A couple of the heim’s staff members expressed displeasure about the way my residency has taken shape. They imagined that I was here as a teaching artist and would be doing daily workshops with the residents. Because of their misconceptions about the residency and what my work here is, they feel as though I have […]
Children’s Music, Part 2
Today was the instrument-making workshop for the children living in the heim. Two of the children who participated are fluent English-speakers and so translated my instructions into Arabic and German for those who do not speak English. We made pan flutes and percussive shakers. The kids seemed far less interested in playing the instruments than […]
Children’s Music
On Friday, one of the little girls living in the heim asked me, while pointing at the poster advertising my presence, when she was going to be able to play music. “I really want to play the guitar,” she said. Though I don’t have a guitar for the girl, I am now making very loose […]
Unheard Voices
A Syrian woman the exact same age as me asked me to write about how refugees experience life in Germany. I have seen a lot and experienced a few things, however, the story of refugees in Germany is not my story to tell. My conversation with the woman has brought up several questions: When does […]
An Introduction
Understanding a place is about understanding its rhythms. Here on Kiefholzstraße, the rhythm is scurrying children’s feet in the late morning and early afternoon. Babies laugh and coo and cry paces beyond the trailer’s door. On the other side, mothers open and shut washing machine doors, sandals slapping against their heels as they glide across […]