Summertime, and the livin' ain't easy

Sie ist wieder da, sie ist wieder da! I must apologize to Blogland for being so out of pocket of late. But as you can probably guess from the title, these have been some crazy last six weeks!

The title here refers to the fact that I have been hard at work traveling around to exciting destinations with friends and loved ones, spending money and engaging in various gastronomical adventures (and by this I mean of the drinkable variety). It's not easy, having fun all the time. Yet among the few downsides to such an occupation are 1) I haven't been spending this time in the increasingly more urgent job search and 2) my poor little blog is sitting forlorn at the door, waiting for me to come home to it! pets reassuringly There there, Blogchen.

So now, where to begin?? How about with where I'm at now: alas, no longer on the Weinstraße. The Fulbright teaching assistantship came to its official end on June 30th, and I moved out of my cozy apartment on that same day. Happily, in the same way that Shauna was there to help move me in, my mommy was here to help move me out. :) She arrived on an ICE on Tuesday morning, June 26th, and we spent the last few days merrily running around the Fatherland before moving me out of Neustadt, wrapping things up at the school, and hopping right away on a plane for Edinburgh.

I will say, with no touch of sarcasm or melodrama, that Scotland is the land of dreams. Shauna joined us in Edinburgh, and the three of us spent the next nine days in a sort of wonder before coming down out of the clouds to land in Dublin. There, we met up with Michael, and then the four of us continued our amazing trip until we all sadly parted on Sunday, July 15th. I still need to sit down and start sorting all these wonderful memories into narratives and picture albums; needless to say, that is top on the docket for this next week.

As for And Then What Happened, I had hardly been back in Ludwigshafen long enough to sort my hastily-moved suitcases before one of my best buddies, Matt Gallucci, came to visit from the States. He flew into Frankfurt on Tuesday, July 24th, and we spent the next ten days in a mad rush around Germania, stuffing ourselves, our cameras, and our souvenir bags with as many memories as possible before I had to take him back to the airport yesterday. It was an absolute blast. It was Matt's first trip to Europe, and it seems to have already infected him with the addictive nature of overseas travel -- we're already talking about the next trip!

Now, after six weeks of straight visiting and traveling, I am sitting here in my underwear on a Friday afternoon, at the new desk that Bert set up for me in what is now our room. I am already looking forward to the next big leg of the summer: flying back to the States to see all the friends and family who couldn't make it over this year. But for now, there are resumes to translate into German and contacts to start calling; insurances to schedule, finances to get in order, and lots and lots of green tea and multivitamins to consume after all the haggis, whisky, beer, and Schnitzel! But first thing's first: let the blogging begin! :)

Love to all!