Weekend Events

Hello, all!  Happy Monday (as if there is such a thing).  I should be in class right now, but I had a panic attack (no, I don't know why) so I'm writing this at home instead.  I am venturing out later to skype with Mom and Jasper, though, so I won't be a complete hermit.

On a cheerier note, I had a lovely weekend.  Friday I went to bed super early and got lots of sleep, which was of course awesome.  I also had epic dreams; in one of them, I had a tiny pet bunny who was so small that she got blown into the pool with a gust of wind (this took place at Nana and Papa's old house, for some reason).  Lots of sleep + bunny dreams = a good night.  Saturday Ric and Peter and I went to O2 to get me a German SIM card, which would be awesome except that my stupid AT&T phone won't accept it, contrary to all the information I was given before I left home.  I am not super pleased about that, so I'm hoping that there's some way to make AT&T unlock my phone or something, though it's possible I can find a very cheap cell phone here.  If it's not one thing, it's another!  Sheesh.  [EDIT: The SIM card works in Peter's phone, so he's going to buy it off me.  Then I can hopefully go to O2 again and get a prepaid phone, not just the SIM card.]  Ric had to go to work at 6 so Peter and I went to a park and hung out there for a little while.  There was a guy there who was either extremely crazy, or tripping on something, because he talked to himself non-stop for the half hour or so we were there.  It was not ideal.  Then we went back to the apartment to take a little nap (which ended up becoming a big nap for me, surprise surprise) before going out to Ric's bar.  It's about half an hour away when the subways are running frequently, but yesterday they were not, so it took us 45 minutes or an hour to get there.  The bar is named El Paíz and serves Mexican food and sushi (completely random combination, I know).  I had a couple of strawberry daquiris and a shot of grenadine and a teeny bit of vodka, and only had to pay for a daquiri!  There are definite benefits to knowing the bartender.  However, we had to pretend that we'd just met him, because we wanted to act like very satisfied customers so that he would officially get the job (mission accomplished, btw).  I was extremely excited that he spoke English, and Monica was just as excited that he spoke Spanish.  I imagine his coworkers think something is up, since we've gone and visited him every day he's worked and left only shortly before the end of his shift, but hopefully they don't care.  We got back really late Saturday, and stopped by McDonald's on the way to get a couple of cheeseburgers (1€ each!).  By the time we got home, the sun was well above the horizon.  

We slept 'til early Sunday afternoon, and then Ric headed back to the bar, because Germany was playing England in the World Cup and literally everyone in Berlin finds a TV to watch the match, usually in a bar or restaurant so that there's endless beer to celebrate with (or to ease the pain of losing, if that's the case).  I ordered some Nachos con Pollo because I've been wanting Mexican food so badly, and they were really tasty and salty and delicious.  The game was also truly epic.  Germany won, 4-1, and every time they scored, there were big fireworks and honking and screaming and high-fiving all around.  The mass of people wearing German flags, either literally or in a painted-on fashion, was truly impressive.  Here's hoping that Germany goes all the way!  Otherwise, I've had to put up with the raucous noise for nothing.  While soccer is big in all of Europe, it's especially popular in Germany.  After the war, most Germans didn't have much pride in their country (go figure, right?), but then Germany won the 1952 World Cup, giving Germans a reason to fly their flag and feel that they had regained a place in the world.  Given how secular most Germans are, like most Europeans, soccer is something that connects people of all ages, genders, cultures, and credes.  I believe it was on Jezebel that I read that every religion has its High Holidays--Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur for Judaism, Christmas for Christians, Ramadan for Muslims, and the FIFA World Cup for every country in the world except the US.  Being here, it really does seem like that's an accurate assessment!

The number of luxury cars here is mind-boggling.  There are so many Mercedes and BMWs that I have completely lost any sense of excitement I might once have had.  In the last 3 days, I've seen a Maserati, a Ferrari, an Astin Martin, and a Lamborghini.  That's more than I've seen in the rest of my life combined!  I think a lot of people here spend money on expensive cars rather than expensive houses.  And with universal health care and unbelievably cheap universities (something like ~200€ a semester at the public unis, and ~600€ a semester at private ones), not to mention absurdly cheap food, most Germans have a lot of disposable income.  Not that most of them could afford a Ferrari, but still! 

Saturday I wanted to bake something, but I couldn't find any baking soda in the grocery store (this may be because I don't actually know the word for baking soda [just looked it up, it's Backpulver, but according to my dictionary, that's also the word for baking powder, so I'm not really sure what's up with that).  I did, however, find a pancake mix for 70 cents.  Pancakes here are not like American pancakes; they're actually crepes.  I got the mix, some créme fraîche because Nah und Gut (the closest grocery store; the name means "near and good") didn't have any sour cream, and a pound of strawberries, which altogether cost me 3€.  Ric doesn't eat refined sugar (yeah, it's a bummer), so Peter and I had to eat it all ourselves.  I made the crepes, spread some créme fraîche in the middle, laid some sliced strawberries on top, and rolled it into an adorable little burrito.  It was truly fantastic--only way it could have been better would be with Oregon strawberries, like Mom makes at home, but I guess I have to take what I can get!  I still have half the créme fraîche left, so I'm thinking I'll have to make them again…oh, what a burden!  My life is so hard.

The weather this week is supposed to be stiflingly hot again, ranging from low 80s to low 90s.  Yuck.  So I'm going to go to museums on the hottest days!  I need to research which ones have air conditioning, but I imagine many of the art museums and antiquity museums should be climate controlled.  Yay for that!

I think that's all I have to report for now.  Bis bald!