Bits and Pieces

Two weeks later… 

It has been hard the past two weeks. I’m always unsure of how much I should or feel comfortable publishing online, but since many of you know me anyway, this is a way of processing. Nevertheless, I’ll be scarce with the details and reach out in person when I can. 

I think if I look at this time as part of the greater time line, it is the point where I stop being just a visitor here, where the new, exciting things become less exciting because they are not new anymore, and the daily life sets in - even though the daily life at the moment is such a lie because I am still waiting for my SS-Number to come through to start working! *This is certainly a part of the frustration*

A much bigger part of this, too, is that I want to feel at home here. I want to take in the streets and people and experiences and plant a part of myself in this city. Before I left Chicago I had so many doubts. What if I won’t feel at home? What if I will feel just as uprooted and, really, rootless in Berlin as I do here? And it’s true. I do. The gentle side of me says: Yes, of course. You have been here a month, Lena, less than a month. Give yourself time to adjust and settle in. It takes time to build a home. 

The other, not as gentle and more direct part of me agrees but rebells because I am here for such a long time, how am I supposed to make a place my home when I know that I will be leaving again in now just four months, how does that work? How did I manage to take it all in before, on all my other trips *after Bolivia*? (I know the answer too well: I was a visitor there, even when I stayed for a bit longer. The places became a part of me because of the experience I gathered, not because they were meant to become a home for me. I had expectations, maybe too high, that coming back to Germany would automatically feel like home, after all I did grow up here and after all this is where I come from. And part of it is true, I love hearing German in the streets, I love thinking in German and not having to switch back to English, I love that I don’t feel foreign here. There haven’t been many moments where I have wondered why people are doing X. I don’t get stuck culturally, not as much. Sometimes there are songs I don’t know, or movies I have not watched, but that will be the case for the rest of my life. 

I’m really not sure how to navigate this in-between-space that I am in. Being in Berlin feels so right, and at the same time I already have to apply to the internship I need to do for the masters in Social Work *which I have been accepted to!* in the fall…How am I supposed to do that? Start a process that I really don’t even want to think about yet? I don’t want to think about leaving when I feel that I haven’t even arrived, settled in, really. Yet if I miss the deadlines I will miss out on the internship that I might very much want…And please don’t just say: well just do it and then it’ll be over with!!! If you know me even a little bit you also know I do what I do with all of my heart, and doing something that I know will be important to me in the future but that I can’t give my whole heart to at the moment is incredibly challenging to me. 

Mostly I miss you all. It’s homesickness but not for a place, but for people. for that network of people, knowing that I could call you all at 3 in the morning and you would pick up. Not having you around is so, so hard. And yes, I know eventually I would form these connections here, too, but at the moment I am really struggling knowing that I will always be torn. There is no correct solution here. Someone will always be missing and something will always feel wrong. Is that what growing up is like? Having to negotiate the priorities that you set for yourself, knowing that there will always be a negative side of whatever you put first? 

On top of all this emotional turmoil, the past week was also filled with trauma-related things…adding triggers and panic attacks to my already emotional week. 

Some moments I want to remember: 

That this week Fabi and I have seen each other Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Today, Wednesday. I am so lucky and happy to not be in a long distance relationship anymore. 

Yes there are ups and downs and yes there are things we still have to work at, but I am so grateful to be here with Fabi and to be able to just say I am coming over and sleep in the same bed (sorry that I am such a cuddly sleeper ^^). Or cook dinner or explore the city or watch a show or do something with friends.

Martin was here!!! I’m so happy we got to spend some time in “our” city, after all he lived here for 12 years! We also drank coffee with Markus, my uncle. This was a first, they had never drunk coffee together. It was nice to chat, and also hear a bit more about his life, and reconnect. The day after Martin and I walked through the city a bit and then ate Döner for lunch with Fabi. It was sad to say good bye. I know four months isn’t that long, but it feels long to me at the moment. 

I invited a friend and a friend of hers over for a game afternoon. We played banana grams and had such a good time, had coffee and cake, and I’m excited to see when we can meet up again. It feels good to make some genuine connections here and they are such nice people! 

If you saw the pictures you know I was in Potsdam. It felt refreshing to get out of the city and see that there are smaller cities in the outskirts that feel more home-y and have a city center AND Potsdam is also surrounded by lakes and little creeks. I really like the city as such, and loved being guided by my friend, chatting all the way as we walked for two and a half hours. Sometimes it’s good not to have a day-pass for public transit ;) Thanks for walking with me :) 

As I mentioned earlier, I also met a volunteer who was at my organization in Bolivia two years after I was there. It was funny to talk to her, she said she had already heard so much about me and of course we knew all the same people….how small the world can be, and how beautiful that such connections then exist. 

