The week started off pretty well, typical site visits & end of program logistics, evals, etc. However, on Thursday Kasee (who was living about 3 hours away) and I decided to meet up for lunch so I could pick up a microwave & printer for one of my sites. We decided on meeting in Heilbronn as it was just about halfway between our 2 locations. Prior to leaving we'd only decided on meeting somewhere in Heilbronn & getting lunch.
So I left Baumholder in time to arrive in the Heilbronn area around the time we'd planned, but traffic seemed to be moving pretty quick on the autobahn that day so I had some time. I called Kasee and when she said she still had about 30 minutes, I decided to park in a 'parkplatz' just off the autobahn while I waited. As it'd been a long 3 & a half weeks, I took a little nap while I waited. (The parkplatz is like any rest stop you'd find in the states, but instead of having a parking lot it's just 2 lanes so you parallel park on the right while traffic moves on the left.)
After about a 20 minute nap, Kasee called & as we were trying to coordinate our GPS's to get to the same restaurant, a car pulled up beside me & 2 guys were looking into my car. A little weirded out, I mentioned this to Kasee so she would stay on the phone. The car parked in front of me & I watched the 2 men get out & approach my car... they proceeded to knock on the windows and show their "Polezei" papers so I quickly told Kasee the police were here & I'd call her back.
As they knocked on my window for the second time, I quickly rolled down my window to see what they wanted... immediately they began speaking to me in very fast German so as soon as there was a break I interjected with "sprechenzie English?" (do you speak English?), which of course they did. He explained that they were police and he needed to see my license to drive and my travel documents. I hastily handed them over, nervous as to what the issue could be. But as I was doing this, I noticed that neither of the men were in uniform and the car wasn't marked. As my suspicion grew I noticed a semi truck blocking traffic ahead and started to panic a little, the whole situation wasn't sitting right with me. So as I handed over my license & passport I asked why the car wasn't marked and they weren't in uniform. He then explained that it was so the truck drivers didn't recognize them and asked me about a first aid kit... I was still uneasy about this (and later found out it's a law to have a first aid kit in your car in Germany, whoops!) but they had taken my passport & ID to their car so I had no choice but to wait. As I looked through everything I had in my car, hoping something would be what they were looking for, I found my travel authorization form stating that I was in the country to work with the U.S. Army. I thought it's worth a shot, and showed the officer this form & explained it. As I've learned after talking to friends back in the states, in most cases just saying you're with the U.S. Army is enough for them to stop questioning, which was thankfully true in this case. He immediately stopped with the small talk and we waited in awkward silence for the other officer to return with my documents & I went on my way.
Finally, I made it to Heilbronn and although my GPS couldn't find the exact address of the restaurant Kasee found, I was on my way to a nearby address. Or so I thought. As I drove through a completely residential area, the GPS said I'd arrived but there were no restaurants in sight. So, of course, I called Kasee to see if the area seemed familiar to her, but it didn't. So I used the GPS to find the nearest restaurant that was over a mile away, and not the restaurant Kasee found. So we decided to give in to the mercy of my GPS & go to this restaurant, and once I'd arrived I'd call Kasee with the address so she could find me.
So off I went, away from the residential area towards this cafe. I don't use a GPS in the states because I don't like relying on it to know where I am, but clearly it was necessary for my trip to Europe, despite the troubles. Anyway, just a few minutes into my next drive, someone hit my car... I was beyond frustrated at this point, and as I pulled to the side of the road I realized I'm not even sure what to do in this situation if I were in the US, let alone in Germany. So the other driver also pulled over & got out of the car, no older than 18 and looking just as frazzled. He started speaking German really fast. With the confused look and my broken German I uttered the words for I don't speak German, thankfully he spoke English. After a quick conversation we looked at our cars and found everything was fine on both cars, both of us were fine & we went on our way. (phew!)
Finally, about 10 minutes later I arrived at the restaurant to call Kasee & tell her the address. I waited a while for her, and once she arrived we went into the cafe. As we walked in, literally every single head turned in our direction. We noticed that this was a little odd but we asked to be seated anyways. As it turns out, the kitchen was closed (it was around noon) so we wouldn't be having lunch there. At this point we were both beyond frustrated that we just laughed it off, put the printer & microwave in my car and headed our separate ways. And I ended up eating McDonald's on my drive back for lunch.
Thankfully, for my sanity, the last 2 days went smooth for the most part. I'm sure there are stories that I'm forgetting, but I think I covered the jist of winter break in Germany.
I apologize for this post taking so long, but I hope to be writing soon on my life since returning to the states.
"You cannot change the direction of the wind, but you can always adjust your sails."
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