The end of the holiday!

And so it came to pass that the holiday must end; and very reluctantly so.  Today I'll depart the USA, leaving in the darkness that I arrived in, leaving with a wonderfully warm feeling in the pit of my stomach, a heart in much better shape than when I came.  None of this will be due to the US itself, which still remains a puzzle to my sociopolitical thinking, but due to the warmth and friendship of a dearly beloved German friend, Stefan, who made this particular 'adventure' possible, and the entire month here where he 'looked after me', making the few dreams I had prior to coming possible.  Nor should I forget that all American lady of immense charm and delight, Mary, another individual I'm privileged to call a friend, but time together all too brief.  To both I offer my heartfelt thanks, and to Stefan a much bigger hug for putting up with me and my incoherence on many a amusing moment and day.

Over the next few blogs I'll give a personal insight into my time here, but all that needs saying for the moment is that I'll be returning to Germany in a much better frame of mind than when I left.  As a travel virgin, the 'deflowering' was necessary in the sense that I was able to gain a little better understanding of the moments in history that have been important to me.  Standing by the graveside of JFK, standing on the spot where Martin Luther King made his 'I have a dream' speech and so on, there's a tangible connection between the young me, events that have inspired, and events that have shaped my own thinking, whether for good or ill.

I'll leave in a few hours, some views hardened, some thoughts softened, but although the time here is still incredibly raw and fresh and I've not actually left I have the nagging sense that the USA remains totally immersed in its silverscreen identity.  Maybe a harsh thing to say, and maybe the passing of a few weeks will soften that particular thought, but for the moment it's hard to distinguish between the media driven USA and the 'real' USA.  All I can say with some certainty is that my visit has been a learning process, and if travel does broaden the mind, it also reinforces the prejudices of experience, which is a sad thought it has to be said.

There I'll leave it until the next blog entry.  Again, if I've learned nothing else during this holiday visit, the one thing I've grown to appreciate more is friendship and its acceptance of simply being 'human'.

Thanks Stefan for everything you made possible!