Oktoberfest! Yeah, I know right? The ultimate German event for tourists (6 million attendants each year) and I finally went! I was really stoked about it. Particularly since I got to borrow a dirndl (traditional dress) to wear to the festivities (Thanks to Dani!). I looked like a Bavarian girl :)
Oktoberfest is known around the world as the big German party that goes
down every year in the region of Bavaria, city of Munich. Images of beer and lots of food are
associated with it. But the truth is smaller versions of Oktoberfest
happen all around Germany in different towns/cities throughout the year.
They are called Volksfest (means people's fair). It turns out that the
Volkfest in Munich became known around the world whilst there are tons
of these lesser known events that happen even in the smallest towns.
How I Got There
We took the train from Nuremberg to Munich. It was kind of funny waiting at the Nuremberg train stop and seeing a few other people dressed up. They'd look at me; I'd look at them. You know, how you do on Halloween. Sizing each other's costumes up to see who was wearing what. I gotta say I felt proud of my little outfit We were advised to attend early in the morning to avoid the crazy crowds. So here I was dressed in my dirndl alongside people dressed in suits and dresses ready to go to their office jobs. Hahaha! Of course once I got off the train in Munich, I felt normal again as I walked into the masses of others dressed Bavarian-ly in their dirndls, lederhosen (leather suspender pants), and checkered shirts (you'll spot them in my pictures). And did I mention the braids? Yes, braided hair for women is definitely a must at Oktoberfest. Lucky for me!
What I Expected vs What I Got
Here's what I expected of Oktoberfest. I thought it was a parade of sorts, an open party on the streets, much like Mardi Gras. I was wrong. It's a fair! Really. Rides and all. Nostalgia took me back to the 10 year old me once I saw those bumper cars with the flashy lights and the cool rollercoasters with the awesome music blaring. The main attraction at Oktoberfest though are the many "tents" that are set up. The tents are more like buildings where hundreds of people can sit and enjoy the festivities of Oktoberfest, namely eating, drinking, and dancing. Each tent has a different name, theme, and menu for the event. I went to at least four. Tent hopping I'd call it and it was super fun. I ate, drank, danced, and laughed. Fun times!
At the entrance ready to go in!
This particular tent is popular amongst celebrities. It's called Hippodrom.
Smoked fish anyone?
That's a roasting whole pig back there!
I sat at this table and most of these folks were tourists. Tons of tourists!
Vikings at Oktoberfest? I never figured this one out.
Bavaria statue.
Girls wearing dirndls and braids.
Guys wearing lederhosen.
The Paulaner tent.
Pretzels anyone. 4 people can share one!
Note: The culture of Bavaria (a region in Germany) is very
popular. When one imagines what Germany is like without having been
there before, one may immediately think of Bavarian culture (e.g.
pretzels, leather pants, Oktoberfest). I just want to clear the record
to say that this is just one type of culture in Germany. There is much
more diversity, traditions and customs that is less commercialized.
Bavaria's, cultural distinction, in my opinion, is similar to that of
the Southeast of the United States. Not only is Bavaria in the South of
Germany but generally speaking it shares some of those soulful and
rustic characteristics found in some of our southern states. And they've
definitely got their own version of soul food! Ham hocks
(schweinshoxen), potato salad, and fried pork chops (schnitzel)!
That’s what I read on the t-shirt of the German Zumba dancer
tonight.
I like that quote particularly because as I was sitting there
watching the Zumba class shake, shake, shake to the Latin fusion beats, I began
to realize that I have become complacent in my daily life. I can sit in front
of a computer and read articles, write blog posts, strategize, research, and do
a whole host of other things all day long without hardly walking away from the
screen.
Is this living life?
Well, let me tell you a little story before you answer that
question. A few days ago, one of our friends from the US came to visit. We went
out to a Tex-Mex restaurant (yes, a Tex-Mex restaurant in Germany!).
Our waiter was a very nice girl and I started chatting with her (like I
sometimes do when waiters are nice!). It turns out that her father is American
and she was born in Texas but has spent most of her life here in Germany. We struck
up a great, little convo. Towards the end of our meal, our visiting friend asked
where can we go to dance salsa in Kassel (the Tex-Mex restaurant was playing
some salsa songs…umm, yeah, I know). Anyway, she told us about a place that has
a salsa night every Thursday. She also told us that she’s on an award-winning
hip-hop dance team in Germany and invited me to her practice.
