Did You say E Class?

During my stay in Germany, my company has been gracious enough to give me a rental car. However, AVIS did not want me to keep one car for 3 months so that they could perform their nominal maintenance and change the tires, etc. This really wasn't a problem as I enjoy driving and want to try as many cars as possible. The timing to exchange cars couldn't have been better. I was going to be on a business trip to Copenhagen and had to be at the airport anyway. However, things didn't go as smoothly as I thought. Because I had picked up the Passat at the downtown office, I had to pay a fee for dropping it off at another location. I had also requested a smaller car because even though I loved the Passat, it always felt a little too big for the European roads.

I explained to them that my reservation was through December so I would be coming back on Sunday to pick up the new car. Apparently by turning in my first car, I cancelled the reservation. I had to call my office and ask them to rush and put in a new reservation for me so that I would have a way to get home from the airport. What a hassle this was turning into.

When I got to the AVIS counter at the airport. I asked tentatively about a reservation under my name, hoping that my company was able to get everything ready for me on time. The gentlemen behind the counter gave a big smile and shook my hand. He said he had been waiting for me to arrive and had the "eh" class ready. I thought to myself, did he say A or E class. I looked on the card listing all available cars and didn't see an E class. I didn't even know if they existed. I took a look at the picture of the A class and thought, "well I asked for small, but I didn't want this small." I decided that I would wait until the man brought the booklet and I could read the letter and if it was an A class, I would simply ask about what else they had available.

When the gentleman returned he handed me the booklet and warned me that the vehicle was a diesel and automatic. He asked if this was to my liking. I hadn't had a chance to check the letter and was about to tell him that I would prefer a manual to keep practicing my budding skill. When I saw that it was an E Class. I was a little speechless. Did they make a mistake? Were they really about to give me this car to drive? The man was asking me to sign and mentioned something about an additional fee for a young driver. I paused and told him that I had recently turned 25 so I shouldn't have the fee. He had read my birthday backward on my driver's license. Now I was flabbergasted. AVIS would let a young driver take out an E Class. Though I was almost certain this car was bigger than the Passat, I wasn't about to turn down the chance to drive such a beautiful car that wasn't available in the US.

When I went down to the garage and saw it. I immediately got really nervous. There wasn't a scratch on it anywhere. It had just been waxed so that the black paint gleamed in the light. It had a navigation system with displays both in the center dashboard and within the speedometer. CD changer, heated seats, proximity sensors, automatic lights and windshield wipers. The diesel engine was powerful with an automatic transmission and the option for clutch-less shifting. It even had the word Elegance written on the drive shaft. Needless to say I took my time driving that baby home, getting used to the handling and playing with all the buttons.

The next morning, all my co-workers were anxious to see what I had gotten. When I drove into the garage, the first words out of Alex's mouth was "Grandma". Yes, it was a luxury sedan, but they were just jealous. Other comments included, "your dad was awfully nice to let you borrow is car and "where's you sugar daddy". But we always took my car whenever we went somewhere so it couldn't have been too bad.

The next week my parents and grandparents flew over to spend Thanksgiving with me. When I pulled up at the airport and waved, they didn't wave back. They didn't recognize me in the car. When I stepped out they asked if I had gotten a limo service. I laughed and asked them why I would step out of the driver's seat if it was a limo service. When I told them my company had rented it for me they were amazed. They teased me a little about being responsible enough to drive it and then offered to take it off my hands. I laughed and said I've earned it so I'm not letting go.

Now I smile every time I walk to my car and cherish each day I get to drive it on the autobahn. I hope my little mustang back home doesn't get jealous because even though the E-Class is nice, there is only room enough for one car in my heart :-)

Women in Engineering

Being an engineer, I know that engineering is a profession held by mostly men... middle aged men. I've gotten quite used to it and in the United States. I'm really felt comfortable asking questions and challenging the ideas of my peers when need be and connecting to the few other female engineers I come across.

