Sorry it has been so long since I’ve updated! A lot as been going on (and sometimes not a lot) in the past month and a half.
Christmas break was a quite affair. Pretty much everyone we know left Eberswalde and because of how the holiday fell, almost everything was closed for most of our break. We visited Berlin a few times (conclusions: I do not like Berlin, the German library system makes no sense to me, and I really, really miss Latin Mass), but mostly kept ourselves busy at home or at parks.
Herbert got an expansion for his train set for Christmas, and it took him several hours until he could pull himself away to open the rest of his presents.
New Years Eve was crazy. They do not play around in Germany. By 4pm, before it was even dark outside, the air smelled like gunpowder from fireworks. They became more and more frequent, until we were woken up at midnight (yes, we went to bed at 10pm) by so many fireworks being lit off, right on the corner of our street, that I wasn’t entirely sure the building would still be standing in the morning. It was, but the litter on the ground was something else! But Herbert reassured me, “When I get bigger, I clean up my fireworks.”
Everyone was very excited when kindergarten reopened after the new year, and my school started again on January 6. It was wonderful to reconnect with everyone, although it turned into a really heavy three weeks: our topic was Threats and Risks and we were not supposed to be talking about solutions.
It was also a crazy three weeks of illness. The first week, Herbert had a mild sore throat. Come the weekend, I had a horrific sore throat. Herbert developed a rash, which turned into a sore on his mouth, and on Friday his kindergarten told him that he couldn’t come back without a doctor’s note. Thank God, we had gotten a letter in the mail that day stating the Herbert had been approved for health insurance. On Monday of week three, we took him to a pediatrician whose office is in the hospital. Herbert was prescribed an antibiotic cream, and we headed home.
As we climbed the stairs to the apartment, Herbert got nursemaid’s elbow. So as soon as the next bus came, straight back to the hospital we went. It was a simple fix, and he was back to his energetic self within minutes. But that Monday was a long day.
Tuesday I started to feel like I had the same infection as Herbert, so on Wednesday I went to the doctor and was prescribed antibiotics. Herbert went back to the doctor to check how the cream was working, and he was also told to take oral antibiotics along with using the cream.
As the antibiotics worked their magic on us, William got sick with the flu. He figured he picked it up at the pediatrician. Saturday Herbert and I woke up with the flu as well. Herbert was only down for the count for one day, but I didn’t leave the apartment for 3 days.
Finally on Wednesday, Herbert got his letter from the doctor stating that he could go back to kindergarten on Thursday, after a week and a half of being absent. Finally!
Through all of this, William has been super-dad, taking care of us while I first prepared for my final exam, then suffered with the flu. I’m done with my classes for the semester now! Just a couple papers to write before the end of February.
And some wonderful news to conclude. All of us have received our health insurance cards. We are fully insured in Germany! And…drum roll please…on Tuesday, we picked up are residence permits! Everything is finally done and William begins work on Monday.
