Wie essen! (we eat!)

Well, I've been wondering what to write about because the past few days have been more of the same. We have rehearsals and German class every day, sometimes I have individual lessons or coachings, and I've been practicing German as much as possible. I'm also spending way too much money on food.

So far, my friend Melissa and I have gone out to dinner several times. Eating out is much cheaper here than in the States, but I still can't afford to do it every day. But Melissa and I have sampled Czech food, Chinese food, Italian food, and of course lots of German food. There's a Mexican/Indian place (is it just me, or is that really strange combination?) we want to try. The only thing I haven't tried is American food. I'm told it's different here and therefore interesting, but let's be honest: I don't care that much for American food at home. I don't want to eat it here. I certainly don't want to go to McDonald's--ugh!

German food, however, is amazing. For the first few days I tried to follow my Stateside dietary guidelines--low gluten, low dairy, and very careful about meat. But after a few days, I was told that most meat here is probably not factory farmed, especially if I buy it from the butcher or the street vendors. And the bread is all fresh-baked, which at home I usually find easier on my stomach, gluten-free or not. So I've been eating bread rolls from every bakery (backerie), brotwurst from the street vendors, and ice cream cones (ok, I think they were gelato or yogurt, which I eat at home) from the little Eiscafes. And have I mentioned the coffee? I may never drink drip coffee again. Well, I'm sure I will, but I won't enjoy it for a long time. I am completely spoiled for coffee in the States. Here, every little shop sells Kaffee--and it's not drip coffee. It's French press or espresso, and it's billig (cheap)! A small cup is usually less than one Euro, and I add some milk and sugar. It's strong and foamy and oh, so good! Amazingly, even though I've been eating everything, I feel great! I haven't had the tiniest allergic symptom since I've been here. My stomach, so sensitive at home to any change in diet or schedule, has been fine since the first day of exhaustion. However, I am being very careful about how much I eat, because despite all the exercise, I think the warnings I had about the possibility of gaining weight are true. If I didn't pay attention, I think I could get very fat here.Everything is so delicious!

However, there has been an issue this week with fresh fruits and vegetables here. There's been a bacteria on some produce, and a number of people in Germany have gotten food poisoning. Two people from our group--Anne, one of the teachers, and Susan, the wife of one of the coaches, have gotten sick. Today we were all officially warned to thoroughly wash and/or cook everything, and to immediately tell the group leader if we have any symptoms of food poisoning. But most of us are still fine, and hopefully no one else will get sick.

Today for lunch Melissa and I ate at a Fleischerie--a butcher shop. I wasn't sure what to order because I didn't know any of the words on the menu. I looked at what some other people had and ended up getting some help from a nice couple who spoke some English. The husband turned out to be a Romanian who plays cello in the orchestra for the opera house! His wife spoke very good English and helped me order. I ended up with a Schnitzel, which turned out to be a chicken patty, and mashed potatoes. It was great and I ate it all without even considering whether the chicken was free-range. Then Melissa and I sat at a sort of picnic table outside.

Now, I have heard that here it's acceptable to just sit down with people you don't know in a cafe if there are chairs available. Today, this happened! A German guy--a student--came and joined us. So we spoke with him in broken and slow German, a little English, and some Spanish--which he spoke as well. He was very nice and helpful and taught me to say "I like to practice German": "Ich übe gern Deutch."  That will probably be my new favorite phrase.