After finished my studies in chemistry in december 2000 i did not know what to do with my life. Then, i decided to work with a professor in some coal research projects. but after one year i was bored and had the feeling that my dreams of studying and traveling over the world were fading. So, i started applying online for a PhD position in chemistry. At the end of August 2001 I got one in Germany but I did not speak german. However I accepted it and started with my visa application which I got in december that year.
I arrived in Munich on 14 of February 2001. At the airport I wanted to call one friend who was going to pick me up. So I got out my wallet to buy a phone card. After the call in a phonecalls store I forgot to take my wallet which had all my documents and money inside. My friend picked me up and took me to the hotel. After 2 hours I realized that I have lost my wallet. What can a person without money, undocumented and who does not even speaks the language in a strange country?
Photograph 1. Losing my wallet in a store.
The next day I went to the university where I was supposed to stay the next four years of my life, I felt fear. When I came inside it was a big building bigger than the chemistry building at the National University of Colombia in Bogota where I was finished my undergraduate studies. At 9:30 I meet Prof. Lercher, who is the leader of the Institute II of Technical Chemistry at the Technical University of Munich. My first impression about him was: this guy is not just a teacher of chemistry, he is a business man. Then, he started to talk but I did not understood any word he was telling me. Of course he felt disappointed and started looking around asking for a Hispanic person to get a translation to me. Finally he found Bertha who was doing her PhD with him, through her he explained me that I would have to learn either English or German, otherwise I would be fired. The same day I meet all the institutes’ staff, 4 supervisors, 2 secretaries and about 30 PhD students, all of them working under the guidance of Prof. Lercher. Later I lived great and unforgettable moments with them.
Photograph 2. With my friends in Munich – Germany
At the afternoon I was introduced to Mrs. Hermann who was talking with Prof. Lercher about what should they do with me because I did not have money to buy food or to pay the hotel. I was supposed to get a job contract with a salary of 1800 DM. But, as I did not have any legal document in order to sign it, they decided to give me a scholarship which I signed without any document. What a good surprise? The most amazing moment of that day was when Mrs. Hermann told me that the amount of the scholarship would be 3600 DM/monthly and that I would get the money in cash for the firsts three months immediately.
Two days later I received a phone call, it was from the lost objects office at Munich airport. They have found my wallet with all the documents and money inside. I did not expect that so many good things were going to happen to me. These situations never occur in Colombia.
Photograph 3. Getting my wallet back.
I finished my PhD in natural sciences in September 2006. These years that I have lived in Germany were really, really great.
Photograph 4. Having fun in Munich at the New Soccer Stadium.
Photograph 5. Traveling to Berlin.
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