Finally I've found the time to tell about the great trip we made during the spring break. In fulfillment of a dream, we traveled to Germany (on their famous autobahn system) and visited an old friend and the city that remain in fond memories of my exchange year.
Marburg is a cool medieval city, where my friend Uwe and I studied together 26 years ago. In the first photo I am standing in front of my former dormitory. We stood at the door and wondered if we should ring one of the many doorbells! Then Johanna tried the door, and it opened! We were an army of seven people, but we marched right in and climbed up to the sixth floor, where my room would have been. On the way we met a few students, and they all accepted my quick explanation with no further questions. I was as happy as a kid on Christmas morning as I explored every corner.
In the second photo Johanna posed on the steps of one the many alleys typical for the old city center of Marburg. As in most European cities, this part of the city is closed to normal motorized traffic. We walked up hundred (thousands?) of steps, before finally reaching the castle that looks out over the city. Johanna remarked that Uwe and I seemed much younger, as our families struggled to keep up with us :-). And in fact, for one day I felt like I was living in the past. Ben and Noah also had a good time. I think it's nice for sons to experience their father's history, and in this way they learned more about the beginning of my (and their!) cross-cultural life.
In the last picture we're enjoying the ducks in the old botanical garden - Ben, Noah, me, Uwe (the women were behind us). I met Uwe for the first time in a course on African linguistics, a field in which he later received a Ph.D. We spent much of that year (1981-1982) together, and I also got to know his parents in the Christmas break. Now he also is married and has two teenagers. They have taken various assignments with Wycliffe and have lived in Nigeria and in the US.
