Germans do not pick up hitchhikers. We ended up taking a train that got in at around midnight, and were collected at the station by Tobi’s mom. So I’ve been staying at Tobi’s house in Kehl for the past few days, with his mom, Heike, her boyfriend, Stefan, and his half-brother, Christopher (Tobi’s, not Stefan’s). They are all genuine, fantastic people, and I felt instantly welcomed and accepted by everyone, save for Pino, the vicious and vocal guard dog, who doesn’t seem to understand that I actually love dogs, and am not intending to intrude on his domain. Until now, I have never encountered a dog who actively dislikes me, but Pino has taken it upon himself to stake out the bottom of the stairs and sound the alarm if I even try to come down into the kitchen, body-blocking the hallway - no easy feat for a creature who weighs maybe 30 lbs soaking wet.
The house is absolutely perfect - beautiful, but with a distinct feeling of being a home. In german, you'd call it "gemuetlich," which roughly translates to "cozy." All over, there are bits and pieces of personality integrated into the structure of the place - Heike is a holistic alternative medicine practitioner, and has her office/studio where she sees patients attached to the house. Apparently, it used to be a garage, but Tobi and a friend finished and remodeled the whole thing, converting it into a serenely bohemian but still professional space complete with a sitting area, a chiropractic/massage table, soft-light sconces built into the stucco, and one wall of floor-to-ceiling shelving full of mason jars and vials of medicinal herbs and minerals. Tobi also built a pull-out shelf over his bed that functions as a retractable night stand, a spring-loaded door to the attic/sunroom that latches automatically so as not to bang down on your head, and a perfectly level, fully functional pool table out of wood from his brother's old bunk bed.
After a full night's sleep and my first proper breakfast in weeks, we spent most of the first day on a tour of Kehl. As Tobi pointed out, you can see the whole city in an hour, so we biked to France. It is worth noting that in this case, France is about 10 minutes away, since Kehl shares a border with Strasbourg. So, not really the epic international bike tour one might imagine, but nonetheless, I got to flex my somewhat atrophied French language skills in a real live French riverbank cafe.
Ici on se trouve en France!
The other night, we went to a small BBQ party to surprise Tobi's friends who didn't yet know he was back in Kehl. There was a distinct language barrier, but fortunately drinking games are universal, in that they don't require much intelligent conversation. We played Kings [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_(card_game)] which got interesting when I became the question master. Since I was already pretty much constantly lost in a vortex of slightly intoxicated German chatter, it certainly didn't help to make everyone drink copious amounts of watermelon vodka any time they would translate for me or fill me in on what had just happened.
Most of the guys at the party were old soccer teammates from the regional club league (where Tobi was the goal-keeper), and therefore had each been permanently assigned a nickname whether they liked it or not. Tobi wouldn't tell me his nickname, but his friends informed me that he's called "Muskeln" which means "muscles." He'd swear up and down that it's a silly name and he has no idea why they call him that, but this picture might shed some light on how the title originated...
During our travels together, and especially over the past few days here, we've bonded over a shared affinity for eyebrows, heavy bread, the color lime green, and putting peanut butter on everything. And as much as I generally prefer to travel alone than with friends, Tobi has a few more weeks of free-time and can raise each eyebrow independently of one-another, so I invited him to come with me to Spain. Tonight we're taking the overnight train to Barcelona, starting in Strasbourg. Heike drove us to the station, and we said our goodbyes, but not before she invited me to come back to Kehl and stay with them for longer next time. I... think I will. Someday. Schaun mer mal (we'll see...)
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