A day at the Baltic Sea

Yesterday for the first time I went to a German beach. I've been to other beaches in Europe, but only in short visits since I always come here during winter, but I had never actually seen how things work during the summer and, I confess, I was amused.

     Upon arrival I saw some curious things. Yes, I know I'm not in a tropical country and the beaches are different. But, like said Jack the Ripper, "let's start by parts". First, the beach itself. Upon arrival I noticed that the sea has no waves. Those who understand the oceans and their levels know what a sea level 1 means: no waves, just like a lake. The sand is white and fine but with several stones in the middle. Instead of shells at the water's edge, just pebbles and lots and lots of seaweed. To reach the deepest part, one has to cross a true carpet of marine algae in all its shapes and colors. It is so shallow that one needs to walk a lot until a place where one can be submerged up to the neck. The water is clear and cold but, oddly enough, less cold than the water from Ipanema beach, and a heavy traffic of ships and tourist boats cross the horizon. There is even a specific touristic route that connects seven countries with Brick Gothic buildings through the Baltic Sea: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

     In Germany people deal differently with the body. In my opinion, in a much healthier way. A body is a body and that's all, to show it doesn't mean anything, and they cope very well with the nude. Here, especially in the former eastern side, it's very common to find the "FKK" warning at the entrance of the beaches. "FKK" means "Freikörperkultur", the literal translation is: free body culture, or, as we say in Brazil, nudism. But differently from what happens in the southern hemisphere, the "FKK" beaches here are not isolated, they are beaches where everyone goes independently if they practice or not nudism. While I believe it is very healthy to deal with the body in this way, personally I can not be naked in public, and I confess it is strange to dive in and out of the water and find yourself face to face with a naked person in front of you. But the ease with which the Germans deal with it leaves us also comfortable with the situation. Unlike what occurs in the Brazilian coast, the beaches here are not a flirting site. Maybe that makes this relationship with the body even more free and happy. Children, young and old people, with or without swimwear, spread by sand.

   

 The sun, merciless on top of the 40 ° C gave no truce and the sand was filled with sunshades, fabrics forming fences around "someone's" part of sand, tents (yes, camping tents) and Strandkörben (literally "beach baskets"). Here, the options to be protected from the sun are more numerous. No, do not think that this is because they have very white skin, for they don't use sunscreen. Incidentally, I saw only a couple using sunscreen in them and their children, in general,they throw themselves in the towels and roast in the sun without any protection. I, with my photophobia and hypersensitivity of the skin to the sun, was hidden inside my "beach basket" watching the hours pass and the size of the redness of the skin of the people improve. Some were already so red I could only think: "oh, it hurts." But what most impressed me was the lack of care for young children. Several people without protection or a simple sunshade with 1 year old children already red after just a few minutes under the sun. 

The "beach baskets" are very interesting and practical inventions. At first, just looking, I thought they were uncomfortable for their hard looks but the truth is otherwise. Made of wicker, these chairs provide a real shadow that truly protects. They have pillows to sit and lean, supporters to feet and can move their coverage to make them more open or closed. If it is windy (the wind here is very fresh), they protect without smother. One can also adjust the internal structure so that one can lie down or sit. And, to sunbathe on them, just turn them towards the sun. Really very interesting.

     Another thing very curious for those who are accustomed to coconut water, Mate Leão Biscoito Globo, pies and a whole host of food products (and non-food products) being sold on the beach, is not that there are no hawkers in the sand because we know that this is characteristic of the Brazilian beaches, and mainly Rio's beaches, but the fact that it's Germany and I hardly saw anyone drinking beer. I imagined people enjoyed the beach drinking beer, although here, they do not need an excuse for that. But during the whole day, I saw just one guy drinking beer. Mostly I've seen children eating popsicles (so far, so good) and people drinking coffee. That's right: coffee on the beach! In the trailers where they rent the sunshades, fabrics, tents and "beach baskets," there's also coffee. How about a cappuccino in the sun? Or a Late Macchiato accompanied by Currywurst (sausage with curry sauce)?

     If anyone says that Germans don't go to the beach because they don't have good beaches, I can say that it's not true. The German beaches are beautiful. We just need to learn to admire the beauty of a geography different from ours, but no more or less beautiful. They are beautiful and the Germans enjoy them. In their way, the way they deal with everything that involves a trip to the beach, they know very well how to take advantage of them. It was a very interesting, entertaining, educational and above all, quiet experience.

Spring in Berlin

     To say that spring is a beautiful season beyond being a cliché, it's also obvious, but I never imagined that spring could be as fragrant and as colorful as here in Germany. Berlin is finally beautiful!

      Of course we have flowers, perfumes and spring in Brazil. No doubt that we do. And they are beautiful! But I never imagined anything like what I see on the streets here. The winter is barely gone and the grass just shows up green again. A light green, almost fluorescent. Then the flower buds begin to emerge. That's right, buds on the grass! The grass here is full of flowers. On it dandelions are "born" (which, contrary to what happens in Brazil, here they're not considered weeds) and other yellow, pink, white, purple flowers. The grass itself is already a spectacle so beautiful and colorful. Then come the shrubs. Fully covered with flowers and mostly leafless, they bloom in shades of yellow, purple, white, red, and so on. Then, the trees, which took a little more to have its leaves back, start to show not only tones of various green, but also flowers of various sizes and colors.

