Ok, sorry.... this isn't the best picture of Denis, but I liked the background! Wow, it was great to see Denis again after almost a year. And this time, I can speak german with him! (although... he refused to speak german with me... grrrrr) We had a fun filled week together and really became close friends. What made a difference is that we have both grown up a lot and have started to become the people that we want to be.
Ok, so a little bit of background stuff. Denis lives about 30 minutes north of Stuttgart, in southern Germany. The entire region is covered in vinyards and your cute little stereotypical German towns (that are ONLY found in southern Germany.... let me remind people that the images we see of Germany in the States are only based on the deep southern part. It's not that far off from imagining all of the USA to be just like Texas.) Anyway, back to the story: Deanis's town is called Löchgau and has a population of aprox. 5,ooo people. Between Löchgau and Stuttgart is one of the largest and most beautifully preserved castles in the country, called Ludwigsburg. Almost 2 years ago now, Denis flew to HFL on an exchange program. Now he is back home, and after a few months in school, he took the rest of the year off (he is going back again in Sept.) to work on his musical career. He is now taking music lessons from the vocal coach of Mamma Mia! there in Stuttgart, as well as focusing on dancing lessons, and keeping up with the piano. Recently he just landed the lead roll in a local production of the Little Shop of Horrors and while I was there we put on an audition to find people for a benefit concert that Denis is producing himself. A busy little man!
As for our week, we were in Stuttgart several times, visited many of the surrounding towns where his schools are located, etc, Ludwigsburg, Tübingen, and Heilbronn. Inbetween I met all of his friends and family, enjoyed the landscape and the (so far as I have experienced) very UNIQUE atmosphere of the greater Stuttgart area. We had a great time shopping, enoying the palaces and castles, lots of great food and laughter, boat rides, city lights, and being able to make music together again.
From Denis, I have a very big HELLO to everyone at home and he wanted me to say that he misses you all and will come back to visit soon.
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