I was going to go climbing with Fabi and a few friends after I came back from Potsdam but was not feeling it ( they wanted to go top rope) so I went bouldering by my self and finished some new routes! I’m happy my muscles are building up again slowly. 

My Uncle Heini and aunt Claudia came to visit, we had dinner and Fabi got to meet them, we drank lots of Schnaps as usual, and had a beautiful time. I hadn’t seen them either, for several years, and yet it felt like it hadn’t been that long. 

I met a few Latina girls for coffee, we’re having dinner again this week, and I’m excited to build up some connections here, too. And it was beautiful to speak Spanish. I didn’t think I would miss it this much. 

I had dinner with Fabi’s roommates without Fabi, which seems a bit odd but was actually very nice. We watched Roma, and I had such high expectations that I was a bit disappointed. It’s not a bad film and the acting is great, I think I was just expecting something else from a movie with so many awards. 

I visited a day care center that focuses on German - English learning. It was refreshing to be around kids and have something to do. I wish I could work there, but there are again so many formal hoops that have to be jumped through first…It was a reinforcement thought to see that I am very capable of being and working in a day care setting. I had forgotten a bit that I have all these skills and passions…

Yesterday I went to a dance class again with one of Fabi's roommates, and there were so many more people there than before, it was quire amazing to feel the energy! We did an exercise where we had to redirect a partner and it was so much fun to see how the movement changed and the energy transferred from the pressure of a hand to a spinning body... I love improv dancing. It is so freeing and creates such a tension between the group and the individual, you take and you give, and you are still in your own little bubble, and you are free......

Today I walked from Fabi’s home to my home in the sunshine. Later we met up to go iceskating but (because I’m really very bad at reading things carefully) the ice rink was already closed. We walked by the river instead and it was beautiful. A truly magical corner of Berlin. I do love this city. When it’s not gray and raining for days without end. 

We heard Thom & the Wolves (https://open.spotify.com/artist/2dJNsVLw9JtA571l9TB1Fv?si=GHJRztj1SFGbPyfZMCW7Rw) play on a bridge. So enchanting.

I appreciate you all. Sending love. 

Even the smallest steps are progress

It seems to me like time is flying. Since the last time that I sat down to collect my thoughts, I have received a job-offer and am going through the motions of accepting this job (taking care for individuals with disability at a temp-agency. I am finding out that, while order and bureaucracy can be very helpful, it can also be a time-trap. It will take another few days until I can start working due to paperwork that I still have to fill out (health insurance, social security etc.). 

But that is OK. I am keeping myself busy, meeting new people and old friends, getting lost in the city, and taking a break from my normally so busy life. 

Here are some of the highlights of the last few days:

I went climbing with Fabi and a friend for the first time in many, many weeks if not months. I missed my climbing partner Alex so much, but it was also incredible to watch Fabi and his friend climb routes I could not even dream of climbing. It will take me a while to get back into the rhythm of holding my own weight, of not fearing to fall, of building up my muscles again. I was so sore for several days (sending Alex, Clara, and Meghan lots of muscle-healing-energy <3).

I went to grab a beer with an old friend who I had seen last about 8 years ago. We met up at a café/bar near my house and spent a few hours talking. It’s nice to know that some connections don’t really change, even through the years. 

Some time last week I made plans to go to a dance lesson with a friend in the evening. I had no idea where this dance lesson was (ok, I had the address, but had never really been in that area). I started biking, got terribly lost and of course missed my friend who was going to meet up with me. I was able to send her a message, but still couldn’t find her.  I was angry at myself, and adding to the trouble my phone shut off because of the cold. With some trouble I found my way back home without the help of Google Maps. I realized how dependent I am on navigation, and even with navigation have a terrifically hard time finding my way around. Maybe I’m not made for the big city after all? Everything is so far apart and so hard to find…

A few days after my getting-lost-in-Berlin-by-accident-adventure I did go to the dance class with my friend,  this time not at night but at 8 in the morning. Since I wanted to make extra sure that I would be on time and not get lost I got up at 6:30 and met up with her at 7. Biking out in the cold woke me up a bit and helped me fight my not-morning-person self. The class started with a bit of a warm-up and an explanation. The movement improvisation dance meant that there would be some guiding instructions, but no explicit movements to follow. One should try to keep the eyes open to send the energy back into the room, and not look at mirrors (there weren’t any). The six of us stood in a circle and started moving one body part after another, changing the rhythm after a while, following the music, finding what movement feels right, freeing both the body and the mind, sometimes incorporating the catch and release technique that I had learned a few years ago in my modern dance class,  sometimes just being as big in the room as possible, or as small. 

