Jachenau

So last weekend we were in Jachenau.
Jachenau is a village of about 700 people....
It's in OberBayern (Bavaria below Munich).
It's in the Alps, with lots of lakes.
To put it shortly it's gorgeous!!!!!!!!
We were there to celebrate my Host Grandmother's birthday. Her birthday was actually in February, but she wanted to come back to Jachenau with her family. Oda's family vacationed there every summer when she was a kid.
We drove down Friday after school. When we got there the weather was a little iffy but it still looked really cool. The first thing we did after unpacking was to go down to the lake. Quickly followed by hitting up the trampoline. :)
This is Tabea and Thea by the lake, you can't see the mountains in the background very well.

My youngest cousin here, Valentin, he's 3.
Thea, 9
Before too long it was dark. We (oh and by the way by we I mean myself, Tabea, and her cousin Thea) went down to the lake again with Meekah.
The next day we woke up and found the adorable puppy Rex. He belonged to the owner's of the farm we were staying at. He's a swiss mountain dog, and sooooooooooooooo ubelievabley cute!

We then went "rowing" which was actually one of those fishing boats with oars and without skulls. I do not have pictures of this due to the fact I didn't want to risk my camera going in the water.
When we got back Nonna and Großvatti had all ready arrived with Janus, my oldest host cousin, who I hadn't met before.
We had lunch, which was really just cake.
The boys (oh just for a perspective all my host cousins are boys except for Thea) then decided it would be a good idea to go swimming. I went but decided not to go in. It was very entertaining.... I stuck my feet in and it was freezing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of the boys swimming.
On our way back we met up with Herbert, my host dad. I told him he should go swimming too. He then replied "I'll get in when you get in."
Being me, I replied "ok, no problem."
To which he replied "uh oh I shouldn't have said that."
Shortly after the swim we walked to a restaurant and the old farm house that Oda and her family used to stay at.
We then had dinner at the restaurant. Some people played different musical pieces. After the others were finished with the keyboard Valentin decided he wanted to play as well :)
After dinner we had a "Nachtwanderung" back to the farm. It was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The stars were amazing!!!!!!! It smelled like Lake Placid. It was so dark at some points you couldn't see who was walking in front of you. At one point some of my cousins decided it would be a good idea just to stop. One of my other cousins and I then proceeded to run into them (literally, okay well walk) in the dark, which was quite amusing.
The next day was gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After I woke up I went down to the lake and just took pictures.
The water was such a pretty turquoise.
After breakfast we went on a walk around part of the lake.
To do this you literally had to walk through the cows and their fields...
We also found one horse, which quite intrigued Valentin.
We stopped at one point and tried to get Meekah to swim....
It didn't work very well.
You can't tell in this picture but she's trying to go in as little as possible and extending her whole body to keep her feet on solid ground..... She's no Xander....
We then proceeded to go to our swimming spot from the previous day
Yes this is indeed the view you get from there......
After the first time........
Preparing for the second jump in.....

The second time...........
After the FOURTH time in the water.........
We then went back to the house
And had lunch

After some last minute pictures.........
It was time to go...... :(
Jannis was exhausted on the way back..........
But Tabea and I were awake enough to take pictures
So I'm doing very well and after this last weekend don't really feel like coming back to the U.S.
I'm now on vacation again :)
And will be going to Berlin and Rome :)

And this is what happen when you give me a bike.......

So this is the day of.

This is the day after.

This is a couple days later.....
Long story short I fell of my bike...... and onto my legs and face...
As a result broke my nose....
But as you can see things are healing well

One week later

And my lovely knee

Two weeks later
So things are pretty much all healed. Everyone here keeps asking how it's healed and I keep saying my nose isn't fully healed, it's still broken. Everyone seems surprised by this despite that it's been less then 3 weeks since the accident. I find this quite amusing....
But I'm back to rowing and riding so I'm happy :)

"I know how you like sheep......and creamier cream cheese"

So now I'm on Easter vacation.
Everything is going just swimmingly here :)
My brother and his girlfriend (Ryan and Rachel) came to visit over Easter. It was really really good to see both of them again!
We had a lot of fun and now both of them understand exactly what I mean when I say that my parents here are exactly like my parents in the U.S.
They also brought me Clorox Wipes and Purell, both of which I am extremely grateful for. In Germany it is still thought (by almost everyone as far as I can tell) that you get sick from things like it being cold outside, hair being wet, sudden changes in temperature or air conditioning. Most of the people who I know have actually laughed at me when I suggest that using hand sanitizer or anti-bacterial wipes decrease the likely hood of spreading germs, and therefore getting sick.
Anyways, the first night they got here we went to see the castle in Karlsruhe. It was in the dark, which I found very cool, because normally I'm there in the day, or when I see it at night it's from a distance.
I don't feel this is a very good pic, but I love the "ghost people"

We went to visit Heidelberg on Friday and saw the castle which was really quite amazing.
With "flat Austin" and Ryan
With Oda and Tabea
Keg
HUGE Keg
MONSTER Keg
Again not a very good pic, but Ry and Rachel on top of the Monster Keg, because it had a deck.....
SHEEP :P "We should try to catch one" lol

Saturday we went for a walk in Ittersbach, a town at the foot of the Black Forest. Then Ryan, Rachel and I went into Karlsruhe and back to the Palace to see it in the day light. We climbed the tower and looked through the museum. Then we did a little shopping and went to a Cafe.
The fam...
Ry and Rachel

On our way back we stopped at my favorite playgorund. I LOVE the playgrounds in Germany, just fyi :p

Sunday we went to Church for Easter and then drove to Bad Kreuznach to visit Oda's (Oda= my host mom) parents. Oda wanted to go to the Cathedral in Speyer but we decided not to when the car got stuck in 3rd gear. It was very "Little Miss Sunshine". We had a huge lunch followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for all children under 30 as Oda put it. Then we went for a walk on which we found yet another playground. Then we saw an Old American Army Recreation base. Later we had cake and then dinner........
I look like a monkey in this photo hahaha
Ryan has some sliding issues..... (reverse quiznos??)
Some wierd rowing machines....
I like them because you can use them for sweep rowing....hahaa
Old U.S. Army training base
Again the fam :)

Monday Oda and I saw Ryan and Rachel off at the train station :)
We then returned to Karlsruhe where Tabea and I spent pretty much the rest of the day just laying in the sun in the Castle gardens :)
Tuesday I used my freetime to straighten up my room (something I NEVER do). I even folded all my clothes......
Ryan can verify my wardrobe did NOT look like this when he came....
The rest of the week has been filled with visits. One of my friends from Stuttgart came Wednesday. Another came Thursday. Thursday we went to Europabad, which is a swimming pool/waterpark. I now have bruises from one of the slides, as it was winding and built out of cement.....
Friday another American exchange student came. We celebrated a friend's birthday. It was, as usual, a good time.
Dance lessons in the Salsa Bar....
Today there is nice weather again and we're going to grill!!!!!!! Rebecca and Nehle (school friends) are also coming and I'll get to here there stories from Italy :)
Tomorrow I'm going to Europapark with Tabea (Tabea= host sister). Should make for a super time :) :)
Hope everyone there is doing well.