However in Europe I've come across something different. I have not found a single female whose education is engineering. There are scientists and women who work in a technical field part time, but not an engineer. This became grossly apparent this week.

It started with a road trip to Brahmen, Germany and then on to Odense, Denmark to visit the engineers designing different pieces of Medical Operations Hardware for some hands on training. Now most people would see a road trip as a great time to get to know your collegues and enjoy the travel. I certainly did and I definitely learned about my fellow travellers. There were 4 guys and me. You can immediately tell that the topics of conversation would naturally lean toward typical male interests. That's no problem for me, I too have an interest in cars and gadgets and good music. What I can't do is talk about a navi as if she is a high maintenance, temprimental girl friend. I just don't have experience in that field.

After a 4 hour drive we made it to Brahmen and that's where it really hit me. We walk into a room of 12 people. They are all middle aged men in dark gray shirts and suits hovering over schematics. I immediately knew I would not be fitting a mold wearing my bright pink sweater. So our Cologne group sits down and we begin to introduce ourselves. Each person from Brahmen talks about how they are proud to be the mechanical engineer on the project or the systems specialist. When it gets to my turn I calmly state that I am a Biomedical Engineer from NASA providing expertise to ESA Medical Operations for 3 months. They all politely nodded and moved to the next person. It wasn't until after lunch when we got into the meat of their presentation did I find something worthwhile enough to speak up and ask a question about why they designed a certain part of the device the way they did given the history of medical operations hardware and the affects of zero-g on certain devices. There was silence. I think it was then they realized I wasn't a pretty face there to take notes/minutes for them, but to fully partake in a technical discussion. They huddled in their corner for a minute and the best response they could provide was it met the requirement of the principal investigator at the time. From then on they began to look at me whenever a question concerning NASA came up. Sometimes it only takes a little to turn someone's opinion around. Or so I thought.

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting familiar with the hardware. I was taking pictures and taking notes while the guys ran to try and pull it apart. Then one member of the Brahmen group asked if I wanted him to help me get in there so I could have a look. Now I'm sure he was trying to be polite and curteous to a visitor, but the way he said it also made me believe that he thought I wasn't in there because I wasn't strong enough to speak for myself. It's always a fine line. I politely declined until I saw my opportunity to take the raines and dabble myself for a while.

With our discussions in Brahmen finsihed it was on to Odense. The van was really starting to stink by then with the guys just throwing their food wrappers and other garbage around like they lived in a garbage bin. The site in Odense was much smaller than the one in Brahmen. It was housed inside a renovated barn. Very charming on the outside and very modern on the inside. We sat down at a table in their main lab to have our discussions. Again the same thing happened. I wasn't even looked at until I was able to make a comment and it was as if I had magically appeared in the room for the first time to them.

However, you could tell that the team in Odense had built Medical Operations Hardware before. They already had a grasp on how it would be used and what designs work best in zero gravity. They certainly had a leg up on the Brahmen group in that respect. My hope is that pratical experience gains respect no matter what form it comes in.

Dusseldorf

One rainy Saturday, the interns and I decided to take a little train ride to Koeln's sister city or arch rival depending on how you looked at it, Dusseldorf. We had heard a lot of things about Dusseldorf from native Koelners; how their beer isn't as good, their cathedral isn't as big, Karneval is not as exciting and their futbol team is horrible. We decided to put all these indirect impressions aside and see for ourselves. The rain almost prevented us from going, because who wants to walk around in the rain. However, this was my only opportunity to see Dusseldorf so we pressed on.

It was a shorter train ride than I expected. When we walked out of the Bahnhof, we were pleasently surprised to find the rain had let off. We began walking toward the Altstadt or old city. We crossed the main road that was divided by a beautiful tree-lined stream; the perfect photo op.

