Solo in Berlin/Denis' Birthday 5/29 5/30/08

I woke up on the morning of the 29th earlier than the previous day. Both Nancy and Denis had things they had to do today, so I was mostly on my own. There was a massive heat wave which swept Sahara winds into Berlin, so outside it felt an awful lot like the middle east again. There was that same dry wind and dust that reaches every crevass just by entering out into it. For the early part of the day I stayed inside and caught up on blogs. It was nice and cool inside Nancy and Denis' apartment, and it felt nice just to relax and take it easy here at the end of my journey. This blistering heat would have probably been terrible had I still been in the midst of traveling, but now life was pretty easy, and water and shade was plentiful. Later however, I did venture out into the city.

I took the metro out to the new city center, over by the Sony Center and walked around a bit. This is the time I took the majority of my pictures. I sauntered through the area, for the first time, hanging out like I was on vacation. It was a strange feeling to not have any major obstacles to face, or routes to plan. I wasn't trying to see anything in particular, because I'd seen what I wanted to see already. From the new center, I walked through East Berlin and the old East center. I passed by several gypsys on the way over. They seem to be all over, here in Berlin esecially. I'm not quite sure why. It seems very sad, because they are a poor people, and oppressed. However, you really can't trust them because they will steal everything you've got if you even get close to them. They walk around holding their children in you face, and asking if you speak English. I used to stop and just say "I'm sorry, I can't help," but now I don't even answer. I pretend I don't speak English and just wave them off. I feel terrible doing it, but it wouldn't help anything for me to get completely cleaned out trying to help them.

After crossing through East Berlin, I followed the wall over to Checkpoint Charlie. I spent some time there, reading all the captions and signs. I walked through the museum, which was indeed very interesting. I read about the different methods East Berliners used to escape to the West, and saw their inventions on display. Several pattents came out of the engenious designs which aided in their escape. The first minisub was invented to help the inventor swim accross the border undetected. Some people specially refitted their cars with smuggling compartments, to smuggle friends and loved ones across the border. One guy smuggled his girlfriend between two surfboards hollowed out and strapped to the roof of the car. It was amazing to see the things people came up with.

The next day was Denis' Birthday, so all 3 of us worked all morning, trying to get the house spick and span. Nancy baked a big beautiful cake, and Denis cooked the meal. I helped stir some things, and slice veggies for the salad. Of course, when company arrived they gave me far more credit than I deserved, saying I helped make dinner. It was such a fun experience, because I got to meet a lot of Denis' family who were all original Berliners. Most of the night, particularly in the begginning, everyone spoke in German so I just smiled and stayed quiet on the couch. As the night went on and the family started getting aclimated to my presence, more people started to approach me and start up conversations with me. Most of Denis's family, save for his grandmother and her boyfriend, could speak some English. However, when they would talk to eachother, or decided not to for one reason or another, Nancy stepped in as my official interpretor. I got to hear some stories from Denis' father about how he and Denis' grandmother escaped East Berlin. It was perfect to go with my visit to Checkpoint Charlie the day before. Denis' father was full of good stories. I especially like the one where for a while in his younger years, he dated in secret, one of the top officials of the Communist Party. Denis, Nancy, the whole family and I talked and laughed for hours. By the end of the night, I was so stuffed I could barely moove, and I was so tired that I fell asleep just as soon as my head hit the pillow. What a wonderful way to end an Epic Journey.