City tour

This was my first Berlin city tour! It was so fun because I got to go with a bunch of missionaries from all over Europe. They were so nice and we had a great time. It was rainy and a bit chilly but also loads of fun.

This is the old city municipal building type thing. It was burned almost to the ground before Hitler rose to power and he used the unrest of this event to start moving people to camps and elevating his position. Some people speculate that he burnt it down to cause unrest. Now the dome is glass. Most German architecture, especially city/national buildings, use lots of glass to signify an openness and show they aren't hiding anything anymore. They are transparent. Interesting, no?

There are memorials all over Berlin for different groups of people that died during the Holocaust. This one is for the gypsies who were placed in camps and who died.

This is Brandenburg Gate. It's really cool. On the other side are loads of embassies and a Starbucks. The gate was in between the two walls. Did you know there were two walls? And it wasn't a straight line. It was more of a circle encompassing West Berlin. Crazy. I'm not an expert though so...sorry if any of this is wrong.

This is a Jewish Holocaust memorial Under it is a museum. It's really interesting. It looks like graves on the edges but as you enter it they get taller. The ground sinks and rolls like small hills and valleys. It sort of creeps up on you. It's supposed to give a sense of isolation and unrest but other than that, one can translate the meaning. The designer wanted everyone to be able to create a meaning for themselves. Really interesting. Intimidating and dark. It's hard to explain but I think you should go there and see it. I'll definitely go back and check out the museum.

This is a parking lot. It's also a place where people bring their dogs to poop. Aaaaaaand....it's where Hitler killed himself in a bunker and they burned his body. Crazy right? It's just a parking lot now. There is a haphazard sign. That's it. Nothing else. So weird. It's such a huge part of history and they decided they didn't want to memorialize and therefore glorify him. So they didn't.

Here is part of the wall.

This is checkpoint charlie. Sorry it's blurry. This was one of the places that people could go from West Berlin to East (but obviously not vice versa). Our tour guide told us about one guy from the west that found a girlfriend also in the west and they got close. Then he took her passport and used it for his REAL girlfriend to get from the East to West! Ha! Poor west girlfriend. Tricked.

What's a blog without pictures of food? We went to dinner that night and this was my salad. It had TONS of bacon!!!!! It was great.

Aaaaand...this is my full rack of ribs. Yep. Bomb! So good. I finished them. Barely touched the fries. You can get fries anywhere. The ribs are where it's at. I turned to my semi-vegetarian friend and said "I like when you can tell it used to be an animal." Maybe not terribly sensitive but I thought it was funny.

Randoms

I jotted down some notes over the last couple weeks that I haven't written here so here is a hodge-podge of thoughts and memories with no pictures. You can skip this post if you think it's boring. It won't hurt my feelings. So one note I wrote was: "On Wednesday I had the most people smile back at me. It was great." I sometimes smile at people on the street. I know Germans don't love this and they think you're crazy if you look people in the eye or smile as you walk by someone you don't know, but I kind of don't care. I think some people just need a smile. I try to use discretion and not smile at everyone but sometimes I can't help it. I'm trying to temper it to a small smile. On this day though (whatever week that was) people smiled back. I've been encouraged to remember that the Light of Christ is in me and my job right now in this dark city is to just live and be a light. I trust God will do with that what He wills. So sometimes I smile. And sometimes people like it. And sometimes I feel at home. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The next note I wrote said "Donner Shop." That 'o' is supposed to have an umlaut (double dots) over it but I have an American keyboard so just picture it. Donner is a turkish food that is shaved meat(ish) inside bread with cabbage, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and sauce. It's really good. There are shops all over but I started going sometimes to one on my street just a short walk away. Now, when I walk by, I smile at the men who work there and sometimes I wave. They started waving and smiling back and I just love it. They recognize me every time now. It is another thing that makes me feel like this is home. Light. Just living here trying to be light. Hoping God uses that even when I don't see it. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The last thing is that I go to class Monday through Thursday (sometimes Fridays too) to learn German. It's really great even when it's tough. Our class is ten people plus the teacher and everyone kinda likes everyone else, which is great. The teacher is nice and funny. We laugh a lot. We lost one of our fellow students today. Her name is GoGo and she is Greek. She had to go back to Greece earlier than expected so today was her last day. She is so fun and full of life. She will be missed. There is a man who is from Syria and he is funny and so friendly. And there is another girl from Bulgaria who I ride the train with now because we take the same route. We were late today. There are so many different people and cultures here and I hope this becomes a source for friendships that grow deeper and stronger.

