'Murica goes to the Lake

It’s awfully strange being in another country on the fourth of July. There aren’t any stars or stripes in sight and people seem to be going about their day just like any other. Despite the lack of American patriotism, Hannah, Mira, Natalie, Anna, Jasmine, Emerson, and I all decided to be as American as possible today. We started out by getting snacks and drinks from a nearby grocery store, then we took several trains to get to a lake. The lake was very large actually, and we walked around the perimeter of the lake for about 20 minutes before finding a spot with enough space for our group. We put our drinks in the water with the hopes of cooling them down, though the shallow water was not that much cooler than the surrounding area. The water was refreshingly cool and everyone got in up to their knees at the very least. Hannah, Emerson, Jasmine, and I all went for a swim and it was so nice to finally feel like I wasn’t melting from the heat. I wish we had thought to buy some floaties before we left because it would have been so lovely to have stayed out in the water longer, but I couldn’t tread water for very long before getting tired. After we were done swimming and had dried off some, we headed back to the train. A few of us decided to check out another lake that was one stop further from where we were at, and the others headed back to the hostel. We hadn’t looked up how to get to the beach from the train station for the next lake though, so we ended up traveling in the opposite direction and saw the beach from across the lake. Hannah and I decided to travel back to the hostel instead of staying at the edge of this lake too, but I’m glad we went to see it.

When we got back to the area around our hostel we got in line for the Burgermeister and we waited for an hour to order and get our food, but getting delicious burgers and fries was totally worth it. We walked back to the hostel with our meals as quickly as possible and inhaled the food as soon as we sat down. There is nothing like a day of being out in the sun and swimming to make you incredibly hungry.

We had originally intended to go out that night and finish the evening with some American beers, but we were all so tired and hot that we ended up just taking cold showers and sprawling on our beds to try to cool off. I don’t know what time it was, but during the night/early morning, a thunder and lightning storm woke me up and for a while I watched the room light up from the lightening and wait to hear the role of the thunder. The pattering of the rain was a comforting sound, and if I had had more motivation I might have gotten up to go stand in it. As it was I just turned over and fell back asleep.