Let me start by saying that the weather this week has been incredible (when I say this week, I mean last, but y'all get the picture)!
MONDAY:
After I posted the amazing video of Courtney last week, I went to my afternoon class (in English) and enjoyed the benefits of being fully prepared for class (reading and all)! To this day, I have been prepared with readings for all of my classes... things might change soon if I can't figure out a way to get through my German book faster.... it's due Wednesday!!!! Any who! After class I had agreed to meet Colby in Berlin for dinner! I asked to meet in Prenzlauer Berg, because I'm missing it a LOT!!! This week was kind of rough for me... It can be kind of frustrating living in Potsdam... or more like living where I live in Potsdam. Even though it is a breathtaking place... I can't just go downstairs to a cafe and read... I have to take a 20 minute bus to get to a nice coffee area... Everything was different in P.Berg!!! I digress... Once I met up with Colby at the Hauptbahnhof (the main train station in Berlin), we headed to P.Berg, more specifically the Mauerpark (the "wall" park). The park is in Prenzlauer Berg and is famous for its flee market on Sundays, but on this lovely Monday it was a bit empty. My observation: there was trash!!!! I could have taken sooo many pictures for all of those people that insist that everything in Germany is immaculate! Let me tell you... it's not! Haha! We utilized the nice weather and crazy park as the setting for our ranting... I've come to accept that ranting is an unavoidable part of studying abroad. As you all probably already know, I tend to complain (a lot) about school work anyway... but.... throw me into a new place,where I feel like I should constantly be exploring, and I complain a lot more. Why should I be inside or outside in one place all day reading, while others are taking off to France, Spain, Italy, etc??? Why do I have to be reading about concentration camps and crusades?? Why, because I signed up for it? As one of my good friends Hunter once said to me, "sometimes I just need to complain to complain, I don't need answers or solutions!" And that is what we did at the Mauerpark! After a long talk we made our way to Kreuzburger to eat a good "healthy" (yeah right!) meal! After that, we headed to Rossman's so I could buy a few things that are hard to find at my local places in Potsdam. Then... we headed for ice cream! The initial plan was to walk off the food by walking to Alexanderplatz's train station (40 minute walk), but 10 minutes into the walk, I got a message from Omar saying that him and Zoraida had arrived in Berlin. Zoraida and Omar are my mom's friends from Uruguay. Zoraida grew up on my mom's street and they have stayed close friends! The whole family (Omar, Zoraida, and their four awesome kids) came to visit us in Oxford for New Years this year! Now, they were visiting Berlin for a few days. I quickly called them and decided to go visit them for a bit. They were in Kreuzberg... nowhere near where I was... so at 8:30 I headed towards them! After reaching their apartment, a bit later than I wished, I got to visit with them for a bit. The location of their apartment was amazing! They stayed in the city for 3 or 4 days and were lucky enough to stay with family friends that own the largest apartment I have seen since here!!! After a bit, we all headed to the grocery store to search for their dinner, and then I headed back to the train station, since my goal was to get home before midnight. I had to leave them midway to the station, because I had to take off running. My train was leaving in 3 minutes, and if I didn't catch it... I would have to wait 1 hour at a train station for the next train. I got to the station right on time.... but the train was delayed and I was 3 minutes behind schedule, which would put me 2 minutes late for my first connection... Luckily that train was also late!!!! So I made it to train 2! However, I was going to make it with 1 minute to spare to change trains at the Zoologische garten station... For those of you that don't know berlin, this station is pretty big... and there are lots of stairs and passageways between the SBahn and the Regional bahn!!! But anywho, I made the run and made it right on time!!!!! After 3 trains and one bus, I finally made it home! (with some delicious alfajores that Zoraida and Omar brought me!!!)
