Short update

Last week Yifat was here, and we saw a lot of Munich, and also quite a bit of Bavaria. I'll tell all about it in a different post (I hope), but now I just wanted to sum up and update:

so... What do we have here:

1 apartment in Munich
6 floors above ground
0 elevator
102 stairs
2 German courses in the next future, which means:
487€ less in my bank account
15 days till my visa is not valid anymore, which means:
less than 15 days to fix it
4 different means of public transportation next to where we live (tram, bus, train and metro)
19°c in the middle of October
1 broken kettle (my fault) which means:
1 new kettle, which means:
15€ less in my bank account
6 trips to furniture stores, which ended up in buying:
2 closets with:
2 doors each, and also:
1 chest of drawers (commode) (I tell you there's no real word for it in English!!!), which means:
360€ less in Rob's bank account
1 big headache from moving
lots of motivation to find a job.

Till next time!

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto..."

In the last weekend, as I wrote in my last post, I tried to meet all of my friends in Dresden. I wanted to see them all to say goodbye. I gave them some presents (that I brought from Israel) and promised to stay in touch. I really hope that I'll be able to keep my promise. Rob and I thought that we should come visit in Dresden every few months, something I would love to do, just that I know that it's not going to happen as often as we'd like.

On Monday Rob defended his thesis, and got a very good grade for it. His parents came to Dresden especially for that, and we spent the afternoon with them.

Our last night at the apartment was very weird. It was almost totally empty, except for our suitcases, an inflatable mattress and some other stuff that Rob left behind for us to use till we leave.

We left early on Tuesday morning (after sleeping for just a few hours, since I really wanted to see Andrea one more time the night before), knowing that we'll never go back to that place again. It's so weird leaving a place that you really liked, but I think I've talked about it enough already.

We got to Munich on Tuesday night, after stopping at Rob's parents for lunch. We had a carload of stuff to bring upstairs (I'm reminding you that our place is on the 6th floor with no elevator), which made Rob go up the 102 stairs 9 times, and me 6 times. I was so tired at night, but still didn't sleep that well. I still need to get used to this place.

We had quite a few problems here since we moved in, in the beginning the fridge door refused to close (that was already fixed), then the washing machine wouldn't turn and suck the water out (which was a mistake in the connection in the end, and was fixed by Rob), the lights in our bedroom don't work now, coz the fuse there burnt (going to be fixed, hopefully in the next few days) and finally: we haven't found a closet yet, that fits the size of our bedroom (since this is the attic the ceiling is tilted, and there's also a window in the middle of the only wall that can take the closet). I've been living in my suitcase for more than a month now, and I don't like it. Oh, and the bathroom mirror that we had in Dresden, broke while Rob was trying to take it off the wall, since we glued it too strongly.

The weather here is really cold (maybe in other places too, just my impression is that it's really cold here), winter decided to come early, and it's already 5 degrees outside (at night). I hope next week is gonna look nicer (the temperature is suppose to rise) coz Yifat is coming tomorrow for a week!!! This will be great! I can't wait till she's here.

I still have a lot to do, like sign up for a German course (coz I have to- for my visa), and then get my visa longer, and register here in Munich, and next Saturday I have an introduction day to the open university program that I signed up for. I still have to look for a job too (have to sit down and write applications, coz in Germany everything is complicated, and just sending your CV is not enough). I don't know how I'll do all that- learn German, study alone in German, for a Masters, and have a job, but I guess I'll just have to figure it all out.

Here's to new beginnings! The day we moved to Munich was the Jewish New year- so... I hope it'll symbolize a good new beginning for us.

Till next time from Munich...

Our trip to Spain

(this post was written a few days ago, but due to the lack of internet connection is being posted only now)

Madrid

We got to Madrid on a Tuesday in the evening. We flew with Easy Jet, therefore our flight was obviously late in one hour. In the airport in Berling Rob worked on his thesis presentation, while I just slept.

