russendisko

highlight of my weekend was definitely the russendisko (aka the russian disco). bimonthly, a cafe/bar/mini club in mitte has 'russian disco night' and basically blasts the weirdest russian/techno/american-euro pop tracks for hours. it was an insanely intense dance floor--jam packed and hilarious dancing styles ensued. mostly, it was a giant mosh pit and such a guy thing! but i loved it, it was so weirdly fun to be twirled around the entire dance floor whilst bumping into equally sweatydrenched people. i'll be going again, i know this for a fact.

must dashdashdash!

xo

laundry day

guys, i am so busy. this weekend i barely stopped moving: it was grand and epic, but i feel at times that my mind is exploding from over-stimulation. my mom is coming to see me next weekend and i could not be happier. we're going to warsaw. it'll be easter weekend which means catholicism will be in full spring and blooooom. at least the churches will be open, so perhaps we can get our yearly dose of religion in. whaddaya say, mama?

Sidenote: easter is on steroids in germany. seriously, there are bunnies everywhere. i took a picture the other day, i'll try to remember to plug in my camera and upload.

i've been doing a lot of thinking these days; in the moments when i have the chance to be alone, i allow myself to really be alone. i was talking to my wonderful father about this the other day: the extremely important act of allowing oneself time to really reflect. it's not about being lonely, it's about seeing yourself through your own eyes and not through the vague (and frequently completely irrelevant) bird's eye view of other people.

and to end for now: i experienced two hours of extreme homesickness last thursday. it was intense, but just like heart-break, that feeling makes everything that is dear to me simply that much more beautiful.

xoxo

um, heyyyyy, crossing over into the mid-60s this week.

praise jebus

routine

i realized today that i am a complete hypocrite (do me a favor and look surprised please). when tay first left for barcelona, i whined on and on at her on skype, pleading for details of her everyday existence. then i got to berlin and have since not bothered to actually talk about my daily routine on the blog. mostly because daily routines are relatively boring no matter where on the planet you happen to live.

nevertheless, here goes:

I have language class at my university from 9:30-13:00 (or if my dozentin is feeling particularly cruel, 9:00-13:15) mtwthf. guf. the freie universität, or "free" university, is an hour-long metro ride from my apartment so, yeah, i travel the equivalent time i would if i were commuting from nevada city to sacramento every day. basically, i spend a lot of quality time hanging out with my ipod, zombily (i am aware that is not a word) staring people down creepily on the metro--it's normal, ok? i would especially like to note that german women read really, really crappy american novels translated into german, which is even worse in my opinion. being the cultured person i am (haaaaaa), I started to read erich maria remarque's die nacht von lissabon today. in german. so cultured, right? mhmmmmm.

we have a break half-way through class, thank god. we usually go upstairs to pi cafe, which is a really nice 'alternative' coffee shop at the fu. on sunny days (there have been two so far and i am not exaggerating), we sit on the terrasse. (titillating post so far, right?)

after school, my friends and i frequently eat in the mensa (cafeteria) of the fu, because we're cool like that. actually, the mensa is a pretty fantastic option for students--not like crossroads, which was sooo expensive/disgusting. i usually average meals around 2euro, including something to drink.

afternoons are spent either doing homework, or running, or other things, and then in the evenings we frequently meet up for dinner or at a kneipe (bar) and talktalktalk.

so there you go: that's been my life for the past three weeks, and will continue to be my life for the following three. actually, it's been really fun to have such a busy schedule, but i seriously feel like i never stop moving. the people are great, though, and that is something i am so thankful for.

i have to go to sleep nowwwwwwwwwwwww but first---

GO OBAMA I LOVE YOU (that is residual happiness left over from this morning. despite my irritated eye, i spent the majority of my metro ride to and from the uni smiling idiotically, which got me a couple of reproving looks from staid, older german gentlemen. smiling on the metro is VERBOTEN here. or if not, at least vehemently disapproved of).

this monday began as an 'off' day, for a stupid reason--my left contact lens irritated me the entire morning and i just couldn't get my mind off my eye. it's a idiotic reason to ruin a day, but it sure got me thinking about 'vision.' it's such an important part of our lives, the eye (allow me to get metaphoric here). when we allow ourselves to focus too acutely on negative things--like the pain in our irritated eyes, for example--sometimes that focus can completely take over our mental state and ruin something (like a beautiful, sunny day) that's perfectly fine.

i'm pretty proud of myself, though, because i definitely turned this day around. upon arriving home, i promptly took out my contacts and went on a long run in what i have discovered to be the most romantic spot in berlin. maybe someday, you'll be lucky enough to accompany me there....(HAA). i also embraced my glasses because, hey--sometimes you just gotta bring on the nerdy. i feel tons better after a good sweat. i've got a BIG week ahead: lots of work, and lots of visitors! stay tuned!

edit: i just read over this and realized my sentence structure has gone completely whack. stupid german is ruining the smallest ability i once had to express myself on paper(internet). stupid stupid DEUTSCH

if i was in berkeley, i'd be dancing in the streets

Let's celebrate Mr. Obama tonight; he made something happen that I didn't think was possible and I am, for the second shocking moment in the last 1.5 years, so very proud of my country.

Read about it here

“Tonight, we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us. When faced with crisis, we did not shrink from our challenges. We overcame them. We did not avoid our responsibilities, we embraced it. We did not fear our future, we shaped it.”

--President Barack Obama