The return

Posts Tagged ‘Iowa’

The return

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

It’s 6 a.m. in Iowa– my brain turned on like a light around 5:30 and despite my pleads and bargaining myself, I guess I’m up for the day. Apparently it’s easier to fall into your sleep pattern when returning to the US from Europe, but in my little experience with it before, that is so not the case for me. Also, I’m ravenously hungry. All of my flights were for the most part on time yesterday, and I arrived in Des Moines at 10:30 p.m. to a ridiculously happy Savannah, and my dad who had come prepared with a can of Diet Pepsi and my new cell phone. What a guy. The bags under my eyes betrayed that I’d had about a combined hour of sleep during my entire 20-ish hour journey from alarm clock to baggage claim yesterday. Upon arriving home, I was too excited to unwrap all my wares (mustard! chocolate! shot glasses! …an odd amount of shot glasses!) to fall right into bed. Once I did, I dreamt of nothing but airports, airplanes, and last-minute Mother’s Day gift shopping (which will happening some time today.)

I’m looking forward to many things this week, but am also quite frankly scared shitless of being thrust back into it all, and holy heartache, Batman– I miss Germany and D-Bag. So much. When I got to the US-bound flights terminal in the Munich airport, the American-ness was palpable. So many overweight senior citizens complaining about the extra security or something they didn’t like about their bus tour of Germany, while sweating away in their Mickey Mouse track suits and visors. Once we landed in Chicago and it was REAL, like real-real, yours truly wasn’t exactly bowling people over in the aisles to get my feet on American soil. Let’s just try not and get salty tears all over your customs declaration form, okay Ma’am? I guess this is my last post on the ol’ Iowa Girls Gone Wild; as we all know, you can find me here. Good luck to Lauren in her return journey, but mostly with the whole saying of good-byes thing; it really does suck more than you could prepare yourself for. WOW this post was much more Debbie Downer depressing than I’d planned on it being. Overall, studying abroad was the BEST DECISION EVER and I MISS IT and it was GREAT, but I’m still REALLY hungry so will bid you Auf Wiedersehen, dear readers. You’re the best (ok, you could have commented more.) Thanks for putting up with my bipolarity and general uninteresting observations on all things about life abroad. Time to go drink Diet Pepsi by the gallon and pee in public restaurants just because I can.

Tags: airplane, airport, home, Iowa, leaving
Posted in Brittney | 1 Comment »

Why don’t “mood” and “good” rhyme?

Monday, April 12th, 2010

“Get me the f@?$ out of this country.” –one of my fellow American students, though he’s been here for almost nine months. This is essentially the sentiment of everyone around me; we’re going absolute bat-shit stir crazy. Perhaps it’s because the German students have returned and the campus is once again overrun with crowds, lines, and German people who will sit at your table even though there are 47 empty ones elsewhere in the cafeteria. The language is getting ridiculously harder, the natives are getting weirder, the food is tasting blander, the weather is getting colder, and we’re ready to go. I will be making the most of my last few weeks here, however– once I get this BLANK-BLANKIN’ project done, I can enjoy Munich, Berlin, and shopping in Hamburg. I’ve also thrown calorie counts to the wind and have been indulging in German pastries for really the first time since coming (it’s all for you, Bryce.) I can get a bowl of muesli at home any day, but I can’t walk down the street to a tiny bakery and pay for a piping hot, homemade European croissant/pretzel/you name it I hope to eat it before leaving.

Apparently I freckle when in the sun. Having not been exposed to direct sunlight for going on21 years, I was never aware this could occur. Or maybe it’s just a new thing– either way, my nose is nicely freckle-spotted.

My freak hand allergy has returned exactly five weeks after returning to Germany from America. This number is significant because it is almost the EXACT amount of time it took for it to mysteriously come about the first time. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! I shall arm myself with steroid cream and children’s allergy sleep medication (it was free from the Doc, thank you) and go into Official Battle until I figure out what the heck’s going on.

