~Carnivale 2008~

~My new German tea set - I cannot wait for a tea party~

~I found some great German foods at the market on Schmotziger Dorschdich "Women's Day"~

~Weil Der Stadt Carnivale 2008 - We made some great memories~

~We were all ready for the Carnivale~ It was beautiful blue skies and freezing outside - we all had to put 3 layers of clothes on under our coats and costumes and wear our boots - brrrrrr~

~The Mighty Pirate & My Two Supermen~

~These were the witches that put the rope around me and took me down the street~

~We loved all of the bands & the music - 50,000 people were watching the parade~

~German Witches~

~Don't be fooled - they are up to no good~

~A crowd favorite ~ The Ratatouille Float~ They handed out gummy rats to the kids~

~I had to take my coat off while the horse poop was being cleaned off of it from my roll around on the road with the witch~ I also had to put my boots back on here~

~Weekly Update~

Guten Tag Friends & Family:

Well, this has been one of my most favorite weeks since we have been here in Germany. Do I say this every time I write?

This week in Germany they all celebrate Carnivale / Fasching a.k.a. Mardi Gras - German Style. And despite how serious everyone seems most of the time, boy do these Germans know how to have some fun. On Thursday, we celebrated Schmotziger Dorschdich a.k.a. "A day for women to celebrate and be naughty". I love it! On this women's day, if you are a man wearing a tie, expect it to be cut in half with a pair of scissors. Women kidnap the town mayors and bring him out to the town square and spank him with a paddle. A little different then the way we do things in the states. I decided to take advantage of my "women's day" and me and my neighbor Martina started with a great trip to the local outdoor farmer's market - where I bought myself some beautiful tulips (my favorite). I even found one of the things that I was searching around Germany for. It is very common to have friends and family over for coffee, tea & pastries here, and I didn't have any tea cups and saucers. Well, I found some and I love them - I know that they are going to be put to good use.

Next, we were off to the German Supermarket so that she could show me some of the tricks to her delicious German cooking. I bought some great cheeses and sauces, and yummy hazelnut chocolate pudding. It is so much fun to go and try new things. I want to be able to learn some traditional Schwabish (this is our region of Germany) meals to cook for you all when you come to the Hotel McLean. It is very sweet because Martina invites me to her home now everyday to teach me her secret recipes - I am learning, but it is difficult because they use very different ingredients then what I am accustomed too. Now after I master these meals here, I just need to figure out how I can make these recipes when we come back to the states. I am growing to love German food - it just takes a little getting used to.

Now it was time to celebrate "Women's Day" with a night out with some of my German girlfriends - Steve was very kind to stay home and watch the boys. They wouldn't tell me what I was about to be getting myself into - so I was a little nervous - but was definitely up for the challenge. We started off at an outside witches dance (Carnivale around here is all about witches, devils, etc - a little creepy, but unique and who am I to question traditions?). We were greeted by a bunch of fires and fireworks and people dressed up in traditional German witch costumes and they danced around and did their performance and it was amazing - I love how different they do things then we do. After the witches dance, we were off to the Brauhaus - for some real girl party time! When we walked in the restaurant - we could barely even walk because the place was jam packed. Everyone was in costume and they were dancing to a huge marching band in the middle of the restaurant. My head was spinning and my eyes did some amazing people watching. I saw girls on each others shoulders, on tables, dancing, having a great time. I was right at home - because I am a dancer at heart & I love to get my groove on! We found some more friends that we were meeting there and we all found our place at a table. We were dancing and laughing and dancing and laughing! The best part was that I was dancing on top of the table right next to a 65 year old women dressed up in a clown costume! What a hooty hoot! Everyone tried to talk to me, and I just pretended that I couldn't hear/understand them because the music was too loud. I was having a German experience and didn't want to ruin it with my English twang! We danced until midnight and then decided the ears were ringing and it was time to call it a night. My cheeks were so sore from smiling so much - everyone needs to experience a moment of time in another country and see how much fun it is to celebrate our differences!

On Sunday we were invited by our neighbors (Nagels) to a huge Carnivale Parade. I decided to mix a little bit of American love in and had them over for a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes with fresh squeezed Italian orange juice - yummy & I got to use my new dishes! After breakfast we all got on our costumes. The only costumes that Steve and I have are US military uniforms - which I don't think would have gone over to well?!? The boys both dressed up as Superman and Steve and I borrowed the boys' pirate hats from our trip to Disneyland. We were ready for some good times. The parade village is very cute and only about 10 minutes from our house. It brings people from all around Stuttgart so we had to park over a mile away and walk into the village. The streets were full and we were in for a real treat. We later learned that there were over 50,000 people packed into this small medieval town. We met up with our Kagel (bowling) friends and we were out of our minds when the celebrations began! 72 different sets of participants in the parade. There were floats, bands, witches, pirates, devils, animals, and other crazies! They must have smelled my American blood, because the witches were singling me out. At one point I had a rope around me and two witches were pulling me down the middle of the parade and twirling me in circles. My big bellow laugh came out - which I think only encouraged them - and I was not quite sure what I was getting myself into? They finally released me and I made my way back to the group. Not five minutes later, another witch had pulled me out and wrestled me to the ground, and another witch had ripped off my boots. I know you are all thinking that you would have gone "Mike Tyson" on these witches - but it was hysterical and I was just taking it all in. You know... rolling around on the road by a witch would have been "fun" but............... earlier in the parade some horses had come by and left some treats for us on the road right in front of us. And unlike the parades in the states... they don't have the clowns with the "pooper scoopers" coming around after to clean up the mess. So needless to say..... I was rolling around with a witch, on the cold road, with my shoes off, and now I was covered in horse poop!!!!!! And believe it or not, all I could do was laugh. I was laughing so hard, I had tears. Steve got it all on tape! My neighbor, Dieter helped me get my coat off and helped me to get it all cleaned off - but I definitely had a "sweet spirit" about me. I got all situated again and got back to the front of the parade, and yes, another set of witches came and now he was hugging, twirling, and dancing with me, messing up my hair and he even had the nerve to feel me up! That was the most action I have had in months! Steve then had had it, he threw the camera down and tackled the witch to the ground (OK, that was my addition to the story - wouldn't that have been awesome?) Talk about an interactive parade.... by the end, we had been handed pieces of pie and large pretzels off of the baker floats, we had fresh soup from the restaurant floats, and the witches and people on the floats were throwing candy to the kids the whole time. Cole & Kade were afraid of the witches at first, but when they learned that if they dance, smile and look cute that they could get more candy... they caught on real fast! What a cool & "crappy" day :-) I was being a real good sport wouldn't you say?

These were memories that I will always have with me. I love trying out new traditions and I absolutely love it here in Germany. Every time I think about leaving this place, my eyes get filled with tears. I cannot believe how kind everyone has been to us. We have been made to feel so willkommen here - it really is a magical place. We are so blessed to be able to truly experience this place and take part in their traditions and culture. And the fun still continues... on Tuesday we are off to a Kinder Fasching party here in our little village that is for the local kids. Once again we will get dressed up in our costumes and take part in carnival games and eat new foods - someone said something about bratwursts hanging from strings with hands tied behind your back??? You gotta love it here! I will definitely be on the lookout all year now for some new costumes for the boys and Steve & I to wear so that we can be all ready for Geman Carnivale 2009! I wouldn't miss it for the world~