Diamonds on the Inside, Ben Harper

As promised, Oktoberfest was, indeed, festive. I'm glad I took the rest of the week easy because I needed all the energy I could save for this weekend. (It definitely helped that I was sick the rest of the week.) After returning from the beach, and gaining several hundred meters in elevation, I lost my voice and proceeded to cough up a lung every time I tried to breath out of my mouth. So I rested the entire week in preparation for the exciting prospect that was Oktoberfest.

So Thursday, I was all packed up and ready to go. I made it to the airport with no mishaps, through security and on my plane. Sitting in my seat, books out, ready to study, I heard a little voice next to me. "Hola, guapa, que tal?"

The man behind me, presumably also on his way to Munich for Oktoberfest, and possibly already "borracho", had decided to speak to me the entire flight to Munich. I had already decided to study the entire flight. Unfortunately for him, my decision won out in my actions and I studied the entire flight. My grades are far more important than making friends with an intoxicated Spaniard.

Ingrid and I met at the Munich airport and she lead me on the S-bahn (much less organized than my Madrid metro system) to the U-bahn and all the way back to her apartment. She is living in dorm style housing but with a kitchen and a bathroom in her room. She is in the room by herself, with no roommates or host parents. I have to admit, I am very happy with my living situation. Cooking for myself might get a little old after awhile.

We went to bed fairly early that night (around 12:00) to wake up and be ready to meet at 9 to make it to a tent and get a table. The Beer Gardens were already packed at 9:30 when we got there, so we asked a group of three Germans sitting at a table if we could join them. They kindly obliged. Benny, Johannes and Hannes were already through their first masse (not quite sure on spelling, but it is a liter of German beer. And Oktoberfest German beer has twice the alcohol content of normal German beer, which is twice the alcohol content of regular beer) and we rushed to catch up. Pacing myself, I barely made it through 2 masses without feeling like I had an excessive amount of alcohol. So naturally, we all decided to leave, explore and check out the shenanigans taking place outside of the tents.

After going on rides and walking around, we all decided to return to University housing and eat food. Some of Ingrid's friends made pasta and salad and we all ate as we started to sober up. Then, around 4 pm, nap time was called for and we all passed out until around 8 pm.
That night, we went out to a German club (I figured, I'm there for a day, I might as well go big). The club scene in Germany is quite different than the club scene in Spain. In Spain, everyone dances all night. Everyone stays out until 6 am when the metro re-opens. In Germany, no one dances. The group I was with was shocked when I jokingly suggested we stay out until the metro opened, only then finding out that it opened at 4:30. If only it opened as early in Spain. My life would be quite a lot easier. But not really, I doubt I'd stay out that late anyway.

My flight left the next day at 3:45, and I returned to Madrid. Maite made us dinner and I proceeded to sleep from 10:30 until 8:00 the next day. My Sunday was fairly boring, as it consisted mostly of studying for my three midterms that are this week. However, I did go to the Prado when it was free after 5:00. The art there, while spectacular, is not completely interesting. The subjects are all very similar, and I have realized I much prefer the Reina Sofia and other modern art.

This week should prove mellow as I have 3 midterms and a class trip this weekend. We will be going to Huesco near the French border with my Spanish class to look at Roman art and continue studying the influences that created Spanish culture. And on Monday of next week, I have no class, and my parents are coming to visit with the promise of a weekend to San Sebastian. I'm quite excited!

Oh, and another thing I'm excited about? It's starting to snow in Wyoming, Colorado and California. This ski season better be good!