Manderscheid Medieval Festival

Yesterday, August 25th, we went to the Manderscheid Medieval Festival about 25 minutes north of Spangdahlem. So incredible! First, we watched the jousting tournament, then we talked to the Falconer's. (Falconry is huge over here.) We watched the jesters juggle fire, admired the artisans at work, climbed the castle stairs and pathways and finally up to the top of the tower. We took what felt like a 1,000 pictures. Here are several that I picked out to share:

This man gave Eli a high-five as he rode by on his horse.
Castle of Eifelverein
One of the contestants waiting for the tournament to begin.
I watched as this lady got this horse ready and then brought it to the knight. It was all so terribly romantic and poetic -- I admit, I wanted to be that girl! Heroism, saving kingdoms, knights and fair ladies... and my over-active imagination!

Jousting tournament!

(That's Eli's black baseball cap at the bottom of the picture. Germany is so amazing in that they really value children and treat them with utmost respect. At this tournament there was a roped off ring about six feet wide all the way around the viewing area that was for the children only -- adults were to stay behind that area. This got the children right up close so they could see!)

The announcer is telling the crowd that the winner of the tournament wins the Fair Lady. Of course, it was all in German and I would not have figured that out were it not for our new friend, Jose (said like Joe-see), from Belgium who we struck up a conversation with. He spoke four different languages. So common around here!

Have you heard this one? If you speak 3 languages, you're trilingual. If you speak 2 languages, you're bilingual. And if you speak one language...

You're American.

My children were quite taken with the costumes, the artisans, the jousting games, and the weapons!Israel... Joan of Arc!
Of course, they all wanted to try the armor! For me, I was loving the fact that their schema was being tried, tested, and broadened!
Okay, I just had to take a picture of this guy's quiver for his arrows! My schema was broadened when I saw just how many arrows can fit into a rather small quiver! I think we need more arrows...

Just that morning I learned a new word: Schmuck! Course, in English it's not very nice, which made it even easier to remember the German definition, "Cute; adorable." So when I saw these two brothers I asked their parents if I could take a picture to which the mother saw my camera and promptly made them stand still for a photo. Then... (I was so excited to use my new word!)... I said to the mom, "So schmuck!" as I pointed to her children. She looked at me confused so I got a little worried and tried a different pronunciation, "Schmook?" No, didn't seem to make a difference. By this time, my own children and LeRoy were starting to give me a look like "What the?!" Finally, both the mom and dad started pointing down the steps where we had come from -- and in very broken English, giving me directions. ??? Well, we continued our climb to the tower while I explained my enthusiasm to my family, and yes, we all had a good laugh. (Katja, what did I say?)
Isaiah descending the steps of one of the towers.
Ezekiel and Eli with castle ruins behind them. These castles in Manderscheid are about 1,200 years old. The upper and lower castles were actually enemies in the beginning, with the upper castle belonging to the providence of Trier and the lower castle belonging to Luxembourg!

View of the upper castle from the top of the tower of the lower castle.
Aha! I knew it! I tried and tried to cast the vision for our "dungeon" basement in our house in Spokane! But my family just couldn't understand the vision. I even took LeRoy to the Catacombs Restaraunt in Spokane once to try to show him. When I saw this restaraunt in the castle, dark and lit only by chandeliers with candles on them, people sitting at long tables enjoying cuisine cooked to order by the cooks at the other end of the room, well, all I could say was, "Now do you see what I was trying to explain?!" LeRoy just smiled. And me? Well, I'm going back to the drawing board on the Art of Vision-casting!

Isaiah and Eli, two of my four knights.

How many times I've heard parents say, "Just buy a pair of boxing gloves and let 'em go at it!" How about swords? The field was full of boys -- and a handful of girls, too -- "battling it out." No, my children weren't on the battlefield this time -- but we've caught the vision!
Lady Israel... this would be a day that would certainly go down in history. In the morning I told Israel that we were going to a castle, "And you know," I said, "princesses live in castles... and you are a princess!" A few minutes later she came out and announced, "I'm ready to go!" She twirled around in the dress that for the very first time ever, she initiated wearing! (BethAnn, I believe this is the dress you handed down from Megan! So cool!) This is a view of the lower castle & surrounding area from the top of the tower on the castle higher up.
Zae and Israel wanted me to take a picture of them in this windowsill... It was a tight fit and when we lifted Israel up she said, "I think I'm going to fall!" But Isaiah told her, "No you're not, Israel, I've got you," as he put his arm around her and she leaned into him. Okay, you're right, I'm a proud mom -- these boys are so chivalrous!!

Knights ready to go out into battle!

...and the Princess Warriors, too!

So many kingdoms to save, so little time!

Picnic in France

Last Saturday, August 11th, we went for a drive in the countryside in Germany. Pretty soon we were lost and when we stopped to ask for directions, we found out we were in Luxembourg. Heading south, we decided we'd have dinner in France.

