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.)

Sick (Literally) Of Summer

I must be some sort of control freak because whatever I can't control seems to get on my nerves. Take for instance the weather. In case you haven't noticed, I love to complain about the weather. The high for today is going to hover around ninety, and I know already that I'm going to complain about it all day long......and what I also know is that I'm going to be dying for this type of weather near the halfway point of winter. But for now, it's fall, and I wish the weather would behave itself.

But I'm not the only one looking forward to the change of seasons-the three trees in front of my TA honestly started changing colors overnight. [Sorry to disappoint you guys, but it looks like there are going to be at least a few more odd days until the cool weather is here to stay.]

The last day of summer is always kind of bittersweet. As much fun as it is to go swimming outdoors and wear flip-flops all the time (not that people don't mind frostbite on their toes in the winter, of course), you begin to look forward to a change from periods of infinitely many days worth of ninety plus weather. I can definitely say that I greeted fall with open arms this year. On the last night of summer, my friends and I lighted up my mini Weber grill and toasted marshmallows under what would have been the stars, had the night not been so cloudy.

It's crazy how fast senior year is going right now. I turned in a research paper proposal yesterday and my senior thesis proposal on Monday. Next week I have two short (as in five page) papers due, and my professors have already started talking about midterms in class. While I've learned a lot in my classes, I still kind of feel like the semester just started--every day and week seem to be divided up into moments I've spent in the library. Senior year is no joke, although it kind of seemed like it yesterday when I reached into my mailbox to find a couple small boxes of Nerds from the sociology majors committee, congratulating me on turning in my thesis proposal. Maybe by the time I turn in the first draft I'll have worked myself up to the "cupcake level." If I were a third grader that might be inspiring.

Just a couple of weeks left until October Break. I realize it's still early in the semester, but I'm in the mood for a break. Earlier in the week I became deathly ill (okay, I caught a cough and a cold....lame, I know) and I'm working on recovering at this point. Reading about Nazi Germany and racism in America isn't helping me feel any better, but my parents are visiting this weekend and bringing me cough syrup, so that should be good. If only they could bring me a couple more hours per day.... that would be worthwhile.