Tonight, I watched my new-found-waitress-friend Angela do her thing in her dance class. After her class was over, I stayed around to
watch the Zumba class start. It was high-powered Zumba fun….dictated in German.
I thought to myself, “Wow, this is the first time that I feel am participating
in German society without the comfort of my family/friends nearby and it feels
great! Why haven’t I been getting out and doing more things like this already?”
I realized that I had
not really been living life to its full potential.
I love dancing. I love meeting people.Why did it take someone else asking about
dancing in the city I live in for me to realize I could be dancing my little
Mississippi toes off right here in Kassel, Germany every Tuesday night?
Complacency is the answer, I believe.
Sometimes, we get comfortable and we forget why we love
living and what we are living for. For me, I like exploring the world, other
cultures, and languages but I also enjoy dancing, hiking, dining, and more. My
friend who is visiting is only in Germany for a little while but he’s got that tourist energy. He is getting out there
and seeing the most of the city that he can in his 7 days here. That’s
fantastic! Before he arrived, I more or less felt as if I’d already seen everything
there is in Kassel during my first few weeks here but of course, there’s so
much more to do, even if it’s Zumba!
Tonight’s message is clear to me, “Get up, get out, and really
live life!”
What about you? How does the life you’re living compare to
the life you want to live? Sometimes,
we just need a little reminder to get out
and do it!
Get your tourist energy
going wherever you are. GO! GET IT! NOW!…LIFE ISN’T WAITING!
ACTION:
Here’s how you can put this into action. We all have things
that we have been meaning to do. But sometimes, we get caught up with life (or
what we think is life).
Think about something you like
love doing that you are not
doing. Whatever it is: hiking, reading, knitting, yoga, talking to your mom,
movie night, dancing, working out, etc.Tip: It doesn’t have to cost anything.
Put it on your calendar. Find
a way to make it happen.
Make the commitment to
yourself to just do it. You deserve it! It’s your life.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, I stumbled upon a nifty little blog by someone called Marie Forleo. She has an interview with a health conscious blogger, Vani, who gives us the skinny on " 5 Surprising Health Foods You Shouldn't Eat". I found the interview quite interesting and thought I'd share it here on my blog. It's particulary interesting for those of us that try to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating organically and naturally.
If you'd like to skip the part where Vani describes why she's justified to give advice on food, just skip to about 11:25 minutes into the video. Enjoy!
PS: Here's a little surprise article from Vani's site, Food Babe, for all of you beer drinkers. Reading this might make you nauceous.
I've done four this month. I’m going to do one today and I’m just excited thinking
about it. 4 miles.
It’s kinda funny coming from someone who used to not like
running for exercise. I started running
more regularly about five months ago when I found myself more stressed out than
usual. I would have these anxiety
attacks where I’d hold my breath unconsciously because I had a to-do list 9
miles long and I just wasn’t getting any of it done quickly enough. I said to myself, “Self, you deserve more
calm and maybe a flatter stomach.” Those who know me know I'm a foodie aka gourmande (French for one who loves food and often eats too much) Have you ever heard of the skinny
fat phenomenon? Yeah, not cute. I found
out soon enough that running alone
doesn’t drastically (or quickly) flatten a belly but boy, does it do wonders
for the soul, spirit, and body! Talk about endorphins dancing and an adrenaline
rush. I loved the sensation. However, exercise plus a good diet is the key to being more fit.
Fast forward to now…lovely vacation days in Europe &
Africa with food food galore. I need to run now more than ever. I’m also
starting (or rather contemplating starting) a business and that’s been more hectic than I’ve dreamed. Hectic
business-related thoughts + vacation food madness = needs to work out!!
The good news is that
I live in a lovely city with one of the most calming and amazing parks I’ve
ever seen and I can just walk + run to one nearby whenever I want. There are little
white bridges and white swans and it really looks and feels like a scene from a
movie. Maybe it was.
