I gone not wild

It's spring break again. But I'm not a student anymore. For me, it's business as usual. I can't go wild anymore.
Because there was always such a long time between my posts I decided to put some photo posts, so that you will see something new each time you visit my blog. The first photo will be me working instead spring breaking and flashing my man boobs.

Into Africa

... and my brother Kamal got engaged to Haimen from Ethiopia. They decided to have their wedding in Ethiopia. With that it was clear, my first destination in Africa will be Ethiopia. I combined my trip to Ethiopia with a trip to Germany. I left with my family Germany on a gray and rainy day. A day in Germany in January means the felt 5 minutes between sunrise and sunset. In Ethiopia sunrise and sunset are always at 6. Day and night are always 12 hours long. And the only seasons they have in Ethiopia is rainy season in June-July and dry season the rest of the year. 
We were invited to dinner with the family of the bride Tuesday evening. It was the first time we met. I told Haimen, I want to dance Ethiopian dances on her wedding and need to practice. To see how it is danced, we crushed a party of her neighbors. But you don't learn dancing by just watching - I guess that's why the party guests dragged me to the middle of the dance floor and so I was learning by dancing. Soon, a dozen cell phone cameras were pointed on the ferengy on the dance floor. Before I left, the party host thanked me for crushing his party.
Addis Ababa has a lot of traffic and almost no traffic light. A city without traffic light is cool and frightening at the same time. When you sit in a bus (blue donkey) that is in the middle of a main intersection, you either can trust that the driver knows what he does or you panic.
Sometimes grooms do a terrible mistake and choose a wrong guy to be best man. My brother didn't do that mistake. Instead he didn't want to have a best man. In such a case you can tell everyone you are the best man - at some point even bride and groom fell for that. At least my brother and my sister in law did when I pulled that. And I'm the best in being the best - that's why my sister in law asked me to be her best friend soon after. I'm sorry for Haimen's former best friends to hear it that way: you are history.
Let me come to an end with these words: Kamal's wife, you are now part of the family.

My Bro and my Besti

New Year's Day

It's time for a recap of the year. It's bragging time. A lot happened last year. I became old, and with that I started to tell stories and by stories I mean ancient histories from the good old days, which don't make always sense and are hard to understand by the young folks. Of course my stories begin always with "when I was your age ...".
There were a lot of firsts last year. My first skiing, my first snowshoeing, and more important the first time I carried a snowshoe (+ the second and third time). I finished my first triathlon, shined in a book club for the first time, had my first second Thanksgiving dinner, the first new years eve in US, and had my first trip to Germany (living for more than 20 years in Germany is not a trip). I played in a movie and run through a music video. I watched the Superbowl game, well the first quarter at least, and I slept at a Major League Baseball game. My first 4th of July firework and sledding on labor day. I become for the first time a loan shark. I went to Chicago and saw the Baha'i house of worship in Wilmette. My new goal is to see all other Baha'i houses of worships.
From the facial-hair-style point of view, I went last year from shaved over a goatee period to stubble. The stubble has of course the "I give a damn" look and it takes more time to groom that look than it takes for a clean shave. Stubble is called in German "Dreitagebart" which means three-day-beard and my is now 103 days old. Is there anything else you want to know?

Shaved on the 1st Germany trip

Goatee Period

With stubble in Chicago

Now, let me come to the new year. My new year's resolution is to use more hand gestures while I talk. Basically, it means I want to talk more Italian. This year, I will do some epic travels. I am going to go to Africa. It's funny how that came. It all started when I was your age ...

Being Kenny McCormick

One advantage of being in the US is I can speak to other people in their language. In general that works fine, but from time to time I have difficulties to understand some people and they have problems to understand me. People, who are not used to my heavy German accent, have the biggest problems. There are the weirdest misunderstandings. For example when I ordered a club sandwich in a restaurant and  I got a cup of soup, or when I asked for a glass of water and the waitress asked: "What? Vodka?", or when I said: "I am from north Germany" and Rezal said: "You are not from Germany? I though you are. I'm confused". The funny thing is that there are always other people who understand me. That makes me feel like characters in TV shows, who speak in a language which is understood by people in the TV show while the audience does not understand anything. For example all adults in "The Peanuts", Kenny in "South Park", Yen in "Oceans Eleven", or short police man in "Cool McCool". Being that person is not healthy: Yen breaks his hands, short police man is always beaten up by his colleges, and Kenny dies in each episode.

Some people told me I have a British accent. I guess, I speak some words with a British and some with an American accent. People here only notice the British accent of course. In school I learned British English. For example, they taught me flat instead apartment. People here look a bit confused when I talk about my flatmate. Instead period I learned full stop. A typical sentence Americans say is: "Because I said so, period!" (usually, followed by a "yeehaw" shout and wild firing in the air) while I say: "Because I said so, full stop!" (usually, followed by a sip from my 3 o'clock tea).

The Very Odd Couple

This story happened to me last year. I was on my way home and I entered with a neighbor the elevator. The neighbor was really curious and started to ask me all sort of questions. Interesting enough the only question he did not ask was what my name is. Anyhow, he asked me when I moved in. After I answered, he asked me if I live with my wife in the apartment or if I live alone. I answered: "I'm not married and I share the apartment with a roommate". He made a wondering face, than he asked: "Roommate? Male or female roommate?" I said: "Male". He rolled his eyes and said: "You need a girlfriend." I rolled my eyes and said: "I know!"
We live in a time where people are not anymore interested in philosophical questions like: Who are we? Why are we here? Instead people are busy with really silly questions like: Are Sesame Street's Ernie and Bert only roommates or are they "roommates"?