Wow, things in life starting moving very rapidly recently. The last week we travelled to Berlin, Dresden, and Prague and it was wonderful and busy.
I knew that I liked Berlin after the first 15 minutes walking around. People-watching is my favorite pastime and Berlin was full of exotic-looking people. The city felt very different from any other place I've ever been. I love how the skyline was full of ancient building and cranes -- the dichotomy of history and the future was unavoidable to capture in every photo.
We went on an exhilarating bike tour of the city with our super-cool Scottish tour guide and I am proud of myself for living to sit here and blog about it. Learning how to ride a bike was a large source of anxiety for me last semester, and successfully completing the bike tour, (albeit with a significant amount of profanity) makes me incredibly relieved and feeling accomplished.
The tour of Sachsenshausen concentration camp was sobering. I think it's important for us as human to experience that chilling feeling of little crawlies under the skin when you realize that you're standing exactly where literally thousands of completely innocent humans were ruthlessly murdered by fellow humans. I was especially freaked out by learning that there was a brothel in the concentration camp, where women were forced to work as prostitutes for the guards and other concentration camp victims. A disgusting reminder that humans are just mindless animals unless we continually strive for reason and empathy.
Overall, Berlin was a uniquely interesting city. Not necessarily fun, but a great experience.
Prague was fun though! I had no idea that Prague was such a wonderful city to visit as a tourist but I enjoyed how "tourist-friendly" everything was. I thought the Russian influence on the city was interesting.
Highlights of Prague include delicious cinnamon sugar covered pastries, an awesome Salvador Dali exhibit, our beautiful hostel that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Jewish quarter cemetery and museum. I never knew how complex, ceremonial, and different from Christianity Judaism is.
Five weeks from right now I will be on the plane home! I have mixed feelings about this. I am incredibly excited to see my family and pets. I will also be so sad to leave the wonderful adventure that this semester has been. I feel as thought I've been gone for long enough that nowhere will feel like "home" anymore. But I suppose this semester has definitely taught me that I am highly adaptable and can find comfort and happiness wherever I am.
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