Feeling my body and activating all the muscles felt so good! Something that I had been missing without realizing it. It brought me back to the days that I was taking modern dance at Loyola, remembering how I first started the class - with much trouble to connect to my body and to the movement, incapable to fully open up - and how much progress I made, to walk through a room with confidence taking up my space, yet looking out for those around me connecting the movement with my mind and (sometimes) my breath. I’m excited to go back to the class and reconnect to that part of myself. I felt calm and at peace after. 

I made empanadas with Fabi and thought of my family in Bolivia. I miss them. It had been quite a while since I had last made empanadas, probably with Spanish Club? Drinking some wine, listening to Spanish music, eating the food that makes my heart warm, sitting across from Fabi… 

Eva, who I am living with, very much wants me to make empanadas more often. They turned out well. 

Friday I went to a “Schnibbel-Disko” to prepare for a protest against food-waste on Saturday. The premise of the event was that too much vegetables are thrown away because they do not fit the norm of what the supermarkets want to sell. We peeled and cut 2 Tons of veggies that were then cooked into a soup that was given away to the people at the protest. That way, we saved food that would otherwise have been thrown away, and made a statement. I mean, really. Who cares if the carrot you put into a sauce or soup or cut up for a salad is a bit crooked, as a bit of a different shape? Once you cut it it looks the same. If you can, invest in ways to buy produce that is different from the “pretty, straight, normed products” and buy locally!!

I found this resource, maybe you’re interested. I will be trying out a service where I save food that will otherwise go to waste. 

I visited Pia over the weekend. Even though it was a short visit it was so nice to see her. To be honest I miss having in-depth conversations with my friends, and it was good to just sit in the kitchen, talk, reflect, eat…

we spent some time with her niece, nephew, and sister. I was surprised at how quickly her almost 3 year-old nephew warmed up to me. After all we hadn’t seen each other for quite a while. I read some books to them, played some guitar, cleaned the dishes…it was a relaxing, calm afternoon. 

Pia and I went to a play (Grete Minde after Theodore Fontane) with a friend. The play was very strange, I thought. I had a hard time taking it serious during the performance. Reading a bit more about the historical background, though, I can see that it was more serious than I had thought. 

Today I spend quite some time biking through a park, taking pictures, enjoying that it was finally sunny after so many gray days and went climbing with Fabi again. I made some new friends, and by complete coincidence met the brother of a girl who had spent a year at my project in Bolivia about 2 years after I'd left. The world is so small sometimes.

Stay warm and keep me updated about your life, too!

Berlin, January 10, subway back home // January 11, café in Mitte

The last days in Frankfurt were calm, lots of time spent sleeping, cuddling, and seeing some friends, getting to know Fabi’s old friends, chatting with his family, eating pizza with my mom and Fabi‘s parents, taking more walks in the woods...

Now, back in Berlin, the past few days were filled with productivity and progress:
• I decorated my room so that I already feel at home there
• I bought the few things that were still missing
• I had dinner with my uncle and my cousin
• I wrote another job application
• I called the federal agency for approving foreign degrees
• I now have a German phone number
• I am registered in Berlin and soon will have a new ID (the old one expired years ago)
• I reached out to friends living in the area
• I went to two job interviews
• I biked home from Fabi‘s apartment and loved every second of it, despite the rain
• I wrote my personal statement for scholarships
• Fabi and I cooked dinner

Life is good! Despite the ugly, gray, rainy weather here, I‘m enjoying being back home and (even though I miss all of you SO much) I can‘t say that I‘m missing Chicago at all (ok, maybe the lake. There‘s no lake here, nor an even slightly comparable route for my runs and bike rides).

I know so well that this is part of the non-linear process of defining and redefining home. I remember well how everything was new and shiny in Bolivia before it became mundane daily-life. I know that will be the case here, too. I know that I will begin to hate the rainy mornings, the gray walls of the buildings, I will miss the color and warmth of elsewhere. But that‘s later, for now I‘m enjoying the curious, tingling, exciting feeling of new beginnings and can‘t wait to see where this journey takes me.

