Mein Praktikum in Deutschland

Salvador Meza Lemus

October 1st. 2015

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It’s truly been a journey to remember…

Meine Kindheit

I remember when I was a kid. I think the earliest memory I have of my life is living at my

grandma’s house and celebrating my 3rd birthday. My mom bought me a cake, bought a pinata,

invited the neighbors and there was happiness all around. I also remember when I first used my

bike without training wheels, it was one of the best days of my life and after then my mom used

to watch me ride it on the street. Then I remember when I first went to Kindergarten, I remember

my friends some of whom I still have contact with. I remember playing in the playground,

learning my ABC’s, coloring and saluting our nation's flag.

I also remember going into 1st grade. I didn’t cry this time

but I was very nervous. Everything was new, new school,

new teacher, new classmates, new everything. Oh, and I

remember when my 3rd grade teacher hit me with the

eraser because I wouldn’t be quiet. I made some of my

best life friends in primary school and yeah we still talk

and miss each other a lot. And that was my childhood....

it’s crazy to think that it’s only been 8 years since I was

also considered a kid. Not so long, but yet I have gone

through some of the greatest milestones in my life. I moved to the U.S. learned English, went

through middle school, graduated from high school, began college, became a U.S. citizen,

finished my first year of college, received an internship with the ARC program, became a

residential assistant at my university, did my second year of college, and now I’m here. Ich

mache ein Praktikum in Deutschland.

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Ersten Tagen!

The reason why I related many of my childhood experiences is because the kids I work

with have reminded me of how beautiful it is to be a kid. They remind me of how beautiful is to

smile, how beautiful is to enjoy every little moment spending time together and making new

experiences. The kids are now a very special memory in my life which will live forever in me.

Every kid is very unique, I see them as very special gifts from God paving way to making

positive differences in this world. It warms my heart just to think about them and know that I

have also become a special part of their lives. I loved going into the room and building lego

boats with them, domino lines,

playing board games, reading

to them with my accent, and

then going outside to play

soccer. Soccer it’s truly their

favorite sport, if it was up to

them we would play soccer the

whole day. I was impressed

when I worked with my first

group and saw how some as small as 4 years old already played like professional soccer players.

If they actually get tired from soccer then we play tag. When we are outside we never stop

playing. I also really enjoy every time we go on expeditions. Sometimes we go hiking and

sometimes we go swimming. They also like to sing, and even though I don’t understand most of

the lyrics I try to follow the beat. They also love talking to me and I really enjoy listening to

them.

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Colleguita

There was a kid who really enjoyed spending time with me after work. When the day was

over and it was time for me to clean he would come and play connect 4 with me. I don’t know

how, but I was only able to beat him maybe three times out of the hundreds that we played. Then

he would talk and talk and talk and talk while I cleaned, and I didn’t mind him being there. I

really enjoyed listening to him even though I couldn’t understand everything or answer his

questions perfectly. He made me wish I could be a kid again and smile as hard as he did. And

just like him, I enjoyed spending time

with all the other kids. They made me feel

like I belonged and I was happy to be

there. They would try to include me in

everything, even on the weekends they

would invite me to watch movies with

them at their lounges. Then they would

offer me cookies and talk to me while

watching the movie. One of the kids

called me “Collega” from the first day he

met me, I would call him “Colleguita” but

then he would say “Nein ich bin collega

und du bist colleguita” I would say,

“Nein, du bist colleguita” and then we would laugh.

Mein Tag

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A typical day for me was waking up at 7:00 AM, going for a hike from 7:10 to 8:00 AM,

eating breakfast with the awesome cooks from 8 to 8:30 AM. chilling in my room for 10 minutes

and going into work at 8:45 AM. At 11:30 I would take a lunch break until 12:30 P.M. then I

would go back to work until around 4 to 5:30 PM. depending on how much Garrett and I had to

clean. However, I wouldn’t actually call my

work “work” but rather “an experience”. Every

day was a beautiful experience, it’s true

sometimes I felt tired and drained from being

always running around with the kids but it was

all worth it. On my first group there was a kid

who would come and help me clean after work.

