I technically left yesterday morning at 7:00. Once at the airport, I said goodbye to my precious family and headed on my journey to the gate. First challenge, FOOD! I needed to find close to all natural/organic breakfast at the airport. I quickly gave up and settled for a biscuit with an all natural orange juice. Once at my gate I was thrilled to find out that they were checking carry on bags to our final destination! It was such a relief, because even though I was able to check my nearly 50 pound suitcases, I was still carrying a duffle bag with all my shoes. After making sure that the lady at the counter knew where my final destination was, since she made a mistake with her first try, I boarded and began my flying adventure.
My plane left Memphis at 10:30 and I had a lay over in Dallas. This layover was longer than expected and put us two hours behind on the flight to Frankfurt, but I think it was meant to be. After watching the latest Glee episode (thanks to Dallas's free internet access), I checked the open seats on my flight and saw that there was a pair that was empty together (actually 60 empty seats), so I went to the counter and switched it so that I would have 2 together and the window! After an episode of Modern Family, I get paged to the counter... Great... never a good sign right? WRONG. Since a couple wanted to sit together, they moved me to a seat right behind business. The seat has a LOT more leg room and leans back a LOT more (and had been priced 200 more). It was meant to be! While walking away from the counter, I heard a Christina Perri song play on the radio... These are the moments I feel like I am at the right place at the right time.
On the flight, I ate a big and fell asleep only to wake up as the second movie was starting, and what could it be? THE LUCKY ONE! Again... this was meant to be, who else would appreciate a Nicholas Sparks movie? Probably just me!
When we landed in Frankfurt I had 35 minutes to go through security again, immigration, and make my next flight. Don't ask me how I made it, but I did. Once on the last flight, all I could think about was getting off of the plane!! And then... the people next to me spoke to me... and they were speaking GERMAN! Woah! You can't imagine the surprise that I get every time someone goes to talk and German comes out. It is sooo strange!
In Berlin, I was happy to see my two big suitcases come in (since they had told us that due to the short time between flights we might not get our bags until later). However.... my duffle didn't come in! No shoes for me!!!! Or German history books! It was terrifying, but after leaving the baggage claim I went to the lost and found, made the report, and was told that they would call me if they find it and deliver it to me. If not, I have their number!! Either way, until then... I have 2 pairs of shoes.
After making the report, I headed outside and hailed a taxi. Upon arriving at the apartment, ringing the doorbell, and being let in, I carried my 2 50lb suitcases up 4 sets of stairs... Priceless. Once upstairs I was let into my amazing room and met the landowner (who also lives here).
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| My Amazing room |
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| The view from my balcony |
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| Another angle of my amazing room for March |
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| My grandmother's street |
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| More of the view from my balcony |
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| My grandmother's neighborhood |
The lady is amazing! She had tea for me and then took me on a walking tour of this neighborhood, my grandmother's neighborhood, for 2.5 hours (even though she is sick). She has lived here for 30 years and loved sharing the knowledge that she had. She also invited me to go with her to the premiere of a movie or play or something on Wednesday, so we bought the tickets. The day was beautiful and not that cold, which apparently hasn't happened in months. It was truly surreal walking through the streets that I read about in my grandmother's letters. As I read/write more on my thesis I suspect this place will continue to come more and more alive for me. Today's biggest discovery was the water tower where my grandmother's uncle was kept hostage.
After walking with Nina we took the U=bahn back and I headed out to meet Colby, another student from back home who is also in Berlin. He, surprisingly, is living in the same neighborhood. Last semester he studied at the university in Bremen, and this semester he will be interning with the Green Party in Berlin. Colby was exploring the streets of our neighborhood today and met me at my apartment to keep exploring! We have come to the conclusion that we are living in the BEST neighborhood! It is absolutely adorable! There are a million cafes, tiny shops, restaurants, and cute children everywhere. It is a very hipster "in" neighborhood and I'm thrilled to get to be in the middle of it for a month. After some exploring, we made a short stop at his apartment, and then found a Vietnamese restaurant where we had some dinner.
Now... post dinner, I am about to fall in a very deep slumber! I am exhausted, but have had an amazing first day in Berlin! I am so thankful Colby is here! It is great to have someone who has been in Germany for a semester to help you avoid some of the awkward encounters! But lets be real... I am an awkward encounter no matter what, but I like it that way!
Anywhoooooo... I know I rambled and probably made little to no sense, but I wanted to write something before I crashed! Goodnight and see you tomorrow, when I tackle my next challenge... Potsdam.
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