Week Six: Ich Bin Ein Berliner

I am sitting on a train going from Sorrento to Assisi today in Italy, and honestly I am in shock. I don't understand how six weeks could pass by so quickly, how I could make such good friends in a short amount of time, and how I could feel so confident and at home in a country I only spent six weeks in and cannot speak the language. Week six flew by. It started monday with my ankle still looking like a balloon, still not sure why. Honestly I was trying to ignore it to have a good two days left in Bonn. Monday we had class on the morning and after class we decided to fit in as many "Bonn" things that we could in two days without going overboard. We made our way to the Birkenstock outlet which was awesome and they had so many different kinds, and now my suitcase is probably five pounds heavier with the few pairs that I bought for both myself and my friends. After the Birkenstock outlet, we went to the hofgarten to grab one last Kolsh and to watch the Brazil vs. Mexico game, eventhough Germany wasn't playing anymore, the Germans still got very into it and there seemed to be a great deal of Mexico fans as well who were going absolutely insane at the hofgarten. We then made our way to Henning's farewell dinner. I've had Ethiopian food a few times before thanks to what my mom would call "cultural nights", so I knew it would be something I would enjoy. The meal was so good, even though Henning tried to tell me the pancake like bread isn't called injera (I just double checked it on google and the bread is called injera and the grain they use is called teff). The test at the end was also surprisingly fun and it was cool to see how different people remembered different things from the lectures depending on what they found most interesting. Tuesday we had the day to pack and enjoy our last day in Bonn which was so nice. My foot was still being a pain though so it was decided that I should go to the doctor, so we made plans to go to a vineyard in Oberdollendorf where Rachel and I were staying, but I Had to skip out and headed back on the tram to head to the doctors. That whole experience was bizarre. I got to the doctors and when I was finally called back, the doctor sat me down opposite of her desk, asked me a few questions, and then glanced briefly at my foot. She then said it was probably an infection and that I should be fine in two days and prescribed some antibiotics. The whole doctors appointment lasted no longer than three minutes even though I was there for two hours, but it was cool nonetheless to see a little more of the healthcare that Germans have available to them. 
That evening, our host family's daughter and her boyfriend (who were both our age) were staying with us at the house and made us dinner and we talked alot about all of the places that she has been and things she loves about Germany and different norms for people our age here in Germany and how it was unlike American norms. In the morning, the host daughter saw us off and helped us into our cab (Rachel and I weren't adventurous enough to trek to the tram station with our four suitcases). 

Our short time in Berlin was wonderful and even though I saw almost none of the very touristy things, I felt like I knew Berlin in an even cooler way thanks to the my Berlin day. For the my Berlin day, I was placed into a group with Sikle Meyer, the bee keeper who trained as an artist. We began our day in a cemetery which was slightly strange and then this very free spirited woman came and retrieved us and I honestly didn't know what to expect. She then led us to where she kept all of her hives and he spent a few hours talking about the bees and interacting with them, trying different parts of the beeswax and honey. She then taught us how to pick the stinging nettle without getting stung (too badly anyways) and then we ate it fresh off of of the plant on a rice cracker with beet root paste, which was suprisingly good. We then took a tram to a little urban oasis of sorts whick was this garden in the middle of the city. Here different local growers and people sold their natural products and also there were different foods to purchase, and we ate here at Silke's favorite restaurant which was a farm stand restaurant that sold one dish, a vegetarian dish with beet root, carrots, mushrooms, seeds, zuchinni, and other veggies. After lunch, Silke showed us the bee hives that were located in this area and he tried the honey right out of the hive here as well and talked about what we can do on our part to help save the bees. 

After our afternoon with Silke came to a close, we went back to the hotel to prepare the presentation, and since we took so many videos of our experience we put together a short video to commemorate our day also which was just as fun to make as the day was. Then at the presentations, it was so cool to see other people's days and how different they were from ours. Some were history focused and others like ours were more reflective and experiencing Berlin through a meditative lens. Honestly I wish I had three more days to experience each one because to be able to see a city through someone else's perspective makes it feel less like a city and more like a person's home town. After the presentations we had some time before it got dark and ran (not really, but caught a quick bus) to the Brandenburg gate. 


The next day we headed to Sachsenhausen. After visiting Auschwitz the weekend prior, I thought I knew what to expect, and to a degree I did. I just don't think seeing where countless people were persecuted and treated so poorly gets any easier and honestly it shouldn't. Although it wasn't a death camp per say, learning about how each different camp executes its prisoners is truly horrifying, but I think these preserved museums are so good and necessary for people to see. 

Our last night of the trip was so bitter sweet. We went to a Lebanonese restaurant right next to the hotel and it was great to just reminice over the past few weeks and all the memories that were made and places that we had seen. The highlight was the belly dancer at the end of the dinner that had everyone up and dancing and having a good time. 

I'm sad to have left Germany, my home for the past six weeks, but right now Italy is beautiful with a whole new culture and language, a whole new adventure. I definitely feel so much more confortable traveling here after learning so much traveling for six weeks in Germany. I know how to use the trains without getting too lost, I've learned a few key Italian words to get me by for the next three weeks, and I am better able to appreciate the culture and the people, viewing everything as a new adventure. 

Germany you will be missed!! Tschüs!