He would help me take out the papers from the

restrooms, and organize the shoes on the shelves,

and he wouldn’t leave until I was done. I really

appreciated all the help he would give me. I

remember him always happy and smiling and it warms my heart knowing that there’s kids like

him in the world.

Erlebnisse!

After my first group, I honestly thought I wasn’t gonna get another group as awesome as

the one I just had had. I was pretty happy to spend my days with them, helping them out. I

remember Niko, Marvin, Marinus, Max and everyone else even though I don’t remember all of

their names. However, the first group will always hold a special place in my heart since they

were the ones who welcomed me into Germany. I remember I came into the group a day after

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they arrived since I had a day to rest. I woke up that morning very enthusiastic about meeting all

of them. I went into the room a little early and I got introduced. Some of the kids couldn’t

believe I was Mexican. They thought Mexico was a region in Spain. I told them I could speak

Spanish, English und ein bißchen Deutsch. It was a quick welcome. Garrett then taught me the

basics, make them breakfast, play with

them, go outside with them and play some

more, watch over them, make sure they

don’t fight, go to lunch, come back, spend

some more time with them and then start

cleaning up. Easy and smooth; and it sure

did go like that most of the time. I opened

my first day with some domino, followed by

toy cars, and soccer. We all went outside

and began playing soccer. It was a fairly

young group with Niko being the oldest. We

played until we were called inside for lunch.

The next few days we started to bond with each other more and more, we played ping-pong, and

kicker. They all called me by my name and liked me for who I was.

Unterstützung!

Frau Schulze, Frau Schwarzkopf, Moni, Anna, Frau Miehe, Gabby and Nicole would all

check-in with me to see how I was doing. I felt very comfortable and enjoyed being around

them. At lunchtime I liked to eat at the dinner table with the rest of the staff who usually

consisted of Mike, Frau Seeland, Frau Kuhnhold, and Herr Kuhnhold. They were all very warm

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people. I enjoyed eating with them. I

didn’t personally like eating alone in my

room. For breakfast I would also eat in

the kitchen with the cooks who were

also very nice welcoming people. I

never felt hungry being there. One of

the cooks whom I don’t remember her name would always offer me dessert before bringing it out

of the kitchen. All the food was delicious. I do have to say though that I had never eaten that

many potatoes before in my life. I really liked them though, regardless of how they were cooked.

Currywurst mit Pommes

My favorite food from Germany was truly Currywurst mit Pommes, Oh how I loved

eating that dish. Especially if it was from Hung Imbiss. I remember the first time I tried it. On

my first weekend at Germany, Frau Schulze offered to take me to the Wurmberg. I was really

happy because it was the first official site I would visit in Germany. That day was a little foggy

though and it seemed like it was going to rain. Nevertheless, we drove there, parked the car, and

hiked up the mountain until we reached the skyglider. We jumped on it and reached the top of

the mountain. Since it was a little foggy, there was not much that one could see from the top. I

still enjoyed it though. We hiked a little bit, Frau Schulze showed me where people would skii in

the winter. I saw the remnants of what was the border between the East and the West. We also

hiked to what was a man-made lake. Frau Schulze said that it was under construction and it was

projected to be a picnic area on top of the mountain for families to enjoy. I thought it was a

pretty original idea since you could see kilometers onto the horizon (of course when is not

foggy). Then we got a little hungry and we went to eat at the restaurant sitting on top of the

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mountain. Pretty crazy how they manage to build establishments on top of very high places, but

awesome! I didn’t know what to order so I asked Frau Schulze what she would recommend me.

She told me that she didn’t eat meat but that her son Jannes did and that he loved getting

Currywurst mit Pommes so that’s what I asked

for. They brought me my dish and I thought of

it as a little strange for I had never sin a dish

like that. It was currywurst with some ketchup

on the side and fries. And so I ate. I liked it,

my mouth is getting watery. As days went by,

I would walk to Braunlage and stop at Hung

Imbiss and order some delicious Currywurst

mit Pommes. As of today, I really look

forward to the day in which I can eat one more

dish of Currywurst mit Pommes. The last time

I ate one was in Frankfurt on August 31st, the

night before flying to New York.

