After some misunderstandings between the Romanian Prime Minister and the Minister of Education, the Mayor of Cluj decided to give private kindergartens the green light to open again after the lockdown. And that’s how in the middle of June I started going to kindergarten again, but not without having to adapt to many new procedures of safety. They range from a temperature check at the entrance for both me and my chaperone, who also has to wear a mask, to a change of street clothes to kindergarten clothes. Also, I have to be there until 8:45, which means the alarms are setting off much earlier than usual at our place. But I say if rules are not made to be broken, they’re at least made to become more and more flexible with time, that’s why you might see us breaking through the front door of kindergarten after 9 o’clock every now and then.
After barely getting used to being back around people my size, or almost my size, came mamãe talking about vacation. Next thing I know, we’re on a plane to Berlin. Don’t take me wrong, though. I really enjoyed seeing my big cousin Ole again. Last time had been long ago, during our trip through Brazil (unfortunately not in English yet). And Ole is a huge boy now, all grown and independent with his high bed and his new smile missing 2 teeth. You can see school is right around the corner for him.
Opa had great plans for my arrival, which included transmitting all his long acquired knowledge in fishing. He didn’t expect I’d get bored of it so soon, but he did manage to catch some small fish which were then transformed into dinner. I went with my grill cheese, though.
And besides fishing, Opa and Oma wanted to take me and Ole for a trip to Zempin (Usedom), in the Baltic Sea. Little did we all know I would suffer severe injury one day before our trip, limiting thus significantly my romping around with Ole. I can barely explain how it happened. I was playing with Marlene and an air balloon and … crack!… small fracture of the forearm. And that’s how mamãe and I found ourselves on our way to the ER on a Sunday, the day before our trip to the sea. I got my left arm wrapped around some really cool red bandage and nicknamed myself Bloody Monster. No, there was not one single drop of blood in the whole process. Still…
I got used to my clumsy red arm real quick and it didn’t really limit the fun I had with Ole. The highlight of the trip for me was the Usedomer Bäderbahn. Ole and I were so crazy about it that we even managed to convince Oma to buy each one of us a toy replica of the Bahn. And it was good that we found ways to enjoy ourselves, ’cause you can see there was not much summer to the weather in Zempin.
We also found some cool theater presentations near the sea. All done with the due social distancing, of course. I then realized how much I missed the extensive cultural programme my parents had gotten me used to. So much that as soon as we got back to Blankenfelde, Ole and I improvised our own puppet theatre stand in Oma’s garden.
Another interesting part of the trip with Opa and Oma was the Berolina Circus, old official state circus in this country that no longer exists where mamãe was born. After feeding the elephants, seeing a camel and an artist dog, and laughing with the clowns, Ole and I also thought of establishing a small DIY circus in the garden in Blankenfelde. We soon realized how much work that would give us, plus with the ethical handling of the animals. We just gave up.
And if you’re asking yourself what kind of person goes to the Baltic Sea and doesn’t actually go to the sea, fair enough. We did have a blast in the cold water of the North, though. At least with the tip of our toes. It was just really cold. We also payed a visit to the fisherman and his wife.
The fisherman’s wife 
I always say there’s nothing better than holidays with culture, the sea and a train. But I stand corrected; there is: holidays with culture, the sea and many trains. Good thing that Oma and Opa know that as well as their grandchildren and planned a stop by the Gramzow train museum on our way back home. Besides seeing and even entering a bunch of cool old trains, I also learned what a draisine is. And that’s called living and learning at 4 and a half, my friends.
And speaking about learning, so much free time with mamãe during the lockdown served to develop my interest for letters, numbers, words and equations. Now I know by heart that 2 + 2 = 4, or that I can watch 10 + 10 + 10 + 5 minutes of video every night, or even that I’m left with 8 candies if I give papa and mamãe 1 each out of 10. And I can also put together some letters, then syllables which together form words which are a bit more complex than Otto. I hope this will serve me one day, though.
Roger, out.
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