We all know many people and we have many friends ... but a friend strange how my belief no one has ever encountered. I'm talking about
Uta, a German girl in the former East Germany, but German
To see her you could not miss it on origin. Tall, lean, with long face, the hard-featured, blond hair, long hair and the hair on the legs. Oh yes, for how often we say, she does not get used to waxing. Even
to hear her speak about the origin could not be wrong. Within weeks he had learned Italian German accent but had not ever lost.
I knew him because he had joined the group of friends with whom Laura PhD often we were and we were hiking. A classic
Our goal was to go to Costabona.
Costabona is a tiny village lost three of the peaks' Appennino Reggiano. It 's a village composed of eight houses on top of a small mountain. Of these eight houses is owned by a father of Massimo Laura. It 's a beautiful house of 800 with massive walls and huge rooms. Each room has a fireplace or a wood-burning stove. A Costabona generally reigns the silence and calm. Silence and calm that was not right when our friendly group of a dozen friends decided to spend a weekend together in quell'ottocentesca home.
It so happened that a few months after that Uta had arrived in Italy and was placed in our group decided to spend a weekend at the end of our summer Costabona.
The appointment was as usual on Saturday morning at around 10 to stand dell'ipercoop north of Modena. They would come from Parma, Reggio and those who from Bologna. From there, with as few machines as possible, we would be left for Costabona.
The Friday night before the trip Laura and I were intent on preparing my suitcase for the weekend (composed mainly of foodstuffs and drinks) when we received a phone call. The line was rather disturbed and we knew immediately that we were calling from a recent public phones now exist. It was Uta (which has never had a cell phone) told us in his Italian German not wait for the next day because we would reach directly to Costabona in the afternoon. The surprise was great at the moment as Uta had not had a driver's license let alone a car. He told us that she was already starting to walk alone to Parma because he had found a nice route through the mountains. And hung up. We were incredulous. Alone at night in the mountains.
When the day after we met with others and told him what had happened began to laugh without stop. How could that be ... we just had to have made fun of.
Costabona fact is that we arrived at the lunch hour and all together we started to cook. We ate, drank and also began to play Frisbee. They reached the 16 and there has been no Uta. Obviously he had no phone and could not call to hear where it was. 17 Hours: nothing yet. We began to worry. You will something happen? At about 17:30 I saw far what looked like a human figure moving towards the village. We went in that direction and actually turned out to be the shape Uta. As soon as we saw so worried for her, with an expression like the one that had not done anything special, we said shrugging doing "what you want it: a simple walk in the mountains!
He had walked for 15 hours and slept alone in the woods in his bag (no tent) in the open. And she was perfectly normal!
He was not afraid of no Uta.
Or at least, almost nothing. In fact, she was terrified of one thing: people. Too many people in one place, put them forward.
But of course we did not know and accidentally discovers one night. We were in the square
to a concert in Modena, Francesco De Gregori.
We were all there to sing and dance and to imagine "your lips sent to some kind of new address" when suddenly we noticed that Uta was not there with us began to look for it and after twenty minutes I saw her clinging to a column under a porch as if he wanted to be seen. We went to her and ask him. All those people had impanicata and now he could not move. There and then I had to laugh because there was a huge crowd and tried to move it . ... But nothing we tried it all to tell you something and convince her to come away from there, with both the good and the bad. Also because beginning to be late and all we wanted to go home. At the height of exasperation I said that even as she arrived to walk Costabona could have even come back alone to Parma. But she
nothing. Property.
Only when the square was completely empty (around 2 am) broke away from the column and came away with us.
A week later the Laura and I in our home because at that time did not know where to stay. Her memory of that week with his feet blacks on our couch, she did nothing but keep my computer attached to the Internet (and I'm jealous of my computer) and above, who said that she sucked the horse steaks I cooked as I had (or little better as I had cooked myself). Just
she criticized my super steaks taken from my butcher ... just her foot down when it dished up its German specialties of East Germany by force and you had to eat them.
Once, I remember, we were skiing in Pera di Fassa, a friend's house. And for the evening was planned that I would have prepared one of my specialties: penne amatriciana. We had already bought all the ingredients. But back to the beautiful but tiring day of skiing during which we had just eaten a sandwich, Uta informed us that dinner plans had changed and that she would have thought, so we we could rest. My complaints
were of no avail. That evening she had to eat. Potatoes and hard bread to soak in water mixed together in a bowl. Then placed in the oven. I jumped the dinner ...
Another peculiarity was that he could not sleep with the window closed otherwise "air does not circulate" as she put it. So after that lovely dinner we slept in the same room with the window open: temperature -8 ° C. Thanks ...
Uta Uta But other than that it was a really special girl. Intelligent, had traveled halfway around the world working at prestigious universities and was also 3 years in Japan. He knew German, Italian, English, English and a little 'Japanese. Adored classical music.
was one of the most sincere people I have ever known if he said one thing and that was enough. It was in
four friends: once in Dresden for not making us pay the hotel made us go to sleep at home on the sly of acquaintances who were away on vacation. Then she was on that occasion to explain that in East Germany at Easter was a tradition to hide the eggs in the house (or better yet in a park) and the children had to find fun like crazy. And
Uta had also a big heart ...
few months after that Gianluca was born on a Sunday with his bike and helmet on his head went into the station in Milan (where he then lived) and took the train to Reggio. He stayed with Gianluca all the day speaking in German and he smiled and seemed to understand. It was very sweet that day ... He told us he loved Gianluca although it was the first time I saw him.
Later on that evening he returned to Milan ...
was the last time I saw her.
few months later it had a serious accident. You in the jungle that is Milan, according to his person, his beliefs and his way of being and living, ran a bicycle. And one day he was invested. Fortunately
is still alive but has suffered serious neurological injuries and struggling to move, speak and understand. But she is strong ... is German, the German of East Germany and is going to make a return to before.
I'm waiting ... look to see how to get there that afternoon to Costabona with those of his jeans are too big for her, white sneakers ruined, the blue-checked flannel shirt, shrug, and with his expression as one that did nothing special to say, "you want to be: a truck hit me."
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