We declared this our "American week" had lots of fun visiting the castle and going to the American diner. Then on Sunday, another one of our friends was going to be in the area and invited us to go to the military base in Landstuhl, which contains my favorite fast food place, Taco Bell. That morning, we ate a small brunch and headed to the train station. Our military ID-holding friend had a series of Schaden with his Wagen, which ended in train evacuation, so we ended up with a lot of spare time in Landstuhl. Even though we weren't due to arrive at the base until 4pm or later, my friend and I opted for pre-Taco Bell ritual fasting. Instead we walked around desolate Landstuhl.
I'm not sure if Landstuhl is always desolate, or if it was deserted because it was Sunday and this is Germany. Either way, the first thing we saw when we got off the train was a bunch of closed sketchy strip clubs, possibly because of the nearby military base.
It took us about 30 min to walk around the whole city and all the while it was almost entirely devoid of all life. Every time a car slowed near us I half-expected someone in the car to roll down their window and yell "Hej Mädels, was geht???" Despite my friend's well documented creeper-magnet, no one approached us. I always swear that military bases give the surrounding cities an American touch. In Landstuhl's case, I think that touch was in the form of a tanning bed. I should also add that a lot of shops in Landstuhl looked like they hadn't quite gotten over the 70s.
The military base was mini-America. People talked to us in English, expected us to pay with American money, no one was wearing scarves inside, no one was wearing skinny jeans, people were wearing sports jerseys and t-shirts, things were open on Sunday, they gave us plastic bags to put our groceries in, and I saw one or two men with their sun glasses stored on the back of their heads. It was a complete culture shock, but there was Taco Bell. After the ritual fasting, we were both pretty hungry. So hungry that we ate 2 meals in 2 hours
Please note the times on these two receipts. Our first meal was at 4:44pm and our second was at 6:15pm. Our fasting really did pay off! Both times I paid with my American credit card, since I had only euros. The second time the cashier asked for my ID and then looked at me and said "Nevermind, I saw your ID already!" Maybe I should've felt shame, but I would do anything for love Taco Bell. In between the two meals, we shopped at the Exchange and bought lots of American candy and Girl Scout cookies. I also bought hot salsa. As I've said before, spiciness is simply not a thing in Germany. Hopefully I haven't lost my tolerance in my time here. Fountain pop is also not regularly sold in Germany and I was pretty excited to see and use a real fountain pop machine. I even took a picture.
I'm sure all the Americans that witnessed this photograph were thinking "What is that girl's PROBLEM?", but once again, I simply don't care. My only disappointment for the base was that they didn't carry my favorite menu item, the cheesy bean & rice burrito. I guess I have something to look forward to in the US.
The next day it was time to go to Frankfurt for our mid-year seminar. I can't believe that half of my time in Germany has already been spent! I had a really great time being reunited with all my friends and meeting people in the program I had never really gotten to spend time with. We also go to see The Who's Tommy at the English Theatre in Frankfurt, which was really fun! When I got home, I felt sad that the next time all 75 of us would be together would be for our end of the year seminar.
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