My car arrived, as promised, 50 days after it was shipped via boat, and I successfully picked it up, which took 3/4 of the day, including taking the driver's test.
After all of that, I was really exhausted, for some reason. It didn't help that my sleep schedule is off because I was super naughty and took a long nap on Sunday and am still out of sorts. I think I was also really stressed out about passing the driver's test for my military driver's license (which will allow me to drive my car here; the other option was to get a German driver's license and the procedures to get it are very stringent and it's super costly). I passed the test with a 90%; an 85% is required to get the license, so I was fine there. I know that I got the questions wrong on how long one's license will be suspended if one drives drunk. I didn't study that part adequately because I don't plan to drink and drive here; the laws are super stringent and a person could have trouble after drinking just two drinks.
Anyway, I am very happy to have my car. I have been building it up in my head all the awesome things I can do with the car. Do I envision a trip to France? Do I see a trip to Baden Baden to enjoy the spa?
No, my longings are as such: I want to take a trip to Globus, which is just in town (but many bus transfers between the east and west sides of town, with buses that don't run super often, so taking the bus there would take a good portion of the evening). I want to buy black olives and insulated leggings (those two purchases are not related). I look forward to returning some glass bottles to the store to help someone out. I want to stop by one of the bases and register for German classes. I might even go all-out crazy and even take a cake decorating class. Such aspirations, eh?
I thought that I would start on some of those adventures tonight after work, but I was just too tired. Instead, I thought I'd go hog-wild and shop at the Commissary at a very leisurely pace. Since I wouldn't be walking back with my purchases, I could buy something totally extravagant and somewhat heavy (at least for the purposes of walking long distances): a case of Diet A&W root beer (*swoon*). I might even lose my mind and buy some kitty litter, which also is heavy and not fun to cart around. I happily drove up there only to be reminded by closed doors that it's not open today. D'oh.
Still feeling wild and crazy (but also exhausted), I did party hard by driving to check my mail and then stop by the restaurant on base. I was cold and tired and wanted something warm and cooked to eat (vs. either a cold can of lentil soup or hummus on a pita that was waiting for me at the hotel). Sweet potatoes were on the menu, and that sounded so good and somewhat healthy. I then saw that the sweet potatoes were the kind that had marshmallows on top. What?? That seems so unGerman but since this was on base and geared toward Americans, I shouldn't have been so surprised that the chefs tried out an American recipe. I have always been totally grossed out by sweet potatoes that have the unmelted marshmallows on them, but these marshmallows were melted, and didn't look too bad, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was thinking that the melted marshmallows were just a garnish and the whole thing wouldn't be super sweet.
What I actually ordered, it turned out, was more of dessert. I kid you not - I think that there was lots of sugar, brown sugar, butter, and maybe even pineapple juice dumped into it. It was somewhat good - but then it was also cloyingly sweet. I'm not attributing this to the German chefs; I'm quite sure that this is all American. I know that Southerners eat junk like this - but is it this ridiculous? And, how stupid am I? I order a root vegetable covered in melted marshmallows, and I think it's not going to be sickeningly sweet. Smooth move.
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