Day 2: Frankfurt

The bed makes my back feel so much better, but just like at home I wake up in the middle of the night (at 2:20, 5:30, 8:40, and then Mrs. Wulff woke me up at 11 so I didn’t sleep the day away.) Daniel and I drove into Frankfurt zoo where it was 95 degrees, but beautiful. Mrs. Wulff made out a huge breakfast, but I ate a PB&J.

At the zoo we saw many animals which I filmed and photographed.

Afterwards we went for a Turkish lunch. I couldn’t finish so Daniel finished for me (big mistake that gave me a cold). Then we took a subway into Frankfurt a

m Main city where we walked around until

meeting his dad who took us to an open indoor market and bought us ice cream

(where I got a mango sorbet)

We saw children dancing naked in the fountain and the building where Hitler was sworn in as leader (or so I was told) I bought a Germany magnet for Joyce (my mother’s friend) and we watched a native kayak a local rive

r which on the other side Daniel was born.

We went for wine at a beautiful outdoor restaurant and home for dinner. I have a headache from the heat, but everything everything is beautiful and I wish my dad, grandfather, and aunt could be here to share in it. I saw a sign that said “Fritz” and “Linda” so I took pictures.

When we got back to the house Mrs. Wulff had replenished my bowl of fruit and added gummies and some chocolate to my grandola bowl. I’ve been trying new foods, but I don’t want to eat too much! I need to lose weight.

His parents are very nice and speak English when they can. I feel guilty not knowing any German to be so kind as to speak their language. Daniel says I was acting like Heather (my younger sister who I met him through) when I tried to get him on a Merry-Go-Round. He wouldn’t go, but the zoo was nice and now my legs hurt from walking and I still have a little headache.

I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight after I shower. Tomorrow we’ll travel to Daniels school and I’ll see where Heather stayed while here. It’s about 9-10 and we’ll have something small to eat, I’ll shower and then sleep so I can get up early to leave tomorrow. I hope the shower helps my headache, but not keep me up so I have energy for tomorrow. Bed at 11:13pm.

Day 1: Flight & Landing

My parents brought me to JFK airport at the 3 hour before required time. Mom waited with me while dad parked. They both hugged me before I went through to the gate. I bought Daniel’s mom a NY mug and for him a bag of Dorito chips he had asked for.

My terminal is surprisingly barely populated by passeng

ers considering check-in time and that the flight was supposedly over booked. I ate my sandwich and watched a pigeon fly to my side and walk around looking for dropped food.

The flight didn’t feel as long as I expected it to and the food was much better than when I went to Israel. I kept the hair clips in my hair for the whole 10 hours so the volume should last at least the drive home. I’m at the back of the plane so I have a while to wait. I hope my luggage is there!

Got my case and found Daniel, we drove home in not time. When we got in his mother was already home and greeted us at the door. They showed me around their beautiful home and took me to the grocery. Daniel and I went to an electric store to get him a DVD p

layer while him mom made dinner. When we got back I set the table and we ate chili, it was great. My first meal in Germany and its exactly what I would’ve made if I was at home. I’ll have to make some when I get back.

After dinner I put away my clothes and Mrs. Wulff made the bed for me to take a

nap since I haven’t slept since Sunday. After my nap we went to a local castle were I took video and pictures. We walked around town for a few minutes and drove back for dinner. Daniel’s parents are very sweet, they’re always offering fo

od and asking if I want or need anything. I liked I’ve eaten so much. Turkey at the airport, chicken on the plane, then a muffin on the plane, chili when I got here and dinner with yogurt which tasted great. I feel so full as if I could hold from eating for days. It is hot here and will be getting hotter, good thing I brought shorts.

After my nap Mrs. Wulff brought me a coffee tray with a biscuit and sugar cubes. They bought my father and I slanted mugs so the coffee doesn’t spill. They have o

ur names on them and say Flut on the inside top so you know when the cup is full and Ebbe for empty, such like the Ebbe and Flut of the tides in the ocean.

They’ve said I’ll come back thin from eating healthy here and walking, but i feel so full I hope I don’t come back larger. Everything is a beautiful mixture of old and new world. Daniel has shown me homes 400 yo and steps 1000 yo. The buildings have the very German look I’ve seen in photos, but modern in that they’re well taken care of. We plan on going to the Netherlands, and Italy.

Tomorrow we’ll go to Frankfurt to exchange money and go to a zoo, maybe a museum as well. We might even go to IKEA which is funny to me since its originally European and its my favorite store back in the states. I have a feeling I’ll fill all my video tapes while here, so much to see.

A Family Adventure

I was in Florida from the 23rd of July till August 4th and it was one of those trips that feels too short in some ways and too long in others. I spent the first few days in Vero Beach with my Dad to surprise his parents mainly for his mother, my Granny’s 86th birthday. It was wonderful getting to see her, my Pop-Pop, Aunt’s & Uncle, and my cousin. The only sad part was that my Granny is getting weaker and as if that’s not normally hard to see she’s a very strong woman so to see her being offered help and not wanting it on pride makes me wonder if I’ll be like that.

It was a blast spending time with everyone

. I made a personal 40 minute long home video with everything from my Dad and I getting on the plane to her telling me the story of how my Pop-Pop picked her up at a bus stop and how when they went for burgers on their first date he told her that wasn’t how he wanted her to make them when they were married...she s

aid she thought he was a screwball. He won her over when he had friends and family sing to her to get her to go out with him again.

