Melissa's Travels

I'm writing this as we rumble along the 30 minute stretch inbetween Erfurt and Weimar. Only 15 miles seperate the two cities so we've chosen to travel this leg of the journey by bus. A last minute change of plans caused us to reschedule our departure time which turned out would mean that the owner himself of the bus company would come to pick us up and escort us to Weimar. He was more than delighted to share with us info about his beloved hometown of Weimar. Unfortunately, it was all in German but thanks to his insider info (and our German prof's translation), we learned that next week our very own president Obama will be visiting Weimar! It turns out Obama's great uncle was involved in the liberation of Buchenwald, a nearby concentration camp which we'll be visiting ourselves on Thursday.

We arrived in Erfurt on Wednesday, May 20th and were finally united with our German professor. The change in teaching style and command of the language was just the pick me up our travel weary group was in need of. After a restful 12 days in Weinheim, accompanied by a weekend break from my "work duties" (which I spend visiting a best friend in Frankfurt), I was feling ready to once again hit the ground running. Our first day in Erfurt I took advantage of our free afternoon to get out and explore the city center. Most of the city was destroyed during WWII, but has been completely rebuilt in historical fashion. A fairly small city of the former GDR (East Germany), Erfurt hosts its fair share of adorable, spacious plazas, along with a few cathedrals, churches and monuments. My favorite destination of all was the Fischmarkt where I could lounge on a couch, sip a cappucino and people watch to my heart's content. If you ever visit Erfurt this is the must see part of the city.

On Thursday we visited an Augustinian Monastery where Martin Luther had once lived. I believe it was here that Luther first began to realize that what he had learned in church did not match up with what he was discovering in his own reading of the Bible. Now The Augustinerkloster serves as a conference center or home to travelers in need of a spiritual retreat of sorts. While we were visiting the Monastery a thunderstrom erupted and we learned that one of Luther's motivations for seeking the monastic life was because he had narrowly escapted being struck by lightning himself. Thankfully we too made it out of harm's way and took refuge in an Italian cafe to wait out the storm.

On Thursday our group took a day trip to Eisenach, home of the Wartberg Castle and birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach. We learned a great deal about a former queen of the castle, Elisabeth, who had been betrothed at age 4, married by 14 and dead by 24. During her short life she was able to establish charities and tend to the poor (despite her husband's disapproval), earning herself the title of "St. Elisabeth." After soaking up a great deal of history regarding this former fortress/palace we headed to the Bach  Haus. Here we learned about the history and influence of Bach's music and explored an interactive exhibit--a science center of sorts for Bach's music. I could have spent all afternoon relaxing in the egg shaped chair dangling from the ceiling, letting Bach's music ripple out of the headphones and down to my fingertips, but we had a mini concert to attend downstairs. Unfortunately, I do not have enough knowledge regarding music to adequately articulate and describe the performance we witnessed, but I can tell you that the sounds brought tears to my eyes and temporarily melted my heart. Our German prof is constantly talking about earthly experiences that are glimpses or echos of paradise. The Bach Haus was certainly one of these glimpses.

Friday night we made our way to the sole laundromat across town. I've come to the conclusion that Germans are not fans of washing their clothes (which is something my High School German teacher always used to say as well). It had been an embarassingly long amount of time since our clothes had received a legitimate washing and the makeshift sink washing just wasn't cutting it anymore. We loaded up our bags, put on our pajamas (the only thing we could possibly get away with not washing) and arrived at the Schongang waschsalon. Walking in we were greeted by dim lighting, hookahs and Reggae music. Hmmm...had we mistakingly walked into a bar instead of the laundromat? As it turns out, this bar also doubles as a laundromat AND an Internet Cafe. It was multitasking at its finest. Clean clothes, a strawberry juice and vodka cocktail and the statisfaction of being up to date on my emails. We all jokingly commented on our way back to the hostel that now that we had clean clothes, we could probably rule the world.

Saturday was devote to lounging in cafes, exploring the Dom St. Marien and Serverikirche (home to the sarcophagus of St. Severus) and that evening we headed back to the Augustinian Monastery for a Nacht Konzert (Night Concert). The choir from The Netherlands had compiled a number of Luther Hymn's and sang different composer's versions of the hymn. Again, words fail me here but suffice to say that the performance was another glimpse. On Sunday we headed to Erfurt's theater for an afternoon matinee of "My Fair Lady." The music was lively and entertaining, despite being entirely in German and left me jazzed to one day see Audrey Hepburn in the English silver screen version. Another glimpse. By Monday it was already time to head to a new city. Time once again to pack up. Worn out clothes were finally tossed, books were attempted to be left behind (unfortunately, our "helpful" hostel staff prevented this from happening and returned the books that were of course "accidentally" left behind). We all had to face the reality that 13 days from now we will be heading our seperate ways. Most of us will head back to Seattle where they'll scatter for summer jobs, Peace Corps prep and family vacations. The lucky few will have a week or more to continue avoiding reality before returning to a world filled with credit card bills, car payments, relationships to reconcile, tragedies to accept and friendships to mourn the loss of. What gives me hope is that returning to "reality" does not necessarily mean we need to give up the zest for adventure, hope for magical moments and quest for knowledge. The other day our prof noted that growth is not giving up former mindsets. This is called change. Genuine growth is building upon what we already know and have faith in. I hope that none of us forget this despite the distractions of to-do lists, financial obligations and family pressures that await us back at home.