July Freizeit

With three out of seven of my classes officially completed, and two more incomplete but finished as far as my grades in them are concerned, I feel as though the stress has been sucked out of my time in Berlin.  

I have so much free time right now.

It’s amazing. This past Sunday, a time when normally I’m trying to get ahead on homework for the week, I went for a hike in the Grünewald. I found a little girl and her mother passing a Frisbee, which is something I hadn’t gotten to do since January, so I asked to join in. (They let me. I tried really, really hard not to be creepy. I hope I succeeded.)

I took a lot of pictures. Not of the girl and her mom, that would be weird, but of like plants and bugs and stuff. I visited Teufelsberg, the highest point in Berlin/bizarre modern art garden/graffiti gallery located about a kilometer into the Grünewald, and I took more pictures there.

On Monday, a friend and I visited the Jewish museum. Tuesday, my only class let out at noon, so after lunch I went to Wannsee and spent the rest of my day on the beach. I took more pictures. Wednesday evening, my friend Olivia and I made pizza and watched cartoons. This evening, Friday, we are leaving for Rome. I haven’t packed yet. I gotta do that.

I have a list of things I still want to do before leaving, but that list is dwindling steadily. I saw the Berlin Philharmonie (an experience worthy of a blog post itself, except that I doubt anyone wants to read a post containing only the words “it was amazing” repeated 133 times.) I had a picnic in the Tiergarten (consisting only of bread and cheese that I needed to get rid of before it went bad.) I discovered that Goth isn’t dead (I found a herd of about 50 goths under a bridge in Dresden. I haven’t seen that much black lace since fifth grade. This isn’t something that was on my list, of course, but it was an interesting finding.)

When I signed up to do IES Abroad, I was very confused about the schedule. There were the classes that ended in early July and the classes that ended in late July and the internship program that went till August. It was a lot to keep track of, and I remember choosing the July 23^rd date uncertain whether I’d made the right choice. I think now that I did. I miss the friends who left already, but I’ve got nearly a month left of wide-open afternoons and a whole lot more city to explore.

It’ll be great.