Wir haben unser Studenten verloren in Heidelberg.
Yesterday we took a day trip to the beautiful city of Heidelberg. We had to meet at 8:15 in Horb which meant I had to take the bus at 7 am, which meant I had to leave my house at 6:40 to walk to the bus stop. If you can't already tell...it was a long day. So I'm tra-la-la-ing down the street at 6:40, in the rain when the little old man who lives down the street comes out of his house to walk with me. How sweet right? So we're walking, he's talking, and I'm trying to dissect the Schwaebisch dialect. We get to the Bahnhof and he gets on the bus with me..um ok? Then gets off at my stop, luckily Will was meeting me. He was a sweet old man but no one needs to be in Horb at 7:20 am on a Saturday.
let's skip ahead...
We meet up with the group and meet our leaders Pascal...and ready?...Pascal. It's also a 2 1/2 hour train ride. Long day. On the train from Stuttgart we met some soccer fans from München who were so nice and definitely helped the time pass just a tad bit faster than if we were sitting there in silence. When we got off in Heidelberg, I'm guessing 30 out of the 40 students had to use the restroom. Pascal 1 of the blue team ignored that fact and just went on with his tour, auf Deutsch. It was really interesting and the city is beautiful, but I would have been a little more into it if I wasn't so focused on the fact that it was 12:30, I hadn't eaten since six and I had to pee like a race horse.
At 1:30 we finally got a break for lunch. I enjoyed my ham and cheese sandwich in front of the fountain in Marktplatz with Cado, Coco and Ownie. After lunch we walked up to the castle. Amazing. I wasn't so great about taking pictures, but luckily Coco and Will came to the rescue so I will get those posted when i get a hold of them not to worry :]. The views were amazing and the castle looked marvelous. There were SO many Americans, and not just the ones from our group, the English kind of threw me off.
Now for the excitement...
We walked down from the castle and then went on our way back to the Bahnhof. We get there and we realize we're missing 5 people. That's a problem. We get them directions and they made the train in time. Thank goodness. So all 40 of us pile onto the train to go from Altstadt to Hauptbahnhof, except we didn't know that's where we were getting off. So at the stop, only HALF the students got off. The others were on their way to who knows where. So we call and they get off the train and had to take another train BACK to Heidelberg. Meanwhile, a group went on our correct bus while the rest of us waited for our lost friends. We were reunited, but had to wait an hour for the next train. Funny story, time to meet up and get on the train...someone's missing and his phone is dead. So, a little more than half of us pile on this train while the rest of the group waits. At the next stop our two groups were reunited and in tact for the rest of the trip back to Horb. I'd just like to say that our 2 1/2 hour train ride took 5 hours.
Although it was a terribly long trip back home it was such a good time and we had a lot of fun on the trains, getting to know each other and the Pascals. We got back about 9 and were STARVING so Döner it was. Our plan was to go to the Biergarten, but it was closed because of the rain. It was ok though, Kaufland was open and we got our beers there. Complete with beer, döner, and a camera us American students laughed the night away and left our mark on Horb. I went home with Cado and met her family (which is adorable and so welcoming).
We talked about our families and friends while taking turns falling asleep on each other.
Today we met up with Coco and Ownie and went for a hike in the Black Forest. It was so beautiful. We picked berries and got to know each other even more. It is so crazy how we haven't known each other for two weeks but at times it feels like we've known each other for years.
I got back to Waldachtal about 3 and was immediately ambushed by Paul and Valerie to play games which has been the majority of my evening. The Hohensteins are such an amazing family and I just can't get enough of how lucky I am that they are my host family.
Unfortunately, the cute old man turned out to be the thief of the neighborhood. Awesome. Needless to say I will be taking an alternate route to the bus stop in the morning.
Thanks Will for the pictures :]

