Farewell Sembach

In a few days, I head on back to the United States from my 4 month vacation with my son Pedro and grandson Julian in Germany.   And although I am excited to go back home, and reunite with other family members, the feeling is bittersweet.  I have meet some wonderful people here both military and civilians.  They welcomed me with open arms and I became like a second mother to most.  I thrive on such an environment and the experience will last me a lifetime.

Besides the precious time spent with my two boys, in between shoe lace tying,  reading and math lessons,  I was able to take in the gorgeous countryside view the village of Sembach has to offer.   I also enjoyed the contrasts in architecture and found it charming that a small family farm with horses could be next to a car dealership.

This voyage has allowed me to experience a different world, one which I only knew existed by the reading of books, but one which is not fully appreciated until actually lived.  Life is simpler here.  People actually make it a priority to spend time with each other.  So often, I looked out a window and saw families walking by speaking to each other for no other reason that to do so.  Little things we take for granted with our busy lives back home.

While here I visited London, England; Paris, France; Frankfurt, Germany and the many smaller towns that are sprinkled throughout this land of Germania.   I have learned some Deutsch  words like ausfahrt, eingang, bitte, danke, zahnarzt, jüdisch; and the use of euros as currency.  After four months,  I actually assimilated some signs and knew basically where I was at all times.  My uncanny ability to figure out some words on my own actually drove my son insane but what can I say, I am a natural born decipher.  I had fun.
 
To my first born, I could never fully express the love I feel for this child of mine.  The fact that we can disagree yet end the day with no hard feelings is priceless.  It was that way while he was young and nothing has changed.  I hope it never does.  Just as the day he gifted himself into my life, he has once again made another of my dreams come true.  Thank you love.

To his friends, who now have become part of my family, I say, thank you.  Thank you for the fun times and the attentions that you all graced me with.  To Jessica & Tristan Nunn, Yivi & Jose Mejias, Bianca Beckham, Castro, Chiquita Whiting and even the incorrigible Hamilton; I say, you made my time here interesting and pleasant.   To Ms. Shaw who I met tonight, it was a blast having dinner and making you laugh with my philosophy on life and men.

Of course, I could not write this post without mentioning Aliona Dubravina.  My knowledgeable tour guide, translator, hair dresser, gourmet cook and dear friend.  She always made sure to make me feel special when she was around.  I hope life will be kind to me and let me keep you as a friend.  Thank you for being so sweet.

And on that note I say, farewell Sembach, Germany, with all your too delicious pastries, chilly weather and pleasant tschüss.   I hope to travel more often to this part of the world, but only God knows what is in store for the future.  I can only hope and pray; plan and persevere.

Germania - ancient name for Germany.
Deutsch - German language.
ausfahrt - exit (highway exit)
eingang - entrance
bitte - please
danke - thank you
zahnarzt - dentist
jüdisch - Jewish
tschüss - (good)bye [everywhere from grocery stores to restaurants you hear this word which sounds so much like cheers]

A Peek into My Trip Overseas

I landed in Frankfurt, Germany, on December 31, 2011; as the guest of my eldest son Pedro.  I always dreamed of visiting Europe, I believe anyone who is not European does at some point in their lives.  It happened in a blink of an eye, as a last minute decision and yet, aren't those sometimes the best adventures?  The ones that are not overly planned and fussed over?

That first night, the sky was made daylight with fireworks.  It seemed all of the inhabitants of this little village of Sembach, left the warmth of their homes at the stroke of midnight to celebrate the New Year.  The bombardment was spectacular.  It took my breath away.  I imagined being in another time, a time of war and what I heard and felt was not a celebration, but an invasion.  I must admit, it was thrilling.  My only concern was my grandson, Julian, sound asleep in his room.  He slept through the many hours of marvelous lunacy that I witnessed.

As of the writing of this post, a month and a half into my three month stay, I have visited a few small towns; Saarbrucken, Otterberg, Landstuhl and Melingen, among others.  Each with quaint little houses, local churchs, boutiques, mom and pop stores and friendly people.  I would take advantage of photographing whatever caught my eye to the chagrin of my son.  Post signs (Ausfahrt being my favorite), factories, lamp posts, churches, hills, restaurant menus, billboards, building decor and sometimes even soup labels.  He just doesn't understand there is a photographer hidden in me and I see beauty and humor in everything. Besides, I may never set foot in Europe again; so I am recording my future memories now, so as to have something precious to look at when the Alzheimer's kicks in.  (A history of Alzheimer's runs in the family; I frequently make reference to it in a humorous fashion).

As far as, major tourist attractions I have visited a Dinosaur Museum in Neunkirchen, Saarland. World of Fun, indoor family entertainment facility, in Zweibrucken.  And Burg Nanstein Castle in Landstuhl, Kaiserslautern; built in 1162 A.D., that makes it a 150 years shy of a millennium!   All of these places mentioned are in Germany.   I have been promised more sightseeing in the weeks to come.

I have sampled my first tastes of German cuisine and realized that Germans really, I mean really, like Mexican food.  Who knew?   I have found that things taste different here.  A pastry is not as sweet.  Not everything is buried in sugar and salt.  And because of that, what you eat is more true to its natural flavor.  Which is a good thing, in my opinion.  On the other hand, local canned products do not have the same quality as back home and on that account, I stick to American brands.

But what I am truly impressed with, so far, are the windows in this part of the world.  They are not the common ones we use in the States that simply open up or down.  These windows are a masterpiece in and of themselves.  They have pulleys and open in several stages.  One can half pull the lever and they open at an angle, if you wish to open them completely, then just continue pulling the lever and the window is separated from its main setting.  I smile at how ingenious our German cousins are.  I have never seen anything like that back home.

As a side note, I did deliberately state German cousins in the previous paragraph, in that, I received the DNA results I ordered to help establish the paternal side of my genealogical gene pool; and the Echevarrias in our family happen to have a strong connection to Germany, more so than any other European country, including Spain.  That I happened to be in Germany when I received those results just tickled me pink!!  I know, I am a nerd.  :)

Getting back on subject, another thing I must comment on is don't believe those Visa commercials back home.  It is not accepted worldwide.  I am not sure if its the present world economic crisis, or that the commerce is not as standardize here as in the United States, or just the local common practice, but in Germany, currency rules.  Make sure you get some euros from the ATM before you attempt to go and pay for something with credit.  I have had a couple of embarrassing incidents.

I did not want to wait until the end of my trip to actually write something about my experiences overseas, therefore, here is a glimpse of what I have been up to so far.  I am sure once I visit Paris, and a couple of other places I have in mind, I will mesmerize you with some brilliant insightful writing, but for the moment, this post will calm my guilty conscience and hopefully give you, my loyal readers, something to smile about.

*Ausfahrt = Exit in German.  Exit signs at the Autoban (Highway).  
*The American joke here is to ask "Did you Ausfahrt?"  As in, "Did you(r) As(s) Fart?"  They have T-Shirts.  I plan to get one!!!