english
Recieved 15th August 2018
JVA Köln, Wednesday, 1st August 2018
Hey everyone, I guess you’ve heard by now – nine months. My lawyer’s words of comfort were “at least you have a window”. I’m not even half way, the half way mark is Saturday. The entire time I’ve been here, do over again. I don’t want to write, I really don’t, because I don’t trust what I might say. How this was all just a game to the state, who have known who I was since March 26th. How I’m being punished, “made an example of”, because I didn’t want to identify myself, which I’m legally allowed to do. Nine months of my life, for protesting, for trying to help save a little bit of wild left in the world. [Edit: pen colour changes.] (And my only pen just ran out. Awesome.) I’ve stopped keeping a journal, which feels strange, not writing things down, but I feel better for it. I’ll probably regret it. Sometimes it’s nice to look back and see where my head was at. Earlier today I finally got a kettle so now I have hot water, and I’m drinking as much tea as I can. I’d drink coffee, but it’s now 3pm and I won’t sleep much if I do. Also, I wrote in the pen this morning, when I was in a “bleh” mood, so I decided to wait a while to write again. Which I’m glad I did, because I feel better now. Firstly, I hope you all prove the judge wrong, that in October HAMBI BLEIBT. I will leave here in December, and I will be going back to HAMBI. My heart is with you in the forest, and I wish I could be there to fight like hell with you and protect it. Don’t worry about me here, I’m totally fine (really). The judge says I must stay, so be it. Don’t let this dampen your fire, please don’t be afraid. I’ll be back in December. Stay strong, keep fighting. They took me, but I’m one person, I am not the forest, and as far as I know the only one from Hambi in prison. Taking one drop of rain from a storm will not make it less effective. Taking one person from Hambi will not stop the occupation, will not make those who call it home evacuate. I want to say this is the cost of climate war, but it seems dramatic. But if this makes you angry, that I must stay in prison, then please use it. Help. Occupy. Protect. I will gladly give my time – literally part of my life – to this nothingness if it means the Hambi get more support, more anger and action on their side. HAMBI WAS, HAMBI IS AND HAMBI STAYS. Heads and fists up, keep fighting, STAY BRⒶVE. I love you all, I miss you, I believe in you. <3 UPIII
REQUESTS
As I’m likely going to stay in prison another few months, I would really love if you could send me some things so the time doesn’t feel so long.
I always love receiving letters (along with visits, they are the biggest highlights of my week), but if you really want to send something else here are some suggestions:
<3 Architecture books.
Preferably in English (for now, maybe in German in a month or two). Anything you find in a second hand bookshop is perfect, even if it seems incredibly theoretical I’d love to read it. Some I would really love to read are:
- “towards a new architecture” (corbusier)
- “between the silence and the light”
- “healing spaces”
or anything about biomimicry, biophilic design, garden cities, ecological design and, my particular favourite, cabins and/or treehouses.
If this is about art or architecture, please send it I’ll be incredibly thankful.
<3 More German lessons.
Books, pages, tips, sayings (“the dog will be crazy in the pan”?), how to pronounce things (still getting used to ä, ö, ü) or anything else you can think of. I’d really love to be able to speak (at least) basic German by the time I go free. I’m mostly just learning rude words from my friends here, which must be pretty bad, because they’re not even in the dictionary. I go to German lessons too, but we mostly repeat the same things in each class. (I really wish I could have someone to speak too, but everyone here wants to practice English.)
<3 Pictures.
Of the forest, other occupations, a tree, a cloud, your dog, whatever. It’s really easy to forget what the “outside world” looks like here. I miss it.
<3 Books/essays/whatever.
About botany, forestry or veganism.
<3 Short stories.
Like Grimm’s fairy tales or something you enjoy reading and would like to share.
<3 Copies.
Of Bite Back or Slingshot, or any kind of liberation, anarchist, or similar zines or newspapers. I’d really love if some Shit Barricades somehow found their way through too, I miss reading about Hambi. Again, whatever you can find, please send it!!
<3 How to read music.
And songs to play on guitar. I’m going to try and get one this week. I need to start hardening my hands again to climb ropes, all my callouses are gone. Plus I miss listening to people playing music in the Tower. This won’t be the same, but it’s the best I can do.
Is four and a half months enough to learn guitar and German? Probably not, but at least I might learn enough to pretend I know what I’m doing, which is basically how I’ve handled life so far.
Here’s to “fifty percent is a pass”. (haha)
Big love & STAY BRⒶVE.
<3 UPIII