thoughts

My previous post, "travel woes, but blessed" paints an exhausting picture of travel. Here, I want to share with you my travel from Paris to Munich.

I sat down next to this older lady. She was sweet, composed, maybe a bit wealthy or at least she knows how to look nice. We got to talking and she was visiting her son and daughter-in-law in Paris. This lady, Barbara, lived in Paris for 25 years of her life. She knows English, French, German, Italian, and is currently learning Russian. The peope here really know and care about knowing the surrounding culture's languages.
(Side note: We Americans live in such a big place, where English is so dominant. I am not blaming the us for not knowing other languages, but I think it might be a good idea in order to connect with other cultures. It would help us with foreign relations, that's for sure. Knowing someone's language is so deep and intimate. It means a lot, I think.)
Anyway, she was telling me how she has Parkinsons...she was actually telling me a lot of things. She likes to talk, about her life, her family. And, I can listen.

The train was late, so we were both to miss our connection to Munich. Usually, this would bother me, but it didn't. Mainly because I am now getting used to how all these trains work. The thing that did bother me, however, was knowing that I would have to purchase another seat reservation for the next train to Munich--when really, I already did, I just missed that train because the train I was on was late! Seat reservations can vary from 5 euro to 18 euro.

So, back to Barb--remeber how she has Parkinsons? That means she has this "handicap" card where she can have special arrangements made for her in some public places. A train being one of them. She told me that she has never used her handicap card yet--but was willing to use it in order to ensure herself a seat on the next train to Munich. She informed me that the card covers herself and a "friend" or "helper." She told me I can be her "friend." So, this whole card story was for the purpose of telling you that I did not need to worry about finding an open seat on the next train, or even purchasing another seat reservation. It was all taken care of with that pass.

I think God wanted to spare me some anxiety and make me feel taken care of. I did.

Barbara and I will most-likely grab lunch toghether one of these day in Munich (as she lives there).

The thing with travel, and specifically solo-travel is random things like this happen. I get a free seat, I make a friend I never would have had, etc. It's all very interesting. I am taking it all in and figuring out how to live a life like this for the time-being.