Donnerstag, 8. September 2016

48 hours without any money in a foreign country - Last Part

Friendships & Farewell

When I come back to my sunny bench I realize that I won´t hear my phone if Gabriele sends me a message. We wanted to meet this morning, before I have to leave Copenhagen in the afternoon.

I walk to the smørrebrød-stand and fetch my phone, thanking the owners for their politeness. Here the music is sooo loud (even if it is great), that the phone wouldn´t be heard. Only – the battery still is low. Outside on the forecourt, just opposite to my favorite bench there is a stand called THYBOD. It is decorated with wooden crates and boxes and looks very inviting.
I walk over there.







 A congenial looking couple is arranging merchandise and preparing for their work-day. Not only that I can charge my phone there, but they also promise to call me 
in case it rings.


A few minutes later Lone comes running into my direction with the phone in her hand.  It´s Gabriele. She´s surprised when I tell her my looking-for-food-business is already finished. She is already in the place and I spot her immediately. A beautiful woman, looking very Danish with her nice blond hair. Our eyes meet and it is like having retrieved a long-missed friend. The warmth and connection we already felt during our brief phone calls are staying.
I tell her about the polite Thybod-team and we walk over to the stand, wondering, what THY is meaning. We suppose it surely means thyme. Not at all, how we learn. Thy is a region in the north of Denmark, and the stand sells its typical products.
We have interesting conversations with Lone and her husband. When I talk about my experiment of 48 hours without money they tell us about a soup kitchen where people in need can get food.

In my last hours here now I learn about really interesting addresses and institutions for someone without money. On the other hand 
I am glad that I hadn´t known that before. It probably would have made my experience less exciting.

We take leave of the Thybod and Gabriele invites me to a café on a nice and bustling square nearby. Sitting down there appears strange to me, it hasn´t been on my schedule any more. Also being invited in such a natural way by people more or less strangers is still a process of learning for me. Contemporarily I feel an enormous gratitude into me. And with all the people who had helped me during my adventure I felt their compassionate caring and empathy without having any expectations.
And surely the melting together of these our deep emotions makes it possible that friendship can grow.
Gabriele and I nearly forget the time. We talk about our lives, our professions (both of us are alternative practitioners), our families, god and the world. Finally it is time to leave. We walk to the metro station and Gabriele makes me two more gifts: a ticket to the airport and a paper bag filled with a super-cheese roll, a sweet danish cake and a package of trail mix.  
So I can get safe, secure and in time to the airport to catch my plane home to Germany while savoring this wonderful lunch-bag. Once again I am affected and remain without words.

Somehow the circle is closing now: Gabriele´s friend Kaya invited me for the metro trip from the airport, when I arrived, and now Gabriele offers me the return-ticket.

I feel sad and grateful in the same time. Grateful for all the kindness I received and the friendships that grew so instantly. Sad because I have to leave all this behind now. – One thing is sure: I will come back. I don´t care if with or without money!! 



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