Mittwoch 11. Mai 2011:
Wednesday was the day of tours. Our tours were interrupted by a brief German language class. I love the language class. I feel like it is very helpful and I feel as if it has been my saving grace with the German natives. Out of all the tours, I liked the Night Watchman's tour the best. We saw many old houses and towers from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Donnerstag 12. Mai 2011:
Today was filled with German language class. So far, we have learned how to say our name, how old we are, where we are from, who our family is, ask "what is this?", say if it is correct or false, count to one hundred, and much much more. Ich heisse Lauren. Ich bin achtzehn Jahre alt. (My name is Lauren. I am eighteen years old.)
We also participated in the Balu und Du program today. We went with the Balus and Moglis to Landschaftspark Piersberg. It is an old coal mine. We actually went down in the mine shaft and had a tour through it. I had a lot of fun getting to interact with the Balus and the Moglis. It was interesting to see how they interacted and see the relationship between the pairs.
(Throughout the trip we have had many instances of having to run for the bus. I finally got it documented and am now posting evidence of our struggle to match the public transportations' punctuality.) (Pictures 1, 2, 3, and 4)
Freitag 13. Mai 2011:
Today was the day of travel. We left for Berlin at about 7.30 and got to the city at around 13.40. When we got to Berlin, we immediately went to a museum, then checked into the youth hostel we were staying at. We went to the KaDeWe after dinner and spent a good while there. I got to see my friend, Chris, that I met back in 2008. We had not seen each other since April 2009, so it was exciting to get to see him again.
(Pictures 5 and 6)
Samstag 14. Mai 2011
Today was another tour day. We had a tour of the city of Berlin, saw the German Resistance Memorial Museum, and visited "Museum Island", which included the Pergamum Museum. Today was so much fun learning about Berlin and its history. It is so interesting to have read so much about one city and then go see the city itself. The comparisons are much different than expected. We saw the Holocaust Memorial as well. I know it sounds cliche but, there are literally no words to describe how it felt walking through the Memorial. Words do not do justice the conveyed feelings of isolation, disorientation, solemnity, and reflection.
(Pictures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
Sonntag 15. Mai 2011
Today, we went to the "Radical Jewish Culture" Museum. This museum has, by far, been the most eye-opening museum I have seen. I cannot convey the deeply wrought emotion that emerged from seeing this exhibition. We did not go through a normal, historical tour. Our guide specifically pointed out architectural designs and their meaning, or purpose. It may not seem like a "moving" tour where we are shown the lives of others; however, the architecture holds symbolic meaning and subconsciously prods at the human psyche in ways that I'm not sure could have been done by learning about the history. There was a room that held an exhibition made by an Israeli artist. It was dedicated to all of the victims of genocide and is, in my opinion, the most emotionally wrenching piece. The artist made 10,000 faces out of iron slabs. The faces were strewn throughout the room all over the floor and the visitors were told to walk on it. The sound made by walking on the faces is so harsh and sharp that it was painful to walk on it. I tried so hard to walk as softly and carefully as possible, but it was very much impossible to not make a sound. The faces were of all different sizes; I could not bring myself to step on the smaller ones. I had to step on the larger slabs, otherwise I felt shame, guilt, and I almost felt disgusted with myself. It is one of the most sobering experiences I have had. I will quote one of my favorite musicians, Florence and the Machine, and say no more. These lyrics say everything I could say, but better.
"Seems that I have been held, in some dreaming state
A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake
...
And I could hear the thunder, and see the lightning crack
All around the world was waking, never to go back
'Cuz all the walls of dreaming, they were torn right open
And finally it seemed, that the spell was broken.
And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open.
And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open.
No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone
..." - Blinding (Florence and the Machine)
(Pictures 13 and 14)
Actually, I have no time to post the pictures tonight, I shall do it in the morning.
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