Elisabeth at Oktoberfest

So my guest author (Elisabeth) has been thrown dramatically back into her job and her American life and we're both dealing with some adjustment issues. (If S.A.D. -- seasonal affective disorder -- refers to depression due to weather, what's depression due to cessation of traveling called? T.A.D.?)

So she asked me to post a short description and some of her pictures from Oktoberfest and let you know that she had the absolute time of her life!

Elisabeth met Lionel, Geoffrey's son, on the day when we met up with both of them and Eva in Koeln. The two of them hit it off immediately (both of them being fun-loving, feisty, and flirty) and talked about meeting the following week in Munchen for Oktoberfest. Lionel mentioned that he'd be attending a jam session with the German reggae group Jamaram, and encouraged Elisabeth to join him for that and then to hit Oktoberfest with the whole group. It was simply too inviting to pass up and of course I encouraged her to go! ("No, don't worry about deserting your dear ol' ma, honey pie. I'll just travel alone, all by myself on a big loud scary train. You go have fun and tell me all about it when you have a spare moment...")

So off Elisabeth went to Munchen on the day that I headed to Nurnberg. To say that she had fun just wouldn't even get close to how she felt about her adventure. "Life-altering" would probably be more like it. (As in, "I think I'll quit my job and invite some real adventure into my life!") For Elisabeth, it wasn't the partying that made the experience; it was the people. She absolutely loved the guys in the band as well as a woman, Anna, who she met there and became fast friends with.

Joining a bunch of musicians for Oktoberfest meant that Elisabeth was thrown right into an impromptu jam session (using voices as instruments, of course) right there under the tent. The group's musical talent and creations were so great that a large enthusiastic crowd apparently formed, with everyone wanting a piece of the action. I can only imagine that the experience was awe-inspiring!