Oh, on the kinda big news front: for those of you who don’t stalk on me on Facebook/Twitter/ in real life, I’ve found gainful employment this summer as an event planning intern in Des Moines, thus won’t be living in Iowa City. I’ll in fact be putting down roots again with my family (parents AND little brother) in Adel. If you’re of the God-fearing kind, please pray for me. My ever-increasing anxiety problems have me much more worked up about living at home again (which I haven’t really done since leaving for college almost three years ago) than I am about actually doing well in my internship. In reality, I’m over the moon to be living so close to pretty much all of my family and getting to experience Des Moines as an adult, because I think it’s a much neater place to hang out than it’s given credit. As always, I’ll be missing NPH and that house full of slovenly boys to whom I’ve given my heart, but being two hours down the Interstate is much better than thousands of miles across an ocean.

Tags: allergies, home, Iowa, leaving, sun
Posted in Brittney | Comments Off

Writer’s block, this is what came out

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Apparently I’m allergic to pollen. This week has been a nice seesaw between extreme congestion and Snot Fest 2010.

The Hausmeister decided to finally show up and do something about the leaky bathroom situation. There is some sort of industrial-sized dryer in there now trying to undo some of the water damage, and under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are we to go in there or open the door or even peek through the keyhole or God forbid shower. All five of us are vying for time and space in our other bathroom, but for some reason we’re not allowed to use the shower. This created quite the mini-conundrum when I got back from my run (in the heat of the day. In all black) yesterday. Now I can stand my own stink, but I had plans to go into public later. Thankfully my beautiful Slovakian neighbor recently returned from his glamorous Easter holiday of snowboarding and cross-country skiing in the mountains of his home country, and he graciously let me use his WG’s shower. Hopefully the monstrous bathroom machine is not emitting anything reminiscent of Chernobyl because you’d better believe I broke the rules and sneaked in to grab my comb and towel.

Tomorrow is our final in Intermediate German I. Intermediate German is HARD. I am not exactly looking forward to Intermediate II, but it’s three credit hours in only three weeks so I’m gonna tough it out (and curse the language heavens along the way.) The amount of homework I have to do this weekend is ridiculous. Granted, I’m finishing a few projects ahead of time since they’re due right when I return from Munich next weekend (!!!) but essentially I’m looking at lots of time chained to my desk this weekend. With a break for Qrito Burrito Take Two, of course, because it turns out we never got there on Monday. The buses are in a nasty habit of coming early, and unfortunately Matt missed the bus which then caused us to miss the train to Hamburg. Not wanting to wait around for an hour for the next one, we walked back into town and got some “snack boxes” at a Chinese place. Thankfully we didn’t go for actual entrees because Holy bland non-descript food, Batman. Less than satisfied, and bored and looking for adventure on Easter Monday, we set off in search of a Brazilian bar he’d heard of one time in passing that doesn’t serve beer, only really good cocktails with lots of fruit. We got some very ambiguous directions from his roommate and actually found it, but it didn’t open until 7 and it was only 5:30, dammit. Not being a quitter, we got some road beers (thing I’ll miss most: no open container laws) and strolled around town.

If you haven’t noticed a theme in my posts yet or had the privilege of spending more than an hour with me, let me clue you in that my bladder is perhaps the size of a pea. We don’t know why this is, ’tis my cross to bear. Of course I found myself on Monday in a place I’ve been far too many times before– in desperate search of a bathroom, no relief in sight. To his credit, Matt offered to stand vigil beside a bush or something, but in a last ditch effort to scrape together some sort of dignity, I decided I could make it across town to the McDonald’s. While I’m sure it’s not kosher to walk into Mickey D’s here just for use of their toilets, this is the one time I will proudly pull out and wave around my American card, nary a guilty glance toward the Dollar (erm, Euro) Menu as I walk out basking in sweet relief (literally.)

ANYWAY– we finally made it to the bar, an ancient, dusty, dimly-lit place that kinda looked straight outta Knockturn Alley. There was a completely bald, bespectacled bartender; a regular of about 50 seated opposite him; an eight-year-old girl to his left; and our waitress– a barely five foot, 107-year-old chain smoking Portuguese woman who maybe weighed 80 pounds. This woman is fabulous. She came off and started rambling German to us, none of which we understood, probably because she could barely see over our table. We ordered our cocktails– a “Zombie Classic” for me and a “Zombie Brasil” for Matt, and waited an inordinate amount of time. The wait was worth it, however, because these babies came packed with fresh fruit and BOY HOWDY were they strong. Probably the best 7 Euro I’ve spent here. Our favorite waitress of all time also brought over a bowl of crackers that actually tasted like potato chips but were shaped like dragons. Those damn Brazilians. We may have ordered an Absinthe cocktail or two after that– not fodder for a public blog if we did.

