Merry holidays. . . mostly

I'm at friend Gymmy's in Stuttgart. His mother made big feast again this year for Christmas Eve (she's German, and that's the German way).

This year we had a smaller gathering -- just seven of us. After dinner, we watched Kung Fu Panda (see photo of some of us on the bed), then we all played Scattergories. I came in third out of five. . .

This morning I've had my good German breakfast, put together by Gymmy's mother. Bread, cheese, meats, and good coffee. Mmmmmmmm. Not a bad way to start the day.

Tonight we're going to see Australia. Tomorrow, by German tradition, is the second German Christmas. It's also a holiday here. Many German families go out to a restaurant for a good meal. I don' think we have any plans. LATER: We didn't go to see Australia after all.

Okay, so all of that is the "merry holidays." Now for the "mostly" part.

I received word yesterday that dear friend Vic Heyman is dying -- as in he will likely be taken off of his respirator any time now. (See my summer 2007 blog entry) Vic and wife Reba have been nicknamed the godparents of modern folk music. They've been an integral part of the folk music community for years, and I've known them for about the last 13 of them. Vic and Reba are both very dear to me, and I haven't really been able to process this yet.

It's a hit!

My friend Gymmy Harris was a hit in his (almost) one-man show, David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries. I saw the Off Base English Theater production Friday night in Stuttgart.

Let it snow!

I guess it's been snowing in a lot of places. My friend Whit sent me this from Whidby Island, WA -- this is what he's been doing in his spare time. Yeah, I did find it a little funny. He's in his 20s, okay? Whit's one of the Navy guys I volunteered with in Iraq.

Bella Italia!

Here I am with the gladiators outside of the Coliseum.

I just returned from 10 days in Rome. Friend RB and I rented an absolutely amazing apartment close to Campo dei Fiore (read great location) and were ladies of leisure. . . slept late, ate well, toured and shopped and drank good vino.
This is the living room of our apartment.

A number of people have asked about the flooding. We stayed a block from the River Tiber and had no problems.

You see, about a hundred years ago there was a great flood and the Romans built up walls by the river so they wouldn't have to deal with that kind of flooding again. And at least in the massive city center, there was no flooding and we had no problems whatsoever.

We could see that the water level in the river had raised greatly. We heard stories. But things were fine for these two tourists. We didn't even have any problems with rain. The most we encountered while we were out was light rain. Sometimes it poured while we were in museums but never while we were outside.

I guess all good things must come to an end, but it was great while it lasted.

looking back

Shortly before I left, I found out that volunteers could watch surgeries. This is me preparing to go watch the docs work on a trauma patient. The soldier had been hit by an IED but had mostly shrapnel wounds and a couple of moderately serious wounds that he would definitely survive.

This was on one of the t-walls at the entrance to the hospital. I always got a kick out of the BADASS surgeons.

The first patient I helped offload from a helicopter was a Marine colonel who'd been shot in the head. This is the last guy I helped offload, a soldier whose vehicle had been hit by an IED.

Here I am with friend Bruno in my office in Iraq on one of my last days there.

This is teammate Donna and I as we were preparing to board the C-130 to leave Balad.

the holiday season

I finally have internet access at home, just as I'm leaving (tomorrow) for Italy.

I've been looking through pictures from last year's Christmas markets here in Germany and thought I'd share a few from the Stuttgart market (above -- first picture is of myself with friend GymmyHarris and another Red Crosser whose name I've forgotten) and the Passau market (below).

roaming around

I've been back in Germany for a week and have done very little. Here's the latest. . .
 
Thanksgiving was spent with Priscilla, Charlie and about 15 of their friends -- American, German and Irish. A fun mix of people, good food, good German beer.
 
Friday I went with P&C and two others to the Golden Lamb for that fresh trout and also spaetzle (my favorite German noodle) and a nice glass of white wine. The restaurant was busy so didn't get to visit much with Elfriede and Ewald, the owners, but will see them again soon, I'm sure. Wonderful all the way around.
 
I thought my cold had come and gone, but it's lingering in my sinuses. I'm off to the PX to get some meds in a bit, and I'm loading up on Vitamin C. Gotta get well because. . .
 
I'm meeting Ronda in Rome on Friday. We're staying for 10 days. We'll be in Rome part of the time and somewhere on the Amalfi Coast part of the time. Don't ask me which parts are where OR exactly where OR for how long. I've been an incredibly lazy bum and was stretching things to lift that little finger to get a plane ticket. Procrastination is my middle name.
 
I've unpacked half of both foot lockers. I've cooked dinner about three times and have had leftovers. I have a growing mound of laundry to do before Friday, and then some packing to do. I've been sleeping a lot, watching movies, reading, writing Christmas cards (am doing it the old-fashioned way this year with NO printed group letter inside -- instead, I'm advising people to read my blog to catch up).
 
This afternoon I'm heading to Regensburg to find a Christmas market. The city has three, and I'm looking for the Lucrezia Markt, the one that has handcrafted items. I have a couple of last-minute Christmas items to find. Last-minute because I need to get things in the mail before I leave on Friday.
 
Gotta get going.

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