Veterinarian Review: Dr. Rahimi, Kaiserslautern

The little tables next to the orange chairs say "for your cat box" so owners can put the cage on top of it :)

Kleintierpraxis Rahimi
Lothringer Dell 48, Kaiserslautern

• Clean, cosy office
• English-speaking staff (at times, you might need to speak a little more slowly for undertanding)
• Open until 7 p.m. (great for those who work)
• Kind veterinarian, who takes the time (and treats!) to help the animal feel more comfortable
• Located in a residential area in the west side of Kaiserslautern
• A few parking spots in front of the practice but mostly street parking
• Cat boarding is available
• Physiotherapy is available for dogs
• Wide variety of medical treatments for dogs, cats, and other small animals, including surgery, laboratory work, dentistry, etc.
• Only cash or German EC (debit card) accepted; payment is expected at time of service

I took Moo to this vet for an appointment and wrote more about it here, but thought I'd give a quick synopsis in this post. I was happy with the service that Dr. Rahimi gave and especially like how he treated Moo.

Some resources for being vegan in Germany

Being vegan takes a bit of added work, but that doesn't mean that one must be stuck eating uninspired salads. Doing a bit of research first makes all the difference. Earlier I wrote some tips for being vegan in Germany. Now I'll share some helpful sources.

• Happy Cow is a restaurant guide with reviews and listings of vegan restaurants around the world and there is coverage of many areas in Germany. It's a great way to identify some restaurants of interest. There is also information about vegan stores, organizations, and even B&Bs! 
• A Vegetarian in Germany is an eclectic blog filled with useful reviews of restaurants in and around Saarbrücken (as well as information about living in the area). The author provides helpful information about the menus and the ability of the restaurants to cook vegetarian and vegan dishes or modify existing dishes.
• Finding Vegan Strength blogger Shannon G. wrote a comprehensive guide to being vegan that was featured on the Germany Ja! blog.
• Visit the Reformhaus. What, go to jail, you ask? No, silly, go to the health food store; Reformhaus is the German name for that. (I love the name, because I imagine that if the store could talk, it would say that it intends to reform people into veggie and organic eating machines). Alnatura is a chain of health food stores in Germany.
• Use the interwebs as additional inspiration and a DIY approach; find a new favorite blog or recipe website for ideas. I recently stumbled across The Vegan Stoner and was totally charmed by the site's adorable illustrations and easy, delicious recipes. I have to admit that I a bit confused about the "Stoner" part of the title (after all, there didn't seem to be hemp seed recipes or anything like that). I read on the site that the recipes are so simple that even a stoner could make them. Um, okay. It's a cute site though.

Being vegan in Germany: at home, at a friend's, and at the restaurant

Well, here I am, 30 days into the Vegan Pact I made with some friends. Being vegan in Germany isn't the easiest thing ever, but then again, it's not the hardest thing, either. I would say that it takes some planning and thought, and I would rate it as a bit more difficult than it is to do in the US. I'll discuss some considerations.

At Home
Being vegan at home is the easiest place to do so. Once you have some staples of vegan cooking, it's reasonably easy to whip up something.  I am a huge fan of stockpiling vegan cooking staples to throw together quickly. I will also admit that I'm naughty when I'm a vegan: I don't always buy fresh fruits and vegetables so I turn to dried, canned and frozen goods to take me through the busy times (which is mostly all the time for me).

At a Friend's House
Oh boy, this can get awkward. It's always such a kindness when a friend invites you over for dinner and who wants to hurt someone else's feelings by saying that you can't eat something she cooked for you?

There are several different approaches to take with this. First of all, let your friend know that you appreciate the invitation. Explain that you're vegan and you do have some dietary restrictions; would it be possible to accommodate them? Elaborate on what you can/can't eat as not everyone understands what goes along with being vegan. Offer to bring something (at least you'll have a "safe" thing to eat then). Perhaps you can eat the side dishes? Be diplomatic and be careful with your friend's feelings. After all, she probably just wants to spend a nice evening together and here you're giving her a list of what you can't/can't eat!

At the Restaurant
I have found that being vegan in a traditional German restaurant can be somewhat difficult. Much of German food focuses on meat and potatoes. The potatoes might include some sort of meat (such as Speck)  and/or might be covered in some sort of cheese or cream sauce. Even the salads tend to have dairy in the form of yogurt or cream dressings.

It's not impossible to eat vegan at most German restaurants, but you'll have to think carefully and there's a strong likelihood that you'll end up with a green salad topped with some sort of vinegar and oil dressing. Perhaps a dish can be made in a vegan fashion? It never hurts to ask. If that fails, check out the side dishes and see if a combination of those works.

That's not my favorite dinner, so I like to take a different route for dining out in Germany: I try to visit ethnic restaurants or vegetarian/vegan restaurants. For ethnic foods, I love Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Mexican restaurants. It's easy enough to find vegetarian and vegan foods there.  Even better yet is to visit a vegetarian and vegan restaurant. They're not super common but they are out there.

My Week: November 30 ed.

-With this blog entry, I have completed the NaBloPoMo challenge of posting a blog entry for each day of the month. I'm glad to have met goal and hope that I didn't drive people too crazy with so much to read. Then I realized: yinz probably have the wherewithal to stop reading should it have been too much.

-I heard somewhere that doves are really just white pigeons. I have no idea if this is true or not and I have no plans to research it (so take what I say at face value) because I like the idea of  them being the same. Pigeons deserve equal rights!

-I don't know what the heck is up with me lately, but I've been cutting my thumb on things. Last week I gave myself a nasty paper cut and wondered: why do they hurt so much? It wasn't even deep but did it hurt! Then I cut my thumb again on a container this week and my thumb bled like crazy. Dang.

