Virtually UNVIRTUAL

Almost no internet access right now... I have a few minutes on my Dad's laptop and that is all. Connection too slow to even load Facebook.

I am taking deep breaths and trying to remember the beautiful German countryside that I toured today. I... must... survive... without... Internet. I need to repeat this mantra every time I look at my lonely little laptop with photos that I can't upload.

We took a train from Berlin to Kassel. It was nice to get out of the big city and into the German countryside. Here is the birthplace of the fairy tales (although the locals will hotly debate who actually wrote them, so don't ask...) Our train arrived late, so we only saw part of the Water display at Wilhelmshohe castle, but it was beautiful! The grounds there are heavenly. The museum inside has Rembrandts and other famous pieces of work, but when I asked about them, my cousins didn't seem too impressed. I hope I can see them anyway, but I don't have high hopes.

I'm getting really homesick. I miss my kids. I almost had a nervous breakdown yesterday evening because I started missing home so much. You can't imagine how much pressure there is when you are with relatives and they know that you know SOME German, so they keep asking you questions which you can't understand! Between relatives that ich konnte nicht verstehen and menus that ich konnte nicht verstehen and changing hotel rooms and cities and still being jetlagged, I am feeling really overwhelmed.

All is well and I am more grateful than ever before for the luxuries of air conditioning and a washing machine. There's no place like home.