From Snow to Sun

Arriving in Málaga last Sunday was like coming into a different world.  The setting changed from this...

...To this.

From the freezing temperatures of Stockholm to the 18 degree Málaga winter. I was picked up from the airport by a Cervantes representative who showed me a bit of Málaga, the school and to my host family.  To the left is the view from my room! Unfortunately the swimming pool is closed until May, apparently it is much too cold for such an activity.

The family is very kind and very relaxed.  What I find interesting is that the construct of time doesn´t seem to take on the same importance as in Germany or Sweden.  Dinner is an extremely flexible arrangement.  Yesterday, just before I wanted to go to bed at 23:30, I heard the distinct sound of sizzling meat on a frying pan coming from the kitchen.  Luckily for me, Cervantes asks them to cook a dinner for the students at 20:30 (which can also be pushed later depending on the events of the evening). The rigid structures of a northern European household and a Malagueño household are as separate as the weather.




On the same day I arrived, I met with an old friend from school, Gustavo. Gustavo is studying at the University of Málaga and happened to be nearby when I told him I had arrived.  We went for a coffee on the waterfront (shown above), which is full of charming cafes and restaurants with a view on the Mediterranean Sea,






I had my first Spanish lesson today and although it is too early to judge, I think it 's done quite well. The teacher is articulate, patient and has 14 years of experience. Lessons are from 9:00 to 12:15 with one 15 minute break in between.  At the moment we are studying movies and the cinema.  The topic may be  relatively simple, but since I haven't been studying Spanish at all since May, it is nice to begin with something easier.

We do get a lot of free time to do what we want which I find is very nice.  This opens the possibility for travel and tourism or things around the area like going to the gym, playing football on the beach or buying a Spanish SIM card.

At Home in Stockholm

After nearly 4 months away from home, nothing could be better than sleeping in my own bed, eating something other than schnitzel and simply seeing my friends and family.  Gone are the days of the caretaker that began at 5:30 in the morning.  In fact, I have swiftly turned around my sleeping pattern with no day beginning before 10 (that doesn't always mean I'm getting more sleep).  

Though the weather is absolutely miserable at the moment, it doesn't seem to matter so much.  In an case, I will soon be making the shift from the fog and rain of Stockholm to the sun and blue skies of Malaga. The temperature there averages at about 18 degrees Celsius! While I am excited for this, I believe I will cut the trip short, from 3 months to 2 and a half. Like this I will have an entire month back in Stockholm to get bored and ready for the next trip: Ethiopia.

My last day in Mainz

Well, it is my last day in Germany. After nearly 4 months away, I'm finally returning home.  Oh, how I can't wait to see my dog, Cindy! While it hasn't been a time I will remember for its equilibrium between work and social life, it was an experience that has matured my character.

Working at the Erbacher Hof was a challenge but very rewarding.  I am beginning to realize a lot of the things that I have learnt actively and passively during these months. How to think practically as opposed to theoretically, having a good work ethic, how to behave with people around work (and with people in general). Not to mention, my improvement in German and maybe a new found connection with my German roots.

Despite my excitement to return, I do sense the melancholy of departing.  It will be odd not to wake up to find my grandparents downstairs, or having Schnitzel for the 4th time in a week. It will seem strange not to have family members in close proximity which seemed a fact of life when I was still living in Stockholm.  In addition, I won't be seeing my colleagues from work who I have spent more time with than anyone in these past few months here.  

The next time I visit Mainz is hard to predict.  It should have been in January when my grandmother celebrates her 80th birthday at the Erbacher Hof.  Unfortunately, my program in Malaga, Spain begins on the same day as her birthday, the 13th of January.  Perhaps in September between the time I come back from Ethiopia and when I begin university.  Perhaps during the fall, or maybe only in 2015.  These are the consequences of living the traveler's life. This is not to say that I am tired of it, why, it only encourages more travel!

The Caretaker's Commute to the Early Shift

When the Caretaker wakes at 5:35 in the morning, he enters the day into a silent darkness. The roads are empty and illuminated by streetlights and the gleam of stars. With much effort and determination held up by the mission not to oversleep ever again, the caretaker stumbles out of bed. By the time his body has come to its senses, he is downstairs preparing his ham and salami sandwiches which he will eat at work. Should he wake up to a hungry stomach, he might find time to have a crispy toast with strawberry jam before embarking on the commute.

As the Caretaker waits at the tram station, the last (or rather the first) of the line, he mutters in frustration about the fact that the tram driver waits about 20m away from the actual station to read her newspaper. This leaves the Caretaker and the others waiting for the 6:11 tram, to accept winter's piercing chill the remaining minutes until the driver punctually drives to the station and lets the people inside.

It is half an hour's journey from his station, Finthen/Poststrasse to the hub of the old town, Schillerplatz.  If his eyes allow it, he reads. Yet this can become difficult if the man with the frantic eyes, pulling along his suitcase also enters the tram and begins to speak and laugh to himself.  This is followed by a 13 minute walk along a memorized path, keeping the Mainz Cathedral as a guide.  He walks at a fast pace, not because of time constraint, but to escape the shivering wet cold!

It is the early shift and work begins at 7:00.  Nonetheless, the Caretaker has taken up the practice of his colleagues and comes at a quarter to seven to enjoy the first coffee of the day, which he has been thinking about since 5:35.

Theory down! Practical to go

Yesterday, on Monday the 9th of December 2013, I passed my theoretical exam for my driver's license! My grandmother was overjoyed as she saw me coming back from the examination center with a marked smile on my face.  Together with my grandfather we opened a bottle of champagne and called family. My colleagues at work and even the director of the Erbacher Hof all congratulated me.  I passed with one question wrong largely due to my poor understanding of the words used. The question asked for what possible explanations there are for when a steering wheel starts to shake uncontrollably using very subject specific vocabulary.  In any case, my practical exam will be on Wednesday the 18th.  Until then I will have 4 more hours of driving lessons, adding up to a grand total of 33 - 27 more than one of my colleagues had to do in 1974. In total, it will also be 7-8 times more expensive!

This weekend I will be welcoming Christoffer and Anton to Mainz in what is a quite a spontaneously decided vacation. Christoffer will arrive on Friday and Anton on Saturday, but only for both of them to be leaving again on Sunday. Seeing familiar faces will certainly be good and I hope to make up for all the weekends I spent at home.

Familiar faces are something that I have learned to cherish much more in my absence from them. Especially in relation to my family.  Living with grandparents can be a wonderful thing if one is patient, listens and returns the love they give. It is an experience that can make one see the world in much simpler eyes. Yet it can also be quite frustrating at times when my grandmother can't hear everything I say, or tells the same story for the tenth time, or when neither of them can empathize with modern life with respect to technology and communication with people. For these reasons, I must admit that I am becoming home sick and wish to see my parents, my sister and my dog, Cindy again, surrounded by my things that make my home a home.