With the sound of the Rhine River, churches bills and the planted Jesus statues which are standing in the fields to protect them from any harm or envious eyes, Ryan Hausen village receives its guests despite the fact that its people are not used to having guests from outside the country or at least their own continent. It is a village which smells the fragrant of originality of the European past, traditions and customs which washes the immoral image of the European city life that has been deeply rooted in other people’s minds as expressed on episodes and movies aired on TV and silver screen. This city recounts a different story about the conservative German life in the heart of Europe which embraces people who toil for a living and have higher goals than those depicted in the minds of Arabian and Muslim people about these advanced liberal countries.
The first thing that meets the eye the moment you arrive is a smiling person greeting you in Germany language. You are a stranger yet welcomed. People offer to help you whether you ask for help or not. They wouldn’t leave you until they make sure that you have reached your destination or met the person you are looking for. If you wander around in a neighborhood, you may be stopped by someone offering you to have a taste of some local fruit which has been freshly picked from the scattered fields in the area as a sign of generosity. If the language barrier happens to be a problem when dealing with someone offering or selling you a service, a passer-by who speaks English wouldn’t hesitate to volunteer to translate to English.
In Ryan Hausen, the day begins as soon as the sun sends its first rays to the village. There is the sound of church bells which exist in each district, tractors going to the fields, the sound of horses’ feet finding their way to the Rhine. Everyone is heading to their work in the fields to reap fruit or cut off wood to prepare for the freezing winter which transforms the green villages into a white spot. You may also find someone painting their house or fixing what needs to be repaired since the people in Ryan Hausen rarely get someone to help them in the house. They do these tasks by themselves and women also help with that. The day ends there before sunset at 10:00 pm. except for some small restaurants which serve the residents of the area. There are no European wild nights as it is well-known about Europe which are characterized by messing around and indulging in drinking.
As for the residential neighborhoods, they have some simple playgrounds where mothers with their children get together and kids play. This is the time of the day when women talk and exchange news and if someone walks by, he/she greets them with a smile.
At the weekend which is Sunday, a day of worship and perseverance too, you can find the old people or those in charge of the house taking care of their small gardens and trimming trees and flowers. They can spend up to half of the day doing this task. The German family stability is much similar to the genuine Arab family stability where grandparents are the ones who look after grandchildren when the parents are busy. Moreover, family visits are a must and those who fail to observe such visits fall short socially and deserve blame. The rest of the day is devoted to grandchildren as it is the case with Rita’s family. This German woman spends her day doing housework. She receives her family on Sundays and offers them a traditional German meal. If you happened to be her guest that day, she would make sure that you had finished your meal and would offer you some more if she felt that you had liked the food. Additionally, as a form of hospitality you would be invited on a voyage in the Rhine. There, you will feel the humbleness and the high morals of the young generation. For example, the son of the boat’s owner, who is a university student, helps his father during the day to maintain the boat and transport passengers because he believes that he owes his father who pays for his education and he also offers to help him whenever he can.
Although the European countries have been the main source of various advanced technologies, there are always red lines for the youth when using the internet because not everything new is desirable and welcomed. For instance, Rita’s grandson has been begging his father to allow him to get an account on Facebook, but the father refuses arguing that the time has not yet come for his son to be part of this world whose purposes and goals are still unknown. On the contrary, our children subscribe to Facebook from a young age and their parents are happy and brag about how skillful their children are in using such technology.
Similar to the Arabian Gulf countries, the Germans also have advanced man-made water channels system known as Aflaj. They are found in cities like Ofenberg and Herbolzheim in the area near the Rhine which could be the source of water. These channels are not used for irrigating the fields since rain does not stop throughout the year. However, these old Aflaj surround the shops and create an attractive breathtaking view.
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