Week 48: Breath, Borders and Belonging: Vanessa Muñoz-Pretzell on Yoga and Life in Berlin

00:00:02:

00:00:05: Hello and welcome back to PlusFortyNine, your weekly guide to life in Germany.

00:00:10: Hi everyone, my name is Andrea Famel and you may know me from a couple of episodes before when Sigrid interviewed me about growing up in a bicultural family, my father being a made in Mexico German and my mother being a Mexican woman with an immense admiration for Germany.

00:00:29: After that episode, Sigrid asked me if I wanted to be part of this podcast, to share my views, to bring new people on and to help digest Germany for her, and now for our listeners.

00:00:43: So, welcome everybody.

00:00:46: As we move deeper into November, almost reaching December, the days get shorter, the skies get darker, and the countdown to Christmas is about to begin.

00:00:58: This week we're looking at what's happening in German politics and infrastructure from the Rentenpaket discussion to the future price of the Deutschlandticket plus a look at Germany's gas reserves and what they mean for the coming winter.

00:01:14: In culture we're stepping away from the Christmas market we covered last week and diving into something even more central to German Christmas period.

00:01:23: The Advent season.

00:01:26: We've also got a fresh round of events from the Hannover region, from cozy village celebrations, to full-on light spectacles in a palace.

00:01:35: And of course, we'll tease our conversation with Vanessa Munoz-Pretzel, an established yogurt heater in Berlin from Sony,

00:01:42: Texas.

00:01:44: Let's get started with the news.

00:01:46: Let's begin with a topic that continues to shape political conversations this season.

00:01:51: their entrant packet.

00:01:52: Discussions are still ongoing about how Germany plans to secure long-term pension stability.

00:01:58: While the government aims to protect the forty-eight pension level into the next decade, critics argue over how sustainable that is actually going to be, especially for younger generations who will ultimately leave for the bill.

00:02:13: These debates are expected to intensify as the year wraps up.

00:02:17: Now to the headline that affects millions of commuters.

00:02:21: the Deutschlandticket.

00:02:22: The Bundesrat has approved the long-term funding plan, meaning the ticket is financially secured until twenty thirty.

00:02:30: The federal government and the states will continue to subsidize it with one point five billion each per year.

00:02:38: But for subscribers, as you may have already noticed in the app or via email, the price will rise.

00:02:45: Starting January, the monthly cost increases

00:02:49: from €

00:02:49: fifty-eight to € sixty-three.

00:02:52: From twenty-twenty-seven onwards, the ticket price will be automatically adjusted each year based on a cost index that takes wages and energy prices into account.

00:03:03: Originally, the coalition agreement promised no price increase until twenty-twenty-nine.

00:03:09: As you can imagine, the early rise is stirring up criticism among both commuters and some political voices.

00:03:16: And finally, Germany's gas reserves.

00:03:20: Current storage levels are around seventy-five percent, lower than previous years and below many neighboring countries.

00:03:28: Experts warn that if Germany faces a winter as cold as in twenty-ten, Reserves could run critically low by mid-January.

00:03:37: A mild or average winter possesses no problem, but policymakers are being urged to create better long-term mechanisms to ensure higher storage levels in the years ahead.

00:03:48: Bottom line, keep an eye on your energy use, expect transport prices to adjust sooner than later.

00:03:56: There is some quiet around the chaos of Christmas.

00:03:59: And that is a four

00:04:01: weeks,

00:04:01: or better say, the four Sundays before Christmas called Advent.

00:04:06: That's Germany's slow, gentle countdown to Christmas.

00:04:10: Advent may not be louder flashy, but it is deeply embedded in German households.

00:04:16: The centerpiece of the season is the Advent scones, the Advent red.

00:04:21: A circle of fur branches decorated with ribbons, dried fruits, stars, and, of course, four candles.

00:04:29: Every Sunday, one candle is lit.

00:04:32: First one, then two, then three, then four.

00:04:36: It's the simplest ritual, but one that creates a warm moment of pause in a dark month.

00:04:42: In many homes, families sit together for coffee and cake as they light the candle of the week.

00:04:48: Then, of course, there's the beloved Advent calendar.

00:04:52: Germanists give to the rest of the world.

00:04:55: Traditionally, it has twenty-four little doors, each hiding a chocolate.

00:05:00: But modern Germany has turned this into a full industry.

00:05:04: Calendars with tea, spices, beer, skincare, cheese, socks, candle, legal, and even one of pets.

