homeschool friends

"Make new friends and keep the old...."

Last summer we followed our Ohio homeschool friend's blog as they lived in Stuttgart for the summer. They are in Stuttgart again and we were able to visit twice. A few weeks ago, they visited us in Tuebingen...where we spent the afternoon in the New Botanical Gardens. Then last week, I visited them in Stuttgart, where I enjoyed the International Market and several churches that were rebuilt after the war. Here are a few of my favorite photos from our first visit.

Schwarzwalder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbaurnhof

The Black Forest Open Air Museum is one of eight open air museums in the state of Baden Wurttenburg. All the houses have barns connected to them. It is the wise way of the past. In the winter, the animals help keep the house warm, provide food, and are easy to care for, without having to go out in the snow. The thatched roofs from this region were huge to protect the people and animals from the weather!

A tiny farm chapel, outdoor shrine, spiritual display on the side of one of the large barns/display areas.

Grey Geese, Bee House and Rabbits...

The insides of the houses were all similiar (though some simplier, some fancier) , due to the regional relationship to one another....and all the furnaces were green!

for our fashionable friends.....

For our friends in texile arts.....

Heart of Jenin

Heart of Jenin - Introduction

I mentioned this film when I wrote of the anti-war/peace talk we attended. At the talk, we heard Ahmed's father speak. Last week, we attended the film at an outdoor movie summer theatre. Here's the story and web connections.

When a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in the West Bank city of Jenin by Israeli soldiers who mistook his toy gun for the real thing, it could have been just one more blip on the news: one more war, one more child, one more human tragedy that ripped the heart out of a family and a community, but rippled no further into the world’s consciousness.

But something extraordinary happened that turned Ahmed Khatib’s tragic 2005 death into a gift of hope for six Israelis whose lives were on the line: while overwhelmed with grief, Ahmed’s parents consented to donating their son’s organs. Suddenly, amid the violence and entrenched hatred surrounding an intractable conflict, a simple act of humanity rose above the clamor and captured worldwide attention.

Heart of Jenin tells the story of Ahmed’s tragic death and his father Ismael Khatib’s journey to visit three of the organ recipients two years later. One of Ahmed’s kidneys went to an Orthodox Jewish girl and his other kidney went to a Bedouin boy. While his parents hesitated to donate Ahmed’s heart, it now beats in the chest of a Druze girl.

“I see my son in these children,” Khatib says.

Crossing from northern Israel to the Negev desert and ending up in Jerusalem, Khatib encounters every complexity of the conflict: deep-seated animosity, hardened judgments, and heartfelt generosity. While laying bare the deep divisions between Israelis and Palestinians, Heart of Jenin offers a rare vision of common humanity and hope.

Watch the movie and the epilogue here online - please note there are some upsetting images...

http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1176693725/program/1154691044

OR.... if you do not have a lot of time, here are two short you-tubes:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfthxyNLfvM -

www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Kpg-Xa6XE -

basel

I visited my friends Karin and Peter in Basel. We met when our family lived in Ohio and they were in "the states" visiting Karin's family. Our children played "fairies, make belive and treasure hunt" and while we drank tea and created friendship. For several consecutive summers we continued the lovely ritual. Then our family moved and we lost contact. Fortunately, we've reconnected and had a lovely visit. Also in the photo is their cute little "Chico". The children, now all teens did not get to visit this time.

The photos are in Basel, along the Rhine. Karin took me for a ferry ride across the Rhine on a boat powered only by water. I was amazed by this no-energy form of transformation, which has been used on the river for hundreds of years. "One of Basel's four small ferry boats, which, hanging at a steel rope, are silently drawn by the current between the two banks of the river."

Rothenberg - Saturday, July 4th

We celebrated July 4th by traveling on the regional train to Rothenburg. The original part of this town is still surrounded by it's original stone wall and is well preserved. The town is full of tourist shops, hotels and restaurants, which both adds and takes away from it's charm. We certainly enjoyed being there, and also think that Tuebingen is just a beautiful and charming!

Comments - anyone?

In case you've been wanting to write comments on the blog, you can now...at the end of each entry, is a pencil, click to write an entry. You may need to create a google account to do this - which takes only a few minutes. We're looking forward to those comments....

And yes, I've been gone so much, I've not written in a week, I am attempting to catch up and learn a bit more about how to put this blog together with less time and effort!

The rose in the photo is the same varitey of rose we have planted next to our front door. It was fun to find it in the back yard.

Peace and Quiet

In case you've been very envious of our holiday and peace and quiet...here's a little look at the other side.

Just outside our window, the city dug for electric connections. First the sidewalk was removed with cement saws, then digging and exploring....and then replacing , and then smelly, sticky blacktop. And to continue...between the house and sidewalk, our landlord is constructing and planning to make a garden sitting area....which may be complete by the time we depart!

And this is only the beginning..the city has plans to be digging and working on the streets all summer, lots of machines, streets closed, busses with new driving schedules....and actually the bus change is not bothering us, but the locals are really noticing the difference!

The old barn roof you see is only part of a very large building that is in process of being demolished. First they removed pieces by hand the old fashioned way, saving some items to be salvaged. And now for 1 1/2 weeks banging and knocking down and very loud machines and beeping backwards is the constant sound of the day - this is in the back yard area. We expect as soon as it is torn down, new construction will begin.

And finally just for fun, is our landlord Stephan, going on a motorbike ride to camp for the weekend with friends. We loved his riding suit and snuck a photo before he departed. Actually, the motorcycle has not been a noise problem...it was just fun to include in this little email, for drama.