Then we ventured into open markets on our way through Altstadt. We found a souvenir shop where Sergi found a fantastic costume for Karneval and I found the perfect pink wig for my costume. The little old ladies who were in there buying bibs for their grand children got a kick out of us trying on wigs and hats. The funny thing that I noticed about the shop is that there were a lot of souvenirs against Koln and how much better Dusseldorf was. As much as Koelners talk about the shortcomings of Dusseldorf, I hadn't seen it advertised on a t-shirt. This was my first hint that Dusseldorf had and inferiority complex.

After the souvenir shop we were starting to get a little hungry so we looked to the Lonely Planet Guide for suggestions on traditional Dusselorf food. We found a nautical themed restaurant down a pedestrian street from one of the open market squares. Apparently they liked Napolean in this place as they had French banners and a bust of Napolean rounding out the decor. Most of us ordered the Alt Beer with Fish. Alt beer is indeed interesting being dark and malty, but it doesn't liven up a mood like Koelsch.

In Summary: After only spending a day in Dusseldorf, I can only go with first impressions and based on the Altstadt Dusseldorf is a little Koeln with many irish pubs. Little Koeln because it is a city in the same region along the Rhine so there are bound to be similiarities, and many Irish Pubs because we must have visited 3 or 4 after night had fallen. :)

Budapest

My trip to Budapest started out like any other. A leisure meal in the airport with friends, a short nap on the plane, a luxurious ride in a fancy taxi... until the taxi stopped in a dark alley in front of an abandoned building. I asked the taxi driver if he was sure this was the location of the address on my reservation. He smiled, said yes and then peeled off.

Alex and I took another look at the address and it said that the number was 4 1/2. Both thinking that was very odd, we strolled up and down the street but clearly there was no 4 1/2 between 4 and 5 or anywhere else. I felt like I was in a Harry Potter book trying to get to platform 9 3/4.

We concluded that we were going to need some assistance in getting to our hostel, but with the information center closed at this hour, we were going to have to improvise. We found a very nice hotel nearby, one I had looked at for reservations only briefly because it was 3x as expensive to stay there. We asked the man at the front desk if he knew where the address was and he pointed to the street that we had already been on. After he was sure that we had already looked there, which took some convincing, he called the number on the reservation. After a quick conversation in Hungarian, the man hung up the phone and informed us that two men would be coming by to pick us up. Surprised, and a little nervous, Alex and I took a seat in the lobby to await our fate.

About 10 minutes later, two older gentlemen came up to me. One asked, "Are you Ms. Struble?" Mispronouncing it of course. I hesitated, looked at Alex for a sign and in receiving none, I timidly replied, yes.
We started walking and I quickly realized that it was in the opposite direction of the address we had been given. A little panicked, I looked at Alex and he seemed just as nervous. I sized up the two gentlemen and determined that my only chance was to run if need be. They were both speaking broken English describing the area and where to go and asking seemly polite questions about where we were from and what not. I let Alex do most of the talking.

We eventually turned down an alley and this was when I was ready to drop my stuff and run like hell. We stopped in front of an apartment building where they began telling me how to use the keys. I thought, are they serious? There's no Hostel building, just a rented apartment? They must have seen the confusion on my face because they then explained that hostels were different in Hungary as they were just rooms scattered across the city and not whole buildings. I didn't believe them. We got out of the small rickety elevator and made our way through an open hall over looking the small square (it was too high to jump and escape) to our door. One man opened the door and showed us the "reception desk", which was actually the kitchen. He said there would be a lady there most of the time if we needed anything. Then we made our way up the narrow stairs to find two young Brits sitting on a futon watching TV. Apparently they were also staying at the hostel. I couldn't tell if they were in the "lobby" or were we walking through their room to get to ours. Then the man handed me a skeleton key and told me it was the key to my room. he opened the door to a closet with bunk beds. This was a far cry from the two twin beds with adjoining shower I had requested. The shower was across the hall and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in this century. I was glad that I had brought my own towel and shower shoes, but didn't know if I would even venture in there.

