siete horas

The first of the many photo albums of the trip to come.

And then the second.

hvala, grazie, merci, gracias, danke

Ironically, the class I did poorest in last semester was the one for which I was able to write my final paper in English. Still, I did pretty well.

Five weeks away, two and a half days back home to Goettingen and then the new semester was upon me. I think I am actually done for the week at this point, but only because a lot of classes don't start up until the second week of summer semester. Its not well advertised which classes start the first official week and which the second, so I went ahead and skipped the very first class of the semester on Tuesday morning. Jacky's friend Jared was visiting from California and we had intended to give him a good time on his last night in Germany, and in that process I made the difficult decision to sleep in instead of attend class the next morning. I found out today that it ended up not mattering because the class doesn't start until next week. This university system promotes confusion and unneccesary worry. (In its defense, my home university system has been sending me emails telling me I am no longer listed as a full time student. I don't know who dropped the ball on this one, but really, come on guys.)

So! I was gone for a really long time. I imagine at some point I will detail a little more than I have the inspiration to at the moment, but needless to say it can really surprise you how five weeks can feel more like three years. I came back older, enriched with a myriad of experiences, and far poorer. To those of you not in the know, it went somewhat like this:

March 9th, 2006
Hamburg, Germany to Zagreb, Croatia
Zagreb to Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Sarajevo to Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Mostar to Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik to Split, Croatia
Split to Rijeka, Croatia
Rijeka to Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana to Venice, Italy
Venice to Siena, Italy
Siena to Riomaggiore (Cinque Terre), Italy
Here it gets a little tricky, so I'll simplify by only naming places where we actually slept in lodgings and not in trains or at the train station
Riomaggiore to Marseille, France
Marseille to Madrid, Spain
Madrid to Toledo, Spain
Madrid to Malaga, Spain
Malaga/Costa Mijas to Tangier, Morocco
Malaga/Costa Mijas to Granada, Spain
Malaga to Salzburg, Austria
Salzburg to Munich, Germany
April 14th, 2006: the long last day from Munich to Goettingen

I had a map with me that I was drawing lines on during the whole trip, but unfortunately I don't own a scanner. Its going to be a lucky day when I can even get it together to make some online photo albums. Yet I find it important to at least throw out a taste, since I am not writing much. Allow me a moment of narcissim in my slight retelling:

Snow in Sarajevo

Water and Wind in Mostar

the Adriatic in Dubrovnik

the Mediterranean in Cinque Terre
Heat in Toledo

Remembering How I've Missed the Ocean in Costa Mijas

Life on my Back in Malaga

I just realized that I am not smiling in any of those pictures. Don't think its not because I wasn't having fun. Pictures of landscapes and buildings and other people are on their way, but until then- its back to my book.