Celle, Bergen-Belsen, Baking

Tuesday we had a day trip to Celle and Bergen-Belsen. The portion of the trip to Celle was very short, unfortunately; the weather was horrible so that didn’t help. We walked around the city and saw some historical buildings. This city was able to hold onto its historical architecture because it was untouched by bombs. The schloss was being renovated while we were there, but the main structure was still visible. There was a building down the road from the schloss. It looked as though it fit in with all the rest of the buildings, but this one was only built 100 years ago. They wanted to keep the look of the town. The church was amazing. It was so beautifully decorated and alive. Above the entrance was a pipe organ; this organ had over 3000 pipes in it.
After this excursion, we headed to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. I was prepared for the worst, but was surprised. This site was a famous one, but thankfully, there wasn’t much left of it. We walked over to where the barracks had been but now it is just a grassy area with some stone and wood. Across from it was the water basin. Then we walked over to the tent side of the concentration camp. This is where a huge Jewish memorial site lies. There is a monument to celebrate those that died along with Anne Frank’s tombstone. There were these mounds off to the side that had a count of deaths for each. They ranged from maybe 800 to 2500. To not be able to see these places, it was easier to cope with being there. Of course it gives anyone goose-bumps and sad thoughts, but you can focus on what’s in front of you if it isn’t actually in front of you.

Today was our baking day with Balu und Du. The point of today was to interact with this Balus and Mowglis and bring a bit of ourselves to them. We made fruit smoothies, rice crispie treats, chocolate chip cookies, dirt cups, and smores. I was doing dirt cups with two boys, Ravi and Jean Luc. They had the best time smashing the cookies and playing with the gummy worms. We didn’t take much time at all so once we finished, the boys wanted to go play table tennis. We played for a short amount of time until the boys wanted to play soccer. There was an entire game going on outside with Balus, Mowglis, and us. It was nice to interact with them in a fun environment and I was able to speak with the Balus and one of the Mowglis.