After we dropped our stuff, the two men looked at Alex and I expecting payment for the stay. The website said we would need to pay at checkout but they wanted cash and they wanted it now. Alex and I had only been in the country for a couple hours and did not have time to stop at an ATM. They two men then quickly escorted us out of the room and down the street to an ATM where Alex nervously withdrew the correct amount and handed it to the men who counted it twice, examined the bills and then walked away. Alex and I took in a deep sigh of relief and decided that we were in the clutches of the Hungarian mob.

Instead of going back to the "hostel room" we decided to give them some time to go through our stuff and take a walk to explore the city. We were apparently staying on the Pest side of town, so we thought it would be good to see if the Buda side was any more pleasant. We found the closest bridge and began the hike across in blustery winds. The view from the river was quite pretty with Parliament and other castles and churches all lit up. There were bars and restaurants in boats along the edge that emitted laughter and a happy glow along the banks on either side. Immediately on the other side of the bridge was a large statue on the top of a hill. Clearly the Canadian wanted to climb up there. After pointing out the steps, I agreed. Now it was relatively late and very dark when we started our climb. The trees and bushes had over grown their boundaries a bit making a dark tunnel for us to walk through. Taking in my surroundings, it looked like a typical make-out point or a just a general place for teenagers to hang out and get into trouble. I hoped that Alex and I wouldn't disturb anything by being there because I had had enough excitement for one day.

We made it to the top to find a very large statue of a handsome man with outstretched arms and an ogre at his feet. Alex certainly had to climb that as well while I waited with my two feet firmly on the ground.

After an invigorating climb, Alex was feeling a little hungry. We wandered back to the Pest side and into a more populated area of town where we found an Hungarian restaurant directly across from a Marriot hotel. We knew we would be screwed at this place but we also knew it had to meet tourist standards so we went in. The wine was mediocre and the food had little Hungarian flags in it, but it was warm and enjoyable to eat while two musicians serenaded the room. After dinner I regretably told Alex that I was exhausted and really wanted to go to bed after such an eventful day. We made it back to our apartment in one piece. The Brits weren't anywhere to be found and neither was the "receptionist". We locked ourselves into the room though I had my doubts on how effective it would be and hunkered down for a fitful nights sleep. At least there was a make-shift sky light that we could gaze up at the stars through. It was a breath taking scene for a city night's sky

The next morning we awoke to a bright sunny day. We were a little more optimistic since we made it through the night and ready for a day of exploring. Our first stop was Hero Square. It is on the Northwest side of Pest. We rode the metro up to the square and wandered around the park looking at the different buildings the baths and the art. There was a beautiful castle that housed a Nature Musuem. The Castle was pisturesque, but I wasn't feeling the musuem inside.

In another section of the park was an open area where a little girl and I played hide and seek inbetween the rusted pillars of art. Alex and I then wandered into a political comis strip. We couldn't understand the words, but we had fun playing with the pictures.

Eventually we made it back to Hero Square. It was there that Alex and I met Casey and he joined us for a look inside the Museum of Fine Arts on Hero Square. The two exhibits we saw were of Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Picasso, Klee and Kandinsky.

The Picasso et. al. exhibit was a little sparse and contained more sketches than actual pieces, but I did get to see some less famous pieces and another side of the artists. The Hundertwasser exhibit was very extensive with full series for different periods of his career. I especially liked to see how he took an ancient style like Japanese water color and really make it his own and evolve it into something new and impressive.

After the museum, we went to a nearby Turkish Cafe for a snack. It was impressive with the Hookah tables and authentic Turkish art. Alex tried a Turkish dessert that he didn't know anything about. The contorted face after the first bite was priceless.

Casey wanted to go to one of the famous baths nearby, but Alex and I hadn't brought our bathing suits. By the time we went across town to get the suits, the baths had closed. So instead we made our way to a little bar around the corner that Casey had found the last time he was in Budapest. I will lovingly refer to it as the Peanut Pub.