-I returned from Berlin on Monday. Well, technically, by the time I dropped my friend off and came home, it was Tuesday.

-The friend who's been staying with me told me about her weekend with Moo while I was gone. Apparently she was concerned about him because he didn't leave his new moohouse/bed all day and wasn't interested in the potato chip she offered him. I told her that he was probably just being lazy. She agreed because the next day he ate the potato chip and chased a twist tie. I thought that her concern was sweet. We hypothesized that he might have missed me. Another friend who's watched Moo for me in the past said that on the first day, Moo had ignored him but on the second Moo demanded attention.

-I met with my German tandem speaking partner and it was a pleasant reunion. It's been almost a month since we've met since we were both too busy.

-My friend and I had a German-Eritrean-American Thanksgiving experience.

-I took Moo to the vet after work. He was not very pleased to be stuffed into the cat carrier and let out some very mournful moos! I did come home to a very nice pasta dinner that my friend staying with me made. Moo "recovered" by laying in his moobed and looking sad. He does not enjoy road trips.

-Friend C and I took a trip to Düsseldorf to see the Christmas markets and the city, too. On the way home, we made a  short side trip to Cologne to visit a Christmas market that's a bit different from the others and were glad we did.

Moo goes to the vet in Kaiserslautern

 I needed to take Moo to the vet (for a non-emergency) so I decided to try Dr. Rahimi, a vet in the west side of Kaiserslautern.  My friend had taken her cat there and had a positive experience so I thought I'd give him a try.

I was pleased to see that the practice offers evening hours, which are especially useful for those who work. It's open until 7 p.m. every weeknight and on Saturdays from 10-11 a.m. My appointment was at 6 p.m. and the waiting room was packed with people who looked as if they had just gotten out of work. I waited about half an hour until Moo was seen but didn't mind as the doctor worked through the roomful of patients quickly.

I liked Dr. Rahimi and his "Moo-side manner." He was gentle with Moo, seeing that he was a bit nervous. He gave him some kibbles as he was giving him a shot, petted him, did some more procedures, and gave him some more kibbles, mentioning how nice he thought Moo was. I like things like that. I know that vets are busy, but I also know from animal handling and training (especially with horses) that it makes sense to spend a few more seconds initially to make the procedure slightly more pleasant for the animal. Doing so saves time in the long run as it helps to decrease sourness  and anxiety that the animal feels toward the vet.

After he attended to Moo, Dr. Rahimi shook my hand and I returned to the lobby to pay for the visit in cash. Remember that the practice only accepts cash and the German EC debit card (I'm quite sure that my cards with the PIN+chip still wouldn't work since they're not EC).

I would rate the experience as a pleasant one. The practice is clean and the waiting room is cosy with art and plants. Dr. Rahimi was very nice and I like the way he handled Moo, trying to make the experience of being poked and prodded nicer by giving him some treats.

The German educational system: university

I often get web traffic on my blog from those who are curious about the German educational system. I wrote a piece about the primary and secondary school system, but I wouldn't be surprised if people were more interested in knowing about free university.

It is true that as of now, German universities are free for qualified individuals, whether or not those individuals are German or members of the European Union. International media, especially American sources, has been blowing up lately with stories about free tuition. However, the key word for prospective students is qualified; it's not just a free-for-all for those who haven't done well in school.

Also, one might think that the student wouldn't need to have any money. There are no tuition fees, so that must be true, right? No, that's wrong. Foreign students must show that they have the money, up front, to be able to afford living expenses for one year.

Depending on one's program and level of study, one also must be quite fluent in German. Some master's programs don't require it but for lower-level classes, it's a must.

There is a ton more to studying in Germany and I don't have that experience. I asked two of my friends, one who is a university lecturer and the other who is a native German and PhD student. I couldn't keep up with notes or the barrage of (helpful) information they were imparting so I'll point to some articles of interest. For those who'd like to go to a German uni, I'd suggest conducting a ton more research.

You Can Now Go to College in Germany for Free, No Matter Where You’re From by Rebecca Schuman.

A reddit post about studying in Germany as an undergraduate; my PhD student friend recommended it and says that it is accurate according to his experience.

My German-Eritrean-American Thanksgiving

Last Thanksgiving, my expat UK friends joined me in Heidelberg to have dinner at my American co-worker's house for a proper American dinner with Germans and other European expats. This year, my co-worker and I were both stressed out, the UK friends have moved, and we didn't feel like putting a lot of work into it.

So, this year:

-I cleaned the stairs/common areas of my apartment building. We have no Hausmeister and both my neighbors and I have been remiss in keeping this up. I had a rare bit of free time when I wasn't exhausted so I used my time wisely, to clean.

-My friend and I went downtown; we stopped by the Weihnachtsmarkt where she had Wurst and I had reibekuchen, fried potato pancakes (which is more grease than I would normally eat in 6 months). We then made a circuit of the stores I visit when I have time, including the thrift store, the Tam Asian market, and the grocery market.

-We ate dinner at my favorite restaurant in town, Safari. It's Eritrean and Ethiopian and fantastic. John brought us some delicious food that his family cooked. It's far better than turkey, in my book.

-After dinner, C and I engaged in a German activity: we did some staring in a construction zone where a machine was running dirt (?) through it. I have no idea what that was about but took a video because it lasts longer ;)

So, all in all, it was a laid-back day. I was so thankful to have some time off since I'm tired from work, the Berlin trip, German lessons, and trying to get everything done. I'm thankful for good company and a peaceful day. I'll end the evening by Skyping my family. Life is good.