This was the first store sign we came upon as we pulled into a parking lot in France in our search for a grocery store. Many of you know that I live, breathe, eat, sleep a passion for Culture! So when we pulled up in front of this store, I just laughed... another hug from God (and I'm sure I heard a chuckle from the heavenlies). I think this was actually a craft store -- similar to Michael's; But I'm not sure.

We walked completely around this strip mall area and finally asked an adorable couple whose children were playing in the McDonald's playland, directions to the nearest grocery store. Her thick black mascara and eyeliner creased upward as she smiled at us. She spoke something in French to her husband who also smiled and looked at us slightly confused.

"Food?" I offered.

"Oh! Super Market!" Ah, yes... super market... that's what I meant. She said she didn't speak English too well so her husband, who spoke fluent English (although he was from Luxembourg), explained how to get to the Super Market. We introduced ourselves and ended up sitting and visiting with them for about 20 minutes. She is originally from Russia and our family is still debating about what color her hair was -- so we've decided it was orangeish-reddish-pinkish-purpleish. Anyway, very fun, very sweet couple!

I about cried tears of joy (I've been dreaming of this way too long! I think LeRoy thought I was going to break into song and dance any moment.) when I walked into the grocery store/super market and everything was in French. It was simply what appeared yummy, we bought. After choosing out our pears, apples, baguettes, cheese, and dessert -- Paris Brests (they don't call the French sensual for nothing!), we headed off to find a park where we could eat our picnic.

Okay, this was the first time I got scared on these European roads! In France, the traffic circles have 2 and some have 3 lanes! Hello. Exactly, how are you supposed to exit the circle if somehow you end up on the inside and cars are entering every few meters? All I can say is that it's a good thing LeRoy was driving because I would have just circled for... well, maybe the traffic would have died down in a couple of hours. He only circled twice and then said, "Well, here's our exit!" And then I just closed my eyes and braced myself for the broadside impact as he headed across the circles -- right in front of the oncoming cars entering the circle. I watched how everyone else did it. Yep. That's how it's done... apparently.

We found a quasi-park, (we think it was actually the playground of a schoolyard), where we sat and had our first picnic in Europe. Since we ended up on this grand adventure quite by accident, we were ill-prepared. So, we didn't have a picnic blanket and such... nevertheless, we were so enamored by the fact that we were actually having dinner in France, that the details didn't matter. The picture above is of Eli playing basketball with a boy who was shooting hoops by himself when we arrived. Eli said the boy didn't speak any English but they figured it out... Eli said he also learned during the course of their game that the French say the mother of all swear words the same in French as in English! hm.
Isaiah, Israel, Ezekiel, and LeRoy...

Since we had started out so late in the afternoon, we finished up our picnic and decided to head home at the first signs of twilight and pulled up in front of our apartment on base just as the sun was setting. I know I keep saying this, but This place is Amazing!! How blessed and spoiled we are!

By the way, the Paris Brests... tasted like Nutella-flavored air.

Our New House!

The view of the side of the house when we pulled up in the driveway.

This is part of the playground in the backyard of our new house. I KNEW God was going ahead of us getting everything all set up!!! Of course, this pretty much sealed the deal for the children when they saw this little amenity...

The view of the village out the front window on the second level of our house.
The door that opens up to our backyard... (That's Isaiah saying, "Wilkommen!" -- Welcome!)
The door on the right is the door we will open to YOU when you come to visit us!

Now, the house we are going to rent is actually the Village Gemeindehaus (sp?) which interpreted, means City Hall. The village converted the back side and the entire upstairs, attic, and basement to living quarters. It has four bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms. The rooms are enormous with extremely high ceilings (not sure how high but much higher than our house in Spokane...). The tenant living there now says that pretty much our landlord is the entire village and that the entire time she was living there, people would greet her with, "Guten Tag! Is everything okay for you in the house? Do you need anything?" And in the winter, "Are you warm enough? Do you need more heat?" Which she replied that she was always plenty warm and occasionally a little too warm. The person who takes care of the house directly is the Village Mayor -- I can't remember at this moment how to say that in German. The present tenant says she feels sad to leave because this mayor feels like a "dad" and the village feels like family. So, I've already started to "nest" -- in my heart at least. The village is 800 years old but I think our house is just over 200 years old. Oh! By the way, the name of our village is Seinsfeld! That should be easy for all you Sienfeld fans -- it's pronounced the same way except you say the second 's' along with the first one, like signs-feld!!

Last night when I called Jaylyn (the tenant living there now) to tell her we definitely want to rent the house, she said she was hoping that we'd choose that house and then she listed the different reasons but added that one of the biggest reasons was because when we told her about our family's passion for bicycling she said there's a bike/walking path through the forest behind the house that goes over to the next village. In fact, she said that there's several such connecting paths between the surrounding villages!

