Saturday, October 10, 2009

The small stuff...

I was riding the bus to the University today, and I saw a man walking with a double bass. In one of the bow pockets? An umbrella. It made me smile.... because we really do have two types of weather here: cold rain, and really cold rain... although I guess it also mists, fogs, and clouds here.

I've been thinking... a dangerous pastime, I know (sorry, had to make a Beauty and the Beast reference)... it's the little moments that matter. Considering that my nearest family is thousands of miles away, there are days when I feel really alone... and then a woman will help me at the grocery store, or someone will smile at me on the street, or invite me to their house for a meal... and then I feel better. But then I also feel like I have to pass it on, whether its a smile or food.

I think everyone should spend some time in another country.... learn about another culture, learn another language.... I feel like the only possible thing it can foster is tolerance, a necessity in a shrinking world. Being far from home forces people to rely in the kindness of strangers, and realize that no matter where a person lives, where they're from, or what they believe, they're still people.

Haha, my writing is so disorganized today! But I hadn't posted actual writing on my blog in a while, so I figured I would write a bit today....

Anyway, any questions or topics anyone wants me to write about later?

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Die Wattwanderung Part II

Remember about two months ago how I promised more pictures from our hike across the North See? Well, I finally figured out where on Facebook these pictures are, so here they are!
Before we hit the mud there were pretty flowers....

The beginning of the mud, when we still all thought we could avoid it by walking around it.... :)

But then we got here, where there was really no way around it

So evidently if you pick up enough jelly fish it stops hurting. Our guide found this one for us.

Our view from across some mud....

Closer.... the orange and yellow one is me... :)

Our guide found us something.... Or was telling us how many bacteria we were stepping on

A cute little green crab...

A closer look at the crab...

I don't really remember what I wrote about this trip last time.... but in case everyone else has also forgotten, we hiked from an Island back to the mainland during low tide. It 13 Km and about four hours and mud! There were lots of animals, lots of shells, and lots worms. Our guide was amazing, and told us more than we could ever want to know about the mud! Oh, and for those of you who have been holding your breath since August, my tennis shoes did come clean in the wash.