Vijay and Shefali's TAtW

Gutentag, or as they say in Doucheland, ‘Hello!’ This bit had some ups and downs. I don’t think I’ve ever hit my head on so many things yet this trip. I could have sworn Germans were taller. And Shefali and I both picked up a nasty cold. And, the worst of it (though if this is the worst thing that happens, I guess there is really nothing to complain about) – the good camera broke. Shefali was kind enough to lend me hers while it all gets sorted out. With the bad out of the way, let’s focus on the good: Berlin is like the other end of a busy signal… OFF THE HOOK! There’s no shortage of cool stuff to do. Any kind of music, fashion, weirdo hipster culture, whatever – it has it in droves. The food. It’s all delicious, wether out of a kitchen or a truck or a rusty crapshack. I don’t know how they make curry powder and ketchup work so well but who knows, maybe I’m just biased. And the sneakers. They have sneaker stores here like we have Starbucks at home. Interestingly enough, just the one Starbucks. It’s a fair trade if you ask me (get it???). And, on top of all that, it’s the most affordable place we’ve been yet (but that could just be because it’s a relatively poor city). But the best part is… the history. Seriously. So Shefali and I have been doing these “free” walking tours (they’re technically not free since you are expected to tip at the end. Every tour was completely worth tipping for) whenever and wherever we can. Berlin had two – one that covered the general history of Germany and Berlin up until now and another that just focused on the street art and graffiti scene. They were both awesome. The guides were well versed in the history and machinery of it all, and they gave us a lot of context for the sites we visited and how it helped shape the culture. Growing up, I didn’t know much about politics. As an adult, I still don’t. But if there was one thing you knew about Germany as a child of the eighties, it was the Berlin wall. Even when it came down, you knew it was something big. But it still didn’t make any sense, why people cared so much. The sheer magnitude, the gravity of that kind of change is simply lost on an immature kid that didn’t actually live through it. I think even for the vast majority of Americans, it was only a peripheral involvement. It was more of an Us vs. Them, Capitalists vs. Commies kind of thing. But once you’ve heard the stories of heartbreak and compulsory separation, you realize it was just a bunch of grownups playing Cowboys and Indians with a cavalier attitude to the lives and the livelihoods of the Berliners. So it’s great to hear all the other stories of blatant defections, daring escapes and of course the collapse of the wall. Supposedly it was announced by mistake. Then people lined up to cross the barricade. Just imagine, two border guards who hadn’t received any orders trying to stop literally thousands of people from crossing. Eventually they gave up and just let people through. And on the other side, thousands more West-Berliners waiting with open arms, beer, champagne and… bananas (because you couldn’t get bananas in East Berlin at that time), and complete strangers celebrated like family. I can’t tell the story as well as it was told to us, but the sense of camaraderie and triumph was palpable as it was retold. Like I said earlier, the camera broke so a lot of the pictures are kind of bobo after the second day. I guess we’ll just have to make memories instead.

Vijay

[1]http://www.flickr.com/photos/97388931@N08/sets/72157634665168696/
[2]http://www.flickr.com/photos/97388931@N08/sets/72157634694469710/