I'm amazed with something new and extraordinary every time I turn around. Everything feels like one grand adventure and at times I feel like I am going to explode with the romance of it all. The most amazing aspect of all is seeing this through an eternal perspective. I LOVE being a foreigner!! And as wonderful as all this is, I am in awe that this is not "home" -- this is a season in our lives that we get to embrace and enjoy but that we're simply "passing through." I am reminded that life is short. We have all of eternity to look forward to and that makes me want to savor and absorb these moments all the more. I don't believe God is wasteful; Because of that conviction, I look for the character-building, beauty, romance, art, and wisdom in these God-given gifts I call moments. (But I admit, it almost feels illegal to be having this much fun!!)

We won't be moving into our new house until the first part of September... we're still looking for transportation. There's some Mercedes and Volkswagen vans that seat between 8 and 9 people... so that's what I've been praying and looking for... In the meantime, we're borrowing the van that the pastors generously loaned to us.

As always, all our love to you! And we'll keep you posted...

This is the street looking South from the front yard of our new house. There's a restraunt in the foreground and the Village Church further down the street. Every village has their own church and their own Gemeindehaus (I'm not sure if I spelled that correctly, but it means "City Hall.")
This is the view of the front of our house. The tenant living there now says that since we're the village's "City Hall" that all their celebrations happen on our front lawn!! She says the biggest celebration all year is May Day and since all the villages try to push down the surrounding village's May Poles that the villagers build a bonfire in the front yard and stay up all night keeping vigil to protect their May Pole from being knocked over. Eli was slightly concerned until reassured that it's all in fun and that there's no malice involved. Of course, he asked if he could be part of the "Gaurd," which I think will be so much fun!!
Looking "up" our street to the Northeast...
Looking out over the village and the surrounding fields on the east side...
Our backyard and the back of the house...

The duplex at the top of this alley is one of the places we looked at. This is an old 1800's farmhouse that was completely renovated and beautiful. All these pictures were taken in the Village of Spangdahlem which is about one minute to the base.
This is looking down the street from that duplex we thought about renting. The reason I've chosen to show you these pictures is because this village is just so typical of all the villages. We are in love with the Old World charm in Europe!
Another typical scene along the village streets...

OUR PLACE:

The main bathroom and the kitchen and dining room...

The master bathroom with the washer and dryer (Yahoo!) and one of the children's bedrooms.


...One day we walked over to the Youth Center (a 3 min. walk from our place) to check it out. My children said, "Mom, look! Why is the Library Lady here?" She heard them ask so she came over and invited us all to come back later and join them in their "End of Summer Celebration." So we did. And that's how Israel got painted to look like a bunny! I'm telling you, it's one celebration after another around here!!

Greetings! or... Guten Tag! Where to begin? Okay, some of you have asked about our living quarters until we get settled; So I took a picture of our penthouse suite... smile... So this is base living... I am completely spoiled! I get room service everyday, the park is across the street, the bowling alley (for once-in-awhile-on-especially-blustery days), library, grocery store, post office, LeRoy's office (where the children are fed chocolate kisses by the handfuls), golf course (which we haven't exactly visited yet), and the jogging path that follows all along the flight line (this is our favorite!) are all within 1 to 10 minutes walking distance! We live on a compound where life is compact. Truly, I can appreciate the simplicity of this concept and wonder if this is getting me used to the idea of living in a village in the country where life is fully lived by the locals for literally hundreds of generations! (This is truly a foreign paradigm for me as I have an extremely vagabond soul.)

We thoroughly enjoy the sudden cloud bursts and the ensuing warm rain... (Pictured above, because I don't know how to organize this blog with all the words in German... Ah! Ich liebe es! -- "I'm lovin' it!" [I learned that from watching German television and the McDonald's commercial!] All this motivation to hurry up and learn the language!)

Our "penthouse" is much larger than we envisioned. On the second morning of our arrival, we had a family meeting over breakfast. "What has surprised you so far? What has been a pleasant surprise? What has been difficult to adjust to so far?" We all agreed that we were pleasantly surprised by the apartment they set us up in as our paradigm of "apartment" was a 500 square foot space with 2 bedrooms and a tiny bathroom. When we walked in, we were overwhelmed with 4 bedrooms, 2 very large bathrooms, a spacious kitchen, dining room, and a large living room! What to do with all that space! Of course, I have been somewhat distraught over the fact that there is 4 (yes, four! 4!) televisions in this place; One in 3 of the bedrooms and one in the living room! Thankfully, the one in the living room only has German television so that the children don't have a very long attention span with that one. (That's the one that gets my attention the most.)

Everyone has been so accomodating and helpful. We've attended a church just outside of Bitburg for a couple of Sundays and the second week the pastor and his wife loaned us their van to use until we can find one to purchase. Like I said, we feel extremely spoiled and taken care of. God is good -- all the time! I'm constantly aware of His presence and the hugs He gives our family.