TUESDAY:
Well... as usual, Tuesday started a bit later than expected... It is unreal how I sleep through alarms when I know it is a possibility!! After barely making it to class (at noon), I struggled to stay awake!!! Ridiculous, but my German class is a bore!!!! I am very thankful for this bore, if not I would really be drowning in work!!! After class I headed back to my dorm to rest up a bit! After some time resting, I decided to go to Potsdam's pedestrian street, where there was supposed to be a music festival (fighting racism). I was excited to see something, but was not sure what that something would be. While getting on the bus I encountered a couple of moms with their children, all dressed up as witches!! WHAT?!?! The bus was packed, so I figured whatever was happening should be worth it! And boy was I wrong!!! The plaza was full of people wearing black and ear stretching jewelry... (I don't know the proper terminology, but you guys should know what I mean... those things that stretch out your ear lobes and make people smell like dying flesh...) The techno music, fog, and smoke drove me away pretty quickly... So I headed to my beloved Starbucks, where I researched the witch wardrobe... It was All Hollow's Eve... OOOOOOHHHHH! Got it! After a quick wifi session, I headed to Kaufland to buy... cleaning supplies! Wow, my life is really exciting! I really was born 80! Oh well... my room/kitchen/bathroom really needed some deep cleaning! Leaving Kaufland I decided to get some Chinese food for the road and I headed back for a quiet evening. I could have excused it with the fact that I had class Wednesday at 8, but I didn't... Wednesday was Labor Day (pretty much everywhere in the world except for in the States). I did however, get the pleasure of sitting in on the first RebelTHON board meeting!!! Through Skype!!! Everyone should be really excited, because it is going to be amazing next year!!!!
WEDNESDAY:
Thanks to a late night of skyping and netflixing (yes, I just made it a verb) I woke up late... Surprise! I knew that a big party/protesting day was happening in Kreuzberg, Berlin, and I thought I would check it out! However, on the way to Berlin I remembered that Claire was defending her thesis at home, and I wanted to listen in! So I rerouted my trip to Alexanderplatz. I knew of a little cafe there that would provide me with the necessary wifi to watch Claire!! It was a blast!! By the time she finished, I had heard from many people that Kreuzberg was too crazy and crowded, so I decided to stick around the center of the city and meet up with Martin and Colby. Once united we met up with Alexandra and two of her friends (one Italian and one Russian)! From there we headed to an American diner that they knew (reason: huge tvs to watch the Bayern vs. Barcelona game). Biggest part of the game, if Bayern won, then it would be a Germany vs. Germany final! The diner filled up fast! And we were soon joined by a group of guys who had to sit at the table next to us, because we were too many! (Czech, French, American, Italian, and Brazilian) The game was fun, but I secretly was rooting for Barcelona, because I felt kind of bad that they got killed last week and it's my momma's team!!!!!! It was fun getting to spend time with people outside of Potsdam, but after dinner Alexandra, Martin, Colby, and I rushed off so I could catch my train, if not I would have to wait another hour... See!!! It gets old sooooooooo fast!!!! They were sweet and made sure I was on the train and on my way before they headed to the S Bahn. Even though Alexandra lives in Potsdam, she lives on an S Bahn stop and the regional train doesn't help her. On the other hand, the SBahn leaves me 30 minutes away (by bus) AND the buses run once a blue moon at night. Wonderful, I know! Once I got off my train I ran into one of the girls (from the Netherlands) that was in my intro class here. She was also coming back from Berlin and had an incredible story to tell. She went to Kreuzberg... and there she met a guy... a British guy who lives in Berlin... and is a photographer... and they spent the whole day going around Berlin taking pictures... He is also an expert in military history (I believe) so he gave her tours, etc. Then they relaxed at a pub... WHAT?!?!?!!? Not real!!! Why does this stuff not happen to me!!?!?!?!!? I almost wanted to look at her and say..."who are you, Mary Kate and Ashley??????" UNREAL. I walked home in awe.
