As an act of dipping my toe into the daunting task of writing an account of my trip to Germany, I will begin with a few photos. Sadly, my digital camera disappeared the second week of my trip, and with it, pictures I had taken of my 1st hosts, their house, the cute town of Duisburg, the monastary there, and random moments. I did get a disposable camera to record my last few days.





Here is Annie (left, with me on the right), my roommate for the second week of the Germany trip. We were on the train to Koln for the final Mass at Marienfeld. Annie is sweet, fun, and knows German! which was wonderously useful.





Annie and I stayed with Brigitte, in her cute little apartment on Aplerbecker Str. Our dear, dear host! How difficult it was for her to distinguish between A-nnie and A-my. We bonded because she has a special love for orchids, like me. And she left little German chocolates for us every evening by our beds.





Here is a shot of the Koln cathedral. It was magnificent. They house the relics of what are thought to be the 3 wise kings. I've always liked them, because they are the first mention of Asians in the Gospel ^_^.

I just got back from a 2 week trip to Germany, and World Youth Day (Weltjugentag). I just got home, to see my family for the first time since Spring Break. I just had Phil tell me that he doesn't want to be together anymore, and we've broken up.


I have a lot to reflect and say about all of these things, but first, I'd settle for a nice warm cup of Rooibos Caramel tea. And I'm thankful that at least I've never ever had jetlag from traveling.

sometimes i am overwhelmed
as if in an art gallery
of the beautiful things i experience every day
the irony and comedy of circumstances
the cuteness and cleverness of well-produced products
well-formed and eloquent phrases that i want to chew and savor and swallow
the people i interact with
their personalities
their lives
their stories
what they share with me
to be is beautiful
to be is to be beautiful