I LOVE Berlin: Part One

If I were asked to name one thing that I dislike more than exams, it would probably be getting sick. And while I don't get sick very often, when I do, it's usually pretty bad. Right now I'm on day five of whatever illness I happen to have right now (it's something involving a cough and a sore throat, an awful headache, and tons of, excuse me, snot), and the nurse at the school clinic said she hopes I'll be better by Monday. It's Thursday. And I've already watched all of the Harry Potter movies. Sigh.

I visited the school clinic today and, after checking my basic vitals and interrogating me about my latest misfortune, they finally gave me the good stuff (my current favorite is the 12-hour Sudafed) and wished me a good weekend. Good weekend, indeed. At least I have an excuse to be lazy (my boyfriend did make me dinner and has been preparing tea at my every request), although I'm pretty upset that I'll be missing a hike at Mohonk Preserve tomorrow. Check this out! Not that we're going to the spa resort house thing, but the picture is pretty. Although a spa would be really nice right about now....

I suppose you could consider this disease my souvenir from Berlin, considering that's where I got it from. Luckily I only had it the last day we were there, then brought it back with me (shh), although it was pretty painful when I realized that upon my return I'd have to write a paper within two days for one of my classes. Looking at readings about the Habsburg Empire for nearly 12 hours straight two days in a row is pretty tough under normal circumstances so I'm pretty proud of myself for actually turning something in (keyword: SOMETHING). Remind me never to do that again.

But Berlin! It was probably one of the coolest experiences I've ever had in a class. Actually, no--it is the coolest. And yes, the picture is of me kissing a graffiti-ed figure on the last remaining mile of the Berlin Wall.

We stayed at a 19th century hotel WITH FREE BREAKFAST that happened to survive World War II in a really neat neighborhood by the Berlin Zoo. To our misfortune the transportation system was on strike for the first few days there and Berlin is a HUGE city, so trust me, my calves are about the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger's right now (okay, a bit of an exaggeration...).

One component of the course is the requirement to keep a journal during the trip that is used as a forum for personal thoughts, opinions, ideas about the memorials that are later typed up and used for our projects (so yes, we kind of did work). For the first week in Berlin, we did things throughout the day with the class, such as viewing memorials around the city and writing down our reflections about them, but we did get the evenings free. I'm not gonna lie, one night I did fall asleep at 7 pm because I was so exhausted from walking all day long, but most nights I went out with my classmates for dinner and/or drinks around the city.

We saw most of the Holocaust-related memorials in the city and also explored a Jewish History Museum (although I think a lot of us were so tired from walking all day that after several hours in the museum we napped in the kids section while watching Felix The Cat), but then ventured beyond the city to visit Ravensbrook, a women's concentration camp, and a synagogue and Jewish Museum in Hablerstadt that included a FREE gourmet lunch--my favorite! Basically, we got a really good tour of both Berlin and the German countryside that week, which was a great experience, although right now the illness is really getting to me, so perhaps I'll post some more about Berlin later.

Ugh. Be glad you don't have this. (And yes, I love to complain.)

Real World: Fahnestock State Park

Perhaps the coolest class that I'm taking this semester is my hiking and backpacking class--you know, something simple that doesn't require you to think beyond admiring nature. I may have to wake up every Friday morning at 9am to go hiking (which is REALLY early by Vassar standards), but unlike most early classes, losing some sleep for this class has a few benefits. First of all, my professor has a ridiculously adorable puppy and I LOVE animals. I've really missed my dog since coming to Vassar and because we aren't allowed to have un-caged animals, I feel like I tend to adopt my professor's/boss's/current house fellow's pets as my own. Let's be honest--watching my house fellow's puppy grow up was akin to watching my own child turn into a crazy, rebellious teenager (minus the secret tattoo and shady boyfriends), and then a nice, sensible--and of course, good looking--young adult (does that sound like me?). The second reason I love this class is that New York is beautiful and it's great to spend a day outdoors taking pictures instead of sitting in class, gazing at the beautiful, sunny day that I'm not enjoying. And for some reason, three hours of hiking in that class passes 435790231587756.8 times more quickly than that 75-minute class I took on Cognitive Science (which was soooo NOT my thing!).

So far this semester, we've been to some pretty cool places within a 20-minute drive from campus, including the Appalachian Trail and Fahnestock State Park. In order to prep ourselves for the trail, our professor (perhaps instructor?) gave us a few lessons on trail gear and safety before just letting us loose in the woods. I'd been hiking and camping prior to signing up for this class, therefore, I happen to possess proper hiking clothes and boots, so all I really needed was a pair of fast drying pants to wear under jeans. Technically you're not supposed to wear cotton on the trail because if it gets wet, it doesn't dry--especially in cold weather (can you sense my foreshadowing?)--so I made a $20 investment in nylon/spandex pants to wear running and hiking and started hitting the trail.

Last Friday we went to Fahnestock State Park, which contains a portion of the Appalachian Trail. We ended up hiking on part of the Appalachian Trail (which, or so I am told, is also referred to as the "AT"), as well as some trails in Fahnestock that happen to intersect with it. It was a beautiful, sunny day, which was great for taking pictures, even though it was maybe only 15 or 20 degrees outside in the morning.

Near the beginning of the trail, we happened upon a raging river (okay, probably more like a raging stream) and I took a few pictures (see above!) before realizing that the trail ended and there was no clear way to get to the other side. One girl found a pretty large log and attempted to cross, but ended up getting her foot wet on the way so the rest of us tried to find a safer way. After walking a bit further downstream, we found another log that looked easier to cross because it was a more direct route, slightly wider, and it was over ice, which made it look safer. The other ten people in my class managed to cross the stream by sliding themselves across the log, making it look like no problem. And I may be a bad dancer and do not have the best coordination, but come on; it wasn't like I was competing in some sort of bizarre Olympic event. But of course, as soon as I tried to cross the stream, the ice (which was thinner than it appeared) cracked, I fell in, and before I knew it, was up to my thighs in freezing water. Everyone else freaked out, but I tried to remain calm by saying stuff like, "Oh, this happens all the time," and "Sure, I've fallen into freezing water before," but I couldn't ignore the fact that I was wearing cotton jeans (which we learned don't dry) and the insides of my shoes and my only pair of socks were wet. To put it in Oregon Trail lingo (because it was equally dramatic), I'd attempted to ford the river and failed, and was probably about to die of dysentery--or, more likely, frostbite.

But luckily I was wearing THE pants--you know, the spandex-y nylon-y ones--and was able to borrow another pair from my hiking instructor to wear over them. By moving my toes constantly and hiking for a couple other hours, I managed to get away with only red toes rather than blue ones, which was good news. And my instructor’s dog kept me in good spirits, which is always a plus.

My lessons for the day? Always bring extra socks, avoid wearing cotton, and most importantly, don't walk on thin ice.