I loved that as strong as she is and as much as my grandparents fight because really they can’t hear each other so they’re just yelling because their can’t hear and they forget what’s going on, they smile and laugh and are always mak

ing me do the same. It’s sad that you don’t get to really know someone or realize how important they are to you till they start to leave you. I hope I’m as strong as they are when I’m their age

, if I ever get there.

The time with my Aunt’s and Uncle we spent singing along to Across the Universe and talking about the past, basically busting my Granny’s chops over the trouble my dad used to get in and the pranks he did and she never knew about.

When my dad left my other Grandmother (who is now unfortunately now a widow since my Grandfather passed 2 years ago) came to pick me up at the airport he was departing from. She asked me to wait outside under the SouthWest sign and even though it was 90 degrees I did, for almost an hour and a half. Even though my mother and I told her 3 times she was waiting in ARRIVING crying and yelling at me when someone finally came up to me and asked me my name and said there was someone downstairs waiting for me. She said she only comes into arriving, as if I should’ve known that even though we told her otherwise.

I spent the rest of my time with her for

the most part it was the two of us. We ate healthy, I went to the gym and the pool every day I was there and we would do activities together during the day that she could handle now since she lost 40lbs. We both did a semi fashion show at different stores getting clothes, and went out to lunch where I had her try Shawarma for the first time.

My Uncle, Aunt, and three cousins came a few days later while on their way to Key West so my cousins and I went to the gym and pool together. We went to a Butterfly Farm one day together that had an aviary and one of the birds LOVED my Grandma. He landed on her the moment she came in and he liked her face and neck the whole time till the keeper took him off when we left. (It was because of the salt in her sweat, but it looked sweet and it made her smile)

As a family we went to the FESTIVAL FLEA MARKET which is basically a flea market mall with a food court. It’s one of those di

amond in the rough places. You might walk for hours looking at things you’d never buy or want and then you find something amazing and cheap and are glad you came for that and the exercise while in A/C because WOW was it hot outside.

I know I know, before you leave to go on a plane call and check the time...well I learned my lesson. You’re supposed to get the airport and hour ahead of time and my flight was for 6:45 so we got there around 5:30. When I get to my gate they took my can of water, yes CAN of water which I had kept because it was SouthWest canned water and I thought it was unique I found out there was something wrong with the plane and it was going to be delayed.

When I got there they said it wouldn’t leave till about 8pm. Okay, that stinks, but okay what can I do? I call my parents who were

supposed to get me (even though when I texted my mom “who’s getting me at the airport?” she said, “taxi?” thanks mom) Just after I called her they changed it to 8:55, so I texted her again, then it was 9:05, texted her once more, then 9:45 which was when the original plane was supposed to land in NY, and finally it ended up being at 10:20! I didn’t get home till about 2am. It sucked, BUT while we waited the airline gave us the typical soda and peanut snacks...only I don’t drink soda, so they let me take a lot of water and ice. We also played SouthWest triva for alcohol voucher...I didn’t win :( That’s okay I don’t drink anyway.

SO! The airline gave me a voucher for $100 to my next flight thanks to the complaint my mother made. She did it on my behalf because 1. I waited forever like everyone else so I hope they get something too, and 2. after all of that, my parents forgot me at the airport and I was literally the last person in the airport they were cleaning and closing everything that wasn’t closed already and so I had to sit outside and taxi after taxi stopped to ask me if I needed a ride and I kept thinking, no my parents SAID they were coming with my dog and I called them to check...so they came EVENTUALL

Y and I didn’t get home till about 2 or 3 in the morning.

While I was away my mother was taking care of Squishy my pug because he needed to take pills twice a day to clear up the acute lime he had from a tick bite. I checked in with her every day to make sure he took his medication and was feeling okay, she never told me his hair was falling out. She said there was a rash which I told her to call a vet or give me the number and I would call and I would pay over the phone with my debit card so all she had to do was find the time to take him which she had. She never took him, or talked to the vet and no matter how many times I asked her for their number she didn’t give it to me insisting she called them but they never called her back.

When I got home he had two huge chunks of hair missing from under his neck and that really bothered me a lot. When I took him to the vet for the tick bite and shots it cost for $500, my mother said the skin irritation started after that and so while on vacation one of the reasons I wanted her to call not just because he started getting a rash and lose hair but wanted to know if it was the medication. When I called the doctor I talked as sternly as I could without actually raising my voice, yelling, or cursing even though in my head I was thinking, “You’re an F#cking moron to not notice this when I brought him in” She kept making excuses and said she couldn’t do anything unless she saw him, but consider the fact that I had to call for his results because they called my house with the results of a cat named Oreo which I have never had and then told me to give him the medication before eating which made him throw up and I later gave to him with food and he didn’t pissed me off to no end.

Since I’ve been back I make sure I’m the one who takes care of everything as I should I’m the owner or mother as my mom calls me since she reminds me (even though I’m only 25) that I haven’t had kids yet and she’s not getting any younger and wants to be a grandma so she calls herself grandma for the dog...he’s been better. I just hope the skin condition wasn’t from stress of me being gone because I’m leaving for Europe next week and I want to know he’ll be okay.

This time I’m going to have him stay at my house and have a dog friend of his to stay with him, they met at PoLI (Pugs of Long Island) and are best friends because of it, that cheers him up and I’ll be glad to know he’s happy while I’m not here.

Well it’s 8:30 on a Saturday and I’m home alone...so I’m going to lay on the grass in my yard, with the fire flies and the moon, and play catch with Squishy...if he’ll get up...