Second morning in Berlin…woke up, had our coffees, wrote a bit, and headed out again.
This time we began in the park next to our building. Turns out it is a park AND a cemetery–bonus! We snapped some photos of lilacs and statues next to the graves, and we took a field recording of some birdsong. There was a duo of birds that was building a nest above us at one point, and I need to identify this species. They were so pretty with tips of bright blue on their wings.
Next, we bought two cappuccinos at Butter. The waitress recognized us and smiled at my mistake as I requested not ‘zwei’ but ‘weiss’ cappuccinos. Instead of asking for ‘2’, I asked for ‘white’ cappuccinos. It was funny. The waitress wanted to practice her English, (she actually said, “I love English”) so I think Butter will be a nice place for me to sip and write and maybe make some language exchanges.
I then went into the Catholic church, St. Joseph’s, to get some information for my Dad. I’m not sure where the actual church or chapel is because when I went inside it looked like an assistance home. I recognized the word “caritas,” and I took what I thought was a church bulletin. When I opened it, it looked mostly like a chart of how to donate to the church. The entrance was peaceful. Lots of little sitting spots and even an aquarium. The aquarium reminded me of my third grade teacher, Mrs. Anglim. I loved how she had a prayer corner for us with a rocker, a rosary, and an aquarium. Funny, just as I was thinking of her, a nun, in full white habit walked by. Only my Mom would understand that this scared me just a little. If you’re raised Catholic, and you were a bit of a hell raiser in school like I was, (and my Mom was) when you see a nun, you can’t help but feel like you did something wrong and you’re about to get caught. I also saw a man about my Dad’s age looking like he was taking care of a few things. It was sweet. I didn’t find his rosary in German yet, but I can go back as this church is very easy to go into.
Meandering further, we passed some bike shops, shoe stores, and clothing boutiques. Oh my god, I need a job because the urge to shop is strong–can’t help it–everything looks new, cute, inviting! Thank goodness on Monday I go with B to begin the process of getting our work permits. I know my first task is going to be finding a place for us and being “Becky Home Ec-y,” but as soon as we settle into a routine, I am freaking shopping!
Finally, to round out our morning, we made our way to Mauerpark…the place with part of the Wall that once divided East and West, and which is now a beautiful park, sports arena, artist tagging ground, and site of the famous Sunday flea market and crazy karaoke bear pit. It’s hard to imagine all that happened there. If you didn’t know the history, you’d think it was an expansive, lush, playful park. When we first entered from the north end, this was my first feeling. But then, as we got closer to the actual parts of the Wall, I felt something different. There is the Wall, yes, with tons of layers of graffiti, but the massive lights are imposing. They are most likely used for the sports events, but I couldn’t help feeling like something similar was used to catch people trying to cross. Our neighborhood is on the East side. Given all the “trendy,” bright stuff in this area, it is hard to imagine anything bleak or oppressive happening here, but horrible things did happen. I admire Berliners for honoring it, but also at the same time turning it into something more positive, useful, and creative.
I am a new comer, so I will learn more about this as I live here. For this morning, I will say that we were asked for directions twice to the sports arena. Both groups began with, “Entschuldigung,” and continued to speak. I was able to gently stop them and say in German, “Ich verstehe nicht. English?” To which there were smiles and attempts to speak English. “Sports arena?” they asked. This we could answer as we had just passed it. The other funny thing to mention is what was happening in the arena.Soccer? No. Competitive cheerleading! Buses and buses full of cheerleaders, and cheer Moms and Dads. My niece and sister-in-law would have gotten a kick out of this.
We came home to eat lunch, and on the way I spotted a thrift store! YAY! This made me miss my Mom, but I will take pictures. I will be going there very soon.
A perfect Saturday morning stroll on our second day…
