Germany

Well, as most of you guys know by now, I am officially home at this point. But I never wrote about Berlin, so lets pretend I am not.

I am actually, at this moment, in Malena's sweet apartment in a little funky neighborhood in Berlin about to grab a cafe and fall asleep in the park. BEGIN.

Berlin is an incredible city that is nothing like I imagined it to be. I feel like it's a little known secret of a fun, little, funky capital. There is music and musicians galore. Art and graffiti on every wall, door, car, and floor. And people can still smoke indoors. Ok, well that last part stinks (quite literally), but the rest is pretty great.

I met my wonderful roommate/older sister Malena at the train station.

She greeted me with her new, sweet red bike and took me on a tour of the town...

And quite a little funky city it turned out to be. Young people everywhere, musicians jamming away on the streets, and little bridges to take a seat and catch the sunset. It has an extra little dose of energy that is clearly felt by everyone around.

I must admit that we spent most of the time doing what Malena and I like best: drinking coffee, talking, and grabbing the UV waves (with sunscreen of course!).

From one cafe to the next, we hoped around the beautiful neighborhoods of that lovely city, occasionally stopping for a nap in the park. We even swang on the swing-set just in front of the Berlin wall, while listening to live music in a beautiful large park full of artists. They really have done a fantastic job turning a wall of fear and separation into a field of union, laughter, and music. It is quite an extraordinary thing to see really.

Slowly but surely my short trip in Berlin came to an end. I said my sad goodbyes to Malena, knowing full well that we will meet again someday soon, and headed off for my last plane trip, my last journey, and my last little memory of what this great year has been.

And, POOF, I am back home.

A great year, an amazing journey, and a field of memories.

Thanks for joining me everyone. I might just keep this bad boy around for a bit more, because truthfully, its just fun.

Thanks!

Cristina

So I did finally make it to Berlin, though not without my troubles. Turns out my backpack was 2 kilos over the 10 kilo limit and checking it in would cost me 45 Euros!

So the clever Bernardo thought it best to put on all of her clothes, or as much as humanly possible...

7 shirts, 1 dress, and 2 skirts later, I cleverly sneaked through the weighing station with my journal tucked into my back, Animal Farm peeking out from my sweater, and a cute little book on funny French stereotypes just above the waist. Oh and a winter coat in 80 degree weather.

Victoriously, I made my way towards the metal detector only to hear the ding,ding,ding ring in my ears. Oh no, not now I thought!

Well the airport lady was not too impressed by me. She pointed seriously to the four angled specimen protruding from my belly and declared loudly "what is that?!" Oh ya know, just a book, that's totally normal right? Now she thought for sure that I was some type of overweight terrorist. "Go over there, and please remove some clothes...please remove some more."

Oh the horror! Here I was stripping off layers and layers of clothes in front of a packed airport. Everyone was looking at me like a giant weirdo. "How much clothes do you have on??" she asked. Oh ya know just enough to keep 10 children warm in 20 degree weather.

In the end she let me go, and I finally made my way to the plane, giggling to myself, and wishing I had someone, anyone to tell the story to...

love,
Little B