Charles and Ana were great: they came to pick us up from the airport. There's nothing nicer than someone picking you up from the airport! Meeting them again was so nice. I really misses them. We went straight to have dinner, knowing that if we go home we'll never want to go out again. They took us ti the center, where there's a lot of Tapas bars. Of course we ate Tapas - and it was really good food. We realized that the food in Spain is going to be really expensive, and so it was.

When we got to their apartment they continued the good hospitality with giving us their own bed while they slept on the sofa.

The next day Rob and I just walked around Madrid (ALL DAY LONG!!!) and saw quite a lot of things. Madrid is a really nice city, but I must say, in the end it is just another beautiful capital city in Europe.

Madrid

We got to the palace,

and realized that the guards are changing.

It was a really nice little ceremony with horses.

I love these Facades.

It makes the city so special.

Toledo

On the second day in Spain we took Ana and Charles's car (have I mentioned that they were really good hosts?) and drove to Toledo. The drive took about an hour and we were there. Luckily we had a GPS in the car, which made things much easier, even though it wasn't so hard to get there.

Toledo is a really nice old city, that used to be the capital of Spain hundreds of years ago. We went to the old city which is still surrounded with walls. It was a really beautiful place, and you could really feel the history in it. Toledo also has a long and cast history of Jewish people that lived there, sinice they held high positions, of course, until they were exiled from Spain. Because of that there are two synagogues in Toledo, though one was transformed into a church at some point. The big one was actually kept almost as it was, except for the fact that it's empty nowm the walls are covered with the decorations from then- which was a few hundred years ago. It was really ineteresting for me to go see such an old synagogue, especially coz there's really old churches and cathedrals everywhere, but synagogues dodn't always survive.We came back to Madrid in the evening, and brought some food to eat at home- which was really ncie coz Ana got lots of good food too and together it made into a really nice dinner.

On our third day we went to the Art Museum Prado in Madrid, which if considered to be one of the best ones in the World.. It contains of mainly paintings from really famous artists, such as Velazques, Rubens, El Greco, Goya etc. I must admit that both Rob and I decided that we're not fans of paintings from that time.

We went home in the afternoon since we all took a flight to Barcelona in the early evening.

The gate to the old city in Toledo

In Toledo there was a really nice mixture

between Judaism and Christianity.

You can see it until today.

The view over the roofs of Toledo

One of the cathedrals

Barcelona

When we landed in Barcelona, Ana's father came to pick us up from the airport. He took us to their house, and Ana's parents did everything to make us feel comfertable in their home. They live just outside of Barcelona, on the other side of the mountains, which really reminded me of the Carmel Mountains in Israel. We spent the weekend there, enjoying Ana's mother's great Spanish cooking. We took the train to Barcelon on Saturday and walked in the city and saw a lot of it. In the evening we went out. It wasw a special weekend in Barcelonam called La Merce, and there were a lot of concerts, street performances, and so on. The main event was on Saturday night: a fire parade.

The Catalan Government building in Barcelona

We walked into this church,

which was really really beautiful,

and suddenly we saw that there's a wedding going on!

We stayed till it was over, of course.

Fire fire fire!!!

A fire blowing dragon

It was a lot of fun, and only small damages were reported by Charles, who spoted some holes in his shirt...

The next day, Sunday, Ana spent with her dad at the Bull Fights (it was his favorite bull-fighter and Ana's first time there) so we spent the afternoon with Charles in Barcelona. It was a really nice day, and we walked along the beach, had a typical Spanish Paella for lunch, and enjoyed the sun.

The port of Barcelona

Beautiful beach of the Mediterranean

Paella, the Spanish specialty.

Jamon (ham).

The main dish in every Tapas Bar.

Early on the next day Charles and Ana left to Madrid, back home to work. Her mom took us in the morning to Barcelona (which was really nice of her) and there we stayed in a small hotel (which was right in the center, but ther street next to us was occupied by hookers the whole day!!! vert inetersting experience I tell you!) We stayed there till the end of our trip. We planned on going somewhere nice and warm in the last two days, to just lie on the beach, and get a tan and relax, but the weather..... OOOOOF!!! The stupid weahter decided that we don't deserve a real relaxation, and it was raining the whole time! Sp we walked a lot in Barcelona, and saw quite a lot of it. Wednesday was a holiday there, of the saint of Barcelona Santa Eulalia. They had a parade and in general the streets were full of ppl. On one of the dats we webt ti see the Picasso Museum, which was really nice, really really nice. The food was good, but again- really expensive. In general I think we really liked Spain, though we would have loved to have a few nice sunny days in the end...

