Frozen Eels, dying plants, and tiny moths

6am-Reluctantly woke up.

7am-Left for Hamburg

8am-Christoph driving while I slept

9am-I'm still sleeping

10am-Sleeping

11am-I woke up, we stopped for a coffee and talked a bit about the world coming to an end.

12pm-Ate some delicious apples and bananas

1pm- Ah ok, this is where things get a bit more exciting. Christoph was informed that he should call our landlord just as we passed Hannover and were near to Hamburg. He did so. No answer. He did again. No answer. It vaguely crossed my mind that perhaps we would be on the news tomorrow about being scammed into renting a place we had never been to, from a man we had never met. Then that thought vanished. Christoph called again. No answer. Interestingly Christoph had the same thought and explained to me that this had crossed his mind being he did just wire transferred the money into Svens account last night. (Sven is pronounced Sven just like it looks) So here we are....call after call to our friend Sven, and still no answer. We start discussing now that we have surely been scammed, and what do we do now. We start laughing. All we can do is laugh at the fact that perhaps we have been dooped. I remembered something similar to this story on the news last year. A woman from out of town bought a house on Craigs list to only arrive to a place that was already very occupied. This was us. We were the idiots this time. Oh how could this happen. Christoph said he could already see us sleeping on the couch of my brother and sister-in-laws in town. Ha, but little did this guy Sven know, the transaction hadn't completed itself. The jokes on him now. We would safely get our money back with no problem for us. Just a waisted long drive, and a car full of all of our crap. Including our new sleek record player:) We were so smart. We had figured it out within 10 min of what was to happen now. We would be ok. Christoph called again. Straight to voicemail now. "Oh geeze!" I exclaimed. This was it. I've heard of this before but never did I think it would happen to us. He called Sven again. No answer. "Oh wait, he just tried to call" Christoph said happily. Christoph calls one more time. "Hallo.... Sven!" A very annoyed Sven answers. "Hallo Christoph" Christoph tells him we are almost there.

Our future had just changed about 10 times in my mind that conversation lasting a total of about 10 minutes.

Ok so we were wrong, and glad to be. A night on Benni and Lea's couch would have been less than satisfactory for our first night in Hamburg.

We arrive to Germany's version of NYC. Hamburg.

I ask Christoph what floor we are on. "The first floor!" Oh great, this should be easy unloading our things. We arrive, and ring the bell. Sven answers. 4th floor he is on. Ha. Ok, so we are not living on the first. That's ok. My butt will be nice and firm 3 months from now.

We meet Sven. Tell him we thought he scammed us, which is why we called 100 times. Apparently this was not humorous to our new German friend. Sven looked tired and drunk. Later we found a cabinet full of liquor. We were right.

Smooth sailing from here on out. We sat for a bit in our very lightly furnished home. We were feeling a bit sad. Like we were living in a strangers place. A place filled with cd's of the Disco Boys, Italo dance 2000, 30 great Italo dance songs, a couple dead ferns, and an entertainment cabinet made out of two cement bricks. It took us a few hours to make it seem more at home. The place was a bit dirty. Sven's hair nestled in a couple places. But I think the most interesting thing that we have found in our already furnished, ready to go apartment was a freezer full of Eels. Yes Eels. Eel hunting must be popular in Northern Germany. Let me explain this to you a bit more clearly. They was not just one Eel dead in our freezer. But probably around 6. They were really long, creepy, and resembled a sort of monster that may have once appeared in a nightmare of mine. Smelly, slimy Eels. What kind of person keeps eels in their freezer I wondered. I know what kind of person. Sven. As you see in the picture I think he even thought he could hide them behind that little box thing. Maybe he was just saving them for a rainy day. Fire those bad boys up on the grill. All's I knew was they had to go. I would NOT be living in this place for 6 months, sleeping peacefully at night, knowing there were eels about to attack me in my sleep at night. No sir. "Christoph, I can't touch them, please get them out."

"Ok"

I love having a husband.