Das Autobus

Today the weather was beautiful and warm and sunny (76 F according to the weather report) and consequently the buses all contained a certain odor of body that became more pronounced as the day went on. As part of our "Headstart German" project we were split into 3 groups and today my group had to learn how to use the bus system. They assigned us one of those "learning scavenger hunts." We wandered around the entire city of Heidelberg, never failing to stand out as tourists. We stopped by the bank to exchange some money and I made sure to leave American amounts of personal space while standing in line (The people behind me were obviously not American). We finished up our bank bidness and got back on the bus to find the aisle blocked by a bar. The 3 of us stood in the front waiting for the bar to swing forward or for the driver to tell us we had to use the other door. But instead his response to our confused faces was to close the doors, trapping us between the door and the bar. Since we were lost as to where we should be going we just stood there until the bus driver loudly said something at us and when we didn't really respond he gave an exasperated sigh and pushed the bar lightly, making it swing forward with ease. So once again we were left the Stupid Americans, but we laughed out loud at our own inability to figure out this difficult task of pushing a bar.

Later on I stopped to look at a necklace stand outside our classrooms. The man who owned the stand (although it was more of a small pop-up table than an actual stand) told me how much the jewelry cost in German, then quickly repeated himself in Spanish, then followed that with "Habla espanol?" To which I happily replied, "Poquito," encouraged by the fact that he thought I looked like I spoke Spanish. We chatted for a little and I finally felt a little more comfortable in Germany.. Speaking Spanish.

Next time I see him I plan to ask him where he's from, and basically make him my new BFF so I can practice my Spanish. Yay.