Aaaaaahhhhhh!

Somehow my month here is nearly 50% over already and I have not blogged once!
Time here is flying away! I have been having such an amazing time living with and learning from S (we get along so well, we often talk for over three hours at a time, it´s ridiculous), observing and interacting with the children, and gallivanting about the city.
As I often did in my India blog when I was overwhelemed, I will break things down into lil categories:

Awesome places I have been:
~Gropiusbau art museum (we went to an exhibit today that was like BEING IN HEAVEN. It was almost sensory deprivation due to how thick the fog was, and there were bright colored lights, like the mist would change color as you moved about the room--visibiliy was so low I couldn´t even see my own feet, and people would come into view very slowly and myteriously; you wouldn´t see a wall till you were 6 inches away from it (one girl in our group cut her hand because of this, lol.) It was magnificent.
~A museum all about prosthetics and wheelchairs--so many incredible interactive exhibits. Now I know what it feels like to try to navigate Pariser Platz (the square right in front of the Brandenburg Gate) in a wheelchair, oh man
~The East Side Gallery, a long stretch of the Berlin Wall that has been preserved and is now covered in murals, many concerning peace and freedom....really powerful
~The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe --a pretty chilling experience if you do it correctly, but sadly it´s not made super clear from the outside what it is, so you have sunbathers, couples and children eating ice cream lounging on it in places. When you walk inside you get disoriented, the ground swells up and down, the gravestone-like blocks stretch taller and taller, you just see flashes of other people as they pass... There´s supposed to be information beneath it but I haven´t been down there yet
~Memorial for the Homosexuals Persecuted in Nazism --a big block of gray with a small window into it, where a black and white film of two people (according to wikipedia it switches every two years between 2 men and 2 women--this year it´s on men) tenderly making out can be viewed. It`s nice I guess, but I feel like something much more powerful could have been done. The accompanying plaque for it was really beautifully/well- written, though.
~One thing that´s popular here are bars with the most powdery, light, beautiful sand as their floors, located along the river. Strewn with beach chairs and giant square beanbags. Now that the weather is summer-hot, along the river and reclining is a lovely state to be in.
~Berghain--a superintense club. When I was in it, I kept thinking, AAAHHHTHISISSOBERLIN. And later (wandered there one night at the will of a guy in our group who´d been there before) when I looked it up online it turns out it´s supposed to be one of the best here. People even write advice on how to get in, lol, and we just traipsed in without trying or realizing how exclusive and well-known it is. Oops. I wasn´t that into the music and it´s tough to dance with a wristlet...but it was a neat atmosphere. We found all these sketchy (but clean and comfy) little nooks to rest in, and one in our trio actually fell asleep while I just sat there, resting my legs (we probably wandered for miles before finding the place, it was in a really random industrial area and everyone we asked for directions gave us different advice) and enjoying the thump of the beat in my body.

Actually, more on that night--slash another awesome place I´ve been, is on the big bridge that Lola runs through in the film Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run in English)! We were kind of running away from something and while it was happening I realized: I´ve seen this before! This happened in a movie! We are running where Lola ran! ^_^
Before finding Berghain we ended up near this river, and it totally looked like we´d been transported to New Orleans. Further down we found a club that had a beautiful swimming pool lit from the inside and like, built right on the river...Even though it was a warm night they weren´t letting people in yet, or we´d totally have jumped in.

I should probably talk about school! I love love love the children. They are SO CUTE and wonderful. Aaaaahhh. I´ve been writing down funny/strange quotes; shall put those in here soon enough. I´ve been surprised at how unruly the classes are, but I think that probably has more to do with the Montessori system than the teachers.

Random fact: Here instead of handles on the toilets you have buttons. Some toilets have just one button, but most have a small button and a bigger button....Guess why. X) O, Germans and their practicality/environmentallyfriendliness--no reason to use more or less water than you need!

Rarrgh. So tired. They really have us booked night till day pretty much, pretty much every day. I don´t see how they expect us to work on our research projects when we have field trips on every allotted "research day"... And most of us do sooo much commuting that it´s not just about being awake or alert, but true physical weariness and need of bedrest.

Speaking of which, that´s where I should be getting to! Have to wake up in 6 hours (circa 5.15am) to get ready for school-commute. Joyy. It´s been kind of empowering though, to know that I CAN do it if I REALLY need to...)

Ich vermisse euch alle! Hab euch lieeeeb!