“Why are all these people lying in the sun unnecessarily?”

I asked myself in 1997.

Note the word “unnecessary” here – I was too quick to judge.

“What’s in it for them?” – I continued to ask myself and others around me.

Hand on heart, have you asked yourself questions like these in a new culture, with visibly “crazy” activities that at first simply leave you speechless?

Admittedly, where I grew up, in Homa-Bay Kenya, people:

☀️avoided the sun at midday (lunchtime is stretchy here).

☀️Work in the field was best done earlier in the morning or later in the evening when the sun was not so strong

☀️Grains, fish or meat dried in the sun

☀️Babies were more likely to be given vitamin D in the morning when the sun wasn’t that strong

☀️warmed your bath water in a basin in the sun – beware anyone took or spilled your water

☀️The water in Lake Victoria is only used for fishing and fetching water, and I discovered and admired crocodiles and hippos from a distance, just to have a say – simply lying by the lake would be suicide

☀️To be honest, I don’t think anyone had the idea of just lying by the water

The many people (mostly men) you see under trees when you drive from Nairobi to Homa Bay, for example, is a different story. 🙂

Everyone else went about their work – but no one was just lying in the sun with minimal clothing.

I arrived in #Konstanz in April. So summer came too early to really understand this phenomenon in Germany.

When winter came, I understood some things better.

Not only does time help us understand each other better, but also friends with whom you can talk about anything without fear of being “judged”.

One of these close friends is the amazing Maxi Fetsch. Maxi was at my first reading with our #Mayor Ute Seifried.

A month later I celebrated my birthday and received a reading stage in the GEMS as a gift from her – wow, I am touched and moved.

On October 4th the time has come.

Maxi will also moderate the entertaining evening at GEMS, Singen.

We will consciously respond to the audience and allow dialogue.

Thank you very much, dear Maxi, for building bridges👌🏾🤗💖

Where would we be if we weren’t allowed to ask questions, no matter how banal they might sound at first?

Now to you: what question have you already asked yourself, no matter how banal it sounds at first?