Berlin

While I have enjoyed my stint in Berlin and have had the opportunity to visit 2 good friends of mine while being here, I don't feel as if I could ever live in this city. I feel as if the people as well as the environment is so incredibly alternative, and here I am, something akind to Allie Lowell of Kate and Allie. The naive one. The one who studied art history and married the first man she ever dated. Ok, so my situation is not as extreme, but still.

So picture me, this 23 year old who has traveled but still has some of those conservative values her good ol parents taught her, walking into a building covered in grafitti, where alternative artists of all ages sell their stuff. Each floor brings something new; everything from earrings and bracelets to pictures of people on the toilet to bondage scenes. The artists are in the corner, either working on their craft or smoking pot, hoping perhaps that you will buy their product. I looked around, perplexed, taking everything in, and then walked out. It somehow reminded me of Ann Arbor, where the peace, love, recycling, and living in filth (as in co-ops where there are bugs in the food) seem to be the norm. Guess there are people like that everywhere.

In stark contrast to that, I saw many other things; Checkpoint Charlie, the DDR Museum, the Kennedy Museum, an Anne Frank exhibit, and many beautiful buildings and other monuments.

My time here has been well spent. I will, however, be coming back to Salzburg exhausted, hopefully ready to tackle my last month here. On June 30 I will be done and off to Goslar, Germany. And you know what? I AM SO READY!

Love, Molly