As a youngster, in high school, I was the one who never gained a pound and I was even picked on for being
so skinny. Later on, in college, I started to understand what it was like to
have curves. Now, ten years after undergrad, I know what it’s like to eat and
gain weight, easily! (And just to think that I used buy chocolate-flavored Ensure,
a high-calorie weight-gain drink for seniors, by the case load to gain weight
in college!)
With that said, travelling is taking a toll on my waistline. I'm not even really sure how it happened. I'm quite a conscious eater. I mean I'm one of those let's-buy-organic-and-eat-well people. Seriously! Maybe one too many bratwursts or plum cakes? Well, I’d show you a picture of the cruel results except that umm, I’m sure you don’t want to really see
what that looks like. But the great news is that I decided last Friday to do
something about it. I went on a diet for the first time in my life. I call it
the BRAMP diet. No bread, no white rice,
alcohol, no meat, no pasta, and potatoes are kept to a minimum. I chose these specific items because I consume more of them in Germany than I normally would I think (with the exception of rice). As far as beer, it's like the Germans' version of the Americans' coke. You can find tweens and senior citizens alike partaking in regular beer drinking without the taboo that's sometimes associated with it in the States. Today is
the fifth day of my travel detox and I feel good. Lighter, I’d say. It’s
interesting to think about how addicted to meat I must have been because these
two weeks feel like something of a sacrifice when it shouldn’t. I love
vegetables, always have. My ideal meal is meat + veggies. Now I eat mostly grains+
veggies + soups. I also eat yogurt, nuts
and fruit to stay satiated. I like the BRAMP challenge. I shouldn’t be a slave
to food. It’s absolutely absurd in my opinion but that’s what I’ve been, I
think. A slave to food.
Here’s my interpretation on food's purpose: it is meant to
energize our bodies so that we have the fuel to live life. Period. But oftentimes, in our crazy capitalist-led,
privileged lives we bring something else into it called indulgence which has
such side effects as overeating and greediness. I’ll raise my hand high because I’m guilty of
both.
I’m on a two week schedule for the detox but extending it is
essential to seeing flattened belly results.
Summary: I’ll still travel and eat my way through the many
countries of the world including the U.S. where I can’t get enough of good
chicken wings. But for now, I feel that my BRAMP detox is necessary and
deserved.
Try it? (aren't these pomegranates beautiful?? they were as good as they look!)
"It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom." - Aristotle
Morocco: Merzouga
This was one of the most incredible parts of my two week trip in Morocco. We arrived in Merzouga around 5pm one evening. We got to our hotel, had dinner, and went quickly to bed. The next day we were to be up and ready at 5:45am to see the sunrise in the desert. I know. It sounded like a stretch to me too when first given the proposition, but the experience was so worth it and much more.
We walked in darkness guided by a camel herder to the shoreline. I say shoreline because the barrier between the hotel and the desert dunes seemed so much like a shoreline only there was no water in site. Just stars, camels, and us. We mounted our camels which was a little scary at first. I was the 3rd of 4 to mount. I devised a strategy to avoid any potential conflict with my camel: I mounted quickly. As quickly as I could. Long legs, it turns out, are good for something.
Off we went into the night towards the dunes and the desert. The air was calm, cool and there was nothing but peace around. In times like these, honestly, I ask myself why don't I get up at dawn more often. I mean, sure, I am not usually near a Moroccan desert but even when I have those rare moments of waking around dawn in Tampa, FL, I feel it is such a special time of the day.
Peace.
From darkness to sunrise.
Yes, peace it what I felt as we rode quietly into the desert on our camels. We made a 30 minute trek away from the shoreline and towards the dunes. Once we arrived at our stopping area, we got off of the camels and started dune climbing. I would have never imagined that it would be as difficult and tiring to walk on those fine orange sand mounds! But what a challenge....what spectacular beauty. We walked on the mounds for 30-45 minutes. Talking, sitting, walking, challenging ourselves as we reached higher and higher dunes. In retrospect, it was such a beautiful way to wake up and embrace the day and God's creation. When I looked out over the dunes, it was impossible to see where they would stop. We looked toward the direction of Algeria where the two countries meet.
There are so many words that have not been shared...so many pictures and videos that have not been published. This video is one of them.