00:05:11: No, not of pets, but four pets.

00:05:14: It's nostalgia, it's surprise, and marketing all rolled into one.

00:05:19: And people genuinely love it.

00:05:22: Advent also brings a shift in pace.

00:05:25: December Sundays often mean cozy breakfast, baking plaitsienne or Christmas cookies, visiting family or simply lighting the candle and slowing down for a moment.

00:05:35: German radio stations switch to Christmas playlists, bakeries overflow low with seasonal pastries and living rooms begin to fill with lights and the winter decorations.

00:05:48: Not all at once, but gradually, week by week.

00:05:51: For experts, Advent is one of the easiest traditions to take part in.

00:05:56: You don't need a perfect German to enjoy it.

00:05:59: Just get an Advent calendar, light a candle, join friends for an Advent café, bake a batch of cinnamon stars or simply enjoy the quieter atmosphere that settles in.

00:06:09: This is the cozy reflective side of German winter, far from the crowded markets.

00:06:15: And of course, one more thing.

00:06:17: In many families, December Sundays come with some music.

00:06:21: someone brings out a song sheet, someone else lights the candle and all of a sudden everybody's single lights a risel des nemes.

00:06:27: You don't have to know the words but if someone hands you a lyric

00:06:30: sheet just go for it.

00:06:32: It's a part of the charm in an old tradition that Germany still keeps alive.

00:06:36: Coming up later in the show we will visit a special conversation with Vanessa Muñoz-Pretzel, a US-Mexican yoga teacher based in Berlin.

00:06:46: We'll talk about belonging, about community, and what it means to feel at home.

00:06:51: I really hope this interview makes you think and reflect, and maybe, only maybe, even make you smile.

00:06:59: Hi dear listeners, I'm Andrea and this is Plus Forty-Nine.

00:07:04: This is my first interview in this plus-forty-nine space which Cyrid created

00:07:10: with the idea of

00:07:10: diving deep into Germany

00:07:12: and sharing

00:07:13: experiences and know-hows about this country and its people as people with a migration story behind us.

00:07:22: My first guest also has something to do with me.

00:07:26: I've been practicing yoga for over fifteen years and a couple of months ago I had to look for a new studio because my yoga teacher decided to take a break.

00:07:34: But Life always teaches us that with every closing brings new beginnings.

00:07:40: And that's how I landed on a mat with Vanessa Munoz-Pretzel as my teacher.

00:07:45: Hi, Vanessa.

00:07:47: Hi, Andrea.

00:07:48: Thank you for having me.

00:07:49: It's such an honor to be here.

00:07:51: The honor is mine.

00:07:53: So Vanessa comes from Warm in sunny Texas.

00:07:57: And as you might hear in her last name, she also has Mexican roots.

00:08:03: Vanessa's been teaching yoga for over ten years in the US, in Germany, and some other places around the world.

00:08:11: Besides her regular

00:08:12: classes in different studios around Berlin, she also teaches privately, she offers workshops, she takes part in teacher trainings, well she's a teacher training teacher, and she also works as a breathwork facilitator and has her own approach to sound baths.

00:08:31: And before I keep listing everything that Vanessa does, Vanessa, tell us a little bit about yourself.

00:08:38: Oh, okay.

00:08:41: So yes, I come from El Paso, Texas.

00:08:44: My father is from Mexico, from Ciudad Juarez, which is just across the border of Mexico.

00:08:51: And actually, my father was the one who introduced me to Kundalini yoga over twenty years ago.

00:08:59: And at first, I was a little bit taken back by the practice.

00:09:02: And now I actually love teaching Kundalini plus many other styles like hatha yoga.

00:09:10: and the breath work that Andrea has mentioned.

00:09:13: And then I've been traveling a lot to Peru and many other places where I'm able to support people on their journey to becoming yoga teachers.

00:09:23: And I've really been enjoying that.

00:09:25: Oh, that sounds so interesting and so amazing.

00:09:29: So

00:09:29: back

00:09:30: to Germany, you have a U.S.

00:09:32: American and a Mexican background.

00:09:36: How do you think that these two cultures shaped or kind of shaped the way you adapted to Germany?

00:09:45: Well, yes, I have a background as a Mexican my mother is Lebanese and I also have a little bit of Cherokee Indian, which is quite a mixture.

00:09:53: But what all those cultures have in common is that they're warm and welcoming and open.

