Hello all!
Faith and I have been in Germany for the past week and a half,
spending time with Philipp and his wonderful family. When we first got off the
plane in Germany from Girona (a small one-night stop after Barcelona) we saw
him and his mom, Martina, standing at a big glass window overlooking where we
were coming off the plane. We were both overjoyed!
We spent a wonderful week and a half with his family: Martina,
Andi, Caroline, and Moritz (Mo). Philipp's family lives in Bad Schon Born, very
close to a train that takes passengers all over Germany. Because of that we had
the opportunity to visit a lot of incredible German cities like Heidelberg, Karlsruhe,
and Manheim.
I spent a lot of time in elementary school reading about The
Holocaust for personal interest in the subject. The Holocaust is a subject that
a lot of German people don't like to talk about (while, on the other hand, some
bring it up during relaxed conversation), so I was a bit nervous to ask about
seeing a concentration camp. I got the feeling that Philipp didn't want us to
think of Germany as 'the place where the Holocaust happened,' but when I asked
about seeing a camp Philipp and his family were all very accomodating and
understanding of my request. We went to Struthoff Work Camp in France. The camp
was up a mountain and several miles away from a neighboring city so as not to
draw attention. When we got to the top of the mountain I was struck by how
beautiful the area was, how wrong that felt, and the feeling that something had
happened there. It's an experience that is beyond my writing ability, or my
ability to understand, but it is one that I will never forget.
We met a few of Philipp's friends, spent time with his family, and
watched a full season of the show '24'... I know... The best way to spend time
in Germany? Well, we needed some downtime and even though that show brought a
lot of stress into our lives (seriously, this show is insane) it was nice to
just relax with one another at night after a busy day.
The food in Germany is AMAZING! My favorite is spetzel, which is
essentially thick, short pasta. The breads are all very hearty and grainy, and
everything in general is very rich: The chocolate, meats, sauces, everything.
That being said it's very easy to find food for days when you're not especially
hungry. It's really easy to stereotype a country into having food, music, or
people who are a certain "type." What's important to remember and
what we have been consistently reminded of is that so much of life and culture
in a place has to do with who you are staying with, what their own personal
tastes are, and what is accessible to you. Each nationality has pride, and
the stereotypes I have been taught are becoming less and less of something I
think about as I travel more. This is a good thing, I think.
And so now, we're in Latvia. We left Frankfurt yesterday afternoon
and were planning on having a layover here for an hour. Instead, we learned
minutes before boarding the plane to Russia that our visas aren't authorized
for entry into Russia until the 20th of November. So here we are, in an awesome
hostel in Riga, Latvia, enjoying ourselves!
Love and more love,
Rigel
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