Here I am again, but this time I have decided to write in English, since I work with English and feel I should encourage my students to try to understand my postings.
My story with Berlin dates way back when I was going to college in the US. I had two good friends from Berlin and besides that I have always been interested in History. Berlin facinated me, then.
Twenty years later, when I was living in Santos, Brazil, I also had a German student who was learning Portuguese with me. We also became good friends and I heard more stories from her about Berlin. That was in 1987, two years before the Wall came down. She was a ballet dancer and I wonder where she is now. She spent Christmas with me and my friends that year and soon after that she left for home and never wrote, not even a note. Today we don´t lose contact with friends anymore. We may suffer from lack of privacy!
Now, about eight months ago, in Santos again, my hometown, I met a very special German woman who also introduced me to two other women from Budapest. I met Sandra, the German woman, on the beach ,playing beach tennis, and the other two Hungarian girls I met on the beach, too. They were just enjoying the sun.
We had an instant connection and I invited them to come to my place before we went out to get something to eat and try to find a place with some samba. I had to buy some DVDs and asked them to play at the bar. I tried... It was a Monday night, so there was not much going on in town.
They were all here for the international tournament of Handball. In fact they made some interviews with some of their favorite and top players. I will ask them if I can put their link here. Unfortunately, the media gives more attention to men´s soccer competitions and other sports are somewhat forgotten. It´s a shame.
So, when we were saying good bye, they invited me to come and visit them in Budapest and I said I would. It´s a dream come true. I didn´t know how I was going to do it, but I knew I would. It´s one of those things in life that it´s hard to explain. Well..it took a little planning.
My suitcase is already packed, just waiting for the date, July 20th, 2012, this Friday.
Actually, I have started this trip four months ago when I tried to learn some Hungarian. I was only successful to learn the words thank you, no thank you and please and how are you? It´s a really difficult language. So, I will just have to count on the English. I would love to have learned more, but I got very frustrated, I must admit. I will stay with the word for thank you: "köszönöm". Phew! Sorry girls!
As far as the German, I took one year in Brazil way back ago, 1972?, and I also had another year in college. Unfortunately, I learned only the present tense of the most common verbs. That won´t help me too much either. I will just have to stick with the English.
The pictures bellow were taken in November 2011. Sandra and some of my friends from the beach tennis.
This is Marcus Vinícius, my beach tennis instructor, my student and friend, too. He was waiting for his students to come to class and Sandra showed up and he gave her a ten-minute free class. She picked up really fast. Bravo, Sandra!
When I met Judit and IIdiko on the beach in Santos.
These other pictures were taken in my place and at the bar where we had dinner and listened to some samba music
It was a really nice evening. When they were in my apartment I gave them each a necklace my sister had made before passing away. They were really touched by her story and at the end of the night we were talking as if we had been friends for a long time or that we already knew one another and were having some sort of a reunion. Strange...See you in two weeks girls, if it´s Life´s will!
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