Easter Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

What a fantastic weekend this turned out to be! It got off to an early start because I skipped my class on Thursday (oops!) and my roommate Elli and I had people over Thursday night, then went out to the club around the corner, Ilses Erika. I ended up dancing all night (LITERALLY) and finally leaving with lovely Miriam and Sophie- around 7 am. This ended up being only slightly disastrous, as for one thing there was a surprise Melinda sleeping in my bed (always slightly unsettling to walk in to see a person in your bed who you weren't expecting to be there!) and for another, my Magdeburger schwesterlein Annika called me around 11:00 to say she was heading over as planned to spend the weekend with me.

Somehow I mustered up the energy to head to Clara Zetkin Park after those precious few hours of sleep  for a day of "slack-lining" (which is basically tightrope walking) with Melinda and Anni. It's so incredibly fun and addictive! Not to mention a pretty amazing core and leg workout. 

We repeated more of the same at Clara Zetkin Park on Saturday, but mixed in a lot more chilling and a little out-door rave action, where we ran into loads of great ERASMUS kids and hung out making daisy
chains and dancing.

 






Saturday night saw Anni and I preparing an Easter feast for the next day (thank-you-Martha-Stewart!) which ended up being a very smart move, because it left us free to enjoy the gorgeous weather on Sunday and go slack-lining again! This time in my own backyard.



Later on in the day Melinda and Rosie came over to enjoy a lovely dinner with us, take a little walk, imbibe loads of wine & Sekt & cake and watch ridiculous videos on youtube.






Today is Easter Monday, which means yet another day off, which I celebrated by listening to David Sedaris on audiobook, making mimosas with the leftover Sekt, cleaning my apartment and having a lovely surprise visit from yet another gorgeous red-head friend, Henriette. Tomorrow is yet another free day, as the school where I teach and observe on Tuesday's is still on Easter holidays. Hopefully my roommates will be home soon, they're both in their hometowns with family but I miss them loads!

Happy Hearts Day

Yesterday was Valentines Day, and what a great day it was! As per usual, the minute my eyes opened I started checking my various social networking sites, and it turned out I got lots of lovely internet Valentines, so my mood was bright from the time I woke up. Next was lunch with Elli (breakfast for me... I wake up late,) which is always a nice way to spend some time. I decided after lunch that I wanted to walk around the city center for a bit, and I thought there was a market in the square so I walked over. There was no market. Barring that, I then decided I would visit the DDR history museum. Then realized, it was Monday. Closed.

I headed home to Stötteritz, picked up some fruit and veg from Rewe, checked Facebook (shocking I know!) and was reminded that Maps and Atlases were playing at UT Connewitz. The realization hit me that I could NOT afford to pay 13€ for a show (or any amount, for that matter) and so I woefully tweeted my sadness at having to miss the show. To my surprise, I got a tweet back from @mapsnatlases saying they'd put me on the guest list! How baller! And so my love for twitter grows.

I hadn't even heard those guys before yesterday but I listened extensively on grooveshark.com before the show, and I was really stoked about their sound. Those guys have made a loyal fan of me, that's for sure.




I brought my deutschebestie Elli along to the show with me, which was incredible. The band was totally awesome. They played their hearts out and were super-duper sweet and thankful throughout. Near the end of the set, the whole band climbed into the audience, ending with a little solo song by the singer, Dave.

 


I got a chance to talk with Dave after the show, and as soon as I mentioned I was from Buffalo he started chatting to me about Amy's Place. For those unfamiliar with Amy's Place, it's a vegan/vegetarian INSTITUTION in Buffalo, and a mecca for Sunday (or Saturday) brunch.

Dave then directed me over to Shiraz when I told him I'd been the one to be twitter-invited, and I thanked Shiraz for noticing my tweet and so kindly putting me on the list. The guys were all incredibly lovely to talk to, and I even geeked out and asked for a photo with the band (well, half of the band, anyway.)

Stoked much? Erin, me and Dave. Epic BEARDS.

Lots of other awesome things happened yesterday, too, including news of a new Radiohead release. An excellent day for music to be sure! 

As for keeping you updated on my life, I'm still (impatiently) waiting to move into Erin's old room in Connewitz and live with Elli and Nora, and also (impatiently) waiting for the trip to England to commence on February 28.


I'm starting to get a bit nervous again about going through immigrations as I still haven't gotten a visa. Actually there's no way I'm going to get a visa, but I think I can get a temporary for 20€ which will at least save me some hassle at the borders. Although I haven't had any hassle at the borders yet to speak of, and that is a good thing for sure. 


The other important news is that I'm "interviewing" for a babysitting job on Thursday. I really, really, really need this, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works out. 

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone had as happy a Valentines Day as I did! 

Today in Leipzig.

Yet another sunny, 40º+ February day in Leipzig. Elli and I must have walked around for about five hours, from Connewitz almost to Plagwitz, to the Zentrum and back to Connewitz. We even ascended to the 30th floor of MDR building. Here's a little of what we saw today.

Oh hey.

German playgrounds blow American ones out of the water, every time.

Raveland? Yeah I lived there for about six months during my junior year of high school.

From 30 stories up...

This morning in Leipzig.

That's about what I remember from last night.

British Music Club. Also red lipstick club. But Elli isn't a member (yet.)

Despite the fact that I dragged my still-drunken self out of bed really early for brunch plans with the lovely Marina that unfortunately fell through, I'm having a really nice morning. I woke up at about 10, slipped out of my '2nd apartment' in Connewitz and hopped on der Linie 9. Wound up at Eco Cafe around 10.45, and to my surprise, it was closed. Marina was nowhere to be seen, so I waited around to see if she'd show up. She didn't (as far as I know. I left at 11.) But the plus side is, I was up, out of bed, walking, and taking photos. Which are all good things. Here's what I saw.

Good morning Connewitz.

Keep the REWE flag flying.

Parkschein Automat. Heir Parkschein lösen.

Want. It. 

 

Sometimes I feel like a plastic bag.

 

This reminded me of the Eiffel Tower. 

Waiting for the 4.

Augustusplatz in the distance.

(free?) radicals.

I dunno what that means.