Two days in Berlin and unsere kinder

The ballet was phenomenal! I'm so glad that I went, even though it was by myself and I was tired. I nodded off a couple times in the dark, since I hadn't slept off the travel yet, but I worked very hard to stay awake, since the ballet was just so beautiful. It was Schneewittchen, or Snow White. It was my first ballet ever, and I'm sure that it will be hard to beat.

On Thursday we moved into the Pegasus Hostel. It was rough lugging our luggage on the S- and U-Bahns, then walking, then all the way up to our 5th floor room (no elevator), but it's a really cool place. It's very colorful and interesting. Our group is taking up one whole room, and it has a loft, which I love. There's a little cave on the side of the loft with a mattress in it that I've been sleeping in, and I love it. Very cozy, like I have my own little space, and no one else wanted to sleep in the loft so I have it all to myself. We share one shower, but it's doable if we organize the night before. The stairs are exhausting, but it's good exercise. We're getting a lot of it! We did some wandering, had lunch at a cheap and yummy Indian place, then did some hanging out at the hostel, since we were all tired. Janet took us out on a short night tour to Brandenburger Tor and the Holocuast memorial. It was breathtaking and eerie at night. A fantastic end to the day.




Today we read at the Lesen Gegen das Vergessen (reading against forgetting), which honors those authors who went into exile or whose books were burned. We had all started working on texts to read, but Janet got an even better text in the mail, so we switched to that on the fly. It was a comedic alternative Little Red Riding Hood, and it was a very fun read. It brought some necessary lightness to a very serious event, and the audience really seemed to appreciate it. After another delicious lunch (the food here is simply fantastic!), we went out to Neuköln to meet some of the kids that we will be tutoring next week. They're so enthusiastic and adorable! It was a very fun meeting, and I have high hopes for spending time with the kids, even though I'm nervous about teaching and communicating with them. Finally, we all went to the theater tonight. I went to see Ehrensache with Alyssa, which is one of the plays that we performed. the rest of the group will see it later in the week, though, and I don't want to spoil anyone else's impression, so I'll wait to talk about it.



We've got an early morning tomorrow, moving into the Circus Hostel, then getting right back out for a tour of Potsdam. I'm looking forward to taking lots of pictures of the architecture. It should be another full and exciting day!