Today involved a trip to Saint Mary of the Vineyards. This trip gave me an appreciation for tradition of the church, especially the Catholic church. Carved stations of the cross along the way up the hill solemnly reminded the view to reflect on the story, pain, and suffering of our Lord on the way up to Calvary. The art was distinctly Riemenschneider, carved with grace and harmony. A inlaid wood cutout of Mary, Baby Jesus, small figures and angels stood above the altar. One thing in particular that I noted, possibly a medieval influence were the slightly distorted dimensions of the figures in comparison to the centerpiece of Mary and Jesus.
Wo ist die library I asked, trying to act out the motion of reading a book. If only I had remembered where exactly the library was. In time, I came across some strange German responses in return. I received everything from shrugs to mentions of “bahn” and “lynx” which did not do much for me. Finally I stumbled on some school children who remained overly humble about their understanding of English. They seemed slightly unsure of their pronunciation of words as though I was one of the few Americans they had ever tried speaking to. Sure enough, despite my awful memory, they correctly directed me to the library.
This experience, just like other similar ones on this trip, have given me a great appreciation for language, in particular the English sort. In a country where everyone (for the most part) speaks the same language, I became ignorant to how easy grammatical comprehension makes life. Here, often finding myself unable to communicate, read menus, and follow the directions of random signs, I feel illiterate.