00:09:59: so coming to Berlin and Encountering the mindset here was quite a shock at the beginning.

00:10:08: How long have you been here already?

00:10:10: I've been here eight years.

00:10:12: Oh, and what brought you actually to Berlin?

00:10:15: I married a German.

00:10:18: Oh, that's where the pretzel comes?

00:10:20: Yes.

00:10:21: It's not a yoga name.

00:10:23: It's my real last name.

00:10:25: And did you have expectations coming to Germany?

00:10:30: And where they met?

00:10:33: those expectations, did you have any at all?

00:10:37: or was it just a surprise?

00:10:39: My father shared a lot about Germany in the past, so my expectations were quite high.

00:10:45: He said the cars are great, the food is great, the beer is great, the roads are great, so I met my husband actually through my father, through friends, through connections.

00:10:58: Okay, and well... I know that feeling of Germany being so organized and everything works well and the streets are amazing and the nature and so on and so forth because my father also used to think like that.

00:11:14: I still believe it's amazing but I've seen how Germany has changed.

00:11:19: so where your expectations

00:11:22: met?

00:11:24: I must admit, after I learned the language and I was actually understanding what a lot of people were saying to understand more the culture, I was a bit shocked.

00:11:36: because I realized oh my gosh the people here can be quite confrontational abrasive

00:11:44: rude

00:11:44: and that's very different from where I come from.

00:11:46: so it's been.

00:11:48: it's been a roller coaster ride I would say the past eight years but I still love it here as well and I think the beer is very good when I do drink beer.

00:11:57: the roads are great the nature is beautiful there's lots of water And then, you know, sometimes you meet very, very nice people, especially through the yoga community.

00:12:09: Yeah, I know that feeling.

00:12:10: So Berlin is rough, definitely.

00:12:14: You only have lived in Berlin or did you live somewhere else?

00:12:18: I actually lived in London for two years before.

00:12:20: So my husband, who is German, grew up here.

00:12:23: He studied in London, moved there when he was young, and then he stayed there.

00:12:27: And when we met, we actually met in Texas.

00:12:31: he was living in London.

00:12:33: So when I first decided to make the move, I was living and I moved to London or a place outside of London in Surrey and was living there for two years.

00:12:44: And then we decided to move to Berlin because my husband has family here.

00:12:49: And he also has two children from his first marriage living close by.

00:12:53: So we decided to move to Germany to be close to his family.

00:12:57: Okay.

00:12:58: Yeah, I can.

00:12:59: totally understand that.

00:13:01: And if you compare living in London to living in Berlin,

00:13:06: what

00:13:07: is more welcoming or in which aspects does Berlin feels welcoming if you compare it to London?

00:13:17: So coming from London and visiting the family here, I thought, wow, what a cool vibe.

00:13:22: So artsy.

00:13:24: So edgy, lots of exhibition, funky bars, cafes, lots of yoga studios.

00:13:29: More affordable at that point.

00:13:32: When we would go out to eat, we were, at times we thought, okay, this is wrong, our bill is wrong.

00:13:39: I know that that has changed over the past eight years, but I would say I really got, Berlin was electrifying for me when I would come and visit.

00:13:49: I felt like I fit in the city.

00:13:51: because of the funkiness and the cool vibe compared to London, where London at that point was also very expensive and it had already been, in a way, yeah, like what I feel like Berlin is becoming.

00:14:10: Okay.

00:14:10: Yeah.

00:14:10: Oh, that's interesting.

00:14:11: You have like lived this development of the city.

00:14:17: I can totally relate to that because when I came to Berlin it was kind of the same.

00:14:23: it was like so alternative and all of a sudden it's like the yoga studios have become like so aesthetic.

00:14:34: but well tell me

00:14:36: what

00:14:36: has been surprising or even difficult living in Germany culturally?

00:14:43: I didn't really have any expectations coming here.

00:14:49: I would say until recently I felt like Berlin was like pro-US.

00:14:58: I guess this comes from knowing a little bit of the history of Berlin and when Germany was divided.

00:15:05: and President John F. Kennedy organized food groups into West Berlin.

00:15:09: They called it the Luftbrücke, the air bridge.

00:15:12: The Berliners, I think, have never forgotten that.

00:15:15: But what's been most difficult culturally, I would say, is the people here.

00:15:21: They are not as naturally curious or welcoming, I guess, or open, like from what I'm used to.

