Back in Berlin

So here I am, back in the city that captivated me last spring.

Yesterday, I got into Berlin with Annie, who also goes to UMBC and happened to have the same flight from Dulles that I had. At Tegel airport in Berlin, we met up with Sarah, and all tried to make our way to the FU BEST building with all our luggage on public transportation, which was quite a feat.

Once we finally made it to the building, we had a brief introductory session, where were told what we had to do that day, and given a plan for the remaining orientation days before school started. I then had to hang out at the building until someone from my host family came to pick me up.

At around 3, Marliese, my host mom, came to FUBEST to pick me up and we drove home to Kreuzberg. Although it was nice not to have to lug all my stuff on public transportation, I did have to carry all of it up four flights of stairs to our apartment. The apartment is on the 4th and top floor of the building. The main part of the apartment, where the kitchen, bath, Paula and Marliese's rooms are, is on the top flooor. The other part of the apartment, where there are two rooms from Gaststudenten, is on the floor below. Across from this 'apartment' is where Paula's father lives.

After I got my bags unpacked, I was able to shower, relax a little bit, and talk to the family. At around 7, we had dinner. Since Paula is also a vegetarian, most of the food that the family eats is vegetarian. After dinner, I was basically ready for bed, since it had been such a long day, and slept all through the night!