a tour through our V I L L A G E

My sister just moved to Denver. I can admit- I'm a little sad. Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy for her, but feeling a little sorry for myself. We've known their goal was to get to Denver, which would have been perfect for us- if only we were still in Kansas. That was the plan. We were going to stay put {in KS} and they were going to move closer to us! We would have lived just a short seven hours apart. Close enough for long weekends together. Close enough for me to go grab my sweet nephew and niece and take them back for fun times at Aunt Sheila's house. Close enough to create so many memories together- memories that will now just have to wait as we've taken a detour.

I know from an outsider's perspective, I probably sound crazy. I have the opportunity to live in Europe, what a cool thing. How many people can say they've lived in Europe, or even traveled to Europe? I met another mom {the mom of a new friend of Justin's} this morning who reiterated to me that it takes a while to start to like it here. For her, it was a year. Now, they don't want to leave and it's been six years. I hear this scenerio over and over and over... gives me hope although, I'm still pretty sure we won't want to extend any past our assigned time.

While skyping with Starr this week, she was telling me how she's loving the area and starting to find her way around. I told her Caden and I have actually started walking {with Lady} this week as well which has been SO nice. She thought we had a bakery and store here in our village and I just laughed. Nope, it's super small... not even big enough for a bakery. Caden and I can walk from the East to the West in about thirty minutes. We stretch it out to an hour with stops at the horses and down a couple side streets. Here's a little tour of what we see along the way.

This is entering Oberstaufenbach, our village from the East. Warm welcomes! Each village has a Hauptstrasse, which is the Main Street. This is the street going into and out of our village. It's also the street that we live on which makes it pretty hard to get lost! There are three horses as you enter, so Caden and I check on them daily.

You would think with the tractors and farm land, we would feel right at home. Below are a couple houses and old buildings right off the main street.



This would probably be considered mid-town. A little picnic table, bus stop and even the convenience of an ATM machine. Big time! Of course, I had to catch a little lady sweeping and take her picture as she turned her back. Oh, I'm so sneaky. I wonder if I'll ever get to a point of not noticing all of these old people sweeping. Right now, {to me} they're kind of like the moose in Alaska. You can't help but notice them and they're always about town. I have so many moose pictures and they're all the same. But, they still catch your eye. Well, maybe the moose are a little cooler.

Caden loves riding his scooter ahead of me then hanging out like he's been waiting forever for this slow mama. This is at the bus stop. Looks old and a little worn down, but the floors are swept.

Check out these old building we found on this side street. How old do you think they are? Don't think I'd be going inside- pretty creepy. This little road leads to just one house above, more like a driveway or a road to no where.

All of the windows are busted out on this completely abandoned building. Have I mentioned yet that this place is old?

While there are a few houses scattered on the surrounding hillside, most are along Hauptstrasse, which continues through town. Turning this corner, we are heading west {still} toward our rental house- just beyond our red-tape neighbors with the mustard-colored trim on their windows.  

 There are a few houses up this street headed to another village including the boys' friends who live in the huge schoolhouse here on the right side of the picture. They have a sixth grader, freshman and a junior- all boys. We are so happy our boys have made such good friends already. It's a bonus that they happen to have similar interests, live just around the corner and have a cool mom.

This view is looking further down our street. Our house is the first unit in the white one on the right side of the street seen below.

You can definitely tell these are Americans with their big 'ole Chevy truck. He has it backed up to the garage door and it still almost reaches the road, hanging over the sidewalk. I'd venture to guess that the Germans hate that it's blocking the sidewalk as they have to go around it on their daily walks.

I do like how the houses are numbered here. It's very simple. At the beginning of the street, you start at one and work your way up numerically. I haven't paid enough attention {yet} to figure out their system of numbering- if evens are on one side, odds on the other, or some other pattern. We are Hauptstrasse 5, the house across the street is Hauptstrasse 14, so I'm not sure.

This is Hauptstrasse 1 - no need for a street sign, ithe sign is affixed directly to the house.

 There are lots and lots of woodpiles, as most homes have wood-burning fireplaces. Our neighbors told Jim it is much cheaper than gas. Wouldn't that be nice? Ironically, we don't have a fireplace in our house, so paying the high price of propane is our only option for heat. It is nice to open the windows and smell our German neighbors wood-burning fireplaces burning.

  

A few more houses, some sheep, cows and horses and that is pretty much all of Oberstaufenbach! No stores, no bakery but that's ok. Here's another one of those houses... is it a house or a barn? The horse is in the front yard where you would normally see a dog. Maybe, it's a combo house-barn. You wouldn't have to mow- just muck your front yard!? Get past the horse and you've made it to the front door. 

When you enter or exit a village, they have a sign up with the village you're headed toward and an x through the village you are leaving. Kind of nice for new people {like us} to know if you're coming or going. We still don't have our bearings and most of the time don't know if we're traveling north, south, east or west. We rely heavily on our GPS, taking it and using it to get us everywhere. We are finally enjoying some days with sunlight and blue sky. It's still been chilly and in the 40's, but a little sun has been wonderful. Caden still thinks he needs to wear shorts. I'm still wearing tennis shoes- no flip flops yet which says- it's cold!