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Mainz, Germany,
Dec 1, 98
Yo everybody,
Our trip ended many weeks ago, but I still have to write the
promised newsletters. Well, skies have been mainly gray in Germany
and though we are going through some lucky days without rain,
temperatures are around freezing and it'll be nice to return to
the memories of warm and sunny days. We sat together during the
trip to collect our memories of the days that I hadn't written
about yet and I am very lucky now to have the notes in front of
me. Thanks, Kinders!
wide country
Time for our 'little detour'. Guido had wanted to ride to Yosemite
National Park from the preparation weekend on. We actually had
the time and decided to do it: San Francisco to Santa Cruz 550
MI instead of 80! Guess what, we started late - as so often. David's
rear rack broke, but he fixed it with "a man's best friend": 'Duct'
tape. Ude arrived first with Trabi and Daniel in Napa!! Later
on - we were spending hours in front of the Safeway again - a
cop stopped by. A concerned citizen had called him since there
was obviously an underage teenager (Ude) smoking cigarettes! The
guy was happy when he figured out that we are from Germany: "I
see, you didn't know better."
Ude speeding uphill
That night we cruised around for 2 hours, covering 10 MI, in
search for a place to stay overnight. The church we found was
next to a school, so we squeezed in tightly to the doors. Somebody
opened one at 7 AM - we had a midnight dinner - and announced
the arrival of the priest in 20 minutes, meaning 'you gotta be
out of here by then'. The coolest thing on the way to Davis was
David's and my break at Lake Berryessa. Two guys in a powerboat
invited us to come along for jet skiing and knee boarding. David
took the offer and had a great time.
Carsten had another,
but less pleasant, unusual experience: 5 flats during the last
5 k!!! ...took him 3 hours!!! Guido 'organized' a meadow at the
huge UC (University of California) Davis campus to sleep in. Nevertheless,
a cop woke David up in the middle of the night to ask what we're
doing there. David answered and went right back to sleep. Everybody
was surprised about the story in the morning and happy that David
had been picked...so much about how easy it is to steal our stuff
at night.
The Friday was special to me for our goal was Fair Oaks, where
I had studied at RSC - Rudolf Steiner College - 95/96. The beautiful
bike trail along the American River made it very enjoyable. Some
of the kids watched the training of bicycle policemen and were
quite amused by their overweight and lack of bicycling skills.
I rode straight on to RSC and met quite a few old acquaintances.
One lady approached
me shouting, "Andreas, how are you doing? " The expression on
my face clearly revealed incomprehension, so she explained that
we had met in Mannheim, I had told her about RSC and she had taught
Trabi and David at an internship. It dawned on me slowly... she
met the others as well and invited us to stay at her apartment.
Even better, she was about to take off for the weekend - with
her 2 little girls - to an American Indian Festival in Montecino
(at the coast) and Guido and Trabi decided to come with her; and
they had a cool weekend. The others moved into the apartment and
relaxed a lot while reading Steiner and Waldorf literature. So
funny, Ude's comment: "Steiner was a cool guy. The problem is,
that most of the teachers don't understand what he meant!"
I also showed
'em around, including my favorite movie theater: tickets for $
1/day and $ 1.75/night. Besides, I spent time with my friends
Sarnia - a lovely brunch and a tasty dinner - caught up with good
'ole Jeff - and finally met Luisa, his girl-friend - and of course
Dean, my best friend from those days of study and work with the
Eurythmy theater troop.
Dean
The latter ones were originally our loving hosts, but the kids
preferred the greater luxury of Petra's apartment. I had a wonderful
time - and send a big smile to those dear friends so far away
now again...that's perfect to end this for now...there's still
more to come...be well everybody, wishing you especially plenty
of inner light and warmth,
Andi
Carsten
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