In memory of Janice...who moved my soul.

This blog was written September 10,2011. Janice died this morning. I cherish this memory of my friend..when she truly was flying like a bird!

This quote ran through my mind last night. I was sitting in a century-old greenhouse with candles in the window sills, oriental rugs on the floor and colorful old light bulbs strung across the wall. It was a perfect place to be...well worth the hour train and bus ride from our home to this out of the way Berlin spot. My friend had invited me there and she was so happy we had come to hear her sing in front of an audience for the first time.
I love this friend. We met a year ago and I knew she must be going through chemo from her scarf-wrapped head. It has been a tough time for her...but as she sang I could see her joy..

"Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel"

She was so happy…and I cried. I knew too much..I knew how she has suffered from chemo, the setbacks and now the cancer is back once again.

"It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me

And I'm feeling good"

And for that moment she was feeling good. And I was so glad I was there. But I felt sad, too...and wondered why I was so lucky. So lucky to have the life I have. Why she, at 45 has this horrible disease, two young children...why why why...
"Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom in the trees you know how I feel"

And she kept singing, and the saxaphone played and I bet even the sunfowers outside were even listening.
"Dragonflies out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when the day is done"

I think she is brave. Facing what she knows and hoping for an outcome which will allow her to see her children grow up.

"Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine

And I know how I feel"

Tomorrow at work she will be there smiling, helping the endless line of students and parents and teachers who all need her. I will see her fatigue...she will share her pain with me and we will hug.

Munero Week 3 of giving

This book will shake you up! It did me..and after reading it I wanted to do something to help oppressed women on this planet. The last page of this book lists what you can do to help. One of the ways to help was to support a woman in a struggling country. The organization the authors recommend is Women For Women International. http://www.womenforwomen.org/?gclid=CMaDurGzz6sCFQbwzAodhz2iVg 


Take a look. 


I have adopted a woman named Futire G Regiepi. My small gift to her each month helps her learn a trade and take care of her family. 


Here is a great description of the book and some quotes. Powerful! 


(taken from www.bonniesbooks.blogspot.com)

The full title of this book is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.  WuDunn and Kristof were the first married couple ever to receive a Pulitzer for journalism, for their reporting about the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Let me start with a perfect, but terrible, word:  gendercide (page xvii).

"It appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the battles of the twentieth century.  More girls are killed in this routine "gendercide" in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century."

Wow!  In case you aren't into numbers, however, Kristof and WuDunn give plenty of examples of what's happening to women all over the world.

About a woman in Pakistan:

"In Pakistan, we met a young woman from the Christian minority who insisted on choosing her own husband; infuriated at this breach of family honor, her brothers bickered over whether they should kill her or just sell her to a brothel.  While they argued, she escaped" (p. 150).

About a thug in India:

"One of his specialties was the threat of rape to terrorize anyone who might stand up to him.  Murder left inconvenient piles of bodies, requiring bribes to keep the police at bay, while rape is so stigmatizing that the victims could usually be counted on to stay silent.  Sexual humiliation was thus an effective and low-cost strategy to intimidate challengers and to control the community. ... The more barbaric the behavior, the more the population was cowed into acquiescence" (p. 49).

About women in America:

"During World War I, more American women died in childbirth than American men died in war. ... When women could vote, suddenly their lives became more important, and enfranchising women ended up providing a huge and unanticipated boost to women's health" (p. 116).

About women in Afghanistan:

"After the Taliban was ousted in Afghanistan, banditry spread and Amnesty International quoted an aid worker as saying:  'During the Taliban era, if a woman went to market and showed an inch of flesh, she would have been flogged; now, she's raped" (p. 150).

Munero...Week 2

Munero ( to give, or present in latin). If you didn't read my last blog, I am starting a new project.  I am giving away $50.00 each week to someone or some organization who needs the money way more than I do.

Last week I gave to Sunshine Industries in Okalahoma.

This week I am giving to Pathways Middle School Library. My former job was librarian at this school. I looked forward to each day at Pathways..the students loved to read, the staff was positive and I am sure it is still the same. The library was smaller than the school bathrooms I think. But despite this the students flocked into the library and begged me for books. So now Tina, the new awesome librarian, can buy a few more books for these amazing students.

