Yikes!!

I just realized that I am almost a week behind in updating. oops. Boy, these weeks go fast!!! Ok, let's see if we can't get caught up. Where was I? Oh yes. Tuesday.

Ahem.

On Tuesday, we had class like usual. And by "like usual", I mean just like we had class on Monday. Anyway. Sierra and I were 10 minutes late to class because we missed our first Straßenbahn and the next one was late. It was really embarrassingg to walk in late because the class is really small, as is the class ROOM and the only open seats were at the front. Then, to top it off, Professor Ecke came in later in the class and gave us a lecture about being on time (punktlich). It wasn't directly to Sierra and me; he was just talking about stuff in general, but you can see how it was a tad bit embarrassingg for me. sigh. After class we had a group excursion.

First we went to the Russian Church. I'm not entirely certain why it's important to Leipzig, but it has something to do with the war against Napoleon and the many Russianss who lived here......yeah. Here's a picture!


We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside. That's ok, cuz the inside was REALLY small and kind of disappointing, as far as old churches go. It had lots of old icons on the walls, a huge chandelier and a nun. Seriously! That's all it had.

After the church, we went to the Völkerschlachtdenkmal. A 'Denkmal' is a monument. 'Völkerschlacht' means 'peoples fight' (roughly). This is a monument to the war against Napoleon and the people who died in it. It is HUGE. It took 100 years to build. It was started in 1813 and finished in (ok this where the dilemma comes in. Do I tell you when it was finished , or does that mean that I think you're stupid? - OR - Do I leave it blank and let you guys think that maybe I don't know? hmmm).
They have got a whole section roped off for repairs - the netting is not normal. It was full of really awesome statues and carvings - all about the people and war. Here are just a couple of my favorites. They don't come with any descriptions because there were none. I think they left it blank because they wanted the monument to stand for the people for all times, not just that one incident. Inside they have a bunch of displays representing the people throughout German history - WWII, Reunification, etc.


Then we went all the way up to the top. I think I counted 737,928,463,797,010 steps. All twisty and windy and close and scary.
And then we saw the following view:
I still haven't decided whether or not it was worth braving the claustrophobia and the fear of heights (not to mention the sore and shaky legs) for this picture. I'll let you know later.

On Wednesday, we went to Cospudener See. It's a lake here in Leipzig. The trip out there took a long time, but the lake was pretty and there weren't too many people there. I didn't stay very long. Sierra was sick and I was hungry, so we left early and went shopping, but I did notice one thing. Topless sunbathing is real. Yep. Real.

On Thursday, the day was open, but Sierra was still sick (and I wasn't feeling well either), so we took it really easy. We had class and then went to eat with our TAs. I can hear you now "Teacher's Pet!!" But whatever. She's from Leipzig. She knows what's going on! So there. And the food was good too. After lunch, Sierra and I wandered around a little bit. We got on the wrong train to go home, but it was worth it, cuz we took it all the way to the end and wound up in a rural area. It was green and peaceful. I want to go back and just stay there for a while. Maybe read a book. After that, we came back and had a picnic (in German: Picknick) in the park.

On Friday, we got up early and took a trip to Wernigerode.
Ok, now laundry. Later Wernigerode.