Boltenmuehle, 19.07.2020 Binenbach

Berlin, 20.07.2020 Luka, Kilian, Sonja

Berlin, 21.07.2020 Potato-minced meat-roulade

My Westerwald Aunties gave me a local cookbook as a present, and that`s what we tried first: A huge dumpling made from mashed potatoes filled with minced meat.

Berlin, 26.07.2020 Krumme Lanke

Berlin, 28.07.2020 The lockdown lessons

To represent many different types of bread, I have chosen this one to show what home office can teach you: baking proper bread.

Berlin, 04.08.2020 Extracurricular activities

Berlin, 11.08.2020 First day at school

Even the smallest one in the family will one day start his first day at school and for Fridolin, this day was today. His home was decorated with all kinds of foreign planets and spaceships and I dressed up as extraterrestrial along with the rest of the family. We had such a beautiful, sunny, great time and enjoyed the 'Corona break' to be with each other.

Berlin, 23.08.2020 Revolutions of choice

Barkow Leibinger exhibition at the Haus am Waldsee. Again, just very happy for every chance to get out again, be inspired, and inhale summer.

Berlin, 13.09.2020 Confirmation

Just five confirmees. One of them broke his wrist the day before and was shuttled in right off the operation table. All a little different than in 2018. But just as beautiful: We had one guest, Mias friend Lisa, and for lunch, we had eleven different sorts of ice cream. Celebrating in Mias style.

Berlin, 19.09.2020 Ecuador Purple

Over the course of a few weeks, this little Chili plant changed its colour from purple to green to bright red. Fun to watch!

Berlin, 03.10.2020 Lupine

I had heard about this special mentoring program in the local newsletter. Lupine is a non-profit association that supports children aged 6 to 12 in a 1:1 mentoring. The children are all from refugee families who come from Iraq, Syria, Iran and Afghanistan and have found a new home in the southwest of Berlin. Over the course of a school year of 10 months, the mentors spend 3-4 hours once a week with their mentee. On top of that, all tandems meet once a month for instructed creative activities in order to broaden everyones horizons. For mentors, Lupine is offering training on trauma therapy, intercultural skills and of course, a close relationship to a child living in between two very different cultures.

I had thought about supporting refugees for a long time (I guess it all started with seeing the refuggee camps in Beirut, Lebanon, after the start of the Syrian war in 2012). But I never knew where to start. With a clear program structure and a warm support from the Lupine team I felt safer, but I wasn`t sure about the timing. This August, my final episode of training started, with a lot of stressful lessons drafts to write and to show. (The last exam will hopefully take place in November 2021.) But I just convinced my daughter to participate together with me as a team of three instead of two and it worked out well so far. Our mentee is named Farah, her family is from Damaskus, and they live in Germany since 2015.

Zauchwitz, 11.10.2020 Nieplitz hiking trail

We found a new spot in the countryside worth visiting. It is the perfect location for a porcini hunt, it is a good composition of open land and mixed forest. And there are horses, too!

Berlin, 22.08.2020 Krumme Lanke