Week #13 in Germany

This is the first week of December, and I can't  believe how fast the time is going. The summer and the end of my time in Germany seems so far in the future, but at the same time I know it will be here before I know it. It's already almost 2011, and I barely got used to the idea of 2010. This week my brother bought a ticket to come visit me. He won't be here until March, but if I've learned anything in the past 3 months I've been here, it's how quickly 3 months can speed by. I am so excited to see him, first of all because he's my big brother, and secondly because he'll be like a piece of home here in Germany.


Overall, I've been coping fairly well with life in a foreign country. However, since Thanksgiving I've been craving some real American food. So, for the first time in 3 months, I went to McDonald's. I ordered a Big Mac, because it seemed like the most American item on the menu. In truth, I'm sure it was disgusting, I've never liked Big Macs. But, for some reason it tasted like home in my mouth. I devoured it, and enjoyed every bit of the sandwich consisting of two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickle and onion on a sesame seed bun. My stomach was quite angry with me afterward, but for a few minutes I was returned to a kind of normalcy....until I looked up and realized there wasn't a restroom. Something Americans take for granted along with free refills and great customer service, is a restroom in every restaurant, whether it's fast food or not. 


The food that I miss more than any other though, is Mexican food. I explained to some of my students that back home we have as many Mexican restaurants as churches....living in the Bible belt, that amounts to a metric crap load. You can't drive a mile without passing a handful of Mexican restaurants, all of which are home to cheap and large portioned meals. Every time I go abroad, my first order of business upon my return home is going to La Huerta or Las Margaritas or Mexico Viejo or one of the other hundreds of Mexican restaurants. This time will be no exception. I need my cheese enchilada fix, and, honestly, no other place can properly make me a margarita (or two).