6/11/18

I have been trying to post here since my arrival, with no success. I’m hoping to have better luck this time.

I flew out of Sacramento on Tuesday, 6/5 and after an uneventful journey, passing through San Francisco and Munich, I arrived in Hannover on 6/6. I found the Europcar counter at the airport, where I was happy to accept an upgrade to a car with automatic transmission at no additional cost. I was fine with a manual, but I’ll take the automatic any day.

I found my way to Barbara’s apartment, where I have spent most of my time since my arrival. I sleep at her sister, Dagmar’s. It is so nice to spend time with cousin Danielle, her lovely mother, Barbara, and her adorable twins, Jakob and Pablo. They will turn 7 months old this Wednesday. It is such a fun age. They took right to me. Barbara thinks they are fascinated because I am dark compared to the rest of them and am speaking a different language.

Yesterday cousin Sascha and her boyfriend, Marc, arrived from Cologne. Yay for more family! We all took the twins for a long walk in the woods down the street from Barbara’s place, leaving her alone to enjoy some peace and quiet. It was nice to get the fresh air and be outside.

Today I will try to take more photos of the family, since it will be the last opportunity to do so.

A few days ago I was walking down Barbara’s street and I saw something I hadn’t noticed on previous trips here. Two houses away on the sidewalk there were something I have learned are called Stumble Stones. They are installed in 22 countries and there are 67,000 of them. They commemorate the people forcibly removed from their homes during the Nazi era. There were five stones that named the people, their birth dates, when they were deported and the concentration camps they were at. It was a very sobering reminder of what occurred during that dark time. One day a year, people go and shine the ones in their neighborhood. We should never forget what happened, and hope it never happens again.