die alten Frauen - the old women

i finally feel like i have a real social group here. this is especially important to me since i don't seem to make friends all that easily after the intentional community of college, and i haven't had this kind of friend group in a long time. we are new to each other, and who knows if we'll stay in touch outside of the trailing spouse experience we share here.

this group is also a newish feeling to me because we are a group of old ladies. old, that is, for our german class. we range in age from 28 to 32. we gathered today at the venezuelan woman's house and somehow two of the 18 year olds decided to come along. as we chatted, in broken (but at least similarly incorrect) german about our common likes and dislikes, the young ones drifted from the table where we were sitting. they turned on MTV, a bit too loud for my aging ears, and fell asleep on the couch.

unfortunately, we were together today for a going away party. our oldest member is moving back to canada, where her boyfriend will be working, and she will be attempting to resurrect her career in marketing. (you can see why the 18 year olds fell asleep)

as i looked around the table it occurred to me that it takes circumstances like this for me to make friends. loneliness, and a need to learn german, has brought us together. i hope that this group isn't a berlin-only experience, but even if it is, i feel pretty lucky to have it.