So I had e-mailed the doctor a few weeks before to tell him which day I planned on arriving. This was good to go, or so I thought. A few days before leaving for Schweinfurt, I e-mailed the doctor asking him what I should specifically do when I get off the train in Schweinfurt. But due to the weak army e-mail system, he didn't get my e-mail in time, and I did not get an answer. I figured I'm a smart worldy girl, I can figure this out.
So Sarah and I arrived in Schweinfurt just before noon. Sarah decided to take a cab from the train station to her hotel and I decided to take a couple of my bags and head toward the base. I tried calling the phone numbers for a couple of the technicians who worked in the office, but neither of them worked. However, I knew I had e-mailed with the doctor about my arrival date, so I assumed all was well. When I asked the taxi driver to take me to the army base, he asked me "which one?". I had no idea, but luckily I guess correctly.
German taxis can't go on base, so I had him drop me off at the main gate. I rolled up to the gate with 2 suitcases in tow and explained my situation. I asked if they had a phone number for the health clinic and of course they were completely useless and had no phone numbers. (Sure hope nobody has a heard attack near the gate!) So I used my military ID card for the first time to get me on base and had them point me in the direction of the clinic.
So there I was walking down the street on a base rolling my 2 suitcases, it's lunch hour so lots of people in uniform are roaming around, so I felt like a spectacle. Luckily the health clinic was only about 500-600 meters from the gate and everybody knew where it was, so it was pretty easy to find. So at this point I really had no options. I had no working phone numbers for the clinic or any staff and they were not getting my e-mails. I rolled into the front door, followed the signs to optometry, and walked right up to the desk (feeling ridiculously akward since I was now sweating and carrying 2 suitcases+a large backpack).
It's lunch hour, so almost everyone is gone. The woman working at the front desk was very surprised to see me since she was told all of the interns would be arriving 2 days later. She was very nice and let me in. After lunch two of the technicians came back from lunch, also very surprised to see me there. This did not help the embarassment factor! Everyone was really nice and showed me around the clinic. When Dr. Eddis came back from a meeting, seeing me seemed to refresh his memory that this was the day of my expected arrival.
So it gets better. Dr. Eddis realized he needed to take me to get a base pass so I could more easily get on/off base. However, a family of 3 had just walked in for their appointments. In order to get done on time for the base pass office to still be open, he asked me to take a patient. It was a healthy 8 year old and I really didn't mind at all. But here's the catch...I was wearing JEANS, a black TSHIRT, and new balance TENNIS SHOES! NOT EXACTLY CLINIC ATTIRE! I felt so akward, and I couldn't help but laugh at the situation. That all went fine, but I wonder if that girl's mother could take me seriously.
They showed me around the base some. I must say I've spent a lot of time on a lot of bases, mostly AF, but a few army, and this is the...how should I say it to be polite...it's the oldest. So basically it's crummy. However, everything is what you make of it, and I'm sure it will be an awesome time! Next, I went by what will be mine and Emily's dorm room. First of all, we are staying in enlisted dorms which are technically co-ed, and the building is quite old. I've seen frat houses cleaner than this place! For real! The hallways kind of smell like cigarettes and urine. Not lying. Our room isn't too bad. We share a bathroom with one other girl extern. There is a common kitchen which I will eventually post pictures of because nobody will believe me if I describe it. When Emily was at the dorm a few days later she looked around and was like "Is this real life???" Haha! We're safe and it's free and that's all that really matters. It makes for a lot of laughs and some funny stories!
Anyway, Emily (the other extern from Houston) arrived in Schweinfurt that night. We picked her up from the train station and stayed at a hotel for 1 night in the cute downtown area. We ate dinner at a cute beer hall. The pictures I've posted are from us exploring the town the first couple of days. No pics of our living situation yet.
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