Apra's first Week in Germany

It has been a week now that we have spent in Germany and although we are on holiday, I think it has been one of the most eventful weeks I ever had in Germany. The reason is obvious: I have never been here with my daughter and watching Apra in her new surrounding here has been wonderful! We have done a lot and she is having such a great time!

We started our time with a long weekend which was just perfect for some short trips. Our friends Sylvia and Melanie joined us and we went to an animal park which was on a sunny Saturday full of families with their children, everyone playing on the meadows, looking in amazement at the animals and talking happily with each other. It was a nice place where it was up to the animals if they wanted to come to the fences to get petted and fed to the children. Apra was so excited and happy, it made all of us laugh. She was amazed by the big goats coming very close, she showed us the baby guinea pigs in their big house of which one wall was of glass and she couldn’t get enough of the warm feeling of the sheep’s wool in her hand. We had to keep her from climbing into the area where ducklings were walking behind their mother and when she saw the muskrat, she wanted to jump in into its pond to swim with it. It was fantastic!

On Sunday we visited Melanie, who does not only have a big dog but also a horse and a pony. It was great to see how she fed the horses with our help and when they seemed a bit too big to her, she took the flowers and tried feeding them to the dog instead who obviously had no interest. At the age of 16 months, she also sat on a horse for the first time – and loved it.

On Monday, too, friends came by whom she already knew from India. So many people but she still was not tired of learning everyone’s name and when Thomas’ mother came to visit and bake pizza with us the day before yesterday, she kept on showing her all her toys, calling her ‘Oma Bärbel!’ all the time.

Everyone, including us, is amazed about Apra’s ability to learn new words. As expected, her German vocabulary is daily growing and she has some new favourite foods. She loves the bread and bread rolls, especially with butter on them. We have even been out for pizza in a restaurant and she simply enjoyed eating different ingredients off her mother’s pizza. No crying, no whining, we had a wonderful evening and some delicious ice-cream afterwards!

Apra accepted her new environment very easily and without problems. We daily skype with the Ashram so that she doesn’t miss everyone there too much and she is completely fine with that. Instead of the boys and our staff members playing with her and taking her to show her the cows on the road, she now plays with our German friends and also goes out with them. She has already been to the bakery with Thomas and Iris and together with Melanie she went to buy a cap to protect her ears from the cold wind.

It has been quite cold and also rainy – typical German weather – but that does not keep us from enjoying the time. We have bought a car seat and a stroller here which we will use for the trips in the coming years and are now looking forward to the next step of our German holiday: tomorrow we will go to Augsburg, to Apra’s German grandparents. Apra’s first train journey – the trip stays exciting and I will keep you updated!