July 9

Today is Sunday, July 9th, and it is the last day in the free three day weekend. Some people have been or are still currently traveling; Clayton, Justin and I just got back from Prague yesterday, Becca is currently in Dresden, and Amanda went to Barcelona. Those who didn’t travel are out and about, working on their research and presentations or enjoying the weekly flea market at Mauerpark, like Catherine and Justin. I spent the morning in a cafe with good wifi (Estate Coffee, I recommend it!) getting caught up on assignments, and then had lunch at Hünherhaus 36 on Skalitzer Straße, which is one of the best places to eat on a budget. Like me, Sophie and Ying spent the majority of day also working on assignments. This morning Nikki got coffee at 5 Elephant, which is apparently pretty good although not the best Berlin has to offer.

The 1/2 Chicken with Rice at Hünherhaus 36

 The afternoon at Mauerpark

Unfortunately, by now most of the group has come down with the cold that has been going around; I had it a few days ago, and Sophie and Justin are just coming down with it. The weather today is actually beautiful, and it sounds like later some people have been tempted to finally visit the Badschiff, although I still think it's a little cool for swimming. Most groups have started thinking about presenting on Thursday; our outlines are due tomorrow and it’s crazy to have to start synthesizing all the information we’ve gotten out of Berlin into something concise enough to explain in a few slides! It’s finally starting to sink in that things are wrapping up. I think the community partner experience has been pretty interesting for most of us and it definitely stands out as making this program unique. Now that we’ve all had some time to get used to it, staying in Kreuzberg has actually been amazing. I don’t know a single person in the group who doesn’t like it here; it’s so dynamic and different. Even just adjusting to the store hours has been an adjustment for most of us; I know I'm not the only one who's made the trek to REWE just to find out it's closed. From what I’ve seen today, it seems like everyone has a lot of cool research to share in their presentations and I'm excited to hear some more ideas tomorrow in class. Overall it was a nice, calm Sunday and I'm looking forward to Monday.