Please, please, please reach out if you are reading this!!!! Through comments or messages, it‘s always nice to know that you think of me, too :) sending hugs and lots of love ❤

The Time Between the Years

In German there is a phrase for the few days between Christmas and New Years Eve. It is the time between the years.

This year's time between the years has been quite turbulent: I spent time seeing the friends I hadn't seen back in Chicago, packed and unpacked my things, unpacked and packed the things I would take to Germany, spent lots of time with my family, and then left Chicago unable to sit still even a second because I felt so excited about this next stage of life. 

I arrived safely in Berlin, grinning the whole way there. 

Days before, I had arranged with my landlady (my lovely uncle and aunt's next door neighbor) that I would drop my luggage off at the apartment before I would take a train down to Frankfurt to stay with Fabi and his family. 

It was lovely to see the place where I will be spending the next few months, to start putting my things into place, to chat with my landlady Eva and get to know her a little, start exploring the neighborhood, take a nap. 

Still, I was so excited and happy that finding a calm headspace was hard. Mostly I was also so eager to see Fabi. And Pia!!! Almost 5 months of not seeing each other is almost 5 months too long. 

In the afternoon I made dinner for my uncle, aunt, and cousin. I was happy to see them, too, to catch up about the past half year, to see familiar faces.

Finally on my way to the train station, I made a new friend and out of coincidence met an old friend. How small the world is, after all...

The train ride was terrible. I really just wanted to get to Frankfurt, see Fabi, lie down...

I made it, finally, and seeing Fabi was everything that I had wished for and expected. 

The first day back in Friedrichsdorf, the little town where I had spent my childhood and early adolescence was magical. I was up early and had breakfast with Fabi’s family, chatting and talking about many different things at once. Later in the morning my favorite person came to visit - Pia, my closest, favorite, best friend, even if she hates these bloomy words. It was as if we had never left, and at the same time recognized the immense change that had taken place in the 9 years that had passed since I moved away, for both of us. She came with her partner, a good friend of Fabi’s, which created a closeness that I had not expected. It was as if we all had been together for much more than just a few minutes, there were no awkward pauses, no suspiciousness, no need for exploration or protection that might have been the case had we not all known each other for years. To me it felt like a small family. Much more so than I could have imagined. Pia suggested toward the late afternoon that we have cake and coffee with some old friends that I had not seen in many years, and that she also only sees a few times a year. I was totally for it. Not only did I get t see some people who I had not seen in a while, we also went on a walk through the woods - something that I had missed so very much. Fabi joined us later, and when we went back to his house we went to the sauna to relax a bit before going to bed.

I wasn’t too fit the next day, but i went for a walk with Pia. we had breakfast together at one of the small bakeries and walked through the woods. there is nothing nicer than to have fields and woods in front of your doorstep. I missed it so much. And having your favorite person just a few steps away… we haven’t lived this close for 9 years. 

Later in the evening Pia and Harun joined us for a night of board games, which is another thing that I have missed so much. 

the 31st was a bit of a chaotic day, still not feeling well I wondered how the evening would go. I worked out for a little while and starte watching Sense 8 again. if you have not seen it, this is a shameless plug. It is so worth your time. 

Before heading out to meet Fabi’s friends, we made dinner with Pia and Harun. It was such a mess, but that was a bit to be expected   since it involved Pia and me in the kitchen. We made Piña Colada and it was a disaster while the boys made pasta and sauce. 

It was fun to almost all of the same people that I had met just a year ago and catch up a bit. Mostly though I spent time with Pia, which made the party so much more fun. Since we only arrived a bit before midnight, the time flew by between playing drinking games and dancing and chatting. Seeing all the fireworks was a delight, kissing Fabi happy New Year was amazing, and firing off a firework was exhilarating. Not sure I would do that one again. The night continued, I had too much to drink, and things go as they go. Pia, Haurun, Fabi and I left around 4:30 and made our way home. 

The first of January was quite a lazy day, I was even more sick than before and generally didn’t feel too good, even though I was hardly hung over. I ate breakfast again with Fabi’s relatives, they are visiting form Uruguay, and it was comforting to talk in Spanish for a bit before dozing and watching some TV.

Now I just got back from a walk through the sunny fields with Pia and am sitting on the porch wrapped in my jacket enjoying the warm sun rays. 

I wish you all joy and love and peace in this new year. May you all find the strength that you carry within you. 

Lots of love. 