 This is the school...and below is the quilt the students made me.

Munero

Munero Week 1

Nice word. It means to give, or present

in latin. I have been thinking a lot lately about

giving and helping. But that is as far as I have gone…just thinking.

Last week I discovered the blog, Adventures in Giving Land. The blogger

gives away $50.00 a week to charities and then describes it on his blog.

After reading it I was inspired to to take action.

http://givingland.tumblr.com/

I love this idea... so I too am giving away $50.00 each week to someone or

some organization who needs the

money more than I do.

It will feel good to share what I have.

This week I am giving to Sunshine Industries.

http://www.sunshine-industries.com/

My friend Sally’s mother loved this charity. 

From it’s website I can tell it is a grassroots operation in Oklahoma

which does a lot of good.

In memory of Geraldine Couch.

Bicycle travel...

It's not that I don't love castles or cathedrals or cities. I do. But somehow, after a year of traveling around Europe, I needed something different.   I didn't want to wait in any lines, go on any tours or follow a city map. And so, on a bench in Edenburgh we planned our next vacation.  We would ride our bikes from Berlin to Copenhagen.

We barely planned the trip, and left only a week after Tom’s heart procedure. Tom got a detailed map (in German) of our route and we rented a Berlin Rad for Greta, and packed our panniers. We had an idea of where we were going each day, but no plans for lodging.

Here is a description of our route:

Two pulsating European metropolises, 630 km by bike and a short sea voyage across the Baltic - the international Berlin-Copenhagen cycle route links the German with the Danish capital, three idyllic regions and a lot of friendly people. It offers endless views of unspoiled nature, plenty of opportunities to take a swim and enjoy life, to uncover a few surprises and to make some new discoveries. Globetrotters can look forward to a dozen days (or more) of adventures an discoveries in Copenhagen, East Denmark, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg and Berlin.  
http://www.bike-berlin-copenhagen.com/index.php?id=home&L=5

It was a great tour by my standards. It was flat...yes flat with only rolling hills. There were nice inns along the way for us to sleep and we had no trouble finding nice places to stop for coffee and treats

No logging trucks, no RV’s to scare me and it seemed like we rarely even saw a car. Instead we toured along canals, through farmland and small villages. It is a great way to see the country and there are hundreds of similar trails like this in Germany.

Our route.

This little boy rode on the ferry with his mother. They were all loaded down and h. e was a good sport while he had to stand in the rain. Many families were on this route

Starting off in Oranienburg, just outside Berlin. The bicycle path was delux.




Our first stop, a small inn on a canal north of Furstenberg. Most of the inns along the trail had special places to safely store our bicycles.

We stayes in fairly small towns, such as Gustrow.





Christiana free spirited community in Copenhagen.

Ferry ride..

Sitting in front of the library in Copenhagen.

Summer so far...

Already it is late July and we are weeks into summer. Our summer started late here in Berlin. School was not out until early July so our adventures began soon after that.

Greta arrived the end of June. Originally we planned a month long trip to Turkey which we had to cancel. Instead, we decided to stay closer to home.
Our first expedition was to Eisenach, Germany. Despite the rain and cold weather we managed to explore the birthplace of Bach and exiled hangout of Martin Luther. Actually he (Martin Luther) was in exile in the castle, which we managed to hike up to.

A few days after we returned from Eisenach we flew to Scotland. We headed straight for the village of Dingwall where our friend, Waggy, lives. Tom and Waggy were friends in Holland and even rode their bikes from our home in Sittard to London. (where Waggy then ran the London Marathon)
It was wonderful spending time in the village of Dingwall and seeing the sights with Waggy as a tour guide. Pictures of the highland games, hikes, Edinburgh and the village of Dingwall are on www.rybusfamily.shutterfly.com

The day after we returned from Scotland, Tom checked him self into the Emil Behriing Krankenhaus (literally, sickhouse) for two procedures, the first the esophagal one to see if there were any blood clots in the heart and the second the zapping itself. Both done back to back with him "out" for both. When he woke up he could see the heart monitor and could tell his heart rhythm was normal and pulse down to 42. Nice way to wake up. Also, he only spent one night and had one meal in the hospital. Frankly, even after a run the next day, it was hard to tell if there was any "before" and "after" difference, so he walked down to our nearby train station and walked up the steps from the tracks to the station. Then, he knew. Before, he’d have been out of breath. No more.

