I finally went into Roncalli’s Chapel!
This section of the maze that is the library at Hochschule München contained the architecture books.
Here is glimpse into the “Krimidinner,” or “Murder Mystery Party,” which was a fun, albeit stressful, event.
The orange stucco of the Lenbachhaus contrasted beautifully with the crisp blue sky. While I haven’t yet been in this art museum, I certainly hope to visit, especially now that I know “der Blaue Reiter,” or “the Blue Rider,” is the visiting exhibit.  Der Blaue Reiter was a German Expressionism art movement during the early 20th century.
Last week I mentioned that I’ve been learning to play Schafkopf, a Bavarian card game. The only suit not pictured is Herz, or hearts, which is the same as a standard deck of cards. You’ll also notice that Bavarian cards don’t have Jacks or Queens but Unters “U” and Obers “O”.
St. Benno’s, where I went Easter Mass, had beautiful and intricate decorations like this floor mosaics. The title image shows a larger overview of the church interior.
In a previous post I showed a dynamic side angle of St. Benno, but here is a front view that creates a dramatic urbanistic moment as it terminates the street.
The Easter Bunny visited each floor in Roncalli!
While walking with Samantha, we took a peek into Theatinerkirche.
Theatinerkirche has some seriously impressive baroque ornamentation!

One goal from this week was to enjoy the nice weather while it’s still here. Anyone who doubted the sunshine could easily find proof on my sunburned face, which garnered some good-natured teasing from my floormates. On Monday I cooked lunch for some floormates, and we enjoyed it in the Innenhof, which then evolved into us enjoying ice cream. In the afternoon I went to the main library at Hochschule München (HM), my host institution, in order to grab some books from the shelves and pick up others that I ordered from the branch libraries. It was my first time in an HM building and navigating their Covid precautions. 

On Tuesday evening I really challenged myself by agreeing to participate in a “Krimidinner,” a “murder mystery dinner.” My character, Marie, was the daughter-in-law of the victim and was innocent of the crime; however, in addition to some suspicious actions of my character, my reluctance to speak and my stunted German helped convince the majority of the group that I was guilty. It was a lot of fun but definitely pushed the boundaries of my German abilities. 

I balanced my productive Wednesday morning with an exciting afternoon. I met Samantha, fellow Fulbrighter, for a walk and lunch in the English Garden. I returned to the dorm and played badminton against some people from another floor and in the evening some of my floormates and I played Schafkopf with other Roncalli people outside. The nice weather, which accommodates outdoor social distancing, facilitates interacting with and meeting other students living in Roncalli. 

On Thursday I went to Mass at a local church, St. Vincenz, with a floormate. And the next few days were work-oriented leading up to Easter. I went to Easter Mass at the larger church in my neighborhood, St. Benno. The Mass was lovely with beautiful music, and I found it relatively easy to understand. Afterwards I met the other Fulbrighters in the English Garden for a wonderful picnic lunch. One of my floormates gifted me a chocolate bunny and the Easter Bunny left some goodies for each floor. I ended the week with pizza with my three floormates who didn’t go home for Easter.

This site is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author, Stephanie Kubus, and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.