Weimar Refugee Women Group: And how to Cook a German Dinner

The idea had been in my head quite a long time but it was finally realized only a couple of weeks ago: We founded a Women Group in the refugees' hostel.
To be a refugee in Germany is hard. The government provides what is prescibed by the law: accomodation, medical assistance, food and scooling for the kids. This is a lot, right, especially compared to the circumstances that have driven people to leave their homelands, but an essential part is missing: a perspective for the future. Many persons, even whole families have to wait for years, even decades, until their residential status becomes clear. So they are forced to live a life inbetween, without knowing what will happen, if they are allowed to stay or if they will be expelled from one day to the other.
Especially for the women this is very hard. Mostly they come from societies where the family is the most important bond. Alone here in a foreign country the are forced to stay alone in their houses because the net is not there and they are not used to go out for cultural reasons, while their men usually make new acquaintances quite quickly. Mostly the hostels are placed far from the city without a good connection, sometimes even without a decent street lighting (e.g. here), so in winter it is even dangerous to leave home after 4 p.m.
So the idea was born to establish a network in the hostel itself and it is working out nicely, desipe of language barriers and a lot of kids to look after. Recently the first step out has been made: The women group of the "Inner Wheel" invited us to a typical German christmas dinner.

 

Cooking toghether was really fun! We had duck from the oven, red cabbage and potato dumplings as main course and baked apples for dessert.

 We discovered that the most beautiful "Knödel" (potato dumplings) were made from Afghan hands!

Below a snippet from the local newspaper the next day with myself ( not quite deservedly) in the centre.

 And finally we all enjoyed the yummy food with the husbands and the kids!

 

New Series: Joy of Dancing

My regular readers and blogging friends know about my passion for dancing, and my grieve that I had to stop aftre the first months of my pregnancy... Now my little one is four months old and my body is craving for beautiful movements with music! I have been a practicioner for fifteen years now of Folklore and Women Dances from the Mediterranean Sea and the Balkans, extending my interest along the Silk Road to India - and beyond... I get excited with the music, precious costumes and, most of all, with the feeling of my bare feet touching the ground.

I have always experinced dancing as something more than just a work out; it is a sort of meditation in the movement. The deep immersion in the flow of rhythm and melody join together my scattered thoughts and let my body feel free and full of energy after long periods of physical and intellectual tension I go through while wrinting.

So I decided to share thoughts on dance styles, events and teachers in (more or less) sporadic posts.

Today I want to start briefly with an announcement, but it means so much to me!
In september I will organize for the first time a performance cum workshops in my hometown Weimar, hopefully the first of many many beautiful events.

Fabulous Classical Indian dancers Poonam Panchwagh (Pune, India) and Anne Dietrich (Leipzig, Germany) are going to perform Kathak dance from North India...

....and Mohiniyattam dance from South India (Kerala) ...

... as well as an audacious fusion of both styles.

I got to know both dancers last year when I attended their workshops in Leipzig and I was smitten by both their fabulous teaching and friendly manner. Looking forward to seeing you!

More information about the Company Srijan here.

Spring Corner and Japanese Inspiration

It is still extremely cold here these days, icy wind stirs up snow, but my heart longs for blossoms and fresh green... Sigh... To beat my lingering sadness I decided to bring spring into our bedroom.

It all started with the inspiring books - I featured one of them in a previous post - of the anthropologist and writer Liza Dalby. She is the first foreigner to study the ancient Japanese art of being a geisha. Liza Dalby's experiences inspired several books on Japanese culture. "The Tale of Murasaki" was the book I read first; a novel on the life of the world's first novelist, a court lady in the 10th century. I had found it by chance on a rummage table of a local bookstore - or should I say the book found me? In any case I couldn't resist the charme of the refined Japanes court culture since then and have read avidly everything I could find.
I admire most the connection between poetry and observation of nature and the beauty that lays in the changing of seasons.
This inspired me to create a spring corner with a runner of vintage kimono silk on a bamboo tea table, matching tulips and some of Liza Dalby's books...

... in the original and some in german translation...

Next came a kimono scroll mural with lovely handpainted blossoms again on vintage kimono silk.



Now I feel much better :-)
In her recent book, "East Wind Melts the Ice" she creates a diary of the seasons divided into the 72 five-day segments of an ancient Chinese almanac. Today belongs to the second section: "dormant creatures start to twitch" (february 10 through14). I try to imagine little animals deep in the earth of my backyard starting to move unter the white snow. And, was it a dream or did I really hear small birds singing when I woke up at dawn?

Peace of Mind

A friendly camel from far far away decided to take a rest in our neighbourhood... I admired its relaxed attitude on this icy morning.
I wish I could always be as patient as this beautiful animal in the snow!

Summer Weekend

We had a great sunny weekend, and finally it was warm enough to dress my daughter Lina in the oh so cute Kimono pajama my brother brought us from Japan (Thank you, Sandro!). I love the traditional pattern printing decorated with beautiful court ladies in the style of the Heian-Period (794-1192) with their beautiful long loose hair. If only I knew where to buy similar cotton fabric to sew something for myself!

Time for a break

After a crazy weekend with a workshop, a dance performance and traveling many hours by train with my 20 month old daughter I came home completely exhausted. So I decided to dedicate some hours of this morning completely to myself...


... getting inspired by my bead collection in my "atelier" (a 2,5 square meter sun parlour) ...

... and knitting funny baby-cardigans from recycled wool leftovers!
Aaah, what a beautiful day!

"Goodbye Winter...

... parting is painful, but with you departure my heart is smiling..."
says a german children's song


dramatic impressions from the last days of this winter in the Ilm Park, Weimar.