All is right, all is good

The skies are bluer than night should allow, yet the moon still refuses to hide behind the thin sheets of clouds surrounding the southern part of Germany. Day three in this colorful place, and we are heading for French borders in the morning. Within 72 hours I have seen the bright and the seedy, and I'm still alive. Travelers German suffices enough with the locals, as long as my butchered sentences are followed quickly by a sleek and apologetic smile. Sierra has a wonderful and exuberant family, giving me the energy to see and feel and taste and touch.

After one of the scariest nights of my life, I am back in the warmth of the countryside and my belly is full of random breads and cabbage soup. When in Rome, right? Hey, it's almost freezing here already, and it's even more of an excuse to duck into cafes several times a day. Yet, how many times can I mess up the word "cappuccino?" Perhaps my english isn't as solid as I thought all of these years.

My mornings are filled with tasty breads, my afternoons with scenic walks in and out of the city, and my nights full of mayhem and regrets. For a few wretched hours I felt how it was to be homeless, just as the winds of winter set in and I forgot to wear socks.

The good news- I was neither robbed nor raped. I am not sure if the phrase, "Stop, I am an American citizen," still has any pull in this region, but for some reason it is always on the tip of my tongue, especially when I find myself alone and dizzy in the streets.

The bad news- my tiny little soul was more than shaken by the events of last night, and it takes me about ten times longer to get over a trauma than it does to experience it. So I have lost faith in 99% of German men, no longer have any directional skills, and am minus 70 euros for a shitty hotel. On top of it all, upon waking this morning, I realized had a broken door and had been unlocked all night.

Now I sit and wait for my self-prescribed sleep medicine to kick in. Who knew motion sickness medicine could be so efficient at making you pass the night? I've always had trouble sleeping anyway.

So much is going on here, and yet I still have distractions back in Texas. And boy is he handsome.