00:15:27: And they don't really ask how you're doing, where in the States, everyone asks how you're doing.

00:15:33: You go into the gap and it's like,

00:15:34: hi, how are you?

00:15:36: Right.

00:15:37: And then some people say, okay, that's fake.

00:15:40: And I would say, well, yes and no, but at least they're friendly and at least they smile.

00:15:46: And at least they want to engage and have a conversation.

00:15:49: And I miss that.

00:15:52: Yeah.

00:15:53: Again, I totally relate to that.

00:15:58: And back to.

00:16:00: culturally feeling that you belong.

00:16:04: Are there moments where you feel absolutely as a US American in Berlin?

00:16:12: Yes, especially when I hang out with my American friends.

00:16:16: When I find an American, I think like, okay, I'm home.

00:16:20: And I could speak ours with them.

00:16:22: That's what I miss.

00:16:23: And that's when I feel like, okay, I'm American.

00:16:26: Yeah, that's interesting.

00:16:28: I also had that feeling.

00:16:29: and when I came to Germany I was nineteen and you didn't hear a lot of Spanish around and every time that somebody was speaking Spanish I went there and it was like hi how are you?

00:16:45: you speak Spanish where do you come from?

00:16:47: and I don't.

00:16:48: I I've kind of lost that.

00:16:50: so it's funny.

00:16:51: it's like oh my other people that speak Spanish.

00:16:55: You being a U.S.

00:16:57: American or feeling in those moments like a U.S.

00:17:00: American, you also have a Mexican root.

00:17:05: Is there any way that you integrate the Mexican-ness in your daily life?

00:17:10: What would you think that it means for you personally?

00:17:14: So yes, the Mexican side of my family is definitely part of my cultural heritage.

00:17:20: I use Mexican Spanish terms.

00:17:24: like Mija or Abuelo or Abuela or Papa.

00:17:30: I like to sometimes actually swear in Spanish, like I use swear words.

00:17:34: I won't share here.

00:17:38: You may have to censor yourself.

00:17:40: Right, and of course I express myself in my heritage through food.

00:17:46: I love spicy food.

00:17:48: I really miss also the climate of the high desert.

00:17:52: the sunshine tequila.

00:17:56: I mean the good tequila the good salsa.

00:17:59: I actually had mentioned to you that I found.

00:18:02: finally a really authentic taco truck in Wittenberg Platz and now it's my weekly Thursday lunch break is to go there and just have a delicious taco.

00:18:15: that's amazing.

00:18:16: that sounds like you have integrated completely you being here in Germany and being a US Mexican with other cultural backgrounds to your yeah not only in your person but also in your daily life.

00:18:34: and how do you think that Germans usually respond to your cultural background?

00:18:41: because you said before that you thought that Germans react like really friendly to or are positive in front of US Americans.

00:18:52: Do you think that has changed?

00:18:56: Well, two of my closest German friends here, one of them calls me Mamacita and the other one calls me her spicy little, I think she called me the spicy, her spicy taco or spicy, I don't remember, but she was making a joke that I'm her little, her spicy friend.

00:19:12: But I would say that the Germans, I think they look at me and they, they wonder where I'm from because I also have these Lebanese this Lebanese background and so some might think I'm Syrian or even people think I'm Israeli.

00:19:27: and once they hear me speak English then they realize that I come from the US and then it's happened to me where their attitude changes towards me and they become even friendlier.

00:19:43: oh that's okay that's interesting.

00:19:45: it's

00:19:45: really interesting because it's you know it's.

00:19:47: then people get to know oh wait she's American.

00:19:50: okay what's going on here?

00:19:52: and then when they see my last name and then they realize okay you know because America is also made up of immigrants.

00:20:00: so

00:20:02: yeah you are definitely an extraordinary example of migration In the US, back in the US, you were also a yoga teacher, isn't it?

00:20:15: Or do you have any other work experience?

00:20:21: Corporate.

00:20:22: Well, corporate, no.

00:20:23: I never really went towards the corporate, down the corporate road, but I left El Paso when I was eighteen.

00:20:29: I moved to San Diego.

00:20:31: which is also on the border of Baja, California, which is also one of my favorite places on this planet.

00:20:36: But I studied in San Diego and I studied visual arts and I really loved working on film sets.

00:20:45: And I thought maybe I would move to LA and work on films.

00:20:48: So that creative part of me, I was able to connect to.

