That is the light fixture in our kitchen. Apparently there is some kind of short circuit in the electrical system in our apartment, one that involves said light fixture, as well as all the other overhead lights, and all the outlets in the apartment except two in the bedroom. (Thankfully the hot water heater, bathroom light and stove still work. Also the phone and modem!) Our landlady does not speak English and our German (especially mine) isn't good enough to clearly explain what exactly is and is not working, so she asked a friend of hers to stop by to look at things. Turns out her friend is a 7-foot tall man named Lars (very nice, speaks excellent English) who proceeded to dismantle the light fixture in the kitchen (see above), which he had installed. He couldn't figure out what the problem was, but the wiring is obviously incredibly old (insulated with cloth that's so old it's crispy) so an electrician is coming tomorrow. I'm hoping the problem can be fixed without ripping into the ceiling, but I'm not holding my breath. My job tonight is to eat the stuff in the fridge that might go bad in the next 24 hours - yogurt and leftover Romano beans for dinner!
In more positive news, the weather has been beautiful the past two days, almost warm even. I was walking home from Zoli's building yesterday when I saw these mushrooms growing on a stump.
I find it amazing that you can find these in the middle of a city of 1.75 million people. They were gone when I went past the spot today - I don't know of they are edible and were harvested or just too appealing a target.Also, I baked my first cake here! (Hausgemacht Kuchen? Selbstgemacht Kuchen? I'm not sure which is right.) Just a butter cake with plums and cinnamon sugar, but it was tasty. I should probably eat more of it tonight to keep it from spoiling. Right?