     Adding to all this are the flowers that were planted in the gardens but, being bulbs, don't need to be replanted. And, "suddenly", the city gardens appear in each corner, covered by pansies, daisies, magnolias, several beautiful little flowers that I don't know the name and, of course, the famous and beautiful tulips. These appear everywhere. In the flower beds of the avenues, under bushes, in the neighbor's yard, on the windows of the old lady who is always having tea on the porch. Pink, yellow, red, red and yellow, purple and white, orange, wine colored tulips, and all it's unusual color combinations. Rounded, pointed, dentilhadas, frayed petals of tulips, types I never thought existed.

     With the flowers come the seeds. They spread through the air on clouds. Clouds, that if it weren't for the temperature, looking from afar, you could swear it was snowing. And the seeds are found everywhere. Yesterday, for example, Sophia slept on the living room carpet, and on top of her, a seed of dandelion that unaware came through the window without knowing that here it would not have a fertile soil to grow and, once again, beautify the world.

     Yes, we have spring in Brazil, but unfortunately we do not have this profusion of flowers that bloom all together making the cities a large garden for a few weeks. But perhaps this was nature's solution to make winter more tolerable in cold countries.

Love is all you need

     There is a theory that haunts our thoughts and hearts for years (or should I say centuries?) fueled by fiction stories, that all we need is love. I have my doubts. No, I'm not talking about basic or material needs only about love.
     If these months here in Germanic lands have taught me something, besides being silent, is that love alone is not enough.
     I had the pleasure of receiving in my house these last few days, two very dear friends. Each of them is in a different time of life regarding relationships. One is dating, the other married last year. Living with them I realized that what they have with their respective partners is much more than love. One had support and help from the husband even before their dating time started, the other has a relationship of complicity with her boyfriend.
     Years ago The Beatles were already saying "all you need is love", and many others before them have also done it. While I agree with much of the utopia of "Imagine" by John Lennon, I disagree with "All You Need is Love". I am one of the most romantic people I know. I love surprise notes, flowers, gifts without special dates, surprise breakfasts and all sorts of things imaginable. I love to receive these things, but mostly, I like to do them to someone else when I'm in love. But no, I do not agree that everything you need is love.
     Love without support, without praise, without affection, without complicity, without friendship, without understanding, without comprehension, without listening to the other, simply does not support itself. For love may actually prevail, it must be accompanied by all these or it won't last. It may even exist, but can not grow and magnify as it should.
     Is there anything better than someone who fights for you? Not in the sense of fighting to win you over, but to buy your struggles and help you move on. To give you a hand and help you walk when you are not managing to do it alone.
     So please, sing the song, yes, but do more than that, when you love do it with an open heart, giving besides love, all these "small" details that make this feeling magnanimous. Without fear of losing, without fear of suffering, without fear of being honest, unafraid to be who you are, love without pride. Love with care, with friendship, with support, with praise, with understanding. Love with open arms both to the tears and to the smiles. Love with open ears to listen to the other person. Love showing that you are there for your loved one. Love, but always remember that love alone is not enough.

The Pope Oscar Ceremony

     Today, when the cardinals meet to choose a new Pope, I can not help thinking how everything looks like the preparations for the Oscar.
      The newspapers do not stop to report how many cardinals belong to the conclave, how the Sistine Chapel is organized for the meeting, how the ceremony will be, who are the "nominees" and the possible winners of the most important chair of the Catholic Church. Even the papal attire has been the focus of news on television. Now wonders are about the "mystery" of the black smoke and the white smoke.
      Like the Oscars, there are those who naively believe that the chair (or the statue?) will be given to an African or Latin American, when everyone knows that the "prize" will always go to someone from inside the house (in this case, the house is Europe). As in the academy awards, some candidates should feel fulfilled by being considered to compete with those who surely will take the title.
It seems that the world forgets all current scandals involving the institution that has been, and remains, the main character of major scandals throughout its history. Everything looks like a big party. I bet there are some brazilians thinking that a green and yellow smoke will come out of the Vatican's chimney.
      It's possible to understand what a Pope means for those who are within the Church, for those who live in convents and seminaries, but for people who are not involved in religious life, which is the true importance of the Pope in their lives? How and why does this affect their belief? I do not follow any religion, but I believe that being Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, etc., means to choose the tools that best suit you to reach God. The tools are available for centuries, with or without the Pope. The way a person relates to the Supreme Being is individual. You can follow certain rules, certain ways, but what a person enthroned in Rome can change in the lives of those who believe? What real difference does it make to the millions of Catholics around the world? The time when papal authority intervened in governments, wars and private lives so incisive and definitive is gone. Today, its influence still exists, but diminished. The Church stopped in time, it does not update itself, it doesn not want to deal with the reality of life in the twenty-first century and the issues that it brings. What does a pope today?
      While the ceremony is not over, as in Oscar, thousands of people are expecting. In this case, which statue will be given away? Best fiction screenplay or best supporting actor? Because, definitely, not best director.