00:20:53: And then I decided to travel and then I decided to go to Southeast Asia and I took time off traveling.

00:21:00: and then I ended up back in my hometown in El Paso really wondering where and what I was going to do.

00:21:06: and then that's when I decided I was starting to practice yoga a lot more and I decided I wanted to learn more about yoga.

00:21:14: and so I signed up for my first yoga training which was in Costa Rica in two

00:21:21: thousand twelve.

00:21:21: okay

00:21:23: and I had just met my husband right before that training.

00:21:26: oh my god.

00:21:27: so it was pretty early, pretty clear that you were going down the yoga path.

00:21:35: At that point, I wasn't sure.

00:21:37: I was like, okay, I'm pretty shy.

00:21:39: I'm pretty timid.

00:21:40: I don't know if I could stand in front of a class and teach yoga.

00:21:43: I just wanted to learn more about this powerful practice.

00:21:48: And so I just decided I will go and do this training and then we'll see what happens.

00:21:52: And I instantly started teaching when I got back to my hometown.

00:21:58: because a friend of mine opened a yoga studio and was like, I need teachers.

00:22:02: And so I was in a way forced and pushed into it.

00:22:06: And then I just, that's when I found my path towards being a yoga teacher.

00:22:12: And the cultural differences

00:22:15: that you have

00:22:16: perceived between the US Americans and other places being friendlier, do you confront that also in your yoga classes?

00:22:26: Do you have Like?

00:22:29: how's the relation for building with your students?

00:22:32: Are they also curious interested or do they just like say thank you and goodbye?

00:22:38: Okay, I would say I would say the.

00:22:44: I was quite a beginner when I started teaching yoga in the States, but I would say for me yoga has always been about community and Anywhere I have taught it's always brought like-minded people together.

00:22:59: When I first started teaching in Berlin, I was in a way not ashamed, but I was quite shy because I figured, okay, I don't speak the language.

00:23:09: Who will ever want me to teach them a yoga class?

00:23:12: And I really had these thoughts.

00:23:13: And then I started teaching at the first studio.

00:23:19: And there was a huge response.

00:23:21: And after people get to know me here, I would say the Germans are quite more careful and it takes time.

00:23:28: for them to open up.

00:23:30: Where in the States, people open up right away here, it takes time.

00:23:35: But once they do, then you know it's solid.

00:23:37: But I would say even here, I've been able to always create and find a community through yoga, because for me, that's what yoga is.

00:23:44: Yeah.

00:23:46: What

00:23:47: would you say that Berlin has taught you about your profession, or maybe even about yourself?

00:23:56: My profession, I would say that no matter who you are, where you're from, because I'm a yoga teacher and because yoga means to unite and to bring together, I feel like it really has taught me that no matter where you come from and your country, the language that you're able to connect with people from all around the world.

00:24:17: And I would say that I connect with a lot of people from outside of Berlin.

00:24:22: because I teach in English so I have a lot of foreigners who are not so comfortable with the German language or taking a yoga class in German to come to my classes and then I don't know I know people from China and from Russia and from the Ukraine and a lot of people from Israel.

00:24:39: and so it's really this interesting combination and I feel like it's just taught me that yeah at the end what also yoga teaches us is that we're all the same.

00:24:51: That's nice.

00:24:51: That's really beautiful.

00:24:54: Do

00:24:54: you feel at home in Berlin?

00:24:57: If yes, when did that begin?

00:25:00: And if not, what would you say is still missing?

00:25:07: I feel, yeah, I do feel at home in Berlin because I've been here for eight years and every time I go to my home, I really feel like, okay, I'm home.

00:25:18: This is my home.

00:25:20: And even when I travel and I travel a lot, even when I go back to my where I still call my home, Texas, I still even then call Berlin my home.

00:25:29: So for me, it's like coming home is is coming home to my dogs and to my husband and to just what what I've built my little, I would say my little sanctuary.

00:25:40: I like to call it.

00:25:42: It's like about being present and just being belonging to where to the place you are living in.

00:25:49: that moment.

00:25:51: I know the feeling also.

00:25:54: Would you have an advice for people coming to Germany or people coming to Berlin and people that are trying to make a living here?

00:26:06: What would you say?

00:26:10: Keep this in mind, always this in mind, even though it might seem like a tough place to live.

00:26:20: Yeah, I would say definitely try to to integrate to understand the culture

00:26:26: To

00:26:27: there's these integration courses and language courses that are available to everyone.

