We have had some pretty days with blue skies. It is still very cold. Had to wear hat and long underware today. But, they are having festivals and food booths downtown in the main square. It is lots of fun. They sell flowers and vegetables and lots of cooked food. Lots of fish dishes. They seem to love calamari here. The bulb flowers are starting to come up in the flower beds and everyone seems more cheerful. The prostitutes (they are legal here) are standing by the gate in case a soldier wants an overnight guest and many do. duh. I was surprised that they can have overnight guests in the barracks. There have been several things I have been surprised about here. They have lots of ads on TV about gambling addiction and about overspending, but on base in the bowling alley there are slot machines. It just seems a tad incongruent to me.
We had a job fair on base today. I ws involved telling soldiers and spouses about the program I am in. I cannot hang out with soldiers or with civilian employees (all are considered potential clients and I cannot pal around with any of them.) but I can hang out with non military folk and at the job fair there were recuiters from defense companies. Well, I went out with 2 of them for dinner. We had fun and it was nice to be around someone non military.
I can attend classes that the family center offers. I then meet more people and interface about the services we offer. Anyway, I went to one about having a baby here. There isn't an army hospital here in Schweinfurt so the women have their babies in the local hospitals with German doctors. It seems like a good deal. I think they get more attention than in the US. For instance in the US women usually have one ultrasound. Here they have one every time they see the doctor. Also, some of the women told me they prefer to go to the German doctors for other health needs. Onre was telling me about a back problem and when she went to the doctor he would massage her back and do accupuncture before he even tried meds. Everyone seems happy with the German medical system. Oh, except the German doctors sometimes won't circumsize the babies. So, a doctor who will has to be brought in. I think the Europeans think we are barbarians in this area.
Many of the bases are closing in Germany (just like the closings in the US). Schweinfurt is getting ready to take some families from a nearby base, Manheim. Schweinfurt is scheduled to close in a few years. It sure will affect the economy in this area.
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