Free Rice

Caleb has been playing this Free Rice game at school and of course I was a little skeptical (computer games at school? What exactly are my tax dollars paying for??) ...until I got hooked on it too. It's a vocabulary game where you improve your language skills and help feed the hungry at the same time. Click the banner and try it out. You don't have to sign up, give your e-mail or anything, just play the game and they will donate 20 grains of rice for each word you get correct. My highest level is 42. Caleb's is 22. There are 50 levels. Report back and tell us how high you get!

The Foolish Season

Now that Christmas is over, the decorations are down and the Bx has promptly installed all things Valentine-ish, it's time for the German community to prepare for Fasching, their name for the time leading up to Lent. It is something like Mardi Gras and also can be called Karneval, but I like this explanation best: die närrische Saison ("the foolish season"). They party, wear masks and costumes and have another excuse to eat, drink and be merry.

Along those lines, I have heard from two German sources that there is a day during Fasching (which lasts about a week and will end the night before Ash Wednesday, February 6th) in which the women and men party separately. Both of my sources indicated that men are aware of these groups of women partying alone and hence, there is a baby boom of sorts nine months later. (Note to self: watch the German baby announcements in November.) So, I guess that means that they're not really partying separately so much as they are partying separately from their significant other. I'm trying to think of a celebration in the States where things like this happen...hmmm...maybe bachelorette parties?

Promised Pictures

A few pictures from Jackie's visit over New Year's:

1. Jerry and Jackie at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.

2. The kids waiting outside McDonald's near the Louvre while the adults fight the crowds for burgers.

3. After the famous Go-Kart races. (Bobbi came in last.)

Just Checking In

It's been a little crazier than usual around here since the New Year started. I keep forgetting that I'm taking two upper level classes this semester (something my instructors haven't forgotten, unfortunately) and the kids have started basketball. The base is still nearly thirty minutes away no matter whether we take the autobahn or the village roads, so any extracurricular undertaking requires a large chunk of time especially on the part of the person with the driver's license. I'm sure this isn't an unusual complaint for all of my mom friends running the family shuttle bus, so I'll try to stop whining, put my coffee in a to-go cup, and hit the road.

I do have some great pictures from my sister's visit and I'm working on posting them, but first, I have a paper due. So, I'll sign off for now. Stay warm and dry!

Bobbi

P.S. A friend from our church lost her nephew in Iraq on January 9th. If you have a minute, please say a prayer for the wife and children he left behind. Thank you.