I do, however, remember what I felt that day at church in the city of Daloa on Easter back in 2010. There was a lady who worked at the local cellphone company office who I befriended. She invited me to her church for Easter. I was excited. Once I arrived, it was one of the liveliest church services I'd ever seen before and that's really saying something cause I know churches in the South of the US! Of course, it was also a special day at church, Easter. People probably wore their best, sang their best, and performed their best. This video shows a female youth group performing a dance in front of the church. The "church" itself was actually some sort of multi-purpose building where a variety of community events were held, including church service. At the end of the service, I wanted to stay and socialize. I still regret a little that I didn't. Why did I not stay? Well, promptly after service, I was offered a membership card. I was to fill it out and return it to a responsible church usher who was a guy. One of the questions on the card was regarding marital status: married, single, or engaged. This was not an uncommon question in the Ivory Coast, in my experience, but for some reason, that day I did not feel like explaining myself or being subjected to any courting attempts. I already could sense the curiosity surrounding the newcomer. In retrospect, the reasoning for my premature departure was a little silly (particularly since at this point, I would have or should have known how to cleverly exit those flirty situations) but if you read my post on love and dating in the Ivory Coast, maybe you can find a little sympathy for me :) Anyway, it's too bad I did not stay afterwards just to experience more socializing in this beautiful country. I walked home and arrived at my apartment around 15 minutes later. My kind neighbors had lunch waiting for me. I miss the Ivory Coast.
This must make my 7th or so trip to Germany. Each time, I've been delighted by its geographical and cultural pleasures during some of the chilliest times of the year, usually around the Christmas holidays. On this occasion, however, Germany has greeted me in a very different way...with beautiful warm summer days and nights. I've been here in the summer before, but what I remember most from that trip were days of wearing sweaters and leggings...much too cool for someone who is used to humid, southeastern American summers.
Have you ever tried to explain something beautiful to someone to find that your words don't match your sentiment? Or have you ever been captivated by something so amazingly beautiful that you try to take a picture but nothing in your lens reflects what you're seeing in front of your eyes? Well, many of my travel experiences are like that. As a matter of fact, I find that many of the experiences on this blog are like that. Sometimes I ask myself why do I even bother but then I figure that these things, even if I cannot share them fully, still must be worthy of sharing, right? Beauty is beauty and sometimes beauty is made more beautiful by sharing it. Alas, the scenic beauty of southern Germany on a hot, summer August day cannot be captured merely by words nor my pictures.
A tidbit about me. I absolutely love the outdoors and nature's beauty. With every passing year, I believe my interest in the outdoors increases! I must thank the Ivory Coast for exposing me to so much organic life (ahem: the good and the bad). I mean, for the first time, I got to see many of the things that I consume regularly sprouting from the earth....: coffee, pineapples, rice, bananas, etc. So I was quite enchanted by the fruit and nuts I discovered on an afternoon walk in Germany's countryside. Cherries, walnuts, hazelnuts, plums, and apples are just some of the things that I saw growing in the wild as I strolled on a quiet, wooded area in Henfenfeld, Germany (population 1,890).
More than the countryside being beautiful, I think being out here in nature with more trees around than people gives me a chance to clear my head. In addition, since I don't explore nature as half as much as I should, being in the heart of it breaks up the monotony of my normal life.When I take a deep breath of country air and look around,I feel like God is giving me a great big hug. Nature can be so personal and pure. I love that.
Finally, made it to Germany! I spent
3 days in southern Germany before making it to the middle of the country where my new city exists, Kassel.
Kassel is really not remarkable (the one thing everyone talks about is their newly crowned
UNESCO heritage site) but it seems to be a nice city with a great quality
of life. (Although everyone would rather be in Berlin...understandable.) There
is a beautiful park (think smaller Central Park with very few people with
wonderful views and small bridges) in walking distance. I did a 3.5 mile run
this morning. Slopes, hills, lush greenery, stairways .... fantastic workout!
(Little did I know how much my thighs would hurt the next day.) The air was
crisp, fresh, and cool. Felt great! I can walk to work and practically
everywhere including restaurants, bars, and the grocery stores...I guess like
in most European cities. It is a refreshing change from the States.