Next week we all plan to do a bike trip. Essentially, we'll ride from Berlin to Copenhagen, Denmark. Or, we'll do as much of it as we can. (We hope we can get at least as far as the Bering Sea if not into Denmark a bit.) It's almost entirely flat and mostly rural and there are great bike trails most of the way. We'll travel light, only two panniers apiece. No camping gear. I bought a new bike for my birthday, a "Berliner Rad" set up for touring but with a relaxed frame and interesting gearing---24 gears with eight gears in the back, but no triple crank. Instead, they are housed inside the rear wheel somehow. Lights front and back are required here and mine turn on and off automatically in the dark. Anyway, the trip is basically my idea, inspired, I think by how much I love my new bike and honestly I am tired of sight seeing!

When we return, Tom starts school and Greta and I will head to Greece for some sun and warm water. We have an apartment in Corfu for 7 days.

I love returning to Berlin with its bike lanes, abundant fruit and flower stands, green spaces, lakes and of course the city itself. One more year to go..and I am still loving the life here.

Tom's kind and not so healthy heart..

It is perfect weather here in Berlin. The trees are green and full of blossoms and who would have thought that this city could have so many song birds? Tom and I enjoyed our walk today through the green park land near our home. As usual, our talks seem to focus on our new reality.

A friend (with cancer) described having a serious illss as a new reality. And indeed it is. Actually there have been two new realities for us. First, the intial diagnosis (in German) which included dealing with the medications and new (and, we hope, temporary) limitations. on Tom's life.

And now four weeks since he was discharged from the hospital another new reality. He has longer to wait for the procedure to shock his heart into rhythm and he cannot take the vacation we planned for the summer. (Turkey) But as Tom says..after disappointment comes acceptance. So we are dealing with a longer wait and the possibility of three heart procedures, rather than one. One for sure one is to shock it into rhythm. The other two are possible: to implant a device called Automaic Implantable Cardio-Defibrillator, and to do a biopsy to see if a virus caused the problem in the first place. We were not aware of the possiblity of the later two procedures basically because we couldn't read the document from the hospital. New realities! But, at least he can ride his bike now..but slowly.

The quality of health care here has been wonderful. Tom hated the hospital stay..but the 90 euro bill for 9 days there astounded us. It was so nice not having to worry about the medical procedures' cost when we had other worries. It is just such a huge releif. His medication has been almost free too..which is amazing, since he is taking 6 medications. We love his home doctor. Her office is two blocks from our apartment and she has called Tom after hours and even met with us in the evening to explain everything. She is kind, nurturing, and careful.

Tom's friends have provided support, positive thoughts and laughter. We needed some positive comments after what the German doctors were telling us. (they can be blunt!) Here are some of my favorite comments:

You are the most unlikely man I know to come down with ticker problems, I know how scary and debilitating they can be. It grabs you by the balls and gets your full attention. Makes for a big change in your life actions, thoughts and plans. Some have said it makes you act your age, but I think it just focusses your thoughts on what is possible, difficult and impossible.

This is, while truly scary, somethng you recover from. Love is the highest of human emaotions and your vulnerability brought out so much love from all of your friends.

It is hard to believe you could be anything but healthy. You are on everyone's mind and in our hearts.

Honestly I am at a loss for words. All I can say is I wil be thinking only the best of thoughts and sending all good energy to Tom and you as he goes through this treatment. Tom is a super strong guy and I have faith that he's got many more mountains to climb.

And then there is me and Greta, who adores Tom. We are loving each other big time..and looking forward to all being together the end of June when Greta will be here for 3 months.