The Peanut Pub was a dark cozy place with a small corner bar and some tall bar stools scattered around. The floor was covered with peanut shells, hence the name and the walls and ceiling were covered in items left by past patrons. There were notes scribbled on napkins, old photos and IDs, busines cards and the like. We all sat at a large table in the back corner next to another English speaking couple. They were both working as English Tutors in Budapest and had a lot of helpful tips on things to do and how to get around.

After having a couple 1/2 litres of Hungarian beer, we and our new found friends had friends had a couple rounds of Hungarian Schnapps to set the night going in the right direction. It was soon after we realized we had eaten nothing but peanuts for dinner. After some good byes and empty promises to write without having exchanged emails or names, we walked over to a little place that came highly recommended.

This place wasn't like anything I expected in Budapest. It was something out of a magazine proclaiming the latest restaurant to hit Manhatten. Bright green walls, posh leather seats, hard metal light fixtures and crazy entrees to boot! The dinner was amazing and I was expecting to pay close to $40 U.S. for it including the wine. The bill came out to $12 each. That's not even the best part. At one end of the restaurant was a bar and behind the bar was a very large piece of artwork. For the longest time we couldn't figure out what it was as it cast funky shadows over the wall. After dinner Casey went over and discovered it was actually gray suede schredded to look like thick blades of grass.

After such a fabulous dinner, we weren't ready to go home. That and the fact that it was only 9:00. We made our way down a dark alley and into what looked like an old greenhouse. I didn't want to see how it looked in daylight, but at night it looked like the college beer garden. We crammed ourselves onto the edge of one of the long tables and were immediately introduced to everyone else at the table. They were all Medical Students and most of them Norwegian of all things. Their English was excellent so we had a roudy time making small talk. Clearly when you are with a bunch of college kids, it eventually gets down to drinking games. This time was no exception. We learned Norwegian games like Moose and Shoes while I taught my favorite, Shoulders.

From the Beer Garden we made our way to an even sketchier alley way where we ducked under a tattered curtain and down the stairs to a basement bar. It was crowded and sweaty down there due to the lack venitlation. The floor was covered in a thick film of mildew and beer. In the back corner was a small dance area where the DJ played tunes off his iPod. As soon as we entered the DJ put on a little swing. Alex grabbed my hand and began spinning and twirling me into everything and everyone. After a couple songs, we were covered in sweat so went to the bar to grab some beers. It was there Alex noticed a nice looking girl in a black tank top. No sooner had Alex pointed her out did she get yanked onto the dance floor by another guy. We watched as she got handed off from one guy to the next as they swung her around the room like in a musical. I grabbed Alex's drink and told him to get in there.

As soon as Alex left my side, it was replaced by a large man with wide shoulders. He had overheard me talking in English to Alex and so introduced himself as an unpronouncable hame in broken English. For as big as he was, he wasn't too intimidating so I carried on a conversation with him while Alex played around on the dance floor. He told me he was in school for business, played in a rock band and was a wrestler. The wrestler part was the only one I believed. As the conversation continued, I got the impression that the Wrestler wanted me to go home with him. My hard evidence came when he asked me point blank to go home with him. Luckily my knight in shining armor had gotten bored with the dance floor and came back to see how I was doing. I said, "honey we need to head out now." Alex was ready to go anyway so I explained to him the situation as we were walking home and he ahd a good chuckle. We made it into bed just as the sun was creeping up the horizon.

The next morning we were little delayed in getting out the door. The receptionist took out keys and we did the remaining of our siteseeing with bags in hand. As we were walking out the door Alex and I realized that although we had an amazing time yesterday, we had only been to Hero Square. The rest of the day was spent running past Parliment, the old square, the Opera House and the Cathedral. The Cathedral was especially beautiful being completely round and gilded.

After leaving the Cathedral we realized that we had an hour to catch our flight and a half hour ride to the airport. We couldn't find a taxi anywhere so we ran over to a ritzy hotel and asked the concierge to call us one. Instead he called the hotel van and we sped away to the airport for no more than a tip. We made out flight with 15 minutes to spare. Splenty of time.