Herzlich Willkommen

"Why are you here then? You are rich." Hands full of slimy, wet food from the kitchen sink drain where we just cleaned today's lunch dishes, this question stung me with surprise. It was asked by a young father living hundreds of miles from his family in Afghanistan as a refugee of the German government. He had just learned, with much shock, that Kelly and I are U.S Americans, not Europeans as he had assumed. A small silence filled the room and despite his deep missing of his wife and small children, he simply commented on the fact that there are "too many U.S soldiers in Afghanistan." Kelly and I nodded in agreement while muttering awkward apologies and then quietly went on with our cleaning of the refugee hotel where we are volunteering for two weeks here in the Chiemgau Alps of Southern Bavaria.

Biking in the Moor near the hotel

It has been an interesting and eye-opening week at the hotel. We got here after spending our first few days in Germany as guests of a friend's family near Nürnberg (Nuremberg) as well as in a small university town right outside of München (Munich). We've greatly enjoyed the people and the beautiful scenery, and have indulged in the affordable price of good cheese, bavarian pretzels, and bread! We also had an excellent time at a local Volksfest where the beer hall was completely packed with men in traditional lederhosen and women in stylish dirndls! We chose correctly by starting our trip in Bayern (Bavaria) because it is where almost all German stereotypes come from; and being Oktoberfest season, we are here at a good time!

The hotel that we are now working at is home to 22 young male refugees from Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Syria. It is really amazing at the dinner table when we are eating afghani food, hearing Dari and Arabic while speaking English and German with fellow Peruvian, Czech, and Albanian volunteers! So many cultures mixing in this small Alpen village. We've al so had a lot of fun dancing with a few of the afghani guys at an after-lunch tea party.

We will be here for another week and a half before heading eastward to Vienna and Prague! Missing home but also considering making this our new home ;) xoxo




Von meinem iPhone gesendet

T-minus 144 hours!

Hello again!

Us on roadtrip 2 in the great state of Texas

Us now in our nation's capitol of D.C 

For those unfamiliar, we are Kelly and Kassie and this was our blog from a couple of cross-USA roadtrips we took between 2011 and 2012. The first trip started when Kelly graduated college and was bound for the small town of Gallup, New Mexico to start a year of teaching with the AmeriCorps program Teach for America. During her time with the kids, Kelly learned that the classroom is a tough place, not only because of pre-pubescent youth but also because of America's atrocious education system that does very little to support students and teachers in their endeavors to succeed. (sorry for the strong words, but it's true.. we're struggling, folks). Since this experience, Kelly has worked predominately in the nonprofit field to secure funding for both environmental and social organizations. Kassie has been popping around, working for the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps in the western U.S. and learning what it takes to build a sustainable food culture while volunteering on various farms.

Here we are now, after a summer of working in the hot sun to maintain manicured gardens for the good people of Minneapolis, about to set off on a three month tour of Eastern and Northern Europe! We are excited to share our journey with you as often as internet access, time, and energy allow!

We depart from Minnesota next Wednesday, the 9th of September, and land in Munich, Germany the following day. We plan to explore Bavaria for a couple of weeks while volunteering at a refugee hotel, which should be very interesting seeing as Germany plans to have adopted nearly 800,000 Syrian refugees (read more here) by the end of this year. From there, we will explore Vienna, Budapest, and Prague before heading to Southern Poland for work on a farm that is home to a Mangalica pig that might look something like this:

Kassie has never been so excited.

After the farm, we will take some time to journey around Poland and Northern/Eastern Germany until reaching Saxony and spending a couple of weeks volunteering at a guesthouse with plenty of garden space and animals! We will spend the later part of our trip visiting friends in Amsterdam, eating some French cheese below the Eiffel Tower, and making our way to London where we fly out destined for a two week stay in Iceland before heading home to celebrate the holidays with our families.

We're very fortunate to have saved enough money and found the time in our lives to take a trip like this and we are excited to share our experiences with friends and family through this blog. Thank you for reading and stay tuned! xoxo, K+K