Reinigung

I found cleaning at the Waldmuhle very

enjoyable. I do have to confess however that

some days were tougher than others. I learned to appreciate my job to a great extent though. I

learned to make the most out of it. I would plug in my phone to the stereo, or tune in on a

German station and listen to music. I still remember one day when they played “La Camisa

Negra” by Juanes on German radio. It surprised me because Juanes is Colombian and the whole

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song is in Spanish so I was pretty excited. I told the kids about him and to this day I wonder if

they noted the difference between an American-English song and a Colombian-Spanish song.

With music I wouldn’t even think about all the cleaning that I had to get done. Instead I would

just do it and I would enjoy it. After every group we needed to do depth cleaning of the rooms. It

would take a while to finish, however that same day we would order food from town. I always

got the Pizza Inferno. It was my favorite because it was the only one that was a little spicy and I

grew up eating a lot of spicy food. Also, on depth cleaning days, we would all eat at the dining

room including Frau Schulze.

Mike

Sometimes when there was not much to do in Kinderland I would work with Mike.

Working with Mike was also one of the best experiences I had in Germany. It also made me

really happy to spend time with him for he was always making me laugh. He spoke hardly any

English so I had to pay real close attention to everything he was

saying. Sometimes he would tell me something and I would say

“Ja” but I wouldn’t really understand what he was saying and I

guess he would see that I was confused and he would tell me,

“Du hast nichts verstanden huh” and I would be like “Nein”.

Eventually my German got better and I was able to comprehend

mostly everything he would tell me. We would carry full

conversations in the language. Of course it was still a little

challenging but we would both understand each other. During

my last few days Mike would tell me, Salvador hast Urlaub nur

fuer drei woche und er muss komm wieder an. I would laugh and he would remind me every time

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during lunch. He would ask me, Wie lange ist dein Urlaub? and I would say, Nur drei woche

und ich muss komm wieder an. Throughout my time at the Waldmuhle Mike, Garrett, Herr.

Kuhnhold and I did gardening, moved appliances, cleaned up the attics, threw away all the

unnecessary things, and remodeled some apartments. I have two special projects I would like to

share, both of them happening towards my last days an der Waldmuhle. One of them was when

we moved the medical beds and lights from the therapy rooms in the first house to the Spielraum

in the 2nd house. It was a particular experience because the beds were pretty heavy and we had

to move them from one house to the other, and also because we couldn’t fit the lights in the

stands. We worked really hard lifting the lights, trying to fit it in every way possible; and even

though we tried, and tried, and tried, we just couldn’t set the light in. Finally after a while we

were able to set one in, however there was two of them. We tried the 2nd one, however since we

were pretty tired from the 1st one we left the 2nd one for another day. My arms were sore from

lifting up the light. The 2nd time around, Herr Kuhnhold had the idea of wrapping a wood plank

to the pole in order to keep it straight, and so we did, and it went right in. Way easier than all the

time and effort we put into the 1st one. The second experience I want to share is the last time I

worked with Mike which was Friday the 28th of August. We were throwing down an apartment

in the first house because it needed to be rebuilt. So we were moving all the good furniture into

the attic. I remember we moved the couches, the artwork, the beds and then we tried a closet.

That closet was for sure almost 300 pounds without exaggerating. I still don’t know how we

manage to carry that thing up the stairs. It was crazy heavy! But we did, and we survived, and as

of today I believe that closet sits in the attic of the 1st house an der Waldmuhle. Unfortunately,

there was two closets in the apartment and we were not about to carry the other one up the stairs.

So we decided to break it down and rebuild it. However in the process of taking it apart we

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accidentally broke it. Mike and I just end it up putting it in the waste. After we were done doing

that we went into the 2nd house and changed toilet seats. I really think that besides my

Kinderland co-workers and my kids, Mike was one of the persons who I really grew closed to

and the closest person I had to a friend. We were working partners, lunch partners, and more than

anything friends.

