Weather

Well folks, as I settle into the routine of daily classes and appointments, there is one unpredictable force that is continually interfering with my plans: weather. I know Colorado has crazy weather, but I am coming to realize that Colorado weather is a predictable crazy. In Colorado, I can usually depend on a lovely sunny morning, to soften the blow of wildly unpredictable afternoons. Here, every day is a gamble. I wake up and think, oh what a lovely day, sunny, light breeze...I think I shall wear short sleeves and a light jacket. Lo and behold, I walk out of the building and look in the other direction only to be confronted with a near dead-on re-creation of the scene from the Wizard of Oz right before a cow flies by and the witch rides by in the air on her bicycle. Suddenly my light jacket feels paper thin and I despair that I once again forgot my umbrella. These sorts of days generally end in me walking back inside at the end of the day sopping wet. On the other hand, sometimes I look outside, see the dark clouds and think...ok we're in for another rainy day. I open my window, feel the cool temperatures and responsibly don long sleeves, a jacket and my vest. 2 hours later, as I leave my class, I encounter a hot blast of air as I exit the building. Within minutes I am shedding layers and sweating like its going out of style. What is equally baffling is that the Germans are all just as confused and unprepared as I am! 

Well, all of this came to a hilarous head last weekend at a birthday celebration for one of my good friends here, Marcel. We decided to have a lovely little grill party outside. We borrowed tables from the landlord, set up our grill and had a great feast spread before us. From my side of the table, I praised the beautiful weather, blue skies and sunshine. The person sitting across from me suggested that I look a little more thoroughly into the weather in the whole sky before making that glowing prognosis. Upon turning around, the aforementioned Wizard of Oz scene dampened my spirits a bit. A few minutes later, we heard thunder in the distance. Then the wind picked up. We started packing up just as the heavens opened up and began dumping buckets of rain. Being fairly well-sheltered under a thick canopy of trees, we decided to wait it out and move the party inside after the flash downpour was over. Simultaneously eating and packing up, our attention was abruptly called to a lound "thump" on the table. An ominous icy-orb lay in the midst of our food. It quickly became apparent that we had no chance of making it inside in this hail storm. Most of us headed as fast as we could to the base of a large tree nearby. Huddled all together, we hoped to mostly escape bodily harm. At this point, I was laughing hysterically  (perhaps due to the large hailstone that had thunked me on the head as I fled towards the tree). This laughing was only exacerbated when I noticed that 3 people had taken shelter under the picnic table and that one of those three, Sophie, was calmly sitting on the ground with a fork and a huge salad bowl, eating.

The outside portion of the party ended in a hasty cleanup and soggy walk back to our building, but we continuted the celebration indoors late into the night. More good memories and fun times with friends. How thankful I am for my life here (even in spite of the fickle weather!)