Big update!

We finally have a small room to call our own, our process of converting the Relief Society room to an Institute Room. Too small now for the RS, as their numbers exceed the size, we have begun with repainting to a color other than white, have added some bookcases and have a small electronic piano and a TV monitor. Next we clear most of the chairs out for our needs, add a comfortable sofa, a table and cabinet for computers, a pull-down screen for videos and we are in business. More to follow.

And Friday night was Activitäten Abend for the Young Adults here and we had a little ping pong play in the building. Dave also was at home cooking up hot Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine for the kids. Cost to eat?Well we do charge a Euro (€), about $1.35. Not bad for noodles, chicken, rice and curried vegetables.

The snow finally hits Germany, at least our area and Marie is more than happy with the falling crystals. Only bad side of this message is she doesn't have to drive in it, clean the snow and ice off the car or walk into the piles of it in a suit...But is was pretty and the snow quietly falling during the night added a serene picture to a cold winter.

We shop often in our neighborhood--streets filled with small little businesses making a living from those in the area. There are many Asian and Mid-eastern shops catering to the local Ausländeren (foreigners) living here, making a start in Germany that they are unable to have in their homelands of Vietnam, China, Turkey or Iran. We are just another of those, but we do like the variety. The SPAR is our local shop, complete with a small produce section, dairy and can goods, it serves us well, with our young checkout clerk from Morocco. And, did I mention, it has a very accommodating bakery as well with fresh baked breads, those brötchen, fresh fruit torten and my favorite "schwarz und weiß" muffins. Marie says they are not really muffins, but big chocolate and white cupcakes. I say they are muffins, ´cause that is what the sign says. So, I will call them muffins and have an occasional one for breakfast.

Today, Saturday, was market day. The big market show comes to Findorff on Tuesday, Thursday and of course the big day, Saturday. The neighborhood waits patiently for these days to buy fresh produce, baked goods, fish and sausages brought in for the big day.

Today, however, it was really cold and only the true shopper made the walk to the Markt Platz for the morning wares. It was low 20s with a 16 mph SE wind blowing in from Belgium and Holland that kept the wimps at bay. We, however, are dumb Californians and are ready for any experience. So we trudge through the snow and ice covered cobblestone walks and drives and cover our heads with stocking caps just to get a few items from the street vendors that we could have easily gotten from the SPAR store. But it wouldn´t have been as much fun.

We find local farmers bringing in their vegetables of all varieties. Potatoes in 8 sizes and shapes. Carrots, Beets, Radishes, Turnips the size of soccer balls and root-celery you could use as bowling balls. We see mandarin oranges and clementines from Spain and Portugal. Apples from Poland, France and Germany that are not the perfect round fruit we are used to seeing in the American Supermarkets, but odd shaped and natural--juicy and flavorful. We have grapes from Italy and Greece, Kohlrabi from the Netherlands. Pineapples and Kiwis from some island nation and dates and nuts from the Middle-east. Then there are the flowers. Lots of them from Holland and Denmark to add color and scent to the homes.

Then there is the meat vendors. I have never seen so much variety of sausages and pork cuts in all my life. Fresh chickens, goose, ducks and fowls hanging from the canopies ready to wrap up and take home for Sunday dinner.

Fresh fish vendors are easily located--just breathe deeply. Fish from the North Sea, the Baltic, the Med, the Atlantic. All varieties are here to wrap in paper and provide the variety in life. King of all fish here has got to be the herring. Yes, you find it smoked, roasted, whole, halved, diced, mashed, pulverized, dried, mealed, swimming in beet juice, or yogurt, rolled with skins, without skins, or in an interesting torte with vegetables and jellied, kind of like a jello-surprise. No surprise here, Marie will not have seconds! Note: Marie does like smoked salmon and smoked trout, but was not real fond of the smoked aal (that´s eel). Somehow the thought of eating a slimy water snake was not first on the menu.

Say Cheeeeze. I have not seen a larger variety of cheese in my life. Rows and rows of cheese from all lands and cultures. Some you can smell for miles. Others are rather original in their size and flavor. But when you find the ones you like and the vendor that delivers the goods the way you like it, then the line forms to the right and "please be patient" while we slice or cut a wedge, "that is 250 grams for you today of the Gouda, any other wish for you today, Frau Müller, that´ll be 3 Euro 90, and have a lovely weekend, until Tuesday". NEXT!

The bakeries. OK, I admit, this might be my favorite trailers or wagons at the market. Breads & rolls often cooked right there in the early morning. Fresh whole grain breads of mixed flours that would keep you warm and satisfied for days. And let me tell you, heavy German breads. No imports needed here. Some of these examples of German dough engineering could have been used as bunkers blocks during WWII. But, by far, our favorites are the Berliners(just your average filled donut) with marmalade, applesauce or cream filling. Then there are the Quark Bällchen(a curd cheese donut ball, lightly sugared) that is best when cooked in front of you and eaten warm as you walk back to the apartment in the cold.

Ah, the market, complete with spice vendors, clothing shops, gift merchants, hot soups, roasted bratwurst and potato pancake vendors to make your trip worth the walk.

"Well, Marie, we have our fresh celery, the quark balls, eggs, clementines and a little fresh Emmentaller cheese that I can put on those fresh rolls...any thing else dear? Eel? OK, Oh, and do we have just a few minutes to get a potato pancake order, you know, with the applesauce all over them? 'Cause we won´t be back here until Tuesday!"