Garrett und Hannover

The day Garrett flew back to California. I volunteered to join Herr Kuhnhold in bringing

him to the train station at Bad Harzburg. Garrett was supposed to fly on Friday but he happened

to get his dates switched up and end it up leaving on Saturday. Anyhow, on Saturday morning,

he came by to say bye but then I didn’t want to stay home so I asked Herr Kuhnhold if I could

come with. He was very happy to let me join them and I couldn’t have been happier. So I went.

We waited for the trains in Bad Harzburg for around 30 min. We said our last goodbyes, and

wished each other luck on

this upcoming year. Being

honest, I didn’t grew close to

Garrett. He was friendly but

also very independent.

Throughout the whole

summer, the day we hanged

out the most was when we went to Hannover together. Garrett wanted to buy a video game and

couldn’t find it anywhere. I knew I wanted to go somewhere during the weekend so I decided to

join him. We got up early, bought our tickets at the bus, and set in for Hannover. He fell asleep

on the way there. I tried to remain awake everywhere I went. Not only because I was scared I

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would miss my stop but because I wanted to see Germany. Everything was new to me. I was like

a little kid looking through the window. The train passed by nice-old barns surrounded by rigid

lines of agricultural fields. I would think about the people living in those farms and wonder about

their lives, wishing I could also have one. I remember I never liked farms, or working in the

fields; but now, after everything I’ve lived, I do wish I could live in a farm. Wake up early in the

morning, milk the cows, feed the pigs and chickens, shave the sheep, work on the land and have

my family by my side. Anyway, I also like cities. Hannover’s Hauptbahnhof is right in the heart

of the city. We left Saturday morning, and in contrast to Garrett, I wanted to stay there for the

weekend. Right outside the bahnhof there is a monument to Treues Volk with the phrase, Dem

Landes Vater sein Treues Volk. I asked Garrett to take me a picture next to him. I think out of all

Germany, Hannover was the city I spended the most time on. Especially since after every trip I

had to wait there for my next train. Actually, I did spend most of my time in Braunlage though.

And so we went to look for Garrett’s video game. I had service on my phone since I had bought

a sim card from Lycamobile, pretty cheap compared to the rates we have in the U.S. We looked

up possible locations on Google Maps. For some reason, I don’t know if it was because they

could hear us, or because we might have looked foreign, but the workers would all approach us

in English. For me it’s easier to tell that I’m not German since I have very strong Mexican

features but even Garrett was always approached in English. We walked from store to store, and

never did we find the game he was looking for. The streets in Germany are really nice, they are

beautifully decorated with stones and every step you make feels like you are walking through

history. Finally we gave up looking for the game. Garrett was mad because he felt he had gone to

Hannover for nothing. I was just tired from walking around too much but I was happy to have

experienced the city. I had rented a hotel just 30 min. away from the hauptbahnhof. Garrett was

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ready to leave so I accompanied him to the station. That morning, just as we had arrived, we ate

McDonalds together in the restaurant on the top level of the bahnhof. It was pretty chill because

it had a really nice view to the city. Garrett didn’t like it; I think he got food poisoning from

them, or at least that’s what he told me. I was really hungry so it suited me well. Anyway, I said

good-bye and went to look for my hotel. I couldn’t wait to be in my room for I was really tired

and wanted to take a nap before getting some dinner. And so my day with Garrett came to an

end, and that was the day I spend the most time with him. Just for the record, Garrett never found

his video game; instead he order it from Amazon. And if you are curious, after Garrett left I took

a nap and then I walked around the city. I went to visit the city hall, it was amazing all the

medieval architecture that plays a role into it. I walked back, got some Kebab for dinner,

watched some street music performers, appreciated the nightlife, walked back to the hotel,

watched some Aljazeera and then went to sleep.

