Heliger Strochsack!

Well, now that i can´t get into internet as often as possible I´ll try to tell as much as I can! So much to tell... excuse me if i kind of throw out everything here... can´t get them well-organized.

Perhaps I seemed to be silent for the last two weeks. That´s because I was in a small village somewhere between Dijion and Chalon sur Soane in France. There´s a Catholic community called Taize which kind of welcomes people of different nationalities and religions. Arriving as an individual, I felt a bit of isolated in this community at first. One thing I found it strange - is that wherever I went in Taize, I heard more German and spoke more English than French ! The answer to this mystery is that the first week when I was there was a holiday in South of Germany. So you can imagine bunches of Germans were flocking into this place... a Finnish guy that I met when working joked it as a "German invasion!" But it´s not that bad...I made more German friends and I picked up more German words- enough for me to get by in Germany!

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Saying farewell frequently whilst traveling does NOT make it easier for me. Indeed, after two weeks in Taize, I found it really hard to leave. I like this place not only because of tranqility of life and beautiful landscape, but also because of the connection with people I made here. I like the way that I can get to know people at different levels and at my own pace. I enjoyed those friends I made by random conversations and when helping with practical works. I´m grateful for their sharing much of their selves with me. A lot of their stories and thoughts are striking to me and in many ways I think all these are the special gifts I received during this journey.

I chose to go in silence after a week in groups. I was completely freaked out the night before and I kept thinking " oh man I´m gonna have to zip my mouth and save all the words until the silence week´s over!" But the first day in silence passed incredibly well! The time spent taking a walk around the village, sitting in the sun or sleeping under trees and by the lake was just terrific! Isn´t it just great to take time and allow yourself to be embraced by the nature?

In silence I found myself more able to confront myself and reflect on things that i normally have no time or space for. I didn´t intent to think or meditate on certain things. In fact, I found things just fall into their own places. Indeed, it was a time when i came to hear my real inner thoughts and came to understand myself better. Often I find people(including me) can´t really hear their inner voice because they keep themselves so occupied to such an extent- they lose the capability to seek it. I think listening to this voice is vital to us because it gives us direction of where to head to and the strength to move on throughout our lives.

Another thing I enjoy this week of silence is the little but intimate connection with people. I was amazed to see how people communicate without much talking. I guess that´s because without words people have to be more sensitive to the needs of others and more expressive about their care and concern for others in different ways. I´m glad that Johanna and Yuri have been a generuos giver of hugs and smiles thru out that week. Yea... sometimes wordless communication can be even be more powerful.

Tears shed. Kissed and hugged goodbye. Time to move on.

Barcelona next.

Post entry: the heading of this entry is one of the many German phrases I learned during this week. It doesn´t have any specific meaning, but it is used to express exclamation. I thought Taize would be the most boring part of my journey before I came here, but it turned out to be one of the best places I´ve been. What better word can I use to conclude my stay here than an exclamation of Heliger Strochsack(don´t actaully remember the spellimg... but this is close i guess...haha) !