The 21 only ordnance in Iowa City officially goes into effect on my 21st birthday. Whether or not a deal with the Devil was made on that one, you’ll probably never know.

Tags: allergies, drinking, Iowa
Posted in Brittney | Comments Off

Responsibilities? They have those here?

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Keeping up with this blog has been a challenge in the past two weeks. The unexpected sinus infection mixed with pending midterms and actual homework (?!) hasn’t facilitated writing to, as Brittney says, our “legion of followers.” So combined, five people?

View of La Alhambra from the Albaicín barrio in Granada. SWOON.

I never wrote about Granda, but I absolutely adored it. It was worth destroying my ears on the mountain-y drive up. I would gush about the Alhambra or something, but it’d be 90000 words typed in vain. So here’s a photo.

Adam visited this weekend and by some miracle it didn’t rain. I was able to revisit the Alcázar (!), the Catedral (.) and the Plaza de Toros (…). I’ve also taken to using punctuation marks to express how I felt about each visit. The Alcázar was great because there were peacocks; the Catedral was still a gothic cathedral, but going to the top of the Giralda offered a fabulous and sunny view; the Plaza de Toros robbed us (ok, 4 euros) by failing to mention that half of it was closed and under construction. Under construction? In Spain?! QUE VA. We also got stuck in a Jesus parade in my barrio and together slaughtered two boxes of Don Simon sangria, a 40ish bottle of Cruzcampo and a jar of Nutella, among other bebidas y comidas. Despite the fact that I was on antibiotics and presently live in a makeshift pharmacy, the weekend was an enormous success.

The transition back to real life has been difficult, and it’s only Monday. I have two midterms this week and a mammoth article due in four weeks. It sounds like plenty of time, but not when one of those weeks is dedicated to traveling with my family over Semana Santa, and this weekend is dedicated to Rome (Roma, ro ma ma…).

Despite my debilitating indecision, I finally booked the flight. I’m reluctant to make travel plans here because a) I love Sevilla, b) I’m afraid of Ryanair and c) I’m cheap. But I had to do Rome. My aunt, uncle and cousin live there right now, so I have no excuse not to go. Plus, I think this will be my only trip outside of the Iberian Peninsula in my time here. A lot of my friends have already hit up Paris, Amsterdam, London, Brussels… I’ve stuck to Granada, Córdoba, Jerez de la Frontera, Barcelona. And I’m beyond happy with that. But it will be exciting to see another part of Europe this weekend, to visit family, and to hit the town with the Pope.

I’m beyond flustered that my study abroad experience is already at its halfway point. I’m really going to miss my friends here, Elisa, the lack of snow… and why the hell am I already worried about this? I have two months left, but it’s not enough time. I finally developed some sense of direction — it’s been days, maybe even weeks, since I’ve gotten lost! I listen to my iPod when I’m walking to class because I know the streets well enough to not worry (much) about being plowed over by a batshit Spanish driver. The long-awaited sun has finally arrived, and the combination of endorphins + “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” while walking has been most enjoyable. You could even say empowering. It’s probably because I’m one letter shy of sharing her name.

The Puente de Triana, "my" bridge (by virtue of living in Triana).

Also– another sentiment I don’t share with my study abroad cronies, along with my disinterest in Ryanair-ing through Europe every weekend: missing my university. It’s not even a question. Iowa will be there when I get back, save for the possibility of another apocalyptic flood. Chicago isn’t going anywhere. Naperville will be thriving. My family comes in less than two weeks, so I miss them, but pretty soon we’ll be in close quarters on a bus traveling through southern Spain. Maybe I’m insensitive, truly emotionless — this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve wondered — but I don’t miss Iowa at all. By writing this I’ve perhaps jinxed myself into a panic attack/weepy breakdown by the end of the week due to separation anxiety from cornfields and Interstate 80. I’ll be sure to provide a live streaming update if this happens.

