Today was a pretty gloomy (apparently more European), rainy Sunday in Dresden. Those of us not enrolled in the class didn't have to attend the last lecture at 10:00, but those enrolled did. We decided to kind of hang around and wait on the studious ones before making plans for the day. I think around 2 or so we grabbed lunch at the Hauptbahnhof, and I made a few last minute sweeps of stores looking for cheaply priced luggage (for a more economical price on checked luggage for the return trip) and little last minute souvenirs. Afterwards, I packed...and I mean PACKED. Everything light (or relatively light) is currently in my gigantic bag, anything heavy will be put in the smaller checked luggage when I purchase it tomorrow (most stores are closed all day Sunday).
Kathleen had a great idea to head to Sunday evening church at the Frauenkirche (the reconstructed Protestant church from the Dresden bombings in Old Town that sparked my *probably lame* introspective rant about bombing an unarmed city). They have a 9:30 service and a 6:00 service, so we had plenty of time to make the latter. We entered, and they gave us Orders of Worship/Bulletins and I immediately noticed how well planned they were! The bulletins included the scanned hymn from the hymnal (complete with German text), and all of the German liturgy in order. A little old German man (who clearly was a member of the church...he had a name tag) sat down directly to my left (also, Europeans sit really close. If one has personal space issues, one might not want to sit publicly with them) and I kind of mimicked my actions to his. It was easier to follow when he stood up and sat down than decipher the German notes in the bulletin. The entire service was in German, and it was really neat to sing a Gloria and Kyrie (parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Catholicism...although, this is a non-denominational Protestant church) printed from the bulletin along with three hymns. Kathleen and I kind of chuckled at ourselves. We just sang the printed music on an 'oo' syllable, because our German diction is so terrible, but it did allow us to listen to everyone singing German around us (a really REALLY cool phenomenon...to hear others worshiping in another language). Another difference I noticed was that during the organ prelude and postlude there was absolutely NO talking. Every single person in the room was sitting quietly, most staring at the gigantic (surely) multi-million dollar gold-encrusted organ. In the bulletin, it even said in English for the postlude, "Please do not leave your seats until the organ postlude is complete." Think of how quickly we rush out from chuch when that postlude starts to play! It's just a different respect of music. The sermon was the most difficult part with which to connect. Although, Kathleen and I figured out it was the sermon of the 'mustard seed.' The pastor kept saying 'senf,' and at first I think we both thought we misheard him (senf is delicious German mustard!), but finally it was paired with 'kleine' (small) enough that we decided our assumptions were correct (we kind of chuckled about that, too, though).
After the service, we recreated a typical German evening for our group and got a bratwurst, ate near local street musicians, got a kugel of ice cream, and wandered around! Later on, we came back to the dorm and watched Taken and Mamma Mia with Katie while Adam did homework and Kathleen periodically packed. This evening has been a GIANT success; I think the church service is definitely in the top 3 of my experiences here. Tomorrow, on our last full day, we're taking a day trip to Poland! I'm so excited, but it's time for sleep! Gutenacht!
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