The importance of umbrellas

Note to self:  ALWAYS prepare for rain whilst living in Hamburg.  Here's why.

Today started off fine, it was sunny when I woke up and still sunny as I prepared to meet a fellow Couchsurfer (will explain later) Julien for lunch.  I thought to myself, why not get some exercise and ride your bike to Altona?  Good idea, self!

Well, I drew myself a little map and set off on my bike towards Altona, where Julien lives.  And the minute I realized I was lost, it started to downpour. Totally downpour.  By the time I found my way to his building, I was soaked.  He answered the door and I must've looked like, well, a very not dry person.  I toweled myself off and we ate food and talked about dinosaurs and volcanoes and whether spiders have hearts and other cool stuff. 

Then, I headed to St. Pauli, which is next to Altona, to meet Lothar's friend Robert for coffee.  OF COURSE it started to rain on my way there, so by the time I got there I was totally soaked again.  Robert was nice enough to lend me a raincoat, because after coffee I had to go through Altona to Ottensen, to visit a new apartment.  And naturally it rained, and of course I got lost again, because despite my decent map-drawing and map-reading skills, Hamburg is a pain in the ass in terms of finding new places.  Some streets aren't obviously marked, and there are a lot of 5-point intersections and crazy fork-in-the-roads that trip you up, especially on a bicycle. AND to make matters worse, the silver thing on my bike that holds my bag broke midway and I had to fix it by wrapping my lock around it.  Go figure that my bike would freakin break while I'm already having a ridiculous day.  So I arrived at the apartment in Ottensen twenty minutes late, this time wearing a giant men's raincoat. 

The apartment was adorable.  The girl who is moving out is going to Alaska for seven months to see her boyfriend, so I would get her room.  And the girl I'd be living with is named Bente, and she's 19 and seems pretty quiet but still nice and relaxed.  The apartment is really cool, kind of like a farmhouse feeling...a gorgeous wooden floor and and really great location.  Anyway,  it got dark and I had to visit another apartment in Hamm-Nord, so I ended up leaving my bike in Ottensen and taking the S-Bahn to Hamm-Nord, walking in the rain to the next apartment.  

This apartment was fantastic too!  Everything was really pretty, with red and orange in the living room and blue and green in my potential room.  Steffi, the girl I'd be living with, is super nice and easy-going, and I made sure to ask her questions about her preferences because of my current asshole of a flatmate.  The apartment was super, but Hamm-Nord is pretty boring.  So who knows what's gonna happen.  I liked both apartments, but we'll see who calls back wanting me to move in.

Anyway, I really hope that I don't get sick from being cold and wet all day.  Tomorrow Dan and I are going to Bremen and it's gonna rule.  It's Freimarkt festival!  Thus, I will not post again until Monday.

ALSO:

Thanks for the suggestion, Emily!  I will try to find those magic erasers.

GO PHILLIES!  Finally...a World Series...I am beyond ecstatic.

I don't know if I said this already but I sent in my absentee ballot!  I even researched the stuff like auditor general and whatnot so I could make informed decisions about the PA candidates I didn't know.  Ya'll best be votin' too.