Okay, let me see if I can post some of the pictures from our house search... I'll start a new blog...

Trier Photos!

This is the inside of one of the church buildings we toured on Friday, Aug. 3rd. This particular church is only 800 years old. smile. The one behind it -- we have to go back and take more pictures -- is 1,700 years old! So, so amazing!
This is us! standing in front of Napolean's Palace... or was it Constantine's (I think I ran out of granola bars when the tour guide was telling us that part -- to understand this, read the blog post before this one...).

Now that I know how to post pictures, I'll do this more often! More later!

Abbeys, Wild Boar, and Trier

Guten aben! (A great site to check out is www.odge.info -- if you ever wonder what these words are that I'm learning!)

Thursday evening I visited an Abbey and went to dinner with the German American Friendship Club.

The Abbey was just like out of a movie -- think "Sound of Music." I went through the gate and just stood there for some time taking it in. Then I broke into song as I went twirling down the gravel walkway, my habit in hand... no, just joking -- okay, so I really did in my imagination... I know, I just can't help myself. Anyway, I know where I'm going for my next little all-by-myself get-away retreat.

Then we went out to eat. My new friend, Hilary, has been here six and a half years and speaks fluent German so she helped me order. I told her it would be easy, "Just tell me the most German dishes." So she did. Now I can say I've eaten Wild Boar and Venison, Sweet and Sour Sauerkraut (got that?), and Apple and Lignonberry Sauce. And that's just the beginning! Everything was delicious. The meat was yummy, not gamey, the sauce was just the right amount of sweet and the sauerkraut... I was so intrigued by the "sweet and sour" part of the sauerkraut that I never really decided exactly what I thought of it except that it was wonderful.

Trier...

On Friday we took a trial run of the "Let's Backpack Across Europe!" discussions that our family has been having for the last ten years. Hm. Note to self (as Isaiah would say), If you want to hear everything the tour guide is saying make sure you have enough snacks on hand to keep stuffing in your children's mouths while the guide is talking. Otherwise, hope that one of the older four in the group -- meaning, not Ezekiel or Israel -- is listening so that when you ask later, "What exactly was the significance of the foot statue?" someone can clue you in. We went early in the morning and returned late afternoon. Not one time did anyone say, "I'm tired." Although, I can't count the times one of the children asked, "What are we doing next?" as we're standing in front of Germany's oldest landmark, thousands of years old, the tour guide telling us all kinds of interesting details -- at least I'm pretty sure that's what she was saying to the group as I looked over and saw her mouth moving while I said, "Shhhh, she's telling us really interesting information and history" for the zillionth time. It doesn't do any good. I took in what I could take in and now I'm reading books on how to apply history to modern day needs (i.e. "I'm hungry," and "I have to go to the bathroom") and interests (i.e. "That's your 5th sample of Gummi Bears -- no more!" "But the lady keeps handing more to me!" "That's because you're standing in front of her, smiling!") in a child's life and then I plan to go another round... As always, I'll keep you posted.

Trier is the very first city in Germany, founded in 16 BC. We saw the original city gate, the Porta Nigra -- or, Black Gate -- that was built by the Romans. This entire area was first founded by the Romans and Trier is even called "Little Rome of the North." We visited the first church that was built in Germany and even went in one church that was 1,700 years old.

I am delighted to report that German culture and language are very much alive and well and that it is not nearly as "westernized" as some people reported. Everyone speaks German and there are many who do not speak English (this is very good news for us!). Also, all the signs are in German and most often do not have the English printed below (again, this is great news).

I am still struggling to find words to describe the romance of the city square, the cobblestone streets, the colors everywhere, the art, the aromas of fresh baked breads, the warmth of the local's attitudes, the way people go out of their way to accomodate, the quaintness of the villages, the architecture, the strength of values and traditions, the village church bells sounding at regular intervals everyday... Suffice it (for now anyway) to say that I can see why people who visit here never want to leave.

Church was fabulous today! Awesome worship, great teaching, and fun fellowship. The pastor's wife, Fran, picked us up and took us over to their village for church. We were two of all 19 (I counted -- I just had to!) adults in the congregation. The children absolutely loved it and requested to return. We had lunch with the pastor and his wife and two other families afterward and were completely blessed!!

Truly, we are spoiled rotten. We are so incredibly grateful for this season! We can see God's hand at work every time we turn around. Which brings me to another praise: We've been referred to "one of Germany's best" pediatric orthopedic specialists for Isaiah's scoliosis. His practice is in Trier so he is close, too. We've even heard that he's seen many children who are referred to him by American doctors because of his expertise. So, again, we feel spoiled.

There's so much! Please know how much we love you!!

God bless you!!
Sharon