Sj et Pedrata out . . . for now. ;-)
Mon ami, Pedrata, and I are travelling to Europe for the summer.
Yup, sure nuff we are!
Why?
Because we can. Yahoo!!!
And as long as this gal takes on teaching jobs, June and July is when we can get away for the longest time. I italicize the get away because leaving Kaua‘i isn’t about getting away. But that’s one of those expressions we use, and once we stop and think about what we’re really saying, we see it’s not really accurate.
So . . . rewind.
June and July is when I have a break from a real paying job.
Again, why italics?
Because we humans have some weird idea that a job is only real if we get a paycheck.
So again . . . rewind.
June and July is when I have a break. Period.
This gal’s life is about BE-ing, not doing or getting paid, or making money, or whatevahs.
It’s about Being me.
Who else could I be?
So I’m going to do it as passionately and with present moment awareness as possible.
Okay, I hear you all saying, “Get to the point, Sj!”
And so I shall.
WHO: Sj and her pal, Pedrata
WHAT: Traveling to Europe for a couple of months
WHERE: Paris for 2 nights then on to Lyon for 3 weeks of studying French at ESL (more on that later, this is where I studied in January 2009 btw).
THEN a week break when I’ll probably visit a family friend in Geneva (think CERN, Physics Professor, re-visit from shots from 2012), and THEN 4 weeks in San Sebastian, Spain to study Spanish. Yes, I know they speak Basque in that region. But I figured I was already going to *&%k with my mind, so why not go all the way.
And . . . here’s to hoping this Spanish teaching school does what it says. Teach Spanish. : )
Then on home by way of a Megabus ride! Yep! This gal and her pal rat are going to do an overnight trip on a Megabus. Yahoo! Here we come NYC and Pittsburgh.
WHEN: Right now! At the Philly airport ready to board. ;-)
WHY: Because I love learning languages, meeting people and being able to listen to Harry Potter in a couple of different languages. I’ve been itching to dive into Spanish, and before I do that, I want to make sure my French is up to speed. Locked in and pretty much “in the groove.”
HOW: Miles, miles, miles! Thank you airlines for the miles. Thank you, Sj, for the gumption. Thank you, Pedrata, for the companionship.
And now . . . it’s time to roll!
Roger over and out from Sj and little ‘ole Pedrata.
Then it was time to get serious!
With our armor on (in the form of head gear), we set forth to Krefeld . . .
After our strenuous search in the Krefeld archives . . .
ends up our ancestors left the year BEFORE the archives were started! LOL What the heck, we had fun poking around anyway!
. . . we buckled down to celebrate my Mom’s 80th birthday!!! Yahoo! Happy Birthday Mom!
And . . . Happy Mother’s Day Mom as well as all you other Mom’s out there!
(including those with furry children ;-)
***Footnote: I feel compelled to write of the Sinti and Roma people. They were gypsies who tracked down and killed by the National Socialist Party (or Nazi Party). There’s a detailed site in German which discusses the small bronze figure, “Ehra oder Kind mit Ball,” by Otto Pankok which was completed in 1955 to represent the Sinti and Roma; it’s located on the Rhine promenade in the old city near the Film museum.
+Sj out
After a couple of days wandering around in Nuremberg, it was time to head to our ancestors’ old stomping grounds near Düsseldorf: North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
We had the good fortune of arranging a home exchange in Düsseldorf’s hip MediaHarbor district (oder MedienHafen). Mom was a good sport about the apartment with a view being a walk-up.
First stop? The pad for a round of cards!
In honor of Mother’s Day 2014, I decided to post these three entries called “The Mother Chronicles.” From my preceding post, you can learn the why and what fors.
Looking back on this now, I realize (even more : ) how darn lucky we were to be able to take this trip together. That we had the time, the funds, the place to stay, the health, the gumption . . . I could go on and on (but I won’t : ).
Danke, mahalo, merci, grazie, gracias, aw kohn . . . suffices for now.So without further ado, here are shots from the first part of our trip together (after a brief visit to my sister’s for Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh) in Nürnberg, Germany — home of the infamous Weihnachtsmarkt, as well as many other things . . .
Enjoy!
Part of the impetus of this trip was to explore the tiny town of Krefeld, Germany with my Mother.
Why Krefeld?
In 1684, Paul Kuster, an ancestor on my maternal grandfather’s side, left that area of Germany (near the Rhine river) for the “free world.” One of thirteen families, the Kusters were part of the original emigrants to Pennsylviana, best known as Pennsylvania Dutch. Why Pennsylvania Dutch and not Pennsylvania German? Not sure. I googled it and found a site with a l o n g explanation of all the why and what-fores. All I DO know is that my grandfather fought for the United States in World War I and did not want to be associated with Germans at all!
How would he feel about his youngest granddaughter becoming enamored with the German language? No idea. He died when I was 6-months old.
My hostess during this final phase of my solo-trip found me through homeexchange.com. She wanted to visit Kauai and accessed the site through her girlfriend in Freiburg who was a member (and who btw has this lovely family you’ll see in the pix below : ).
“Krefeld?” my new friend thought, “Who wants to visit Krefeld????”
Incredulous that someone wanted to visit this tiny town near the border of the Netherlands, she contacted me anyway. One thing led to another, and in December 2011, my mother, husband, and I found ourselves in her COOL apartment in the Median district of Düsseldorf.
If you want to experience the Mother Chronicles, visit: the next couple of posts. : )))
So . . . at the end of my solo-trip, I found myself staying with and getting to know this incredible woman who I met through exchanging homes!!! A woman who shared her apartment in Düsseldorf, just minutes away from our ancestors‘ old stomping grounds, making it possible for my Mom to have an 80th birthday celebration full of dreams fulfilled. Lucky us!
Thanks Christiane for your generosity and hospitality!!!
Sj with her Mother making dreams come true. : )