Make new friends, but keep the old

Last weekend, I traveled to Germany and visited old friends. First, I saw Erin Doering, my sister's best grade school friend. She is now living in Berlin and will be there for one year teaching at an international school. Erin was recently married and is beginning the excursion with her husband, Patrick. What a cool way to spend your first year as a married couple! My second stop was seeing Conni Rober, an exchange school friend that came to Litchfield High School. The experiences reminded me that friendships really do span the world! In my opinion, there is nothing better than catching up with old friends half-way around the world.

I was literally the first visitor that Erin and Patrick had. They moved in their apartment 2 days before I arrived. I was thankful they would take me in. It was also very nice as Erin and I got to experience the city together. And, what a story Berlin has to tell! First, we went to the Berlin gate, which at one time was the passageway between east and west Berlin. We saw the Russian memorial museum, which was built out of the stone from Hitler's bunker. The most moving part was the newly constructed Jewish memorial, reminding of all of the lives lost in the Holocaust. There were thousands of stone blocks that visitors walked among. The blocks started out small, about a foot off the ground. As the visitors went further into the memorial, the blocks became taller. So tall, you got lost inside of them. Looking down the rows, each block was aligned. It made me think of the rows of beds in the concentration camps. The whole experience also reminded me how powerful a person can be in the beginning of a conflict. One individual can stand up against the violence and maybe stop it. However, as the Holocaust went on, an individual became lost in the chaos. As much as a person wanted to speak out against the murders, their voices became very small. I was really moved visiting this memorial.

Underneath the memorial was a museum for the victims. This also carried a strong message. The first quote on the wall said "It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say." The museum followed victims' lives. It showed the hope of children, married couples, and grandparents. Later their lives were snuffed out in the concentration camps. It saddened me to the core. I thought of all of the hope, potential and dreams that was lost in these violent acts. The museum also showcased letters written by people in the camps- from those that unloaded the train cars and administer gas in the chambers to those that burned the bodies. Each letter showed terror about the jobs they were given. This is one viewpoint that I had not seen until this time. The experience made me reflect...

Working on peace studies this summer, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting on post-conflict studies. It was a round table discussion on how to move a society forward after war. The participants said that history books must carry strong messages of the truth. As you can imagine, some countries want to bury the ugly, hatred of war, conflict and death. However, in order to learn, the participants said that future generations must learn the truth so the atrocities never happen again. I think that this is an important responsibility that we all must carry.

... the city of Berlin seemed to do this well. My last morning there, I went to the federal government center. Here, I saw the hope for the future. The building was historic and represented the past. However, a new glass dome was added. Visitors could climb around the walkway of the dome and look down over where parliament meets. It was neat to see how the city has bridged the past with hope for the future.

Moving onto Marburg, I saw my friend Conni! We spent a day in her life. It was so nice! We had ice cream (vanilla with warmed berries- a local favorite) with her son Mathis, walked the city, visited the local clock tower and castle. She also showed me her campus. Unbeknown to us, we completing the same studies and degree! It was fun to compare notes and catch up on life! We also had many of Conni's favorite things. She shared cinnamon, fig tea and her mom's home-made jam. Oh, it was wonderful! For dinner, we went out to a local pub (she ordered me local pasta with peas, mushrooms and ham in a creme sauce) and then had a drink at the coffee bar. The city was just as I had imagined - the cute little streets were just like the photos I saw in German class. We also took a walk by the river and had breakfast (salmon, champagne, bread, and jams) overlooking the mountain. Saying goodbye was difficult for both of us. We were all teary-eyed and vowed that we must visit more often. There is nothing like catching up with old friends!