00:26:33: I Did it at the beginning and it really really helped me to at least understand the language.

00:26:39: or if I was to go to a grocery store or just to understand what's around me is to understand the language and just to not to not give up.

00:26:49: um because sometimes yeah it feels hard or it feels challenging or the people or the rudeness or just the differences.

00:26:58: but to yeah to not give up.

00:27:01: and if you can find a group of like-minded people and you can really connect with people and find a good group of friends then you've got yeah everything made.

00:27:13: there's so much here to offer there's so much culture and there's wonderful restaurants and wonderful nature.

00:27:20: And just so, so it's such a wonderful city.

00:27:23: It's very vibrant, very alive.

00:27:25: And yes, it's changing, but I feel it's all over the world changing.

00:27:31: Oh, that's, that's, that's a big message.

00:27:35: And that's an important thing to keep in mind that everything is changing.

00:27:42: And if you could say something or recommend something to Vanessa from eight years ago.

00:27:51: What would it be?

00:27:53: What I would say to Vanessa eight years ago is probably speak up.

00:28:01: Don't be shy.

00:28:04: Draw your boundaries.

00:28:08: Always what my mom taught me.

00:28:09: Walk in with your head up high.

00:28:12: A few times I was quite intimidated by people, by the language.

00:28:19: And so, yeah, I would say that if I was to go back eight years ago.

00:28:24: And Germans do know how to put boundaries up.

00:28:27: That's right.

00:28:29: Is there something that Germany or Berlin thought you that you didn't expect?

00:28:35: That I have a voice and that I'm strong enough to use it.

00:28:43: And now... We have this special edition or the special part of the podcast that is called ask a German What is something funny or something that you always think?

00:28:56: Oh my god, that's so German That it would that you would like to talk about

00:29:02: the culture of nudity Because it took me some time getting used to Especially because I have a husband and my father who loves on us and love going to the spas.

00:29:16: And I'll never forget the first spot I went to.

00:29:18: I thought, excuse me, you want me to be nude with my husband, his family, my father, everyone in a sauna together.

00:29:28: And it really is just something that I had to get used to and that I always say that's very German or even Northern European, I guess.

00:29:38: Yeah.

00:29:39: Did you get used to

00:29:39: it?

00:29:44: I would say I'm halfway there.

00:29:46: Okay, because I cannot.

00:29:51: That's something that is, it's above me.

00:29:55: I can go there with people that I don't know, but with like family and friends and everybody's naked, it's like, okay, that's not my cup of

00:30:04: tea.

00:30:05: Right, especially from where we come from.

00:30:07: Yeah.

00:30:08: Yeah, it's like we're conservatives.

00:30:10: We don't walk around naked and that's not.

00:30:14: I have a problem with nakedness.

00:30:16: It's just

00:30:16: like,

00:30:18: no.

00:30:21: It's conditioning.

00:30:22: It's conditioning.

00:30:24: But it

00:30:27: makes sense in a way.

00:30:28: You know, when you're in a sauna and in a steam room, I guess I would rather people be nude than be in bathing suits because that's I feel like also part of the process part of the cleansing is to.

00:30:42: but at the same time I agree with you you know if my father is there or even my mother anyone that I know that I just feel like okay maybe not then I feel also very uncomfortable.

00:30:52: So it's something that I think is very German and I had to get used to and I always tell all my friends and people that come here, you know?

00:30:59: Okay, that's very German and that's the way it is.

00:31:02: And that's what we're going to do.

00:31:05: Okay Vanessa, thank you so

00:31:07: much

00:31:07: for sharing your story and your reflections and your energy today.

00:31:12: It's been a pleasure having you here and I'm

00:31:15: sure our

00:31:16: listeners will love getting to know.

00:31:19: more about

00:31:20: Vanessa Munoz Pretzel.

00:31:23: Thank you so much for having me.

00:31:25: It's a lot of fun.

00:31:29: And that's it for this week's episode of plus forty nine.

00:31:34: If you want a simple, clear overview of German news every morning, remember to subscribe to our morning espresso at plus forty nine dot de.

00:31:44: It's free and delivered every day.

00:31:46: Follow us on Instagram at plus forty nine and you have any story ideas questions or something you'd love to share with the show.

00:31:54: Just send us an email at info at plus forty nine dot de.

00:31:59: We'll be happy to read you.