We finally made it to Germany!  After arriving at the airport, we took a bus to the hotel.  We quickly dropped our bags off and headed out on our city tour.  Walking through the city of Augsburg was amazing.  The city is full of history and we were able to experience it firsthand touring the City Hall, St. Anne’s Church, and the Fuggerei.   The City Hall was completely destroyed during World War II but has since been rebulit.  The grand room was covered in gold encrusted deatials on the walls and ceilings.  We then went to St. Anne’s Church where I was able to see the tomb of legendary business man Jakob Fugger.  I learned about his ties to Augsburg dating back to the 15^th and 16^th centuries and how he made his fortune.  My favorite location of the day was the Fuggerei.  It was fascinating to learn the history behind the world’s oldest social housing projects still in use today.  I learned that the current residents of the Fuggerei pay .88 Euros per year in rent and must be Catholic.  I was able to gain a good sense of how they lived when the Fuggerei were first constructed, as well as how they have modernized over the years.

Finally, we were able to check into our hotel rooms.  AJ and I brought up our bags and entered the room.  The room was nice, just a little small at times, but we figured we wouldn’t be spending much time in the room over the course of the 2 weeks.  Ultimately, our day came to a close after our welcome dinner with traditional German cuisine.  The food was excellent and it was great to speak with students from the University of Augsburg and learn about their backgrounds and experiences.  We headed back to the hotel and were extremely tired after sleeping only about 3-4 hours in the past 2 days.  I fell asleep around 8:30 their time which is extremely rare for me.  Normally I’m a night owl and always stay up late.  The first day left me excited to meet with our presentation groups and ready to explore the rest of Germany!