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Schneider (r.) In his apartment in Wedding
Photo: Alexander Osang
If you stay at home long enough, the foreign country looks like an abyss.
The Chinese breed viruses, the Russian mix poison, and the United States is reminiscent of the country that Cormac McCarthy describes in "The Road".
Burning cities, through which armed rednecks roam, cheered on by a president who stands on the gallery and salutes his people like a mad general.
So I was surprised when my old buddy Ira Schneider decided to return to America.
A few days ago I went to Wedding, where Ira lives in a ground floor apartment, for a farewell visit.
Outside on the sidewalk, women in headscarves push their strollers through the autumn sun, while Ira is sitting in his TV armchair behind closed blinds and watching CNN.
It's about Trump, of course.
Next to Ira are boxes of medicines and bottles with disinfectants. Ira is 81 years old and recently had a heart attack.
In the background of the small apartment, Matthias, who publishes a newsletter for independent films, arranges Ira's things for her departure.
Another friend is at the butcher's to get bones for a broth.
Ira sits in the armchair like a king.
I crouch at his feet like a fool.
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