THURSDAY:
I love Thursdays! Thursdays involve sleeping in late, 1 class, and then relaxing or doing whatever needs to be done (not school related!). This week it involved scrubbing (literally) the floors, but that was TOTALLY fine by me!!! Since I was sure that my old roommate had completely moved out, I knew everything left could be tossed. Half way through the grossness, I met my new roommate and her boyfriend! They had just picked up her keys and were looking around. He asked me to write a lady to let her know that I would be vacating the apartment next semester, so that he could get a contract now. Guess who the lady is!?!?!?! The ogre! Priceless! After cleaning, I was planning on texting Colby and Martin to see if they wanted to come over for dinner, but they beat me to it!!! I headed to Kaufland to buy the necessary things for a nice dinner (crepes/caneloni, whatever you call it)! Once I returned, I figured they would be arriving any minute. Boy was I wrong!! Due to an arson attempt by a left extremist group, the train systems were mostly stopped between Potsdam and Berlin... So it took them 1:45 minutes to get here!!!! Poor things! I felt sooo bad!! Once here I started to cook, and we snacked on some chips, cold cuts, and olives! Dinner was delicious and you really can't go wrong when you end with strawberry nutella crepes! Once we were done stuffing our faces we started planning the trip to London/Edinburgh for May 17. I had planned on taking a weekend trip to get away and also to watch Ghost (one of my favorite musicals) that is touring there! Colby and Martin decided they would join and we would take a trip through London too, since Colby has never been. However, after a quick planning session, we decided it was too expensive. Therefore, they will go to London and I will go to Scotland! Works for me! Next thing we knew it was almost midnight and they still didn't know how they would get home... so after another insanely long trip and some walking, they made it to Berlin... Our plan was to meet in the morning to go to Leipzig, but when Colby called me at 11 am, it was clear that was not going to happen!!!
FRIDAY:
So, since I moved to Potsdam I have wanted to do a walking tour... but due to my foot... I haven't! Colby's call in the morning informed me that Martin wanted to tour Potsdam! Whooooohooooo!! Finally, a reason to do it!! So at 1:30 we met in the middle of Potsdam and started our day of walking. First, a stop for food. Second, a walk through the dutch neighborhood. Third, a dutch hot chocolate (melted chocolate). After that... we were ready for the real walking!!! Sooooo.... we headed to Park Sanssouci! The park end at my University and includes 3 palaces, a Chinese tea house, and more. Half way through the walk, we met up with Alexandra. We continued until the end of the park and I was sooo grateful to see it in bloom and dressed in green! All the other times I had walked the whole thing, it was covered in a white blanket of snow!
SATURDAY:
Reality set in again on Saturday... Soooo much to read. So I had to decline some awesome offers... Instead I headed to my beloved Starbucks and I sat... and read... and then read some more! As a treat, on the way home I picked up a pizza and fell asleep (TOO LATE) watching a movie!
SUNDAY:
More reality.... Just so y'all know... I'm not on vacation over here!!!!! Hahaha, so another day of reading! Early to bed.....
Monday:
Up bright and early for more reading before my 8 o'clock!!!! Then class, wonderfully interesting as usual (still frustrating because of all the things I miss due to language issues!!!!). Then home to read and eat a healthy lunch... 15 minute power nap, back to class.... Relaxing walk home.... bus to my beloved Starbucks... more reading... Stop at a bakery to buy organic rye/wheat bread. Stop at Kaisers for some sandwich ingredients... Miss the train... Instead of standing in the sun for 20 minutes, I decide to walk home through the park! So I walked Park Sanssouci again while listening to the Diary of Anne Frank on tape. As sad as it is, I've never read it, and I think I need to. An hour later I arrived here, to my humble abode! I was getting ready to pick up my book again, when I realized that I have the rest of the week planned out to the second... which meant if I didn't write now... I wouldn't for another week. So here it is!!! I'm sorry about the length, but you are officially caught up with my life!!
Things I am thankful for here:
- Park Sanssouci
- weather
- bread
- Prenzlauer Berg
Things that have made me miss my homes this week:
- Zoraida and Omar --- Uruguay
- Tony nomination released, everything about this ghost pair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FAJh2m22ww --- New York City
- Thesis, graduation parties, dad's graduation party planning, etc. -- Oxford
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