Gay Pride and Other Musings

Plans for this weekend fell through again, unfortunately; I think Rick and Peter are often too drunk to follow through on anything.  But it's okay!  I went to Idee, a craft store, to get something to make for Jasper's family as a thank you for Sweden.  I'm crocheting a table cloth--classy, classic, and pretty easy.  It may end up being more of a table runner than a complete tablecloth, given how expensive a big one would be (the thread was 7 Euro for 50 g!), and how time-consuming, but I'm going to make it large enough to not be awkward on their dining room table.  The gay pride parade was along the same street as Idee, which I had not realized, so I stayed and watched some of it.  It was so surreal to have these huge floats with flamboyantly dressed and sexually provocative people, sponsored by everyone from "stop aids" to sex shops to the liberal political party.  The same street is where Gedächtniskirche is, the war-bombed church, which made it even more crazy, to see this relic of a war of intolerance behind all these floats of gay pride.  There were all kinds of people there, including grandmothers and little kids (who were all wearing ear plugs, wisely).  It made me fall a little more in love with Berlin.  Especially since there were no anti-gay protestors!  


I got to know my russian roommate a little more yesterday.  I think she misses her family a lot, because when she found out how old (/young) I am, she was like, "Oh, my daughters are a little older than you!  So young!" and then she gave me a hug, and I was a little weirded out but I rolled with it.  And then a friend of hers, a man from Kyrgystan, came over and did some translating between us because he speaks very good German and he said that she would like to go out to coffee with me or something and I was like, okay, sure, why not.  So that will probably happen at some point.  And I was working on my tablecloth last night and she came in and saw, and told me what crochet was in Russian (starts with a t, don't remember the rest) and that her daughters crochet also.  It was a great bonding moment.


Rick and Peter have spent the weekend at a friend's house, Jose.  I haven't met him, but it was kinda nice to have the apartment relatively to myself.  On Friday, Bernat, the Spaniard who's in my class, had a going-away party, which I managed to weasel out of through sleepiness and not calling.  I feel a little guilty about it, but he gives me an uncomfortable feeling in my belly, so I don't feel too terrible.  Geoffrey's going-away party is Tuesday, which I'll definitely be going to.  it's going to be a dinner with traditional Le Reunion food (a French island off the coast of Madagascar), and we're supposed to dress in a tropical theme.  Rick said he's going to wear a speedo (oh dear), and I'll probably wear a swimsuit and my sarong.  i'm sad Geoffrey's leaving; he's incredibly nice and friendly and it's fun to practice German with him because we're at a similar level.  But who knows, perhaps I will go to Le Reunion sometime!  That's totally not out of the way.


I woke up at 10 today because I'd set my alarm for then (I have no idea why I thought waking up so early was necessary), but then I pretty much just laid in bed and read my Berlin tourist book and planned out where all I want to go before I leave until 1:30, when I took my shower and finally got my butt out the door.  The McDonald's near my apartment is open on Sundays, and has internet (though not completely free, sadly), so I'm making use of that and drinking a not-bad cappuccino.  I also had a chocolate muffin, which was not as good as I had hoped, not that that stopped me from eating it all.


I'm loving Berlin, though I do wish I knew more people.  I'm excited to start exploring some of the more cultural things here; there's, like, 15 museums that I want to go to.  I need to talk to the school and get a student card from them so I can get discounted (usually half-price) admission to museums!  I'll let Rick and Peter know where/when I'm going in case they want to come, and Peter has been saying he wants to go to a gallery on Potsdamer Platz that's having a Dalí/Frida Kahlo exhibit, which would be fun to go to.  There are several awesome handcraft museums around the city, which I am of course looking forward to going to!  And berlin has a lot of ancient Egyptian and Byzantine art and sculpture, so there are a few really nice museums with that.  After the war, the Russians looted a lot of stuff, including Priam's Gold which was found in Turkey and originally thought to be from Troy (it's actually much older than that), and after they finally put it on display in the early 90s, Germany ordered them to give it back, but Russia claims that it's payment for the "war of aggression".  I think it's funny that Germany is angry that Russia stole the gold, when it was, of course, initially stolen by Germany from Turkey.  


It's supposed to be really beautiful here the next few days, partly sunny and highs in the high 60s/low-mid 70s.  Most of the museums are closed tomorrow, so I think I'll head down to Rathaus Steglitz and continue my search for shoes, because my German professor Miriam said that there are a lot of shoe stores along Schloß Strasse up to the Rathaus.  Fingers crossed!


EDIT: I woke up majorly fatigued this morning (Monday), so I didn't go to class and am definitely not feeling well enough to go to Steglitz, tragically.  I think instead I'll head back to the apartment soon and take a nap, probably after eating a Döner (so yummy).  I made it to Starbucks to use the internet only because of the promise of hot chocolate that was awaiting me.  I need to go by Netto and get some stuff, including laundry detergent, but fortunately it's on the way.  Blergh.  (End EDIT)

I hope everyone's had a fun and relaxing weekend.  And if I haven't Skyped with you, I would still really like to!  Berlin is 9 hours ahead of the West Coast and 6 ahead of the East Coast, so I'm pretty much available anytime between 1 and 8 pm Berlin time, or 7 am to 2 pm East Coast time, though I could do later than that too (it's just a matter of finding someplace that's open!).  So let me know here or via email when/if you're available!