Word Scribbles

Berlin Wall

You know how when you're on the phone and someone says something important really quickly, and you try to scribble it down but they go so quickly that you don't quite get all of it. That's probably what this will be.

I'm in Berlin! And I have no desire to leave. I really, really love it here! I got here on. . . Tuesday? I think that's right.

Cliff Notes: Nadja picked me up from the train station and we ate kebabs. The next day I had lunch with Sarah Germini, who I was in a bible study with in Berkeley. She's studying here for the summer. Took a long nap. Went out with Nadja & Philip that night, came home early, slept. Then Thursday. . . what did I do yesterday? Oh, duh! I went on a really cool Free Walking Tour. They have them in lots of cities. Young people showing young people around, they give you all the deets.

Germany is really good at their memorials. The main Holocaust memorial is in the middle of the city, where everyone can't help but see it. It's a grid of big black, square stones at different heights on uneven ground. When you walk through, it's super eerie and disorienting and cold and isolating and nothing looks familiar. The artist left a lot up to interpretation. There's no given explanation or plaque describing what the memorial specifically represents. They don't want people to go to read a paragraph and check it off the lift.

(It's now three day later from when I wrote the above post. I don't entirely feel like writing. . . but there's nothing in particular I want to do more, and I want to stay near the computer for when my family comes on Skype so I can tell my dad HAPPY BIRTHDAY, so I will continue writing). 


Yes, Germany is still really good with their memorials. They're thought provoking and intentional and very well done. Germany is also very intentional about what they don't memorialize. For example, the bunker where Hitler died has been sealed off. They tried to destroy it with bombs, but it was a bomb shelter. No luck there. So it's now flooded and sealed off, and the locations of the entrances are not public knowledge. The land on top of the bunker is now a dirt parking lot where people take their dogs to do their business and anything set up by neo-Nazis in Hitler's honor will be soon run over. There is no marker.

After the walking tour, I met up with Fran, who you may remember from my Paris posts. She's a friend from Berkeley and we met in the dorms. We walked around and saw the east gallery (painted Berlin wall), drank beer, ate potatoes, went (window) shopping, and had a grand German day. But more than what we did, I want to talk about Fran. Fran is one of the most impressive people I know. She is just so . . . lovely. And beautiful. Inside and out. She's the most hospitable person in the world. She used to host Thursday nights for all of us post-Freeborn, and she always had food. AND she's brilliant. I remember when she lived in the dorms, she would just bust out awesome papers in one night. Not even read them over when she was done - didn't need to. But what most impresses me about Fran is the way she makes you feel. She knows a lot about a lot. She was the one that was able to explain fine art to me, AND she taught me a lot about German history while we were here in Berlin, and she told me everything like she was just chatting with a friend, not a "I know so much, let me teach you everything you somehow don't know" arrogant kind of way. Never did she say, "Seriously? You didn't know that?" although she probably could have. And she has a way of being so approachable that I talk to her about things without feeling like I have to defend myself, even if our opinions differ. Suffice it to say, it was an absolute pleasure to spend the afternoon with her.

(Skype with the fam-bam!)

The next day I met up with some people that I had met on the walking tour the day before. That was cool. Saw things. Did things. Ate things. Good day. One girl, Christa, has been traveling for I think 5 months now before she starts grad school for public health. She was super cool, and I hope to keep up contact with her. That night, I went out with Nadja and Phillip. A surprise to all of us, the only drink any of us bought was water. We're hardcore.

this counts as my apple pie pic

The next day, I slept in then went to the lake with Nadja, Phillipp, and Freda (Frida?), who is Nadja's adorable little dog. Then we went to Nadja's stepdad's birthday in a garden. It was really cool. There was this whole area of gardens that are owned by different people who don't have a room for a garden at their house. I wanted to contribute, so I brought (you guessed it!) apple pie. The pie was a hit, so that's fun. But before the pie, we had a fantastic BBQ, and after the pie we went to this little party that was going on in the middle of all the gardens, which ended up being a big party with dancing and music and can-can dancers. Then I went home and went to sleep.

The next day (yesterday), I went and visited David Miller where he's working this summer in a little (but not actually little) city about a little over an hour outside of Berlin. It was really fun. We walked around a bit, went to church, covered a chalkboard in a museum on youth culture with Cal stuff, stumbled upon a fair, went on a ride, explored an abandoned building, ate bread, saw Batman. Lots of fun was had! . . . Minus the intermission they put in the Batman movie. Who puts an intermission in the middle of a action film?

Go Bears!

Then today I did next to nothing. I woke up and made Nadja and Phillipp a french toast breakfast, which was fun for me. Then I went to a museum. Then I went to a park. Then I came home and vegged for a bit. Then I made a delicious dinner.

breakfast

It's been a great day.