Finally Settling In!

Sorry it's been over a week since I have posed. But a lot has happened and I am excited to share!

Last weekend, our program went to Postdam, Friedrich the Great's/II of Prussia, the  summer home. Potsdam is only 20 minutes outside of Berlin so it was really nice to get out of the big city and go to a small and very beautiful city.  Potsdam, is a relatively small palace, where Friedrich and his friends would go to spend their summers. Interesting rumor that I think is definitely true: Friedrich was gay.  One of our staff members told us right before our tour about this and said that our tour guide will not mention this and we were right! We asked her at the end about him being gay and she said there is no evidence for it, so therefore, she doesn't believe it is true. The reason why there is no evidence for him being gay is because he was one of Hitler's role models. Hitler obviously did not want anyone to think that one of his role model's was gay so he erased all evidence in history of this fact. As a result, today it's just a rumor that Friedrich was gay. Anyways, the palace was abosultely beautiful.  Friedrich loved the French and their culture so the whole palace is done in rococo style.  Additionally, Friedrich had a personal room (which is truly magnificent) for Voltaire who came regularly to his palace. The grounds are also queit nice. I can't vouch for it, but in the summer the grounds are supposed to be gorgeous with tons of flowers, shrubberies, and sculptures. The sculptures were to my disappointment, all boarded up because the sculptures are delicate and the cold could ruin them! Bottom line, everything was beautiful, but it will be more beautiful in the Spring/Summer, so I will have to return again! Petra and Arnold suggested that we could do a bike trip to Potsdam and have a picnic- sound great to me!

Voltaire's Guest Room

Saturday night, I went with the family to Avital, the cantor's house for dinner. They live far out in East Berlin, in a neighborhood that apparently has a lot of Neo-Nazi residents. But the reason why they live there is because their apartment is really something special.  It is from the Art Nouveau period circa late 1800s.  The design of lobby and the stairwell was in this really beautiful wood design and their apartment was massive. I have never been in such a big apartment before and the decor was very simple, minimal, and modern. Fun fact, that I did not appreciate when that much when I was there.  German dinners go on for HOURS and HOURS! Usually dinner last in my household for 1-2 hours, tops 3. We go there around 6 and did not leave until 11!  Avital's husband every 10 minutes attempted to try to pour me another glass of wine. If you know me well, I love red wine, but this guy was a little too much for me to handle! He was really sweet though and wanted me to join the Jewish German soccer team in the summer. He even gave me a jersey from the team, even though I tried to tell him that it was ok and I didn't need it! But he mentioned I had to have it and that I probably should wash it. I just call it vintage!


On Sunday, a bunch of friends and I went to brunch, a typical Sunday activity. These brunches can last anywhere from an hour to 10 hours. We just did the 1 hour one.  After brunch we went to the biggest flee market I have ever been to in Mauer Park in Prenzlauerberg. It basically had anything and everything. They had food stands on one side and a lot of objects on the other. We probably spend a good three hours walking around and did not even get to see all of it! I ended up buying beads (for the jewelery I made), a cowel (a circular scarf, that is keeping me very toasty), and a second hand sweater. I was very excited about my purchases. I also got this amazing pastry- it was basically a lot of butter and almonds- my mouth is currently watering. I gave my friend Robin a bite, and completely forgot she was allergic to nuts and, when I remembered, I yelled, "Robin it has almonds!!!!" and she quickly spit it out. That was a close one!

My friend Robin, trying on a pair of 80s glasses at Mauer Park

My program saw a great movie called "The Lives of Others." Everyone should see it! It won an Oscar for best foreign film in 2006. It was about the Stasi, the GDR's secret police, which monitored the movements of the culture art figures of East Berlin. It really opened my eyes to the history of the 1980s in East Berlin, the place that I live right now.

A lot more happened this week, but this post is becoming too long so tune in tomorrow for another post!