Month: July 2021

An Odyssey  | Eine Odyssee

EnglishFor days, I’ve been stuck with my friends. The other day I relocated to another city, but still no transportation to my town is going where the floods were more serious than around here. I’ve been trying every day to find train tickets, busses, private cars. Nothing has been going. The news is that streets are blocked, and that’s why not even busses and cars have been able to go. Uber services aren’t even working at all, the app has been useless these days. Only today, we were finally able to find a driver who was willing to venture out, and see if he can make his way to the airport, which is near our town. (Trains and busses are still not going.) Though he won’t take me all the way home, I jumped at the opportunity to make it back to my town, even if I have to take the taxi for the last leg. The price the driver offered was decent (considering there is a high demand, and he could have named any …

Flooded | Überflutet

EnglishI’m still stuck with my friends, and looking at options of how to return home, but the news we’re getting isn’t very promising. I’m receiving photos and reports of all the flooding back home, and it makes me glad that I missed all the action. Here, we’ve had a lot of rain, but nothing else. For me, the biggest question is how to get home these days when all manner of transport (private and public) has broken down. Friends are telling me to relocate to another city, and try my luck from there. So, that’s what I’m preparing to do. DeutschIch stecke immer noch bei meinen Freunden fest und suche nach Wegen, wie ich nach Hause kommen kann. Aber die Nachrichten, die ich erhalte, sind nicht vielversprechend. Mir kommen Fotos und Berichte zu, die mir das Ausmass der Katastrophe (selbst auf dem Campus) vor Augen führen. Es macht mich froh, dass ich die ganze Action verpasst habe. Hier haben wir nur viel Regen aber sonst ist nichts los. Die größte Frage für mich ist nun, …

Stuck | Festgesetzt

EnglishI was supposed to return home today, but nothing went according to plan. Instead I spent hours at the train station, after my first train was canceled, trying to catch a train – any train – that would take me home. Only to realize that no trains were going. Period. Only much later did I realize the reason for why nothing was moving: the torrential rains have caused serious flooding all around the wider area of where I live. For me it means two things:1. I might be stuck for days to come.2. I escaped a life-threatening situation. The subway in the city where I was headed had flooded, and caused fatalities. Videos were sent to me showing people stuck in subway trains, and the water reaching up to their necks. Had things gone according to plan, I would have been in that very subway at exactly the time it was flooded. So, as I began to understand the extent of the situation, I also realized I was extremely thankful that today nothing went according …

Visit with Friends | Besuch bei Freunden

EnglishThe summer break has started, and I decided to visit my friend out of town. It’s been fun so far, seeing people I haven’t seen in years. But it’s also been raining with the exception of the first day, almost the entire time. Obviously, my friend isn’t detracted from that. He still takes me out of doors all the time, together with the kid. And we manage to have fun in spite of the rain. DeutschDie Sommerferien haben angefangen, und ich habe mich entschlossen, ein paar Tage bei Freunden zu verbringen, die ich seit ein paar Jahren nicht mehr gesehen habe. Aber abgesehen vom ersten Abend hat es bislang die ganze Zeit geregnet. Mein Freund scheint davon herzlich wenig beeinträchtigt zu sein. Mit Kind und Kegel nimmt er mich mit, und irgendwie haben wir doch immer Spass, trotz vielen Regens …