A weekend to remember

I know that I first said that I will not share anything too personal but I have to tell you about my absolutely amazing weekend during which I realized some things.

The planning for this weekend actually started a couple of weeks ago. A very close friend of mine had her birthday coming up and she decided that she wanted to go out and celebrate it in a prober way with some of her close friends, which included me. She decided to go to a festival in one of the larger towns near our hometown. 

Let me explain the concept of the festival for you real quick. We bought a ticket for 15 € and that ticket was valid for the entire evening. The whole festival included several concerts around the city with several very good musicians and bands. After they were finished playing the tickets were also valid for 20 night clubs around town. Hence you could have seen several concerts and also go to several night clubs for only 15 €. Before I get into more details about what we choose to do, I am going to tell you more about what we did before our eventful evening.

A friend who also was going out with us actually lives in the town, where the festival took place and she offered that we could stay at her apartment for the night, spent time and get ready there before the whole shindig starts. We then decided that we should all cook dinner together and have a nice supper before the whole partying.

Anyway we packed a car full of clothes, shoes, food and us and drove to the big city to have an adventurous weekend ahead of us. We arrived at around 2:30 in the afternoon. The first thing after unloading the car was eating cake. Yes, people, you read right. Five young women ate a whole cake. We all love to eat, especially cake. We talked and talked and talked for hours. We five have not been together in one room in like forever. FYI we grew up together. We never were in the same classes or even at the same school but we are from the same town and we always knew each other and hung out and became close friends. So hanging out like this, all in one bed and talking the whole afternoon felt pretty great and I realized that I absolutely missed that and them. Because of all the talking and laughing all the time we almost forgot the time and the dinner. So after five girls squeezed in one tiny kitchen, an amazing dinner with wine and champagne and lots of more laughter and memories and smiles and of course getting our party clothes and party make-up on, we were ready to rock the city.

We decided to go to one concert from a famous national musician who performed live with a big band. The concert was so much fun and very good. We sang along and danced and just had fun. After that we decided to go to a very popular and exclusive night club and to our surprise we still got in. We thought it would be crowded by the time we got there and that we would not get in anymore. There we really started to let loose and just had fun. We danced until we wear wet and laughed and again just had fun. Our next stop for the night was another exclusive night club, which is located in a skyscraper on the 25^th floor. And again we got in and danced the night away. Additionally we really enjoyed the view over the whole city. Nevertheless at around 3:30ish in the morning we got tired, our feet and body hurt from dancing so much and we called it a night then.

Back at the apartment we all got our pajamas on and talked and talked until we finally fell asleep. In the morning we had a birthday breakfast for the birthday girl with presents and tons of food.

After an eventful and amazing weekend we packed the car again and headed back to our hometown.

I know I gave you a more detailed story about my weekend than some of you might have expected and maybe I lost myself during writing it and I wrote to many details for one situation and too little for another one. But honestly I do not care about that. And I hope that you still continued to read up until this point because I now get to the meaning of the whole blog post.

I wanted to tell you about this weekend because I realized and learned so many things throughout the time I got to spent with amazing people. First of all I know those 5 girls for a very long time and we always have been very close. After we graduated from high school we kind of drifted apart. Some moved out of town and others stayed and we all did not have that much time anymore. We started new chapters of our lives. However every time we do see each other and spent time together, we immediately are able to continue right where we left off. And even if we drifted apart for a while we found our way back. Yes, we still do not see each other very often but every one of us knows that we always can count on each other. And for me that matters a lot. Every time we do spent time together, like this weekend, I get reconfirmed that we share an amazing friendship. We laughed the whole weekend and had so much fun. And I realized that I really missed that. I missed hanging out with these beautiful, courageous, smart and talented young women who luckily I can call my friends. 

This was exactly a weekend I need for so long. I was in a darker place than usual during the last couple of months and I had no idea how to get out of there. Without even the knowledge of my state of mind, they pulled me out of my miserable state of mind and filled it with laughter and happiness. And I have no idea how to thank them for that. But you know I believe that that is also what friendship is for. Sometimes friends do not know the state of mind of you and they are still able to make everything better and happier.

Furthermore I have learned that even when you do not see certain friends a lot anymore the connection you shared is able to stay strong. Additionally a weekend with people close to oneself, are pretty good for one’s soul and mind once in a while. 

Anyway what I want to say is that I had one amazing weekend full with happiness, laughter, food, party, music, talks, friends and fun. A weekend I needed. A weekend I learned and realized a lot. And last but not least a weekend full of wonderful memories. 

International Women's Day - The fight against a terrifying procedure

Considering that yesterday was the International Women’s Day I decided to write about a book which kept me thinking a lot after I read it. The book is called “Desert Flower” written by Waris Dirie.

It is about Waris Dirie herself, how she grew up as a nomad in the Somali desert and her way on top of the catwalks of famous designers all over the world. During the course of the book she describes how she was able to flee from her family because her father wanted to get her married to a very old man, how she got to Mogadishu and then to London, her beginnings as a model and her way into a better life.

Waris Dirie is a victim of a very horrible ritual. When she was 5 years old she had to undergo female genital mutilation.

For those who don’t know what female genital mutilation, in short FGM, is I will describe it. It is a procedure in which genital parts of the woman’s vagina are being removed without any anaesthetization and under horrible hygienic conditions. FGM has immediate consequences which include severe pain, excessive bleeding and sometimes infections and also long term consequences which include the painful healing process, infections, higher risks for complications during a pregnancy and even simple things like using the bathroom or having monthly menstruation which can be very painful.

FGM has its origins in Africa but it is spread all over the world. The people who still practice it today and also their ancestors saw it either cultural, religious or social reasons in it. But they did and do not see that it is actually cruel to every girl who has to go through it.

While reading the book of Waris Dirie I was grossed out, I felt sad and also angry. Additionally I felt so bad for her and all the other girls who had to go through that horrific procedure and of course for all the girls who will have to go through that in the future.

After reading her book I kind of see her as a hero now. She made a very hard and, at the same time, brave decision to leave her family behind, to try to get a better life which she definitely has now. She is a hero for me because with her confession of being a victim of FGM, she called attention to the practice of FGM.

FGM is a horrible practice which has to be stopped. It is cruel to every girl who has to undergo this procedure and it has neither a religious, cultural nor traditional reason.

I wanted to take this post to make you aware of a remarkable woman who is fighting against a cruel procedure. She founded the Desert Flower Foundation to fight against FGM. Go and visit her website (http://www.desertflowerfoundation.org/de/) and help to stop it.

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry

Okay, I am officially the worst blogger on this planet. No, probably in this universe.

 I know that I promised to write and blog a lot since my introduction last October (why is the time so fast??), but honestly I did not had the time to even think about anything to post on this blog. 

As I already mentioned in my introduction, I am a full time college student and additionally I have a part-time job. Hence there is not much time for anything else. This should not be an apology. But the last few months were very stressful filled with tons of work and studying and working. My only time away from all that was the time I was asleep at night and even then I thought about my school work. 

Anyway, I really want to start posting regularly now. Later today there will be another post.