I didn't really, ACTUALLY, hitchhike, but I did pay to ride in a car with three strangers. I know, I know - it sounds super sketch, but it really isn't. People do it all the time here. There's a website called mitfahrgelegenheit.de, where, if you're going to be travelling, you can post your beginning and end location, the dates you're travelling, and how many seats are in your car. Then other people (like me) say they would like to ride with you and you talk to them on the phone or whatever and BAM! You just saved (at least) 80 euros.
So I'm still not sure if the fact that I decided to do ride with a rando (his name was Omar) means saving 80 euros is more important to me than my well-being, but I don't think it does. (Actually, if I hadn't saved the 80 euros, I probably wouldn't be able to eat this month. So I think it was a good call.) Also, I was super cautious and decided to document my trip in my brand new Axor organizer that I got at work, just in case something went wrong. Then the police would know everything that happened. This is what I wrote (please excuse my fragmented, choppy stream of consciousness):
"I find myself always in need of chapstick here, probably because I'm always biting my lips at work out of constant frustration and confusion." [This was on the train on the way to meet my Mitfahrgelegenheit. It actually has nothing to do with anything.]
"I knew Omar would be a good guy from the beginning. Maybe I just trust mitfahrgelegenheit.de too much, but I like to think I have an exceptionally good read on people. For example, I knew the lady on the train to Offenburg was a terrible wench as soon as she scowled at me for stepping on her foot. It was one of those really overdramatic situations, where you (1) don't even know what you did wrong, and (2) apologize only to be given the cold shoulder. Well, anyway, Omar isn't like her. I think he would have moved his feet before I stepped on them." [Initial reaction to Omar + reflection of recent train ride]
"She's one of those ladies who always runs her hand through her hair - from the front of her forehead to the back. And when she let's the pieces go, they fall right back into her eyes. Her breath smells like mint (which is making me crave American Orbit) on top of the smell of her recently smoked cigarette (which isn't making me crave any type of cigarette), and her skin is the tight, leathery kind, where the sun-kissed wrinkles stretch out with a waxy glow. I decided I like her because she told me I speak perfect German, and she exaggerates her stories, emphasizing just how beautiful everything is. And I can really appreciate someone who sees such beauty in the simple things." [Just observing the lady who was sitting in the back seat of the car with me]
"Somehow it seems totally normal to be driving through Germany right now in a car with three strangers (one, a Tunesian man [Omar] living in France, one an Iraqi who lives in Italy, and one a real, live German [Orbit lady]). Maybe it's the American pop music (call me, maybe) that's making this all feel so familiar."
At this point, I decided that my attempt to document suspicious actions for the police was a lost cause because these people were, in fact, just normal people. Schade.
Looking back on it, I guess I kind of went into the whole Munich trip kind of blindly. I was meeting Stefi in Munich, with whom I spent no longer than 4 hours total three weeks prior to this. And we were staying with a girl that neither of us had ever met, but she used to be a student of Stefi's mom, who teaches at a German school in New York. So none of us really knew what to expect.
What I did not expect was for the trip to Munich to take 5.5 hours (normally ~3.5) because of traffic. Then I also did not expect to watch a man roll a doobie and try to sell it at the train station while I was waiting to meet Stefi. But that was all very interesting.
Then, on Thursday, I did not expect to wander right into the middle of the giant church celebration in Marienplatz (this was for the
What was most of all unexpected, however, was running into Morgan Fisher and family in a completely random Eis Cafe that we accidentally stumbled into after a five hour, self-guided tour of Munich (aka getting lost). For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about at all, the Fisher family is also from the town I come from in Missouri. Random, right? I'm still not sure if I completely believe it happened. What a small, strange world.
In addition to all of those crazy things, we saw the Englisher Garten, had a couple beers (and pretzels with obatzda) at the Hofbräuhaus, experienced a little Munich nightlife, and watched Germany's first game of the European Football (soccer) Championship. I'd say it was a successful weekend, given that I am alive, saved 80 euros, got to experience Munich, and, most of all, made two really great new friends.
I started to get weirdly homesick while in Munich. Just leaving Bavaria and watching the scenery transform into something more familiar as we reentered the Schwarzwald was a little comforting, but I still came back home and immediately wrapped myself up in Crazy Dave's Tufts sweatshirt. (It was beer-soaked and too big to fit in his bag when he left campus, so I inherited it. Good thing I washed it because I have to pay an arm and a leg to do laundry here, and there aren't even dryers. Crunchy towels. Baggy pants.) I'll have to make a trip to Tuebingen soon to see some familiar faces.
Miss you all dearly.
Pictures of the Feiertag:
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