run out of my Metro beans supply, I'll have a source for more. They also had dry cumin. Happy, happy cooking day: simmered black beans for lunch and supper today!

Joshua got a lot accomplished for us all today. He made an appointment and went to meet with the Buergeramt to let the city of Bonn know we are here. Then he made appointments for tomorrow to get everyone biometric photos which we then have to take with us to our Friday appointment with the Auslandersamt to register as resident foreigners! How do people that speak no German manage all this? You have to call ahead to make the appointments and right now it seems like everyone is on vacation and the office hours are crazy (9 to 11 on a week day?!)

I cleaned the apartment late this afternoon--took less than 1/2 an hour to vacuum the whole place and clean the sink and toilet! Love that. Will be even easier when I'm not chasing the kids out of the rooms and making them pick stuff up as I go--when they're at school it won't get as dirty either.

The kids are enjoying their scooters/bike and a little longer "leash". After dinner this evening we piled outside (lovely weather again) and headed to the Friesdorf plaza where there is a little Eis Cafe. Mary took the bicycle and went on ahead. Maggie asked if she could go on ahead too, so off she went on her scooter. Hannah went out ahead of us, stopping occasionally for us to catch up. Grace's Laufrad isn't in yet, so she got a ride on Daddy's shoulders. There weren't any tables free so we went inside, got the girls some ice cream cones and came back outside to sit on one of the benches around the edge of the plaza. Piles of people coming and going, kids playing, dogs out for evening walks with their owners. It felt like the center of a little village, not part of a big city. Then Mary and Maggie wanted to go home on their own. They each have their own set of keys on key chains with  straps that they can hang around their necks.

Tomorrow Maren's daughter, L, is coming again to work with the girls on their German. We keep practicing little phrases and Hannah often asks, "Is __________ a German word? What does that mean?" At first it was nonsense words, but today she asked me what "Was" means and what "Ich" means. Yeah! :)

My Einkaufswagon (trolley) came today! It looks like I'll easily be able to get 4 or 5 bags worth of food into it and it has huge wheels so won't be hard to navigate when it's full. Funny how it makes me look forward to my next big shopping trip!

August 2
We are slowing getting to be "legal". Made our trip into Bonn to get biometric photos of everyone to take to the Auslaendersamt tomorrow. While in town we checked out the public library and found out what we need to bring back with us to get a lending card. We'll go back tomorrow when we go to the Auslaendersamt. Also stopped by the service office for the bus and train system to get a monthly pass for me. Grace can now take the bus/train with me. We'll get a Schulterticket (monthly student pass) for Mary once school starts. In the meantime we can buy a single ticket for the kids to all travel on when we go into town. If we get a car, I won't need the monthly pass but for this month it made sense to get one rather than buying so many single tickets. 

The Gesundheitsamt called me back. All first graders have to have a physical before enrolling in school. Hannah will go for hers next Tuesday. The service woman who called me back (the vacation hours are in effect so I had left a voicemail) was so good at speaking slowly and clearly. Speaking on the phone is so intimidating that I hate to do it even with friends. I miss too much of what's being communicated!

August 3
Our Visa applications are being processed and we had no problems at our appointment with the Auslaendersamt this morning. We go back in mid September to pick them up.

Feeling very "fuzzy" the last couple of days. Joshua too. I think our brains are in transition or maybe just rebelling. I can't think of English words sometimes or I'll type them funny and not be able to figure out what I did wrong. It's kind of funny except that at the Auslaendersamt I was writing things like Bloomington, VA for Grace's birthplace and filling in the spouse's information on Mary's application. Sigh

I have also made a reservation and paid the deposit for a chalet in Wengen for the week of New Year's! Very excited about this! Next step is to work on reserving ski gear...  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wengen

We've begun to have a bit of a pattern to our days: I'm up early to run, then Joshua for work. The kids are up by around 8. I try to get them out of the apartment during the a.m. hours whether that means coming along to the store or going to the playground. Then home for lunch and nap for Grace. We eat a late dinner then go outside again. The 7-8 p.m. hour seems like the time that all the kids come out of hiding, maybe because they've been somewhere during the day while their parents work or maybe because it's not as hot. This evening the playground was very busy. I finally met a mother (often there are just children out!). Her family has also just moved here (nice!). I'd actually already met her 7 year old daughter, N. They moved here from Tunisia where N went to an American school, so she speaks English. So, the mother is looking for children for N to play with in English while we are looking for children to play with our girls in German! Oh well, that will come. Grace has no qualms about striking up a conversation--actually, that's how I ended up talking to the mother: Grace started talking to her in English about how "my mother is sitting over there and that's my big sister, Hannah..."

August 4
What a wonderful day! The weather was lovely and we made plans to explore Bad Godesberg a bit and then head back into Bonn to see the Poppelsdorf Schloss (palace) with its botanical gardens. We took the bus this time from just a block away to the pedestrian zone in Bad Godesberg. Lovely little shopping district with many of the same shops as Bonn Zentrum (Center) but smaller. Lots of folks sitting out having coffee (or ice cream! at 10 a.m.) at one of the many little Eis Cafe shops with outdoor tables. We poked around a little, realized that the flea market which I thought was today, is tomorrow, and decided to head back to the train station and head back to Bonn.

 

 

(top: view of Bad Godesberg's "Godesburg" tower from the pedestrian zone; girls on one of the many little playground toys scattered throughout the pedestrian zone)

Back in Bonn we walked through the Suedstadt https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCdstadt_%28Bonn%29 to the Poppelsdorf Schloss which we discovered is not open on the weekends! I should have done my homework a little better... So we ate our Broetchen-and-apples lunch and headed back toward the pedestrian zone to get a little ice cream treat for the kids. While at a little Eis Cafe I noticed  brochures for one of the many museums in Bonn. The LVR Museum currently has an exhibit on Ancient Romes's technology, architecture and inventions geared for school aged kids. We thought, why not? It was a short walk away and turned out to be the best part of the whole day! 

I continue to be amazed at how well the girls do with all the walking, especially little G. I was sure she'd want to be carried after the museum (I wanted to be carried!) but she just bounced along. She's been skipping nap on days like today and after supper when I asked the girls if anyone wanted to come with me to the store to get food for tomorrow (everything will be closed on Sunday) the only one who said yes, was G! So she skipped along beside me, rode in the shopping cart, then skipped along home, all without complaint (in fact, she was cheerfully "talking" to me in German-sounding gibberish to which I'd reply in German as if I was speaking to a baby babbling!)

August 5

I'm pleased that so far no one has been sick! I'm sure it will come with the beginning of the school year, but I had expected some new viruses to make their rounds through the kids, but so far not even a case of sniffles! I'm sure as I write this that tomorrow someone will complain about something, but for now I'm thankful that we have been spared that added stress. 

We made another appearance at the local Evangelische Kirche for the Sunday service. I love the bell peal at 10:30, calling all church-goers!  One gentlemen, a Frenchman, has been very friendly, giving us information about the church community and the available activities as well as introducing us to other church members. He introduced us today to a couple who work for the U.N.. He is American, although his English has become heavily German-ized! They married in D.C. and now live here in Bonn. Another gentleman, a Dr. who teaches at the Uni, filled us in on some of the many organized activities for children/youth as well as the choir and music groups for adults. Sounds like it will be a wonderful place for us to "plug in" as the school year starts. Of course, during the summer vacation weeks (now), there is nothing going on! 

The rest of the day has been lazy. It's raining on and off. G and I napped (I'm still not sleeping well on this foreign bed) while the older girls played quietly on their DS's. This evening we're watching Olympics. The synchronized swimming is amazing!!