Back To The Sun - Not Quite

I was really looking forward to coming back to Athens – for the sun and of course to see my husband who didn’t come to Germany with me. In spite of having a good time on my trip I seriously missed him. I arrived here to dark clouds, cold and rain, hear that Herbert and Addi, it doesn’t only rain in Greifswald. I guess it followed me from the Baltics.

A little picnic stop on the way from Greifswald to Berlin. There's everything in that trunk but the kitchen sink. One thing was certain, I wasn't leaving Germany hungry...

While I was gone I had hoped a few things would be taken care of here in this simple abode of ours the most important of which being hooking up the solar panels to the hot water tank. Nada, zip, zilch… still no hot water. What the heck do I have to do to get hot water, geesh… On the other hand, the entire time I was gone my sweetie was sick with a cold as was his entire family and he spent the whole 10 days at his mother’s home. Didn’t leave him much time to get anything done.

Yesterday I convinced him that we really needed to go shopping and get some basics to make life more comfortable, you know things like chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. A couple blankets were also a good idea since the weather was seriously cold and I froze the first night. I am pretty sure that sleeping on a rubber bed on a cold ceramic tile floor is the problem. There is no heat as yet since the heater needs service and finding the guy to come do it is not easy. Part of the reason it is so chilly in this building I think is because it is an unoccupied 4 storey building. No one has ever lived here so there is no warmth in it at all. Somehow I think that if there was furniture in every unit and people living here it wouldn’t be so cold.

Today (Tuesday) though, the sun is out again and it’s starting to warm up. It’s market day and it’s just up the street from us so I’ll score a frying pan and a few other odds and sods so maybe I can cook something for dinner besides a frozen pizza.

I am so trying to gather my thoughts about all the things I saw and heard in the former East Germany and put them to paper but since I am not a natural writer it doesn’t come easy. I am certain that some people had it hard while others not so much. I saw the film The Lives Of Others and maybe wrongly assumed that all were treated in that manner. If you were a member of The Party, life was certainly better than for those who weren’t and none of my family members were party members that I’m aware of. What I can’t forgive however is the fact that due to the political system of the day, I have lost a whole lot of family never to reconnect. Over 50 years without contact does that I guess. It was only due to the diligence of my parents and my cousin’s parents who faithfully wrote letters that kept us connected and gave me the opportunity to be close to this one wonderful cousin and his wife. One or two other’s showed some interest but most couldn’t be bothered to meet with me. Although it bothered me a bit in the beginning I do understand and don’t hold it against them. After all I am a virtual stranger to them.

This post is being written over a number of days because I don’t have any internet access and have to go to a café. Today though I will post it. It is downright cold here with a gray sky that I might have brought with me from Germany, who the heck knows….catch ya later…