Smiles, Smiles!

This week has been complete with hiking, dancing, thai food, and a postponed test! I don't know what else I could ask for in a better week.:)

The pictures will explain it better than I, but this week my heart smiled a LOT.

There is a nature trail just across the river called Philosopher's Way. It gets it's name because a lot of Heidelberg's philosophers and university teachers are said to have once walked and talked there (you can read about it here if you want). But if you keep going behind the main trail there's TONS of paths that remind me a lot of the reservoir or hickory hill, but on a real mountain, so a little bit better. When a couple of friends and discovered these, my heart just about went crazy! As we wandered through the woods, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of it. The weather has been much cooler and crisp this week, so it has definitely felt like fall (which has been what I have missed the past two years more than anything else, so I am elated about getting to experience this again!) We walked through a few trails and found a playground, a tower to climb with an incredible view of the city, and jaw-dropping beauty in the trees and leaves. We were a little constrained on time, so we only spent a couple of hours walking around. But I went up again yesterday and spent 4 1/2 hours hiking through these trails, taking blind turns, and discovering amazing sights! My heart was so free and content being in nature like that! My friend and I kept coming to turns where we didn't know which way to go, but we just kept going UP. Eventually we reached the highest point and found a tower that seemed to have been some sort of fortress. We climbed the inside of it and could see SO far into the city. It was just amazing. I put some pictures up from our adventures (although i took MANY more), but they do not do it justice. I plan to spend a LOT of time in these woods and am so glad to have found them!

Another highlight to the week was that we had a "girls night out" on Wednesday. Although pretty much every night is girls night out to some extent, we actually made a point to all look a bit nicer, and go to dinner together (nicer for me meant that I actually did my hair and wore mascara for the first time since being here! woo hoo!). We went to get Thai food, which I shared with my roommate Maddie and it was increeeedible. Definitely hit the spot after eating lots of cafeteria food and toast in my house! After lingering at dinner for quite awhile and being the loud Americans that were laughing way too loudly, we came back and a few of us had a dance party to Mamma Mia in my room. It was hilarious. The evening was full of laughter - I just enjoy these girls so much and appreciate what each of them bring to our group! I am so thankful to be with them!

Another thing i was thankful for was that on Wednesday morning I woke up early to study for my first German test. I was sitting in the bathroom huddled by the space heater (yes, that has become my new "spot" - it's the only warm place in the pension!) when my roommate shouted " CLASS IS CANCELLED!". Unfortunately, our teacher was sick, but FORTUNATELY for us, that meant our test was postponed and we had an unexpected free morning! It was beautiful:)

On Monday, my voice teacher took a friend and I to the American Army base in Heidelberg (her husband teaches there and you can only get on base with someone who has a special card). We were looking into getting a job for myself, but we also just got to look around a couple of stores that had all american things. IT was nice to be surrounded by people who i could understand again. Things at the store were in American dollars and there were english books and magazines. Although I didn't purchase anything, it was nice to be in "little america" for a couple of hours. We got some warm drinks and sat and talked for a little while while I browsed through the latest edition of Runners World Magazine. It was a very relaxing and fun time to get to know my teacher better. She is so much fun to talk with and has really taken us under her wing! I'm really thankful to be studying with her (She is American - actually from Illinois)!

Today we are headed on a day trip to Schwetzingan. I'm not completely sure what it will include but should be a good time!

I also wanted to add a little side note - I DO have an address here, and aaaany sign of home - mail or packages or ANYTHING - would be more than appreciated! So just incase any of you were looking for a way to no doubt brighten my day, here it is:) 

Rachel Grove

bei Pension Jeske

Mittelbadgasse 2

69117 Heidelberg

Germany

Okay hope to hear back from you all! 

More pictures of the fun, fun week!