Frau Schulze

Frau Schulze would always take us places on the weekend. She took us to Hildesheim,

Bad Harzburg, and Wernigerode and we visited its main tourist attractions. She took me to see

the Schloss Wernigerode, from there I could see the whole city at every angle, I could even see

nearby communities. It’s impressive all the wildlife and natural environment preserved in the

country especially when you compare it to the concrete jungle of the U.S. where there is not

much of a natural setting within the city. Unfortunately we didn’t go inside the castle, but I was

satisfied enough by admiring it from the outside. We then went to get some ice cream. Frau

Schulze loves ice cream even though she only gets one scoop, and I also liked it but she would

always buy me 2 scoops which was good with me. Stracciatella was my favorite, I would get it

everywhere I went. On another occasion we went back to Wernigerode because Frau Schulze

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and Jannes wanted to watch an international choir performance. Most of the performers came

from Asia, but if I remember right there was also performers from India, the U.K., Sweden,

France and of course Germany. I think India won first place, followed by Germany, and then

China. It finished at around 3 P.M., however the

organizers invited everyone to an after party/concert at 7

P.M. We wanted to stay until the concert, however we

were also very hungry. So, we decided to go to Bad

Harzburg to get some dinner. We didn’t know what to

eat, so I recommended that we get some Chinese food.

Frau Schulze agreed and so we found a nicely outdoor

chinese restaurant at the end of the main avenue of Bad

Harzburg. I got some chow-mein and rice and Frau

Schulze only got rice and soup. She couldn’t believe

Chinese food was so cheap. We finished eating, went to pick up Jannes from Braunlage, and

drove back to Wernigerode for the concert. It was a real fun experience. It was full of smiles,

fun, dance, and laughter. Germans love American music. Although the concert was led by a

German singer, the music afterwards was all in English. Also, all the kids love dancing to the

Gangnam style. It was a time of intercultural inclusion where everybody, regardless of race and

language, held hands and danced to the beat of the music. On another occasion, and before Frau

Schulze departed to Canada, we also visited the wildlife museum in Bad Harzburg. It was really

cool, we also walked to the rose gardens and took pictures by the fountains. I like Frau Schulze

and appreciate her so much for the beautiful impact she has made in my life. She only feeds off

of the positive energies that surround her and brings those same energies to the people around

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her. I truly think that my time in Germany wouldn’t have been as fun if it wasn’t for all the

happiness she brought into my life. I felt and continue to feel much supported by Frau Schulze

and all the staff from the Waldmuhle. I really look forward to the day in which I can go back and

spend some time with all of them… and eat some Currywurst mit Pommes.

Horizons

I never imagined myself being in another country outside of Mexico. I grew up with my

mom and grandparents, money came in from my dad who was working in the U.S.. I went to

school and all I saw was people who looked like me and spoke my language. Then my dad

brought us with him to the U.S. and I had to leave many of my family and all of my friends

behind. Now that I’m pushing myself through college, I like to think about my roots and the

place I started. How was it that a young boy from the little community of Puruandiro in the state

of Michoacan MX. managed to make it so far? Now, at 20 years of age, I can’t believe I had the

opportunity to travel to Europe and do an internship in Germany. While there, I would also

reflect about how far I’ve gone. I would see the people around me, I would walk past them, they

would walk past me without having an idea that I’m from Puruandiro, and that my dad works in

the fields, that my mom is a certified nurse, that I’m the eldest son in the family, and that I’m on

my 3rd year of college. However, it’s those little secrets that gives us a place in the world we live

in. So every time I walked through the streets of Germany, I was really happy to acknowledge

my roots, my origin, and my culture.

Madrid

After Frau Schulze left for Canada, I had the opportunity to travel to Madrid, España. I

spend 5 days in Madrid, I think I walked through the whole city. My hostel was in the heart of

Madrid, 100 ft. away from Puerta del Sol and 150 ft. from Palacio Real. I loved Madrid, I could

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understand everything. The city is so majestic and it has very rich history and culture. It

reminded me so much of Mexico, the people, the traditions, the architecture, their culture…

everything. Madrid was just so beautiful! I would wake up and tour the city. I got to see the

soccer stadium Santiago Bernabeu and Vicente Calderon, as well as La Puerta de Alcala, el

Templo de Debod, el Parque del Retiro, la Plaza de Cibeles, la Plaza Mayor, el Rastro, Plaza de

España, los Jardines de Sebastini, el

Teatro Real, la Latina, la Catedral….

etc. It was all very beautiful! Every

night I would go back to Puerta del Sol

and see the Mariachis sing. It made me

feel at home. Thousands of tourists

from all over the world walked through those streets, so many shared history, and so much

culture. On my way back from Madrid, I had a 2 hour layover in Barcelona. Even though I didn’t

go out into the city, I could see a lot from the airport. Beautiful. After my vacations in Madrid, I

didn’t do much since I didn’t have a lot of money left over. So I would just hike im National

Park Harz. To this day I still can’t believe how lucky I am to to have experienced Madrid and

Germany in one summer. I can’ wait to the day I’ll be back with my family and show them

everything! Frau Schulze would tell me, Oh Salvador, don’t worry I’ll show you everything, with

a huge smile on her face.