Know that we appreciate our family and friends more than ever. Know that we are fine. Our spirits are good and we are enjoying Berlin. We look forward to new visitors the next few months. I wish I had more specifics to share, but the truth is that we ourselves do not know what is going to happen. So Tom is patiently following doctors orders (taking his meds, not running, staying out of the gym, only two to three beers a week) and keeping an incredibly positive outlook on things. I am proud of him!

How's the weather??

Every phone call with my mother is the same..she asks how the weather is...I tell her it is only 10 below..and then she says.."well you made your bed!". Ouch! So, I decided to frame my calls a bit differently. In regards to the weather..I say.."it is warming a bit" or "the sun came out today." That seems to help avoid hearing the dreaded bed phrase.

Life has been something of a challenge these past months. In many ways I feel like I am on some sort of a carnival ride..with its ups and downs and twists and turns. Just when I am feeling like I cannot take the dreary weather another moment..a trip to the museum will lift my spirits (note the Andy Warhol "Mao" we saw yesterday). I've found that living overseas is like that. There are days where I question this decidion we made. And then there are days when I think that we don't have enough time here to take it all in.

But we do cope...and we keep going..

On Valentine's Day I was serenaded by a group of students in the library. Janice, a wonderful friend gave me this gift. She is the secretary to the high school principal. Her office is next to the library. She makes me smoothies and brings them to my desk..all while going through her struggle with chemotherapy. Her friendship is a gift. Sally...the elementary librarian, and I depend upon each other so much. We talk shop and plan outings then go on outings and talk shop. One such outing was a nacht concert at a church. We laid on the heated floor and listened to music. It was amazing. In the photo Tom and Sally are looking at the program which was an amazing combination of Middle Eastern style music, voice, percussion, and very cool intruments.

Here is what else keeps me going..Mary Oliver and Pema Chodron..Every morning I read a poem and paragraph from each of these women's books. Here are a few of my favorite lines..

"When it is over I want to say I was a bride married to amazement." Mary Oliver

"When I begin to doubt that I have what it takes to stay present with impermanence, egolessness, and suffering, it uplifts me to remember that there is no cure for hot and cold. There is no cure for the facts of life"

Pema Chodron

And of course..there is always a nice bowl of soup to soothe the soul.

Packing!!!

Today was the first day of my winter vacation. Most of my fellow teachers are heading off for a ski vacation, but not us. We are going to Budapest. We chose it because it has over 100 thermal baths, Turkish baths and spas. Sounded like a pretty nice place to spend a few days this winter.


Tom found our hotel. It is a spa located on an island in the Danube. (click on link) Take a look. I am looking forward to a comfortable vacation. This is so not Tom

Here is my packing list:

The high tomorrow will be 25 degrees..so I am packing warm..lots of mittens, scarves, down coat, gortex coat, hat and a few Smartwool tops..the blue hat is new!!


We are flying JetAir..and have no baggage allowance..It all has to fit in small carry on ..(so we will be wearing most of our warm clothes.) Shoes are an issue since they take up so much room..so I am wearing warm boots and only taking running shoes..and a pair of slippers.

Notice anything wrong with our shoe shelf?
(our dog likes to hide our shoes)
Notice my new rubber boots from Portugal.




Next..Books!! We each have 2 books..Also, I always bring my tiny laptop, my MP3 player and a journal. I bring a crossword puzzle for each day and a glue stick to glue things into my journal..



Now..here is my most important item..My swimsuit! I never ever ever ever go on any outing without my swimsuit. You must always be ready to swim. It is a life philosophy for me.
Here in Europe a bathing suit is not always necessary. I love my polka dot suit..and my sister Pat has one just like it. We try not to wear it at the same time (too much!!)

I never leave without snacks. I like to bring a bag of cashews, raisins and some tea bags. Tom says I don't go to the grocery store without food..but I tell you this food has prevented a lot of headaches for me.

Speaking of headaches..I always bring my headache meds, and keep them with me at all times.

Lets see..oh groovy earrings, a fun scarf for my head to spunk things up and my camera of course.

So..that is it. I am packed, ready to go. And it all fits in one carry on bag. I have to even fit my
little back pack into the carry on.

Next blog will be from Budapest!