Very-Out-Of-Order Pictures July 2nd-July 10

 Steph in Berlin

 Berlin Wall

 Autonomenviertel Viertel Berlin 

 Oma 

 Bruxelles 

 Bike Tour I

 Bike Tour II

 Niels 

 Museumsdorf Cloppenburg

 Steve McCurry Exhibition 

 Museumsdorf Cloppenburg

Bruxelles 

Oma

Bruxelles --> Cloppenburg--> Berlin:  July 4 - July 7

11 hour train rides are never fun. Really, Bruxelles is very close to my grandma’s (Oma’s) hometown, but the connections are terrible and indirect. Anyway, I left a rainy Bruxelles and sat in four trains, ate my first German bread roll, and finally arrived at Oma’s house. I have been listening almost exclusively to French music. I really don’t want to let go quite yet. I should have stayed for a bit longer. I miss the Bretagne already, even with the he amazing adventures that lie ahead.

Oma’s house is a place of rest. It is so much a part of me I never realized how rooted I feel here. After all it is the one place together with the lake house that I have been coming to since my childhood. Oma was very happy to see me. Of course she had made dinner for me, it was very delicious.

Cloppenburg is such a calm, tranquil place. Yes, Oma is now older and in that respect it is not quite the same anymore as it was when I was a child, but that is normal and expected…aging is a part of life.

Moments of Joy:
Eating homemade strawberry cake with Oma
Eating bread rolls. I’ve been waiting so long.
Buying a cheese knife at a cheese stand at the market.
Lying in the sun in Oma’s garden, smelling the grass, feeling very comforted by the moss cushion underneath the blanket.
Making Reibeplaetzchen (potato pancakes)
Eating Reibeplaetzchen with apple sauce
Going to the Museumsdorf and smelling the very peculiar smell of the old farms, feeling the brick stones, and all of a sudden feeling a very deep pain very deep down in my chest because I know that this is a place that belongs to me and that I will never be able to stay. It hurt to feel so connected because it is a connection that only exists within me. It’s a connection that maybe runs through the connection of family. This is my mother’s home and I feel like I belong because the stones and the smells and the grass, the rooms and the stairs hold memories of my childhood.

 Saying goodbye to Oma was hard. She was stressed and I was sad to leave, especially because I could tell that she was so overwhelmed and that it was time for me to go. I was sad because I don’t know when I will be back. For me it is no longer a given to come back to this place of my childhood where I spent so many summers, so many lazy days. There are so many factors that influence when I will be back that it is impossible to predict. All I can say is that I hope to be back soon.

*Memory of a hot summer day*
I must have been eight or nine, maybe, my cousins were at Oma’s with me and we had bought a sort of water slide for the yard, a long plastic tarp that we poured water over. We ran over the grass and then jumped to slide on the plastic tarp. I remember that we had so much fun, we lined up to run across the yard, and even my uncles lined up with us because it was such fun. I imagine that Oma was rather concerned about the state of her lawn, after all we children were running around quite a bit, and there was so much water… Anyway, we had such a great time with the water slide.

The train ride from Cloppenburg to Berlin was only a fraction of the train ride from Bruxelles to Cloppenburg. Originally, I only had to change trains three times to get to my uncle’s house in Berlin. I used the train ride to wind down and reflect, not only on the past few days, but also on my time in France and conflicts in my life, on the difficulties of the past half year. I especially came back to the question what it means to me to be at home, what it means to me to be German, what it means to. Me to be back in the country that I call home, and where I yet do not fit in one hundred percent. So, what does it mean to belong but not belong at the same time because there will always be fractions of me that are different, that have seen and felt part of other cultures? I think on the good days I take pride in the many little pieces that make up my life and the different cultures that I have partially internalized. But this pride also contains a note of sadness because while there is a beauty to multiculturalism, it also means that I am never just part of one culture and I lack the ability to trace my roots to just one place. On the bad days this side wins, and I feel lost and out of touch, I feel home-less, or maybe rootless is the better way to put it. Uprooted?

 I also realized, though, while I reflected, that I feel so much more like I belong here, to Germany, to Europe, than I have in the US for the past year at least. This for me is a very new discovery. And it is grounded in the deep connectedness that I feel in the little towns, in the relationships with my family, in the culture that does shine through in Germany (the consciousness for the environment, for example). I know that Europe – Germany – is not perfect and that is by now means what I am trying to express. Just that I feel more connected here.