Berlin

Berlin is a different story. I enjoyed Berlin so much as well, however it is a huge city! I

rented a bike and with it I visited the Berlin Mauer, the Brandenburger Tor, den Plenarbereich

Reichstagsgebäude, Berliner Dom, die Siegessäule, den Tiergarten, among other cool places. I

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actually got to go on top of the Siegessäule; it’s so tiring

getting to the top though, it has like a thousand stairs with

breaks in between. Still tiring though. From there, I could see

ALL Berlin, at every angle and every building. It was

beautiful. I spent most of my time at the Brandenburger Tor

because they always had street performers playing and singing

beautiful instrumental music. Sometimes I would go to the

park and eat some ice cream from an Italian seller who

happened to be German and could speak English and Spanish.

He was really cool.

The Taxi

I also made friends with a bald taxi driver from Bad Harzburg. He was really cool, I kept

seeing him every now and then when I would go places. He told me that he had visited the U.S.

when he was young, that he had been here in California because I think he had a band and was

giving out concerts. He actually made me a discount on our first trip because I only had 50 Euros

and there were no more buses running from Bad Harzburg to Braunlage at 10 PM. so I got very

lucky. Still, transportation is very expensive all over Europe, that’s why I didn’t go to more

places on the weekend. I also wanted to go to Italy, but I figured that would already be too much

fun, and I also didn’t have enough money. Regardless of anything, I enjoyed my time in all the

places I went and I wouldn’t give up my experience for nothing.

Abschließende Gedanken

Elaborating a little more on my internship, I can’t express enough how grateful I am to

have been around all those little angels. The experiences I lived with all of them will always be

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present in my heart and mind. Every time I think of them, my soul smiles, and my day brightens.

All I have from them is good unforgettable memories that will always live within me. I miss

them but I know that they must be happy right now playing with their siblings, or going to

school, and probably they are also playing soccer. There was not a day in which they weren’t

excited to see me. Every day as I step into the door of that room they would run towards me and

hug me. They would come up and tell me, können wir gehen, Fußball spielen, können wir gehen

zum Ballenbad, können wir kicker spielen...they included me in everything they did. Even after

work they still wanted to play basketball and soccer with me. I wouldn’t mind being with them

after work. I was always happy to spend time with them. During those rainy days in the

Waldmuhle, when we couldn’t go outside, I taught them how to play Manotazo, is a Mexican

game using Uno cards. They loved it, they played it every day. They didn’t call it Manotazo

though but Salvador’s game. I’m pretty sure they have already passed the game down to their

friends at their school since they were really into it. All of them were really patient with me, even

when I couldn’t understand everything; instead, they would complement me by asking me, Wie

lange bist du schon in Deutschland?, and I would say, Nur 3 woche, and they would be surprised

and say, dein Deutsch ist wirklich gut, and I would be really happy. Never did I feel disappointed

about being in Germany, or choosing that internship. I always felt happy to be there.

Nostalgie

Now that I’m in the U.S. stressing about

my classes, trying to finish my homework, not

having enough time to study or hang out with

my friends, I really wish I could be in that

green field playing soccer with my colleguitas.

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I miss them immensely. I only spent 4 days with my last group, and I left the Waldmuhle on

Monday August 31st. right after lunch.  I don’t think the kids realized that I was coming back to

the U.S, maybe they thought I was just going home early. Frau Schulze drove me to the bahnhof

in Bad Harzburg. Everything after that is history…

Vielen Dank

I really want to say THANK-YOU! To Dr. Gunter Seefeldt for giving me this incredible

opportunity in my life. I’m so blessed to have had the summer of my life!

THANK-YOU!