Elias is Two Months Old

So the strangest thing happened to us Tuesday night. Eli had just gone to bed, and we were sitting at the table drinking our nightly beer (for research purposes). We heard a dull roar like a strong wind or a sudden rainstorm outside, and Jenny got up to close the window. Streaming down the autobahn outside our house were thousands of … rollerbladers. At 10pm on a Tuesday! Some of the rollerbladers had lights on their skates. It went on for several minutes. Truly the strangest thing we have seen here; well, maybe except for Germans in shorts. I shot video of it for a few minutes. Apparently this happens several times a year. On the one hand, Germany is a westernized, economically powerful country just like the U.S. I mean, it’s not like we’re in Burkina Faso. On the other hand … rollerblading? There were thousands of them! I guess some culture gaps aren’t meant to be bridged.


Elias is two months old today (Wednesday). It’s hard to believe how much life has changed in the last two months. We bought him colorful wind chimes. Sounds strange, but the wind chimes at his Grandma Evey’s house always calmed him down. Jenny spent the morning with Elias in the park, while our apartment was being cleaned. Eli slept in his Baby Björn and Jenny people-watched. Since getting over his jet lag, he’s been great. In fact, he’s sleeping right now. We’re testing a new brand of diapers now. There was too much, how should we put it, leakage, in the other ones. We’ll let you know how it goes. Not that you asked.




We are still busy trying to breach German red tape. First we went to the einwohlemeldeamt, to register our address with the city. Then we had to go to the auslanderbehörde to get permission to stay in the country. Which we could not do, because we were told to come back tomorrow. Hopefully it will work out, or we will see you earlier than we thought, after we get deported. Then we have to open a bank account. In German. Maybe we will come back early, and poor.

The bread here is wonderful. There are bakeries everywhere, and we are having a hard time not trying them all. Of course, you can get great bread in America, too. Just as you can get great American beer. But I think the difference is the priority each country places on different things. I can get good bread in America, but I have to search for it; in contrast with Germany where there are twenty bakeries, all with fresh, amazing bread, within walking distance. America makes some great beer (whether they are better at making beer than the Germans, only more research will show), but the average German beer—the kind everyone drinks—is much better than the average American beer. And you have to pay a lot more for the great American beers (which you can’t even buy here; I’m not sure if that’s snobbery, or good taste. More research is needed).

Matt has also discovered Cuban products, since Germany has no embargo against Cuba. So now we're getting two new cultures for the price of one. We'll let you know how it goes.