Alles Klar, Kommisar

Hey lovelies,

A quick side note before I get on to the blog post proper: there is a new step in the ritual of my coming to the internet cafe. See, you all know that I come to the same cafe all the time. And you all have heard about how I am on familiar-ish terms with the owner, and how my favorite computer is number 27. But now, the owener and I have this way that we greet each other. It goes like this:

Me: "Hallo!"
Him: "Hallo! Alles gut?"
Me: "Alles gut."
Him: "Alles klar?"
Me: "Alles klar!" (and sometimes, "Alles klar, Kommisar!")
Us: *laughter*

... and then I go on to my computer. I love this place.

So, the post:

I went hiking with my friend and her daughter a while back. Actually, we went "spazieren gehen", which I thought meant "taking a walk" but which actually means "to embark on a dangerous, arduous journey up a mountain where death is a real possibility". Who knew? Anyway, I wore a t-shirt, cute jeans, and these pair of fashionable tennis shoes with no tread on them whatsoever. And we're walking up these steep paths and down into these valleys and I'm like "oh, this is fun." We even found a cool rope swing over a little valley and had loads of fun swinging back and forth like monkeys. Videos and pics to follow, promise. But we come to this part of the hike where we either have to scale this steep, steep slope about the height of a three story building or double back and go a long ways around it. My roommate and her daughter are like, "No problem! We'll just climb up this." ... Mind you, this slope is so steep that you can't actually walk up it; you have to scramble up a step or two, hang on to a tree that is somehow managing to grow on this slope, and then scramble/leap/run to the next available tree. It's not spazieren gehen, it's mountain climbing.

So, I make it like this about two-thirds of the way up the slope, clutching my stupid, fashionable purse to my body with one hand and grasping at limbs with the other. But I'm watching my roommate's daughter, hoping she doesn't miss a limb and go tumbling. So what do I do? I miss a limb I was reaching for, slip on my treadless, fashionable tennis shoes, and go tumbling. I'm sliding down this pseudo-mountain in a pile of leaves at a frightening pace and I think "Well, there are two options here: Either I can try to save my jeans by skidding on my feet, which will probably send me flying and end in me breaking my neck, or I can accept that I'm going to get all dirty and just slide on my butt. So, I kind of stick one foot out in front of me, slide on my butt, like I'm a runner sliding into home plate, throw my hands up in the air, and yell "woohoo!" like I'm on some sort of slip-and-slide ride. And you know what? It actually kind of was like a slip-and-slide ride. I get back to the bottom in my now muddy and definitely no longer fashionable jeans, stuck in a giant pile of leaves, laughing out loud. I thought, "Well, I'll just start climbing back up again now ..." but then ZOOM! The roommate's daughter slides in next to me in a flurry of leaves. Now it's a game! We had a hoot sliding down the slope, then we got our act together and climbed back up it. At the top of the mountain, we had cold waffles and apfelschorle. For a near-death experience, it was kinda cool.

Oh, and on a side note: I'm on IMDB! Your baby's a film star! Check me out here.