June 17 - day one

This is my second full day in Berlin, but my first day really beginning to get acclimated. (I arrived on the 16th but after the long flight to get here, I didn't really feel like doing much other than dealing with my phone and being connected to wifi to communicate with family back home!) I have traveled quite a bit before, but it's been a couple of years since I've been back to Europe. I've been to Dresden and some random, small little mountain towns in Germany but the one thing I always regretted was not getting to Berlin, so this trip has been a long time coming! I feel really fortunate and excited to finally be visiting Berlin under these circumstances - studying social issues that are especially pertinent in these political times.

I went out a little bit on Saturday morning (the 17th) to see what was around me and I spent time making a list of places I want to go. (Confession: This "list of places to go" is my coffee list. I live in Seattle, after all!) I went with a couple others in the program to the first one on my list, Five Elephant. My German is limited and I've forgotten most of what I learned last year, but I managed to order "einen Kaffe Latte bitte"! And I didn't know how to say "outside" but I was able to understand that the barista asked me where we were going to sit and I pointed to the outside. :)

My first impression of Kreuzberg is that it is unlike many of the places I've been to before. Just from walking a few blocks this first day, I was enthralled with the graffiti and street art. It seems to cover every single surface and even though some of it is literally just scribbles, the way that it's all layered over the surfaces and graffiti layered on more graffiti or over street art images is amazing. It made me realize how sanitized many urban spaces are (or try to be). I really enjoy walking down Cuvrystrasße (a couple of blocks down) - it's colorful and full of life. There are so many people sitting outside relaxing and eating at the many restaurants along the street. (We had some delicious Thai food at
Buddha's Kitchen.) We (myself and a couple other people from the program) found our way around the public transit and went to Alexanderplatz seeking tshirts and a Geldautomat (ATM) - seeing a tiny bit more of the city from the tram was interesting.

Other than that, I took some time to rest and recover from jet lag! Lots more for tomorrow's post... But here are a few pictures I took from Saturday.