Easter Celebrations

While Easter could have been the time to bring on some homesickness, it was a time of celebration and happiness for me in Germany. I got the opportunity to visit my former host family and see some of the extended family. As always, it was a visit full of great food, lots of sweets, amazing conversation, a bounty of laughter, and unforgettable memories. My host family is so great- warm and welcoming.
 

I even got to play with a newborn baby! Ahh!

There was some other business that had to be attended to as well. When I first arrived I helped those of the small village of Vehlitz decorate their town for a TV show that was in town, well-village, really. It’s a show that reminds of me Extreme Make-over, but on a much smaller scale. The TV crew comes to town and does something for the locals that needs to be done, but they also get to give the locals a task. The task for the locals was to decorate the town for the upcoming festival to celebrate a Prussian victory against Napoleon 200 years ago. This was no small matter, as you might imagine! It was great to see the whole village come together to work on the task. Everyone was really nice and helpful!

The Saturday before Easter I got to go to an Easter Fire! It’s supposed to be a way to push out all of the cold air and to bring a warm Spring. Well, it didn’t really work because there was still some snow flurries on Easter, but it was a great chance to stand by a HUGE bonfire, enjoy a glass of warm Glühwein, and eat a yummy Bratwurst!  J

The weekend before I had to come back to Kassel was the actual festival- I took so many amazing pictures! They had a re-creation of the battle- so fun! It was loud, smelled of gun powder, and was really exciting to watch! They used cannons, bayonets, and had period correct costumes. My favorite part was after the battle, though. Afterwards everyone was kind of standing around, getting some hot chocolate or coffee, enjoying some cake and cookies. The soldiers came up and were doing the same- and to see them with their cell phones and cameras inside their leather bags and pouches, to see someone dressed in the typical uniform of the early 1800s with a cell phone? I couldn’t help but to laugh!