In the last two days we went to see a lot of buildings

that were designed by Gaudi.

I like his designs, it makes the whole area much happier.

Park Güell

also designed by Gaudi.

Last picture:

the view from our airplane,

as we took of on our way back...

We went back to Dresden on a Thursday, and then started the marathon of me seeing everyone I wanna say goodbye to, and Rob preparing his presentation, that took place on Monday.

About that and more on my next post.

Empty house

Last night I got back to Dresden after almost two weeks in Israel.
It was a really nice visit this time, got to see almost everyone I wanted to see, didn't force myself to eat anything (so didn't get to eat most of the things I don't have here) but I still got the stomach flew for 24 hours... It happened in the only day I actually ate more than I should have. I guess I'm not used to that anymore.
I saw my family a lot (which was really the best part of it) and saw all my friends at least once. Was at Tali's wedding, which was the most special wedding I've ever been to (in the middle of the mountains with great view to the valley and hills) and even though it was the hottest day ever- we managed to dance and have fun (it was an afternoon wedding).
Now she's in Nepal with her new husband, they were supposed to go on a trek but he doesn't feel so good (problems with his back) so they're kinda stuck. I'm waiting for another e-mail from her telling us what they did in the end...

I got back to Dresden last night, to an empty house- empty of people and empty of things. Rob took all of our things to Munich this weekend, and is only coming back from there today. It's so weird to be in such an empty place... Luckily- we're going to Spain tomorrow for a holiday (meeting Charles and Ana finally!!! YEY!!!), and when we'll be back we'll have exactly 5 days here and then- we're moving to Munich.

So... I guess I'll have a lot more to tell after Spain,
Have a good week everyone!

Beautiful Dresden

Last weekend Rob's older brother and his girlfriend were here. It was really fun!!! They came here on Thursday evening, we had dinner at home together and then we went to the old city to wonder around a bit. The next day we spent the whole day around town- and we got to see a lot of what this beautiful city has to offer. The next morning they had an event far away so they had to get up early and drive.

Here are pictures from that weekend-

one photo is worth a 1000 words...

(click pictures to see them in a normal size)

This is the Zwinger
Was build by Augustus the Strong
and today houses several art collections.
This is its Crown Gate.

The Frauenkirche
(the Women's Church)
Was rebuild in the last 10 years,
after it was almost totally ruined
in the bombings of February 1945.
It's pretty impressive (and huge!)



Blaues Wunder
(the Blue Wonder)
Said to be the first bridge in the world
to be build without any constructions in the water itself.
We crossed it from the side you see in the picture,
and took a cable car up on the hills.


Here it is again with some more view.

and again.

(these pictures were taken
from a really nice restaurant
on top of the hill
that has the nicest view in Dresden)


Here is the view to the other side-
The Elbe river and it's amazing valley.



On this side of Dresden
there is some of the nicest and
most expensive houses in town.
Even Putin himself used to own a house there
while living in Dresden
when it was still DDR (GDR).


Last picture- from Neustadt
the cool side of town.
We went to have dinner there,
and this is just a nice picture of the sunset.

Hope you enjoyed!!!
I'll sure miss this city...

A leaf in the wind

There's a song like that in Hebrew.

That's how I feel right now.

I need to decide what to do with my life.

And I have a deadline to decide that.

I don't have any energies to decide that so fast.

I'm too depressed to decide life decisions right now.

I need my friends.

Yifat is there for me and Tali too.
My sister and parents are there for me.

But its not the same.

I need Rob to be here- but he still has one and a half weeks till he's done where he's doing his experiments. Until then he has to listen to me every night till really late. To me complaining and being sad.

I need to clear my head.

I need to clear my head.

I need to clear my head.

Isn't it ironic???

Tell me, isn't this ironic?

