Sunday, February 23, 2014

Fasching in Tübingen

All throughout this month, Germany celebrates the coming of Spring, by "scaring" away the winter. This is done at large festivals of fire, music, and people dressed in scary costumes.  There are parades in small towns throughout Germany to celebrate.

I will point out some differences between these parades and other parades I have attended.

Last Sunday, there was a large parade in our town that lasted for 5 hours.  Before leaving, we dressed up a little, preparing for a "Carnival" experience, but it was nothing like "Carnival."


This is what it looked like outside our front door.


The parade consisted of groups dressed in very scary costumes to scare away the winter. They would dance, chant, scream. They would even "kidnap" children in the audience and run with them down the parade route. They would cover you with paint, throw glitter on you, try to surprise you with screams. If I were a child, I would be tormented by the parade! Adults of course loved it. 

They pass out candy to children and small bottles of liquor to adults. Damian got some liquor from one of them after they covered him with shredded paper.



The masks are pieces of art and some of them are hundreds of years old.






I was even frightened by some of them so I hide behind people in the crowd so they wouldn't come after me.



Different groups performed stunts at one point in the route.






I want to point out that there was plenty of drinking going on, but, unlike the South Side Irish Parade where people walk around with red Solo Dixie cups, the Germans walk around with glass pints!


Saturday, February 22, 2014

Celebrating 19 weeks of pregnancy by...

SKIING!

Damian and I went to the Black Forest two weekends ago where Damian hit the slopes for the first time (and I played it VERY safe on the slopes).

Europe is experiencing a very mild winter. So much so, that the town where we live has only had two days of snow, which never stuck to the ground. This is very unusual. We have had only a handful of HOURS below freezing temperatures.

We were jealous of all the crazy snow the U.S. was getting, so we trekked to the mountains to find some snow to play.

We stayed in a lovely Bed & Breakfast (no TV, no WIFI) and skied for two days.

Here are some pictures and a video of the weekend.




Stopping for lunch and hot chocolate...


A video of me casually skiing...



Saturday, February 1, 2014

Pregnancy in Germany - VERY different from the U.S.

I've never been pregnant anywhere else but Germany, but I do know a lot of people who have been pregnant in the U.S. and I can tell you that my experiences are vastly different. Here are some interesting differences that I've noticed so far:

1. Midwives: one is required by law at every childbirth. It is expected that I find a midwife during my pregnancy who stays with me throughout the nine months as well as assists during the first few months of the baby's life. My doctor recommended one for me and she is fabulous. She spends a lot of time with me when I go to my doctor's visits. I have her cell phone number and email address. When I broke out in a terrible rash, I sent her an email and she emailed me back a list of homeopathic treatments.

2. Medicines: natural remedies come first.  When I told my doctor I was dealing with horrible nausea during the first trimester, he gave me a list of natural remedies. I told him that I was drinking ginger tea and that seemed to help. He told me that it would be better to buy the actual ginger root, shred it, and boil it with water rather than buy the tea bags. I've never had a doctor in the U.S. up my game on a natural remedy!

3. Maternity leave + parental leave: a potential 14.5 months (YES - 14.5 months!) paid leave.  Maternity leave starts 6 WEEKS PRIOR to the birth of the baby PLUS 8 weeks after the baby is born. You receive FULL pay during these 14 weeks. THEN, starts the parental leave (taken by mother or both mother AND father) which is until the baby turns 1. With that you receive 67% of salary PLUS child's money (184 euros /month) to cover the extra expenses of raising a child.

4. Hospital stays: For vaginal delivery, the average stay for mother and baby in the hospital is 5-7 days (if everyone is healthy). It's much longer if there is something wrong or if it was a C-section.

5. Laws protecting the pregnant woman: Pregnant women are not allowed to work more than 8.5 hours / day, they're not allowed to work with chemicals, they're not allowed to be on their feet for an extended amount of time, they're not allowed to carry more than 5 kgs, and many more. If their job usually entails these things, the employer must make modifications for the expectant mothers.

6. Ultrasounds: doctor's love these. I have had an ultrasound every time I've visited the doctor. That would make 4 ultrasounds and I'm 18 weeks pregnant.

I'm sure there will be more along the way, but here were the first few outstanding ones.