biking again. unfortunately only for one day.

So maybe the saying is true that haste makes waste, that the good things need their time to ripe. I've got mail from Iraq. One of the two boxes I filled with the help of some friends and beautiful plush toys arrived in a hospital for children who have cancer. I got some pictures and it is very moving to see one of my old toys in the arms of a pretty little boy who lost his hair.

feeling homey

61 hours in Berlin. and I fell in love again with the city.

I'm shocked! I confess it.

With no TV in my home I'm quite observant when watching TV at friend's. So yesterday a friend told me that there will be Oliver Stone's W. in the little poisened box and because I was eating with another friend anyway we decided for watching and talking instead of talking only after dinner.

So as usual on german private TV there were commercials and unfortunately at the moment it's not the time of big creativity in the ad agencies - and I do know other times! But the boredom was not the problem. Even that the preservation of the environment finally became a big issue is not that surprising at all, although I wonder why it took them so much time to percieve environmentalism as the thing it is...

What really took my breath were two seconds of just one spot. A dating agency, one of the many you can find in the triple w. People were telling their stories of how easy they got to know other lonely ones. And next to them in a strong red against the white background words like quick, dates, love... Me and my friend were talking, listining and watching only with one ear and eye. And then I saw the word side leap and asked my friend if she saw it too. She did.

HELLO??????

In which world are we living in? (Extra-marital) Affairs are part of everyday life. I know! Advertisements for infidelities are absolutely common in the internet. I know and I hate and love the net for the fact that it's not controllable in many ways.

BUT! Watching a commercial on TV I know how many people were involved in its production and broadcasting. And I wonder if really none of them said: This is a no-go because it shows how broken our relationships and how shattered our hopes are.

How can you implicate on TV that an escapade is something that is accepted by the society that surrounds you when it shouldn't because it breaks hearts and hurts feelings? How can you imply that this kind of lie is something you don't have to be ashamed for? How can you tell your audience: Hey, come on! Having sex with anybody different from your partner is standard. Everyone does it! And you don't? Come on! ;)

I really wonder.

I travelled to winter wonder land, took some walks and pictures and then left again. See:










waiting to leave



wrong direction:


freezing for almost an hour

no news are good news?

I do wish all of you peaceful days and all the best at the turn of the year!

Some weeks later I’m done collecting plush toys. I’m still overwhelmed by the strong response of friends and colleagues. Thank you all so much!!!

So now I’m sitting in the middle of dogs, mice, rabbits, birds, bears (of course they outnumber the others…), sheep, cows, lions, elephants, monkeys, turtles, hippos and so many more and feel like in wonderland. I did wash and dry all of them...



...and now will put them into two big boxes and send them to Dohuk and Bagdad.



... I had to climb pretty high to get this pic ... ;)









They could be even more since a friend collected toys in her school but because of a misunderstanding the package went to a shelter for disabled children in Frankfurt/Main. Maybe she will collect some more and send them herself to Iraq. But I couldn’t stand the big brown boxes in my kitchen anymore and am happy to finally send them away.

Some of the collected will stay with me. I tell you which ones so you know what you don’t want in case you decide to collect plushies for peace too. Some of them I couldn’t clean without cracking them. Others had electric devices inside which make them talk or whistle or bark. Because Iraq is a war zone I wanted to make sure that nobody at the customs would suspect anything else but a friendly gift for children who need it. So some of theses devices I could remove, the others will stay with me in Germany and I have to think what to do about them. Somebody send me a very sweet little pink pig holding a heart. But in Islam pigs are impure, even worse than dogs. This knowledge led me to the decision to not send the pig to the kids of Iraq because I don’t want to offend anybody.

EDIT: The young man who is the reason of my little collecting story told me that he is sure nobody in Bagdad would have been offended by the little pink pig. But still, I remember an artikel in the Yemen Times, condemning "M&Ms" because of the big feet of the advertisement guys, and think my decision was not entirely wrong. However the pig now is loved by the daughter of a friend of mine *g*

My contact person in Bagdad promised to send me some pictures of the arrival of the toys in Bagdad. So stay tuned, I will post them ;)