My first night in Grünbach, I got invited to go watch some folk dancing. I was very excited about this because I LOVE folk dancing...watching it, that is. Of course, I couldn't get away with just being an observer and by the end of the night, I was asked to join in the folk dancing fun! I'm not sure what any of the dances are called (lack of sleep and lack of German language comprehension are working against me on this point), but the ones I participated in were dances where everyone usually begins in a circle and then does a series of steps and changes partners multiple times. Those that know me well know how incredibly uncoordinated I am and how much I lack a sense of rhythm...so trying to join in a group doing coordinated movements to a beat was incredibly difficult! Thankfully, everyone that had to be partnered with me was very patient and nice trying to explain exactly what I was supposed to do. I tried to keep up, but I know I looked completely lost...especially when polka was involved. I never was able to catch on to what I was supposed to do when the leader called out "polka"! By the last dance, I was really dizzy from being spun around so much and completely exhausted. It was so much fun! Sadly, upon my return home I was unable to get to sleep right away...I think it was around 3:00 in the morning when I did finally doze off...and I was enthusiastically woken up around 7:00 or earlier...so I've been pretty out of it today...but maybe my busy day today will help me sleep tonight. We'll see.
The day started with a trip to register me with the local government in some capacity. It was my first trip into town in the daylight. It is really a lovely little town. Here's a picture of the place where I went to register.
After that trip into town, we went to the farm that belongs to the grandmother of the children I'm tutoring. It is a beautiful farm complete with cows, chickens and rabbits. The kids and I explored the farm and climbed hills while their mom was picking berries. We also took at look at the beehive and all of the bees busy making honey! I had a nice snack of bread, local cheese, homemade apple juice (which was delicious), homemade marmalade and some kind of meat (not sure what but I assume it was local as well). I am definitely going to be more of a meat-eater here than I usually am! After the snack we went to help feed the cows and let out the chickens. I have not been quite so close to cows as I was this afternoon. It was definitely a learning experience! One of the calves was named Ludwig (one of my favorite names of all time)! I also got to pet all of the rabbits. It was a fun morning/afternoon of exploring and enjoying the local culture. After we got back home, I had a delicious lunch of meat (of some kind), potatoes (fresh from the garden! yum!), cucumber salad and a blackberry/yogurt/sugar dessert. I think I am going to be playing tennis this afternoon so I'm glad I had such a big lunch. Haha! We are still in the midst of a terrible heat wave, but hopefully things will cool off later in the week. In closing, here are a few photos of the farm.
(:
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