Victorious

I have several victories to report for the day:

First, I figured out how to wash my clothes. Yes, joke all you want about how I am not even domestic enough to do laundry--ha ha. Seriously, it was not easy. The German washing machine is small and functions as both the washer and dryer. Not surprisingly, the instructions are in German. This did not phase me, as my German skills (as well as my ability to decipher the heiroglyphics under the words) are adequate for this task. But no matter what button I pushed or knob I turned, no water would enter the machine. Yesterday in all I spent about half an hour trying to do laundry and then gave up. Today I asked one of the other teachers about this enigmatic machine. Apparently there is a valve tucked away someplace and it looks like something only plumbers should touch, and then only if your bathroom is flooding, but if you turn it,the water will go in. So today I turned the valve and did laundry!

Another victory for the day was getting a library card from the university here. I was able to not only find the library on a map and then get to it, I also was smart enough to bring all of my documentation with me as proof of residence. Then, with a little paperwork and some really poorly spoken German, I obtained the ability to check out books (mostly in German) and use the internet here!

Next on my plate was to buy a tram pass for a week. Again my mental mapping facilitated this and I found the small green stand in front of the McDonald's (McCafe!) where I bought a pass using no English. Then the police who make random checks on the tram to make sure no one sneaks on asked to see my ticket (the first time this has happened to me) and of course, I was able to show it to him.

The last victory, which was actually really appalling happened in the school at about 9am. Several children had arrived already and were seated in the morning circle, when Cedrik arrived, munching on the remainder of a roll. Unbeknownst to Cedrik, a chunk of the bread fell to the floor when he took a bite upon entering the circle. With absolutely no warning two children, a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, shot out of their seats and dove onto the chunk of bread, screaming. I could not move for a moment. They rolled around on the floor, each trying to not only grab the bread, but to simultaneously shove it in their mouth. It reminded me of when dogs are fighting and people need to use the hose to get them apart. When I separated them, I said, "This has been on the floor, blech. It is dirty." The students calmly sat back down as if they had not just been wrestling WWE-style over a bread crumb on the floor. At the time I was shocked, but just a minute afterward I could hardly keep from laughing when I looked at them. The mental image of this interaction is amazing, and I am rather glad to have witnessed it.