School, The Bomb Shelter in the Basement, and Chocolate

My alarm went off a lot earlier than usual this morning, as today I drove with Arnheidur to take Embla to school so that I can learn the route. 

But, first things first. I went downstairs to get some laundry out of the dryer and I realized that I have not told y'all about the bomb shelter yet.

We have one here.

I'm not exactly sure when this house was built, but it has a reinforced bomb shelter (a là WWII era) in the basement. It's pretty neat and yet eerie at the same time, especially when you combine it with the noise of planes and air traffic we have due to the nearby airport.

I wonder if the people living here at the time ever had to use it and if so, what was it like to huddle in there, waiting for the all-clear signal? Odds are that it was used, and probably multiple times at that, since Stuttgart got hammered pretty badly by the Allies during WWII, due in part to the manufacturing capabilities of its nearby factories.

Now, back to School Stuff. The surrounding roads and sidewalks of our town, Schönaich, and the adjacent town, Böblingen, are a LOT busier between 7 and 8 am, which is the time when kids go to school and adults make their way to work.

Many towns have their own primary and kindergarten schools right in their own village, and here, Ellert's school is literally right next to Erla's Kindergarten. Embla's school is nearer to Böblingen.

The surrounding towns pass through here to get to the "big kid" school that Embla goes to in Böblingen, and as such, traffic snarls the usual route. As such, they have learned to use the  so called "cheater route," which is more complicated but yields much less frustration. I learned the route today, and took notes just in case. I have learned that driving to school requires much more forethought than

I first thought: scrimping for every second is all part of the program. The way one talks about the route to school is almost like a battle plan, except instead of the goal being to win the battle, the goal is to arrive to school, on time, with minimal traffic. 

It is worth mentioning that the principle of right-of-way here in small German towns is crucially important and can oftentimes be the difference between getting smashed or getting ahead. Not only are the streets very narrow, but people park on one side of the street and then you are left to drive on the other. As such, sometimes you have to pull over and let people pass and do other tricky maneuvers to get by. I was throughly versed in the rules today, and I hope I apply them well. :)

From 7-8:30 or so it's a mad dash to get all the kids do school on time. Ellert walks to school, and we walk Erla to kindergarten. 

I fail to see how Ellert's school could not be fun if it has a huge volleyball court for games in the middle of the main room.

Erla loves to take her bike to school, and we follow behind on foot.

We later noticed that Ellert somehow managed to forget his lunch/snack along with a binder he needed for an assignment, so I was selected to run it back over to him at school. I knocked gently on the door, as instructed, and then opened the door and twenty pairs of eyes looked back at me, and I searched for the ones I knew. Ellert was standing by the chalkboard with a few of his classmates doing an assignment of some sort.

As he walked over to retrieve the items, his face said: 

"You're totally embarrassing me by coming into my class!"

My mind telecommunicated with his, as is our talent, and mine said:

"Oh, be embarrassed, it's your own fault, dude. Don't leave it next time."

Next, I am going to discuss garbage cans. I warn you now, so that you can leave while you're still awake.

As I walked home, I remembered to take a picture of this right here. Imagine for a moment that this little trash can is the amount of garbage you and your family are expected to generate in a week. 

Now, stop imagining (and stop laughing!) cause this is the amount of trash space you get for TWO weeks worth of garbage. My family of ten would generate that much in one DAY, am I right, y'all?

Not only that, before you throw anything away, you sort it- paper, plastic, foil- it all has its own separate bin here the house and at the trash center. And if sorting trash drives you crazy, in a "real" German house, (according to Arnheidur) you would wash off the little foils that go on top of your yogurt until they are clean and you would wash out the bottles before they went in the bin. You'd probably be able to eat of of the throw away stuff here, it's so clean. Let me tell ya, they are tidy and efficient.

Aunt Rachel and I bummed around town for a while, stopping here and there. 

(typical house from the village)

She got a few gifts for some folks back home at the cooking store, and I perused the cake section. It would seem that the most popular cake pans are the springform kind, they far outweigh the round layer cake pans. 

Next, Arnheidur took us on an outing to the chocolate factory. Waldenbuch, Germany, where the Ritter chocolate factory and museum is located, is a mere 10 minute drive down the road. 

Being this close could be sorta dangerous, cause it was chocolate heaven, let me tell you. 

The museum was informative and the store I walked out with enough chocolate to make customs snd TSA start to wonder if I am a full-blown chocolate smuggler. 

We got a little peckish whilst in the store (my phone just tried to autocorrect that into "peculiar," maybe that is a more accurate adjective.)

We arrived home and after a brief rest, Aunt Rachel and I set to work cookin'. Yesterday, she had acquired some kielbasa from the English-speaking butcher at the store, so we fixed that with peppers and onions, rice, apples, and a lot of other things. It was very yummy.

"Margaret, Auschwitz time."

I was upstairs when I heard the call. We (George, Rachel and I) have been watching a BBC documentary 

on the history of Auschwitz, since we visited there last week. It is very well done, and I found the eyewitness accounts and stories quite moving. To hear the stories of the survivors in their own words, and to hear the strength and perseverance it took to actually survive, in the midst of those great odds, was extremely inspiring. 

The only side effect is the possibility of not-so-great-dreams tonight but hopefully, that will not be the case. I have to get up early for my first solo trip taking Embla to school. I'll need the sleep. ;)