Frightful Discovery at 4 a.m.

While I had hoped to devote what free time and creativity I could find to providing updates about my two wonderful trips to Hamburg and Barcelona, I recently experienced an episode that must be discussed before the sheer peculiarity of it fades and leaves me lacking the proper words to relate it. Before I continue any further, however, I wish to present you with the following image:

Now, I ask you, considering the seriousness of myself and my previous entries, to formulate some sort of explanation for this picture. What exactly could it be? A surface-level description probably sounds something like this: There appears to be some half naked creature, dead or close to it, sprawled out on what appears to be a tile floor. But let’s go beyond this superficial account. When you think about this picture and the possible events that led to this “creature’s” current state, what ideas come to mind? Possibly the unfortunate victim of some senseless crime in Memphis? Maybe it is the result of a mysterious occultist or satanic ritual? Though less likely, one could even posit that this the body of one abducted by visitors from another world, shamelessly used for bizarre scientific experiments before being carelessly returned to Earth. Or this picture could even more simply be a photo taken from a National Geographic article on a recently discovered Amazonian tribe in central Brazil. But, before I allow you to continue in this exciting game of guessing, I will humor with the actual details that led to this photo. If you’ve read this far, I beg you to stick with me a little longer and find out the conclusion to my blog.

Last Saturday I attended a grill party at the university with Charlotte. Don’t think a grill party is new-age slang referring to a party where everyone gets high or something of that sort. It is simply what its name says- a get-together where everyone brings food to grill. This seems to be a favorite pastime of college students in Germany. I, myself, have taken part in many of them and must say that I don’t understand why I never did it back home. It’s a great and inexpensive way to eat, catch up with old friends, and meet new people. But, I digress. Throughout the night we saw lights illuminating the overcast sky above us. While the simple explanation is that there was an event on the Rhein River and these lights only there to draw attention to the celebration, it was fun to imagine UFO’s flying around. Anyway, after coming home and falling asleep, I suppose these strange notions of UFO’s stayed with me. I believe it was close to 4 a.m. when I was awakened by some unidentifiable noise emanating from somewhere within my suite. As is understandable I sat for several minutes starring into the darkness, trying to understand what this noise was. Finally, I concluded it was human…probably snoring from my so civilized of roommates. Knowing it would probably not fade and wanting rest, I decided to investigate further to see if I could somehow lessen the intensity of the sound. What happened next was something out of a movie. The first thing I noticed was that the door leading from my suite into the hallway was completely ajar. Not something I’m used to finding at 4 in the morning. The strange noise continued and became stronger as I walked through the kitchen. Similar to the front door, my roommate’s door stood completely open. From the moonlight shining into his window, I could not distinguish any form in his bed. My conclusion was that he was asleep somewhere in the corner of the kitchen. I know you are thinking that is a ludicrous presumption, but I awoke one morning to find him asleep in the kitchen. That time, I was going to the refrigerator for some breakfast, while he turned to me with the face of someone who had just been punched in the nose and began spouting out French. Thinking he was having some crazy Swiss dream, I left without any question. After all, this is Luca we’re talking about. Back to 4 a.m. If he were somewhere asleep in the kitchen, I was blind. But, if he wasn’t there, then I was hearing noises. Confused, I went to the bathroom. And, what you see in the picture is what I found. Blocking my entrance into the bathroom was n extremely hairy, half-naked male in his early twenties, situated in the fetal position. Thankfully he was in such a position that nothing could be seen. I stood there in amazement, wondering what had brought him there. Was he alright? Had someone done this to him? Knowing him, I quickly realized he was amazingly drunk and passed out in this embarrassing display. So, understandably, my first reaction wasn’t to wake him to see if he was ok, but rather to run and get my camera to capture this moment. Before you think badly of me, know that I could tell from his booming snoring that he was quite alive. After taking this picture, I did try for a few seconds to wake him, but mostly just because I needed to use the restroom. Judging his level of alcohol consumption by his glorious condition, I soon realized that I’d be unable to wake him. Content with my picture and thinking of what an interesting blog this would make, I nestled back into bed. Oh, I made sure to shut the bathroom door to drown out his wailing.

Luxemburg (not Lewisburg)

Finally I have found a few minutes to write about my short, but nonetheless interesting travels. While I say interesting, I mean that in broad sense, for parts of the travels provided not so many astounding memories. Thursday, May 24th was the first day of my adventures. To be frank, however, this is perhaps the one day that indeed proved to be more unremarkable than hoped. As mentioned in a previous blog, this day was devoted to visiting the tiny country of Luxemburg. Ever heard of it? If you’re genuinely American (meaning you eat at least one fried item of food per day, think Bud Light is the nectar of the gods, enjoy watching racing, and go to Wal-Mart at least three times a week), then the answer is probably no. And, if it is yes, when locating it on a map, you might place it somewhere close to Argentina or Afghanistan ;) Kidding, kidding, kidding! Next time you’re around a map look west of Germany. If you hit the Atlantic Ocean, you’ve gone too far. Back up and search for the intersection of Belgium, France, and Germany-there’s Luxemburg. It looks so small on the map because it is so small in reality. In fact the entire nation is only about twice as large as New York City.
The capital city of Luxemburg is Luxemburg, the target of day tour of the country. Beginning with a visit of and dazzling power-point presentation concerning the European Court of Auditors, the watchdog of spending within European Union. Though the European Union is a deeply fascinating political community, the Court of Auditors left me somewhat…unsatisfied. Afterwards, we were left to our own devices for several hours. I spent the remainder of my time in the capital wandering with three Italians, which proved to be the most interesting part of the trip. It also had its advantages. Currently, Luxemburg boasts three official languages: French, German, and Luxemburgish. While I have only briefly consulted Wikipedia for my information, I’ve heard that education in the country begins in Luxemburgish before switching to German and later on to French. Each language has its own sphere of relevance (for instance, most public writings are in French). Nevertheless, natives to the country theoretically have a good grasp on at least German or French, if not all three. It was interesting to hear so many individuals switching from one language to the next.
Sadly, much of the city was blocked off due to a visit by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The occasion, however, brought numerous armed soldiers to the city, thus adding some spice to the cityscape. The architecture of the area seemed too modern and unimpressive, lacking the history and character that can be seen in the buildings of other cities throughout Europe.
So, after walking through the insanely clean and expensive streets of Luxemburg, we boarded the bus back to Germany, stopping in a small village of the Mosel Valley, an area known for wine. Here, we had a small wine tasting and tour of a wine distillery. This portion of the trip lasted just long enough for a student to knock a bottle of wine on the floor. Then, armed with a bottle of Riesling Spätlese and a finely-tuned tan, I jumped on board of our charter bus and traveled back to Mainz.