Guten tag!
I hope you're enjoying your week! It's almost Friday! Sorry for not posting recently. We've been kind of busy. As I said on my Facebook, please keep my family in your prayers. On Saturday at Sam's Club, my mom was suddenly overwhelmed by extreme pain in her back. Since then the pain has been incredible, allowing for no comfort during her day to day life. She did not teach at school this week per doctors orders. If the pain does not subside by tomorrow, an MRI will occur on Monday. If it does, she will begin physical therapy on Monday. The doctors have said she may be out of school for up to a month. If you know anything about my mother, you know that she loves her students. This will be a very difficult undertaking for the Main Millers. Roo (Elijah) was sent home from school on Tuesday and diagnosed with Strep. He had strep the day I left for Germany, so this is the second time in a month. He returned to school today, so he is hopefully feeling better. Thank you to all who have made meals, watched the boys, taken mom places, and gone above and beyond for our family. You have no idea how much it means to us.
We have been teaching more and more classes at our schools this week. Although I am not completely used to the way German schools are run, I am getting somewhat better. Our students have a very funny view of America, but they all want to visit NYC or LA someday. When I asked if they wanted to visit NC, they all looked away and said no. :) We are currently working on their story-writing skills since their state exam is only a month and a half away. I am loving every second of it!
Last Friday we went to an art show. Two of our wonderful buddies (Svenja and Svenja) took us to the exhibition put on by PHK. I was amazed when I saw one piece of art that looked remarkably like my thesis. It was called string art, but it looked much more like a tripartite graph to my math mind. On Saturday, Alexis and I spent the day exploring the Karlsruhe palace and parts of the city we had never seen. We also enjoyed pigging out on Burger King. By the way, German fries are way better than American fries. :)
On Sunday, Svenja graciously agreed to take us to Dachau concentration camp near Munich. We arrived and there was snow on the ground, much like there would have been 70-80 years ago. The entire museum was quite an overwhelming experience. I left and did not really know how to process. I was freezing in my thermal pants and jacket, I cannot imagine what it was like with no shoes and a prison uniform. It is difficult to see the horrors that have occurred in this world. Seeing the concentration camp made me grateful that we live in a day and age in which this will never happen again. There is a memorial on the grounds with the words "never again" etched into it. Hopefully memorials like these can be everywhere there is injustice someday.
After seeing Dachau, Svenja took us to Munich. We were going to eat at the Hofbrau haus (very famous). However, because of a soccer game, it was a wee bit crowded. Instead we went to another German restaurant and ate some wonderful food! Alexis and I both got the German staple of Brot and kraut while Svenja and her boyfriend got a pig's hip bone (there's a German word for it). The food was fantastic and the company even better. Alexis and myself are so lucky to have these buddies who go above and beyond for us.
This weekend we head to Paris to see the city of love. I am so excited to eat a gross amount of French food for Jesse. One week from Saturday I will be back in the states, ready to teach some high school math. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and encouragement!
Tschüs,
Faith
