#stuttgartspotter

I have a few options each night I get home from my new job. I could run the trails behind my house, study German, or figure out my social life. Paris will be horrified - but more often than not, I'm running. And yes -- alone. After over seven years surrounded by concrete, flat streets, high buildings and millions of people, the calm, quiet, damp woods and rolling hills with not a single person in sight have been like a closeted crunchy granola lover's therapy.

But my computer mocks me. Three weeks living in Germany and not a single post. What the heck have I been doing!

Alas, on my flight back to the states for a wedding of a most beloved couple, I'm finding time to talk about what I've been doing the last couple of weeks.

I'll start with where I'm living. It's called the Seehaus, also known as Prison Fellowship Germany. I live in a flat with five German women a between the ages of 19 and 21. They are volunteers, working at the Seehaus for their social year before going back to university to study social work, education and even physical therapy. The compound, a beautiful old German architected set of buildings, is a free form prison for juveniles who apply to go through the Seehaus program versus attending traditional prison. Currently there are eight boys, between the ages of 16 and 20, living in a separate building and constantly with staff, and facing a grueling schedule of school, work, sport, counseling, meals and other activities. The compound can accommodate up to 30 guys at a time. For now there are eight. 

Yes, technically I'm living in a German juvenile prison.

But I have spent some time with these boys, including going through circuit training on Monday nights with them. A very German trainer, Andreas, comes to run them through two hours or exercises. People in New York would pay thousands of dollars to do small group training like this. It is intense, but one of the women volunteers, Katja, and I commit and go each week.  Anyway, even through my limited German, I've gotten to know them. They are sweet at heart, just made some bad choices. The Seehaus, if they commit to the 5am-11pm intensive programming, and fight their exhaustion, gives them a chance to develop skills, continue their education and live with real families who have children and take care of them like they are one of their own. For many, it's the first time they have had a traditional "family".

I'm not sure how best to articulate what it's like living in an alternative prison. Although some things, like locks on doors and precautions regarding behavior, modesty etc, are all certainly at play, it's been a huge blessing for my entry into a new life. Living there, having community with these people, sharing in church services with the guys and people from the surrounding town on Sundays, having to speak broken German to communicate... it's contributed to my feeling very much away from New York and very much present in this new life.

I've grown in affection and care for these boys, and God-willing will see them through the summer continue to grow in life skills and in the dreams they have for themselves. A lot of them came from really tough situations, no family or fathers. Friend groups who engage in troubling behavior. Tough parts of the country with little economic options.

But my perspective on what poverty and real "challenges" are has changed since my time in Zambia and Colombia. These guys have a leg up, just being born in a country like Germany. Not to oversimplify a complex situation, but at the core of things I've seen that reform and restoration of a person comes through care and attention and the chance to do life differently. Not all of these guys will break the circle of crime, but a lot of them will.

On a more personal note, I’m freaked out by the fact that there's livestock on the grounds. Including a donkey, some sheep, maybe 13 chickens, a goat, and horses on the surrounding properties that you can often see on the forest trails. Oh, and a very friendly tabby cat. Unfortunately for tabby, I am still allergic in Germany.

One massive negative is a frog situation in the pond across the way from my building. These things are l.o.u.d. They croak all night long, at decibels you wouldn't believe. The nights have been warm, and Germans don't believe in central air, so your window must be open. However, with that comes the constant chirping and croaking of the frog king and his minons, literally all night long. I can’t figure out what is happening but I promise... I will.