Dresden, part II

I know that I have been a horrible blogger, but life has been a little crazy. However, I left you hanging and have a lot to catch you up on, so I will start where I left off. I could only freak out for so long on Saturday, because I had plans in the afternoon. First I met up with the other Fulbright Scholars in Dresden in the Alstadt and toured the Frauenkirche. Afterwards, we had ice cream and then I had to leave to meet one of the English teachers I will be working with named Franca. Together we went to the Dresden Hauptbahnhof and got no further, and then we went to the Neustadt. The Neustadt lies across the river from the Altstadt and is the new hip place to live and be seen. She took me around the main streets and showed of the unique diverse community. We stopped at the Dresden Molkerei, a dairy shop that has been in existant for a very long time and has a beautiful store completely covered with tiles, to have cake and milk. Afterwards, we further explored the town and she explained that many of the stereotypical-looking communist style apartment buildings in the Neustadt are empty because either no one knows who really owns the property or it is too expensive to remodel the building.  I find Dresden so interesting when I think that 20+ years ago it was under communism and how different it must have been to live here. Throughout Dresden, there are many reminders of the past decades. After exploring the Neustadt for more than two and  a half hours, we walked back to the Altstadt and I caught a bus home. It was a wonderful afternoon and helped take my mind of the current situation, i.e. no wallet, no money, thousands of miles from home. When I got back to the apartment, I continued to try to call Munich until they closed at 8pm and then tried to relax and go to bed because Sunday was booked.

On Sunday, I woke up early and went to church with Franca. Her church was located in the Neustadt, near where we were the previous day. The church she attends does not hold mass in the actual church, but in a room in a nearby building because the church was never reconstructed after being partily destroyed by bombs during WWII. As such a history enthusiast, I find it so interesting to see the reminants of WWII and the Cold War in Dresden. After church we went to Franca's house for lunch and a game with the family. It was then decided that we would go on a bike ride. After choosing bikes we headed out. This was no leasurely bike ride, like I thought it was going to be. We did more then 6 km of mostly rough terrain  along the Elbe River to the town of Radebeul where we had drinks and desert. Then we rode the more than 6 km of rough terrain back. That was the second time in four years that I rode a bike! Nevertheless, it was beautiful along the river and there were tons of people riding their bikes with us. I was exhausted, but had a good time. When I returned home, my roomates, Julian and his sister Isobel , and their girlfriend and boyfriend were having a cookout in the backyard. They invited me to dine with them and we ate grilled chicken kabobs with onions and peaches and different salads. We also laughed a lot. That night when I sat down at my computer for the first time that day, I had a email from a fellow Fulbrighter in Munich that said that they would go to the train station and seek my wallet. Long story short, she found it and sent it too me. By last Wednesday, I had the money my parents wired to me and then on Thursday I got my wallet. So in the end, the week without a wallet was stressful, but not bad at all. I learned a valuable lesson - divide up you credit cards and cash- and I feel that if I could make it through not having any money in Europe, I can live through almost anything. Although, I only made it because the teachers I am working with were so understanding and helpful. I will also be in awe of their kindness and have great respect for them. So what did I do this past weekend? Shopped! And had another adventure, this time with food.