There's one master program that I wanted to get in to. It's in Munich, and it's in a direction that really interests me. I decided with Rob that no matter what we'll move there. We were naive to think that I'll get in, and that if not- I'll find what to do. That we'll find a solution that is good for both of us.

There's one master program that I don't really wanna study, but signed up to coz it's almost interesting, and it gave me a free German course at the uni here in Dresden.

I didn't get in to the program I wanted in Munich, although they take 30 people every year, there are quite a few foreigners there, and that it's in English.
But still, Rob already found a good job in Munich- so we're definitely moving there. We even got an apartment.

I did get in to the program here in Dresden, the one I don't really know if I like, although it's in German (and my German is worse than my English), and they take only 20 people every year.
I was told I'm the only foreigner there.

I hate this. And I don't know what to do anymore.

It's becoming a reality

This weekend we did nothing really. But the weekend before that- we were in Munich. We looked at 5 apartments. out of them there were only 2 that I would really move in to. One of them was too small and there were many people looking at it- so we had less chances to take it anyway. The second one was really nice. Big, airy, with lots of light, full and big kitchen, big bathroom, little storage room, big bedroom and a nice big living room. It's in a good location- right next to a subway station and next to a train station, the tram goes just on the road and there's everything we need in the area. It's in the attic of a building- which makes it really cosy too. But there's one catch. It's on the sixth floor. No elevator.

If you know me you're probably thinking to yourself: so she probably didn't take it. She wont take a place that's in the 4th floor without an elevator- so sixth???

Wrong. I did.

We liked it so much that we decided to do the deed. We'll take the chance.

Going up there three times showed me that it's possible. Just that it'll take me much longer to get home from the moment I got in the building, compared to this apartment that's in the second floor. And hey, worse case I'll be in better shape!

We thought that if we really hate it and can't do that anymore- then we'll look for a new place in a year or so. For now we like it.

***

Other than that there's nothing new. I still don't know how I'll get a visa after this one is done- but I guess I'll just take more German courses. That will give me some air for another 4-5 months.

Oh and I obviously passed my German exam- and got in to the university here in Dresden, which is really ironic- coz I don't really wanna study here, rather don't really wanna study this masters. I'm going to sign up anyway- coz this is what I have in my hands now, and I have time until the 30th of September to decide what to do with it.

so... Have a nice week you all,

I'm here- not doing much.

Love is all you need

Yesterday evening I was sitting at home after coming back from Yoga, eating my dinner and chatting to my sister online. Rob wasn't online, so I thought he's still in the lab and that I'll get to talk to him a bit later. Suddenly I heard a key in the door. My heart dropped. I thought it's somebody breaking in, but who would break in with a key??? And who has a key to our place other than us (no one...)???

I went slowly to the entrance, scared to see who it is, what it is, and then....

I saw Rob opening the door...

He wanted to come home to be with me, simple as that.

Be with me when it's all sad.

He even came with me to the ultimate chick flick: "Sex and the City - the Movie". I was supposed to see it with a friend, but when he came I convinced him to come along, coz I really wanted to see it, but at the same time didn't wanna leave him at home when he came all the way for me.

So... nothing changed really, I'm still all confused, still sad, still feel insecure.
But.... I feel much more relaxed knowing he's there.

Why am I so sad?

I have the answers to this question.

Not getting in to the program I wanted puts me in a very hard place.
First of all, I have to re-think about what I want to do with my life.
I thought that this program is what I wanted to do.
I thought that this program will make me what I want to become.
I thought that this is what I am interested in.
I thought that this is what is good for me.
I thought that this is what I'm going to be good at.
I thought that this is what I'm going to be.
I thought that this is what I am.

On top of that now, I have to figure out how I'm going to be able to stay here in Germany.
Without studying I'm not going to have a visa.
According to the law I am allowed to learn German one more year, and stay here with that visa.
The problem is that I did already almost all the German levels offered and I only have one more left to do. After that who knows what I'll do.

I hate being hung in the air like that. High and dry.

Don't know who I am anymore.
What I wanna do.
How I'm going to stay in the place I call home?