OOOOHHHH!!! I am so excited for you! I was born and raised in Germany, but my dad is African American and my mom is Jamaican. All I can say is get ready for culture shock!!!LOL. After I graduated high school in Germany, I flew to the States (America) to start college...talk about shock! I crack up laughing everytime I think about my first experiences w/ American public transportation! France is truly beautiful, but don't get your hopes up about Paris. IMHO, it is really a lot like New York, just in French
. I'M SOOO JEALOUS!!! I miss home so bad!
As far as being black and travelling, well in Europe, or at least in Germany, my experiences were very differnt than they have been here. In Germany (again, if there are any Afro-Germans out there, these are just my experiences) you are going to be absolutely LOVED. It seems odd to think of it now, but German men love Black women, and German women love Black men. I don't know why, and I'm sure not all do, but I think it has more to do w/ loving the "exotica" of brown skin than any appreciation for Black people/history/culture. I don't know if you're planning to go to Russia, but it's the same thing there but times 10. When I went (right after the fall of the Berlin Wall) most of the Russians I met had never seen a Black girl before! My two Afro-German friends and I were so pampered, it was ridiculous. But that was before their economic revolution, so I don't know what the story is now. Most of the tensions in Germany, between the racial/ethnic groups were between Germans and immigrants (Turkish, Nigerian, Russian, etc.)who go their for Germany's loose immigration laws and for work. There has been a growing neo-nazi movement, so do be careful.
I'M SOOOO JEALOUS!!!!!!!
