Requesting a new foot

You know when you have a car.... and you don't need it... it works great! And then when you do need it... it doesn't.  Well I don't have a car... but my equivalent is broke.

So it all goes back to Saturday... which really felt like Friday (since I'd slept 2 hours), which really felt like Thursday (since I'd slept 3 hours).... Why so little sleep you ask?  RebelTHON!!! No... I wasn't there helping, but my nerves/excitement didn't let me sleep Thursday night and my amazing friends that skyped me from the event on Friday night were the reason I had slept a total of 5 hours between Thursday and Saturday.  But!!! I had to get up and make it to Berlin, because I was getting to have breakfast with Christiane!!!

Christiane is a family friend, who we met in Oxford when she was teaching/studying at the University. She is German, but also lived in Argentina, and is now living in Wales... In short she is here this week and is going to be very busy... Therefore, I met up with her on Saturday. We met up at Karstadt and headed to a turkish supermarket and a turkish market to buy breakfast.  I can't really name any of the things we bought, but I can tell y'all that they were delicious! I was sooooooo glad to see Christiane, but a little appalled at the effects that my lack of sleep was having on my German.  At her apartment, we had the incredible breakfast with her roommate Jule and their cat Maia/Maja/Maya... Not sure how you spell it.


I feel so bad about how tired I was, but I couldn't help it at that point.  After a few hours I left (Not only because I was tired!!!! But also because they were heading out to a movie!). Since it wasn't 2 yet (which is 7 am back home, also known as the end of RebelTHON and the reveal of the money)... I didn't have enough time to get back to Potsdam to see it, so I rushed to Prenzlauer Berg to a little cafe that  I knew had starbucks.  There, I face timed my incredible friends that were there and they shared the reveal with me.  $25,409!!!!! About 375 people attended and over 150 stayed the whole 12 hours!!! Now that is an impressive first year!! I was soooo happy to see our little dream become a reality, that I just started crying sitting outside a cafe on the streets of Berlin.  People must have thought I was crazy, but I was sooo thrilled, proud, humbled, and ecstatic, that there was no stopping the tears!

My first instinct after watching the end was
1. Go to Potsdam and sleep (but then I would mess up my sleeping schedule)
2. Go to a museum (then I figured I'd be too tired)
3. Do something with Martin and Colby (they texted me right when I thought of them)

I waited for them at the coffee place and we headed to get burgers.  (please don't try to follow the amount of times we ate Saturday).  After lunch, we headed to a cafe for cake and coffee. (Saturday was the first time I drank coffee since January....)

Then we headed on a witch hunt to find the little stones for Hannele's parents.. That was a fail, but we killed time until Alexandra made it to Berlin.

At that point we walked back to Prenzlauer Berg and ate dinner at our Italian place.  I was stuffed and exhausted, so after just eating a little bit and having a lot of great conversations, Alexandra and I headed back to Potsdam.... or so we thought. It was already 10:00.

I took the same S bahn that I took for 2 weeks straight to get me to Potsdam.  But that night... it went the wrong way and had a sleeping homeless man that smelled horrible... which meant the whole cart was nearly empty. After 3 trains we were back at the first station and had to take the UBahn... it was already 10:45 and I was exhausted.  Alexandra got off at her stop and I rode to Potsdam's main train station.... It was 11:45.  There were no buses or trains to get me home until 12:45!!!!!!!! It was cold and I sat outside in the dark by myself for 30 minutes.  By this point, my right foot was really killing me.  I don't know exactly when the pain started, but it was somewhere between the 3 trains and Potsdam. Once I made it to my stop, I had a 15 minute walk... No big deal, except it was dark and my foot was REALLY killing.  By the time I got home it was 12:45 an I was exhausted, still trying to figure out why I couldn't put pressure on my car... I mean my foot, I mean my only source of transportation while in Germany... get my drift!

Yesterday was spent in bed... my food was KILLING me and I barely made it to the kitchen to make some lentils and couscous.... I know it's not broken... but I could barely put pressure on it.  When laying down or sitting it feels perfectly normal.... especially when the people next door are whistling Pippi Longstockings!

This morning I woke up feeling great! I didn't think my foot was hurting and I felt prepared for my first day.  Half way down the stairs I realized I was very very wrong.  My foot started killing me again.... so I slowed down my pace and opted for the bus instead of a walk this morning. Oh but those darn cobble stones.. I just hobbled at 1 mile per hour.... trying not to look like I was in pain... hahaha Tomorrow I will continue writing about how my first day went, for now I am exhausted and need to go ice my foot!! Goodnight!!!