...and an interpretation

Like the hero in the parable, we found out during our travels that the thing we are looking for (at least for the moment) is actually back in our homeland. That means we will stay in Germany for the next couple of years, find a flat for just the two of us (actually we always lived in community through our seven years of marriage, the only exception being two months in a campervan under a bridge in Tübingen), find jobs and just live - in ONE place for a while.
So here we are in the beautiful city of Hamburg, we have the privilege to stay with Kim & Kristian while we are looking for a flat. Their support made it so much easier to decide. Actually we talked about coming to Hamburg since we met in Laos and Thailand in March. It really feels like this is the right place to be for us now and there is a lot already prepared for us. Pot of gold we are coming!

A parable...

I read this story when I visited the old Jewish quarter of Krakau, Poland, about 8 years ago. And it came back to my mind while making the decisions about our future. The story was written on the wall of a synagogue and goes something like this:
There was a man called Eisik, the son of Jekel, who was trusting in God despite the poverty and hardship that reigned in those days. In a dream someone visited him and ordered him to go to the bridge in Prague near the palace to look for a treasure. After the same dream returned for the third time, Eisik decided to make the long journey. When he arrived after many days, he found the bridge, but it was guarded day and night by the palace guards. It was impossible to dig for the treasure. But still, everyday he came to the bridge and watched. One day the officer called him and asked what he was doing all the time. Eisik told him everything about his dreams. The officer laughed loud and said: "You poor fool travelled so many miles just to obey a dream! Don't you know that you cannot trust dreams, that they are nonsense? I once had a dream as well and was told to travel to Krakau and look for a treasure under the oven in the house of someone called Eisik, son of Jekel. I can imagine myself searching every home because one out of two has the name Eisik or Jekel." Eisik bowed and went back home. Under the oven in his own house he found a big treasure, and he used it to build a synagogue in his neighbourhood.

G8 - our contribution

We didn't make it to Heiligen-damm, we didn't watch Bono and we didn't join the virtual demon-stration on second life. But Rebecca and me made a substitute workshop about globalization and economics on our balcony in the Blackforest. We were reading to each other from this book, which the author, an activist, gave to us the day before. And we joined a peace prayer in the village church which was prepared by Rebeccas parents. Her Dad made a little fence around the globe to symbolize the separation of the decisionmakers and the population. Finally I joined a campaign against poverty by wearing a little pin on my pants. It says: tegen armoede. This is Dutch and as far as I know means: against poverty. They gave it away for free last year on the Flevo Festival. Not that it had any impact in the little village where we live in at the moment. i don't think there are any Dutch speaking people. But anyway, I felt connected with the Freaks/Speak people who were there.