Catch me if you can...

It seems that the past week has been steadily consistent of one thing: traveling. This past weekend I took a trip out to East Germany to a city called Jena. There I stayed with Stefan Beyer and spent some time with some old friends that have been to America before. We ordered pizza and played a few rounds of a German card game called "Skat" (Pronounced "Scott"). I did ok, but it was difficult to pick up on the rules...in english and in german. The first two pictures are from Jena and are of a cool building and the apartment of one of my friends where we hung out. It was refreshing and fun to see familiar faces halfway across the globe. In addition to hanging out with friends, I even went to a local soccer match which was exciting. A fight even broke out behind me after the game; so exciting! The police looked really cool in all of their riot gear and weapons.

Besides taking a trip to East Germany, I also went to Nuernberg, which is in southern Germany. I spent the day down there visiting an old castle and ruins of some of Hitler's building projects that he began but never finished during World War II. There was a really nice museum and I even got a discount for being a student-how nice! It was amazing to be amongst so much history and it was eerie to even stand at the same podium where Hitler gave many of his infamous speeches to rally the Germans and dehumanize everyone else. The next picture you see is that of an unfinished Coloseum that Hitler was constructing but did not finish because of the allied infiltration of Germany. It was to house his new government and was to be the center of his fascist "parliament". As you can see, it is not very well kept by the current residents of Nuernberg, even though it is a substantial piece of history, some things must be left to fester and rot.

In addition to the museum, I was able to see a tour of the courtroom where the famous Nuernberg trials were held. These were trials against many of the political and military leaders of Germany and most of the verdicts ended with a death sentence or a life imprisonment due to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But for now, I have returned to Braunschweig and I am hoping to spend a little time with friends before I leave again to go to Hamburg to visit some workers there. I will only be there for a day and night and then I hope to get back up and running with the students who are here in Braunschweig. For the most part I have been busy working, things seem to be going well and at a steady pace with always something to work on, but as summer nears its end, the approach of fall has brought upon the city an icy-chill, as winters in Northern Germany are often times extremely cold and wet. I feel as if I have traversed the greater parts of Germany, but I still have more travels to do as I will be going to Munich next month as well. Please send me messages if you find the time; I do enjoy hearing from friends and receiving news from the other end of the globe. I close with a couple of pictures: one is a view from the top of the Imperial Castle in Nuernberg of the city below it. The only thing that sat higher than the castle was the cathedral. The second picture is of one of the corners of the castle, complete with turrets and parapets to make your war upon any bothersome invaders. Much Love!