My pen was a gun...

Hello my friends. It's Thursday, August 17, and I'm in Germany. Sitting at my desk, in the dorm, with the window and door open wide to let the breeze through--this reminds me, somehwat, of thefirst few days of here, with the heat. It's only like, 75 degrees right now. A welcome shift from the nights of 49 with constant rain. But the weather isn't the only thing on my mind. I'm listening, obviously (to some!) to "The Year," and it's really fiting, if you substitute "my month in Deutschalnd for the phrase "the Year":

"The year has loosened its grip on me
and i'm taking in air that i've never breathed
you've lifted my burden
and taken me from my tensions..."

I've only had two, maybe three headaches this whole month--a drastic departure from my normal routine. Which is exactly why--I think--I haven't had them....I've departed from my normal routine, a routine of too much stuff to think about. Papers, essays, a film series, reading, scholarships, financial aid, reading, meeting with Profs, reading, TA application, and when all that's done I read a little more. Here, German has been my primary task. Even before I left, this was so--studying Deutsch at UNT for over a month. Hopefully I'll bring this peace back to Texas with me. The air is better here, it seems. The sun shines the same--actually, not nearly enough--but overall the whole area of Marburg seems cleaner, nicer, more beautiful, and more natural than Texas.

It's odd to remember my first few days here, days full of fear and worry. Hesitation, doubt--strange feelings for me; I'm usually full of positivism, optimistic thoughts, smiles and laughter. So a switch for me indeed. And yet, here the end is, standing just a few hundred meters away, hands in his pockets, just waiting. I couldn't see him when I arrived, but not for want of desire! I tried to find him in every building, every room of this city. Eventually, Marburg became a sort of friend; as we got to know each other, and learned from our strengths and weaknesses, I could see the faint outline of the end approaching from far up on Universitätsraße. A part of me was even reluctant to notice him at first. Indeed, my walk through the city to the train station Saturday morning will be bittersweet, but will be 100% cocao.

through the world...
-BW