It's all "German" to me

Yesterday was the day I flew out of Belfast for my long awaited Holiday to Hamburg to visit my friend Kendra.
Kendra is living in Hamburg and volunteering at an organization called Peace Brigades International or PBI. I met Kendra at my BVS orientation in Florida and am really glad we have remained friends since then. We both have had some interesting experiences and it's nice to have someone who can sort of relate to what you are going through as in being a volunteer and living in a foreign country.
Being in Germany makes me thankful I am in a country where at least I can read signs in store windows and mostly understand what people are saying on the street.
I always took Spanish courses through high school and college, and never even bothered to learn much German. aside from "Hello, no, yes, good morning, and good night" all lovely phrases but not very helpful to me when trying to communicate. I just don't have an ear or mouth to correctly speak German. As Kendra says I just need more practice. But I just want to say everything with a Spanish accent. The rest of the week should be interesting.
After an early 4:30 am wake up call I took a taxi to the city airport yesterday morning where I caught a flight to Birmingham and waited for about 3 hours until my flight to Hamburg. The second flight I experience a lot of turbulation due to a "heavy rain cloud" another passenger described the expeince similar to that of riding a horse, it may sound exaggerated but I will have to say I think it was pretty accurate. Needless to say I was glad to be back on the ground again.
Kendra met me in the airport and took the train back to her apartment, after a stop at a friends apartment to get a bike key. I was over taken by the heat here, it was about 80 or so degrees if not warmer, and I have been used to upper 60's low 70's at the highest. I can say I do believe this was the first time I have been outside and started sweating just by standing still. I do not miss that feeling, even thouh the heat has been nice and I am enjoying walking around in my rolled up jeans (didn't think to bring shorts with me, not that I have many pairs in Belfast anyway).
We then changed and went for a swim in a river near by, it was nice to be in water, even though it was a bit dirty and we had to shower afterwards. We then went to a true Mexican resturant similar to a Chipotle, it was really good and the closest thing to Mexican food I have had since leaving home in March.
Today Kendra had to work, so after showing me to the Botanical Gardens she left and I wondered around looking at all the pretty flowers, and enjoying the lake there. It was nice just to spend a relaxing day in the park.
Everyone here rides bikes everywhere it's like a bike utopia ok not really but compared to seeing maybe 1 bike in a day in Belfast I am a bit overwhelmed. Needless to say Kendra has 2 bikes and we will be riding them around when she gets off work. I went out for a practice spin on my own, I was a bit shaky I realized I hadn't ridden a bike since my accident in high school.
I am currently waiting on Kendra to get home from work, and thought it would be a nice time to blog. I am not the greatest at keeping up with everything that happens. But to me a lot of what goes on is the same so I don't feel like it's new and exciting to blog about.
However, my two new roommates Amanda and Emmy are doing a great job writing things that happen and posting pictures if you are interested you can check out their blogs.
http://mandashayne.blogspot.com and http://emmylakes.wordpress.com

I will return to Belfast on Saturday the 17th.