moving day

saturday was moving day; though i was very sad to leave susi and bjorn, i also have been missing life that does not involve a suitcase. including texas and my first two weeks here, i've been living out of a suitcase for three weeks! it gets old, believe me.

basically, saturday was lazy and nice. moving stuff is boring etc, but i absolutely LOVE my "wg" (wohngemeinschaft, which means shared living). i currently live with a german guy, a spanish guy and a belgian girl who's here for 1.5 months til Mathilde returns from her trip back france. they're all great people and very relaxed.

on friday night, tay and i explored my new neighborhood prenzlauerberg. it's more gentrified than kreuzberg but i actually love it (i am very bourgeois, after all. i guess it's in my blood). it's full of little intimate bars and cafes and i think i will be siting in them often. later on, jose invited a bunch of his friends over and we all proceeded to eat delicious pasta and drink lots of cheap wine and beer, of course (it is germany, after all). it's interesting being one of the only americans among the people studying in berlin (though i had taylor to keep my nationality company this time). there are always lots of questions about berkeley and what it's like there now.

sunday morning, after having slept maybe five hours, tay and i headed over to a theatre in mitte for two film screenings that are part of the berlinale, or 60th annual berlin film festival. attendees at the festival include leo dicap. and the pitt/jolie gang. not that i thought we'd see them, or anything. ahem.

anyways, we saw a romanian film which was good but a little slow for a 9:30 am screening. the second film we saw, though, was absolutely amazing. it was a documentary about german high school students who took part in a production of the drama/modern dance of pina bausch called kontakthof. kontakthof is an exploration of male/female relationship dynamics and leans heavily on intimate interactions between the dancers. it was fascinating to watch the high school students put into situations where they would hug or touch the faces of other kids of the opposite sex; a big theme of the film was breaking down the boundaries of fear of really being completely there with someone. because it was the premiere, all of the students and the director, etc were there at the theatre; it was so fun to listen to them laughing at themselves and each other during the screening.

post-movies tay and i went to dolores, this little faux-mexican food place in berlin. faux or not, it was sooo delicious. i mean, i went into major food coma. mmmm, i think i'll go back this week again hah. later on, we had a light but lovely dinner at a romantic little restaurant. it was definitely the best valentines ever; tay plus the snow that has been so beautiful this weekend.

i had better go outside and do some more neighborhood exploring.

send me some sun from california please.

ciao for now

room
from left: sascha, marine, jose, me
"classic beef burrito" NOM

valentines lasagna