That is part of what I was reflecting on when I heard an announcement that all inter-city train traffic through Berlin was stopped due to some sort of blockage and we would have to get out at a train station outside of Berlin and take the city trains (U- and S-Bahn) to get to our final destinations and the main station. I smiled to myself because while I had not been to Berlin in a while and really didn’t know my way around I knew that it would be no problem to figure out where to go, such a contrast to my frustrated quest for transportation in Paris. Furthermore I was in no rush to get anywhere, and just generally in such a great mood because I hadn’t seen my uncle in a very long time, and my amazing friend Stephanie would arrive in the evening to explore Berlin with me. What a gift. Good people, friends, family, make life worth living.

Bruxelles

Memories from Belgium,  July 2 – July 4:

*I am sitting by the open window looking out at the Bodensee, cold wind coming in, it looks like another storm will come in any minute. It is here where I feel most connected in Germany – after all I have been coming to this place since before I can remember. I have countless memories of lying on the grass, eating dinner under the birch tree overlooking the lake. I have countless memories of Sumer days filled with building stone sculptures or collecting flowers to sell them for a few cents at one of our road-side “shops”. I remember rowing the boat ever since I was little, first with the help of my dad. I remember spending my birthdays here, sometimes with family, later with my best friend, too. This is a place of tranquility and yet of chaos, because the more people the merrier the daily life. Since I am here with my grandma at the moment, it is indeed a place of peace and living each day as it comes.*

The past few weeks ever since I have left Paris have been much more slow-paced, much less filled with adventures. While I seek excitement and adventure, the calm of being with family, being at home, has been a blessing.

Belgium
My first night in Belgium – in Bruxelles – I had the privilege to eat the typical mules avec frites (mussels and fries). One of my mother’s friends was so kind to let me stay with her for a night, and I had such a beautiful time getting to know her and her family. From what she told me, I gathered that people in Belgium, in Bruxelles especially, are very kind and open. This was exactly my experience, and I could not have hoped for a nicer time in Bruxelles. The reason for visiting Belgium in the first place was to see my very dear friend Niels. We worked together in Bolivia and had not seen each other for three years. After that first night, he picked me up in the city center and showed me some of his favorite places. It was incredible to see him again. While we had kept in touch a little bit, we had so much to catch up on. It was just like we had seen each other a week ago and a lot had happened in that week. I look up to his so much, for his wisdom and kindness, for his passion.

Because the weather was terrible, we went to see the exhibition of Steve McCurry’s photographs. It was an awe-inspiring exhibition. There was no connection between the pieces, it was a combination of his work, and yet each piece reflected humanity and life (and in some cases, like the picture of a soldier’s burned body and the explosion of a gas tank, humanity and death/destruction). Seeing these pictures from around the world and hearing McCurry’s audio-commentary filled me with inspiration and a sense of humility: as a photographer, I still have long ways to go and much to learn. One of the things that struck me the most, was how much time McCurry spent on pictures. He went back to the same place over and over again to capture the perfect moment. I realized that you have to study a place, get a feeling for it, before you can take that one picture that then expresses that knowledge. This type of photography is very different from street photography (which is also important and can bring about beautiful pictures). It is the process that, in the end, makes a picture. I have not yet learned to take the time, maybe not learned to be patient and stay to explore just one fraction of a destination because new places hold so much excitement, so many new opportunities that I fear I would miss out on. I would love to take the time to come back to places various times to explore the whole first, ride along the wave of excitement, to then find the details.
…
Niels later took me to his home town, Bilzen, I met his family, and we ate Belgian fries.
The next day we took our time in the morning, sleeping much and eating breakfast around noon. Once we had gotten everything figured out – what to do and where to go – we packed some water and raincoats and took off on bikes. A bike tour really was the perfect way to spend the day, it had been raining so much but cleared up and was sunny that day. It was actually so warm that I wore my dress and no jacket! Such a nice change to wearing three layers… we biked along a scenic rout to several castles, through fields and little towns. It really really was a beautiful way to spend a warm, sunny day. We talked a lot and the most important conclusion that we drew from our conversation was to give everything another chance and take risks even if it’s scary.
At a the end of our tour we ate delicious ice cream in Bilzen. Back at the house we took some time to rest. We’d biked for about four or five hours after all. I sat in the sun for a while – it was much needed after so many days of cold rainy weather. We got Turkish food for dinner, another thing that I had been waiting for for a year (even though I have been eating SO much).
We stayed up talking and drinking wine. It was good to talk about Bolivia, to remember the old times, the fun times, to hear how the children have changed, and that the moms at Plataforma are still the same. It was funny to compare our impressions of our friends, it was good to remember the good times. I’m so grateful for the time we had. Please come visit me sometime, Niels  :)