Tag No. 121 - צען ברידער - tsen brider - "Ten Brothers"

Late in the evening, in the pitch black, a vehicle suddenly pulls up behind us. - It's always a funny situation when you're in no man's land. I get out of the car to see what's going on. - But it's "only" a van, also a California. Spanish is spoken. We greet each other. - Julia and Jose, she switches to perfect English, no, American. - So an American with her Spanish boyfriend. So we become new neighbors and I get the opportunity to take a closer look at the starry sky. How it sparkles, simply amazing.

We wake up around half past seven. It's still dark outside. But the sunrise is already looming behind the mountain. I get the outdoor shower ready. Showering outside at seven degrees is wonderfully refreshing, or so I tell myself. But first I enjoy the view over the misty mountains, the trees and the lush greenery. 

Another fruit muesli for breakfast, this time with a new ingredient. Unsalted peanuts. Delicious! - Somehow we hadn't noticed them at home before. At least not without the shell.

Later in the morning, I get talking to our new neighbors. At first it's all about the Bullis. But then Julia switches to German.

I ask her how she speaks German so well. She says her Yiddish is better. I ask and she confirms that she is Jewish. - We realize that we both know the same Yiddish songs. We talk about the fact that I always find Yiddish sad and lively at the same time, "Di grine Kusine", "Dire-gelt", about the fact that I was at a Yiddish concert in a Christian church only last year, about singing Orthodox Jews in the former ghetto in Venice. - Suddenly she also starts singing "Tsen brider - Zehn Brieder" and I join in. So we sing together ... 

Tsen brider senen mir gewesn

Hobn mir gehandlt in wayn

Senen ayns fun unds geshtorbn

I am still alive

I have always loved this song. As a businessman, I know there are good times and bad times. This song is about the bad. -

Suddenly we are in the past, on the subject of concentration camps. She tells me that her grandmother was deported but survived Buchenwald concentration camp. She tells me how her grandmother picked out a pair of men's boots from a mountain of boots in Buchenwald. "He" certainly wouldn't have needed them, as he had been gassed. Tears well up in my eyes, I feel guilty. - We stand there for a moment and I ask if I can give her a hug. I feel the need to apologize, which I do. We look at each other and go our separate ways.

Shmerel with fiddle, Tewye with bass

Shpil-she me a lidl oyfn withn gas

Oy oy oy oy oy oy, oy oy oy oy oy oy

She comes up to me again later and tells me that this gesture made a deep impression on Jose. That he sees the guilt of the Spaniards under the Franco era as comparable. But he had great respect for the fact that "we" Germans had learned to put this guilt into words. No Spaniard is capable of that. - We discuss the fact that few Italians, Japanese and other "allies" are certainly prepared to do so.

The fact that I apologize for the atrocities committed by our ancestors certainly does not make me a better person, but it is part of my feelings, my attitude. Precisely because I see myself as loving my country and because I claim to be a patriot, I also try to stand by the abysses of our past. 

Shpil-she me a lidl oyfn withn gas

I've never been a brother

Have handled me in freight

Senen ayns fun unds geshtorbn

Senen mir geblibn acht 

Shmerel with fidl ...

We talk for a long time about how something like this could happen, what influence religion had, what influence money and guilt(s) had. Why there have always been Jewish pogroms. What connection there was to issues such as exclusion from the guilds, the denial of the right to own land, to bear arms, but to lend money contrary to the Christians "interest and validity". About whether something like this could happen again. We are talking about the abundance and wealth in which we live today and the poverty of those before us. What disinformation we suffer from today in the abundance of information. Even the Israeli settlement policy is discussed. - Having and bearing responsibility for it. The conversation goes so far that we talk about the responsibility of humans and humanity itself. What responsibility we bear in the world, what role weapons and money play again today. It is a moving conversation. Of course, we don't find any solutions either. But we do find a little peace. 

Shpil-she me a lidl oyfn withn gas

I've never been a brother

Have handled me in freight

Senen ayns fun unds geshtorbn

Senen mir geblibn acht 

Shmerel with fidl ...

Later, Torgit and I talk a bit about patriotism and how contradictory we Germans are when it comes to national pride. Why the German flags are only "allowed" to come out in the hope of a new summer fairytale. - It's strange when you consider that our national flag was rejected by Nazis yesterday and today. After all, the German "Tricolore" also stands for freedom, equality and fraternity. Or was it unity, freedom and democracy? Either way, nothing that right-wingers can identify with. - We also talk about Sachsenhausen, about my conversations with the brother of a colleague who worked in the archives there. We ask ourselves what it does to a person who works in such a memorial. 

Eight brothers have been mine

Handled with ribs

Senen ayns fun unds geshtorbn

They have given birth to me

A little later, Julia and Jose say goodbye with the words "Lehitra'ot". - We sense that our conversation has triggered emotions on both sides. The farewell is particularly heartfelt. Jose also gives me a hug.

I have become a brider

We handled with gebeks

Senen ayns fun unds geshtorbn

Senen mir geblibn seks

Shmerel with fidl ...

Torgit and I want to stay on site for a while, as we suspect that our vultures will rise again in the afternoon with the thermals. They can already be seen sporadically in the sky. - Will we be able to film this natural spectacle? We don't know. So we use the time to get to grips with our technology. Torgit with our DJI Osmo Pocket, a handheld gimbal. Me with our footage from the last two days. Somehow less came out than I thought. - Vultures are only blurry.

We set off on foot in the afternoon to explore the vultures. As hoped, more and more vultures are making their rounds in the sky. I let the drone soar, but keep as far away as possible so as not to scare the birds away. But the opposite is the case. The vultures approach the drone very quickly. Suddenly the birds are circling the drone. It's not the birds that are scared, but me, at least for the drone. I'd rather get it out of the sky. Nevertheless, I take a lot of pictures. We also get a wonderful impression from the ground. We now prefer to "just" watch. How can I describe what is going on inside us? What we see makes us contemplative, impressed? Words fail me.

Later, we set off in the direction of San José del Valle. Our next pitch for the night is supposed to be nearby. Apparently you can stand right by the lake there. - On the way, we see two otters crossing the road. We also pass various cattle pens for farm animals. Once again, we come across cattle, young bulls, goats and their strange barrel shelters. But we also see a billy goat with its horns caught in a wire mesh fence. The green in the neighbor's garden seems to be greener again. It takes some effort to rescue the frightened goat from its precarious situation. - And then there's a goat nursing her newborn. The umbilical cord is still visible. 

When we arrive at the lake, we are thrilled. A beautiful spot right on the lake. Here are the coordinates: 36°38'24.5″N 5°42'45.7″W If it weren't for the unnecessary garbage. But it only takes three to four minutes and our pitch for the night is once again in good shape. How can you motivate campers to follow the motto "Please leave the site cleaner than you found it"?

I write a little more in the blog, then the films from the last few days are edited. - What a day, what impressions, what pictures.

Insight of the day: "Mountains don't come together, but people do"

My brothers have become me

Handled with shtrimp

Senen ayns fun unds geshtorbn

Senen mir geblibn finf