Tags: cheap booze, food, Granada, Iowa, Lauryn Hill, responsibilities, Rome, school, sickness, travel
Posted in Lauren | 4 Comments »

Spring Break

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Plan A would have had me drunk in Deutschland with mein Schmetterling D-Bag right now instead of watching my mother start her very own grow house in our kitchen. Thanks to Delta Airlines, Plan B (<– we should get some Google hits with that one) has me boarding a plane tomorrow at 6 pm and not returning to Germany until Monday afternoon. I don’t really want to get into intricate details of what an epic clusterfuck my afternoon was yesterday that resulted in me not getting on a plane, but if you are a representative for Delta Airlines reading this, I expect some class upgrades, free tickets, or at least the whole can of soda during beverage service tomorrow. The jist of it is that Delta sent an e-mail AND called me to tell me my flight would be delayed two hours, but then told me (when I showed up after adjusting my airport arrival time to accommodate this extra time) that the plane had actually come and left early. Yes, essentially they said “You don’t need to come so soon” but then said “Oh wait, you definitely should have been here.” Because I’m so great at telekinesis.

What’s a girl to do when she has 48 new hours of unplanned time hanging in her home state? Go back to Iowa City, obviously. Shout-out to future roomie Lauren for being my partner in spontaneous crime as well as my Pancheros-loving hungover couch partner this afternoon. My 713ers were all sadly off on their great Spring Break adventures– NPH and I parted Wednesday for me to have some family time in Adel after mooching off of them for the better part of the week. My family doctor debunked my German diagnosis of staph infection and instead gave me enough steroid cream and antihistamines to keep this mystery allergy at bay for the next two months. The mother and I got a pedicure (shamrock green, for me) and I went to Valentine’s Day, the cutest move in the history of time, with Kayla and Sav. They didn’t exactly share my review of the flick, but does plot even matter when Taylor Lautner is onscreen? Nein. I was accused of only liking it because of my recent boyfriend procurement, to which I’ll plead the Fifth because they’re probably right. Definitely do NOT watch this movie if you’re feeling cynical in the slightest– it will either cause you to breakdown in public and/or become extremely violent to the squealing saps around you like me whose boyfriends stand in the rain at 10 pm to grill them bratwurst after work even though they have papers they should be writing instead. Not like that’s happened to me.

IN CONCLUSION: I am beyond thrilled I came home for Spring Break, but I am so so so ready/ excited to get back to Germany. And I would be there right now if it weren’t for Delta Airlines.

Tags: food, Iowa, movies, NPH, Spring Break
Posted in Brittney | Comments Off

Eye Oh Dubya Aye!

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Just a quick update for my legions of admirers (okay, two people) who have inquired as to how Spring Break in Iowa is going… I made it by train and subway to the airport and checked in all by myself on Friday! With like five hours to kill, I had breakfast (one Euro for a hunk of bread as big as my thigh?! Win! Almost four Euro for a Coke Zero? Ahh, there’s the Europe I know and love.) I had a very quick layover from Hamburg to Paris, the only time I ever wish to spend in France. The flight to Atlanta was almost nine hours, but there were 130 empty seats on the plane, leaving much room to lay out and kinda sleep but mostly not. When the pilot welcomed us to the United States, I felt… SAD. My lack of sleep coupled with general travel anxiety definitely had me second-guessing my decision to come home. Also, the South definitely should not have been my first taste of America after two months– have you heard those people attempt to speak English? Being able to understand all conversations around me took a bit of getting used to, and I found myself responding “Danke” and “Entshuldigung” to flight attendants/ sales people/ those around me. FINALLY… after 11 p.m. on Friday, after over 24 hours of waking up in Germany, after 13ish hours in the air, I landed in Des Moines. There to greet me were my parents and… NPH! Apparently he was in cahoots with the parents for weeks to surprise me at the airport, and while I was quite certain he’d be there, it wasn’t appreciated any less.

Being back has been… amazing. At first I MISSED GERMANY SO MUCH. And I still do. But oh 713. These boys, how I missed them. It’s also been great to hang out with Lauren and Natalie and basically everyone with whom I’ve managed to have dinner or lunch or Oscar-viewing dates. Going back is going to SUCK, but this trip has definitely made me realize the things I love about Germany. Leaving permanently (0r at least for a while) in May will be really hard, but there’s plenty of things in Iowa City I’ll be rushing back for.

Tags: Iowa, NPH, Spring Break
Posted in Brittney | Comments Off