Brown paper packages tied up with string

I got a box. In the mail. It felt like it took ages to get here and there may or may not have been some tears when I thought it was lost for a day and a half, but it arrived and I was thrilled. It sat in my room for a few hours till my friend Jenny (who organized the whole thing) woke up so I could open it with her. Here is the most lovely box of things that make me so thankful that these friends know me SO well and love me so well.

This is Jenny. She is wonderful and thoughtful and loves me like I can't believe. I'm so thankful God has placed her in my life. This is the picture I have of Jenny on my wall and these are the things she gave me. Mac'n'cheese. Six whole boxes! Even got shells and white cheddar! She's a dream. You never know what you'll miss till you're gone. She also sent me salsa because It's my favorite snack and there is NOTHING spicy here. I opened the salsa right away. Didn't even finish opening the box first. There is also a box for making mummy cupcakes (despite the fact that it came a few days into November, I'm still VERY excited to make these...very soon). Also, she made my favorite thing from my favorite coffee shop: cashew butter (it's like peanut butter but with cashews and coconut oil). So nice!

These are my dear friends Chanelle and Kellyn (with Jared also pictured). They are hilarious, smart, beautiful, cool, and they love the Lord so well with their lives. I just want to be around them all the time whether we laugh or cry. I love them. And they love me. And know me SO well as evidenced by these three chocolate bars. One is banana peanut butter. Bomb. One is smoked stout caramel. Bomb. And the last is bacon chocolate. CRAZY BOMB! These were crazy delicious. The bacon was crispy even though it was inside chocolate!!!!! How is that even possible?? These girls are dear.

This is Jill. She looks like me sometimes. And she knows me. I miss her loads more than she knows. I miss being known by her. I miss having a companion by my side for all things. I miss going places with her. She is my first pick for all the museums and monuments I want to see here. This is my forgotten Nalgene water bottle. Needed this like you wouldn't believe. Inside it, along with a giant plastic bag, is a TON of green tea. So good. It's a staple for life. I am going to live forever. There is also chili pepper flakes. Like I said, nothing is spicy here. Not pictured is a pair of athletic shorts. Who knew I would have missed these even when it's 30 degrees outside? But I did. She is wonderful. And pretty. (Get it? Cause we look alike.)

This is Aly. She is beautiful, smart, thoughtful, honest, caring, and wise. She has been a lovely friend and is such an encouragement to me. She also knows me enough to know I love bacon. So here is bacon salt. It says low sodium but she warned me it has MSG. We both agreed it was worth it. And MSG adds so much good flavor, right Jill?

This is Jason (with Jared who snuck his way into this story even though he sent me nothing. He's the worst! Just kidding. He's great.) Jason sent me BBQ sauce (which was one of the first things I wanted when I got here. Maybe because I knew I couldn't get it anymore!). He also sent chili powder, goldfish, and more pictures of people I love. He is kind and thoughtful and a great friend to me.

And this is the part that made me cry a little. This is Tommy. I really love him. He is silly, fun, motivated, honest, caring, and giving. He sent me coloring books which he loves, and we did together sometimes. And he sent Monopoly Deal. It's his favorite card game. But he didn't go buy me one. He sent his. He told me to use it to make friends. I am so thankful for these wonderful, selfless, thoughtful friends. I can't believe what a wonderful support system I have at home. This is just a few of the wonderful people I know and love. Thanks dummies! You're wonderful!

Tiergarten

Tiergarten means "animal garden" or "zoo." It's in the center of Berlin and it's huge. I was so jazzed because I love zoos and I love big zoos even more. Here is my map of Berlin (so helpful). That big green area middle (left a smidge) is the Tiergarten and that big green circle at the bottom is the Tempelhofer park (old airport). The Tiergarten is huge, right?

Wrong. Turns out Tiergarten is a park. There is a zoo in it somewhere but that wasn't all zoo. Bummer. I thought I could go on a safari there! But the bonus is that it is a beautiful park full of fall trees and cool statues. My friend Gracie and I just walked around and talked for a few hours. Here is a picture of the German Victory Column in the center-ish of the Tiergarten. It was Designed by Heinrich Strack after 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War and was inaugurated on 2 September 1873. It was moved here by the Nazis during WWII and would have been destroyed had it not been transported to this new location. Thanks Wikipedia.

This is the base of the Column. It has some damage on it--holes and pieces missing. Gracie said this damage is from WWII. What?! This is my first time getting a history lesson IN Berlin. I can't wait for more next week.

Here is the filter I added to the whole thing. Not bad for a phone, eh?

Later I met up with John and Steph (bosses) for some more research. We had a warm beer (that cooled in our hands as we stood there!) and talked and counted. Then went back to their house and talked some more. Great meeting.

We used the front-facing camera. Can you tell?