Wilkommen

Adventure never gradually builds. It pounces when one least expects it.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, my family and I drove to the airport in our wonderfully Californian lipstick-red Prius, whose trunk was crammed full with our enourmous luggage bags. Everything went smoothly as my parents stood back and watched us check ourselves in and walked us to security. They said quick goodbyes to us there. All of a sudden, my fourteen-year-old brother and I were alone.

We walked to our gate and had a short wait for the plane. As we prepared for takeoff on the runway, someone realized that the Cargo in the plane had been incorrectly loaded. This would mean turning around to the terminal to fix it. I had a layover only an hour long in Heathrow, and it is supposed to take an hour to get from the arrival gate to the departure gate, even in the same terminal. William had a two-hour layover, so was slightly better off than I was.

Fourty minutes later in the air, my brother and I settled in for the long flight. I studied German as he read his book, and then when it got late, he fell asleep with his head in my lap. I shortly followed suit.

Morning. By the time that we begin to disembark from the plane, the gate for my plane was already closing. I had missed my flight. However, there was still a chance that William might make his. We ran through the terminal, waited in atrocious security queues, as they call them in the UK, and made it to his gate. Not on time, but his next flight had also been delayed. I hugged William goodbye and made my way through a second security check to re-book myself for the next flight to Munich.

After more pitiable queues, i got the next flight out of Heathrow, four and a half hours later than the first. I ate the last sandwiich that my mother had packed us for dinner the nigh before as my breakfast. By, this time as you can see, my weariness from four hours of sleep on a plane was beginning to set in.
After what seemed like a long dream, the gate number for my flight was announced. We were almost to Munich when the Captain came on the loudspeaker: "The Munich airport has been closed due to three powerful thunderstorms in the area." I let out an audible moan. Knowing my luck, I was expecting what came afterwards. We were to fly a half-hour away to Stuttgart and stay there until the airport in Munich reopened. I had already called the family I am staying with to let them know that I would be delayed in Heathrow, but they were waiting for me at the Munich airport when we landed in Stuttgart. At first we had no idea how long we would be there. The captain soon came on and told us that the lighting had stopped, but we were in another queue; we would have to wait three hours in Stuttgart on the plane before we could take off south due to the congestion of air-traffic. Flight attendants started serving beer to the passengers to help pass thte long wait. Less than an hour later, the captain came back on the speaker and told us that we had been given a much sooner takeoff time. I phoned Wilhelm and Belen, my new family here, to let them know. We landed in Munich at 11:30 PM Munich time. By now I had been traveling for 22 hours, and as they say here in duestchland, was rather kaput.

It was such a relief to see Wilhelm and Belen's smiling faces through the glass at customs. They were jokingly pantimiming that I was going to be put in handcuffs, but it wouldn't have been a great surprise when looking at the rest of my travels.

They picked me up in their new Audi and drove me to their house on the Autobon. They drive fast on the Audobon, but I found out that there are local speed limits depending on where you go. We were going 120 mph most of the time, and only going slightly faster than the rest of the traffic. The car is a convertible and made the 120 mph speeds seem smooth as silk. It accelerates faster than anything that I have ever been in.

We got to their home in Ingolstadt and they would not go to bed until they were sure that I was fed. Wilhelm insisted on frying eggs for me at half-past midnight. I ate those, a banana, and wurst (coldcuts) on german brot (bread). They are a charming couple and I am very excited to be here. Last might we spoke a little German, but mostly English, because I was so tired. I still am. They speak perfect English, Spanish, and German. I keep trying to speak to them in Spanish, I think that subconsciously my mind equates foreign country with spanish. It makes sense, considering where I have been.

I went to sleep in the room that they have given me to stay in, and slept there until I woke up at seven this morning with the sun. Here is my room.

I couldn't get the whole room in one shot, but this gives you a general idea of what it is like. I like it, and the bed is very comfortable.

There are large ink-black starlings right outside of my window that sing the most beautiful songs in the early morning. They really would give the starlings back at home a run for their money.

Today I will meet Wilhelm and Belen's two sons and hopefully start to work off my jet lag. I'll post again tonight.