Washing

These are the washing machines I have to deal with in the apartments.  Each wash load costs 3.50 Euros. You can get a gage of its small size if you compare the regular sized laundry soap with the washer’s opening.  In order to even get to the laundry room, you have to walk through three dungeon-like hallways. As you can imagine, I try to wash my clothing as few times as possible.  Instead of spending my money on the dryer, I have also started hanging my clothing all over my room.

One of the three hallways I must walk through in order to get to the laundry room.  The reason you can see it is because of the flash when taking the photo.  Normally, it is pitch black at night.

Our tiny, expensive washing machines

 My clothing and sheets draped around my room.

Initial Struggles

I’d like to compare my time here in Berlin to this simple sidewalk stain.  The first time I went grocery shopping, Haley and I faced many obstacles.  We hadn’t purchased reusable bags quite yet so we brought large paper and plastic bags to overflow with food.  Considering the amount of stuff we purchased, we had to take several breaks along the way home- it was all just too heavy.  At one point my wine fell out of a bag (yes, it is legal for me to drink here).  The bottle shattered as it hit the ground and the wine puddled everywhere. Haley then set her stuff down to help pick up the glass. As she lifted her paper shopping bag up again, all of her contents ripped through the bottom, including her olive oil.  There were eminences of this wine and oil spot for about two months.  As I became settled in Berlin, this stain began to disappear, much like my initial struggles in this new city across the world from home. 

Prague

I went to Prague directly after Nuremberg- it was included on my school trip.  I am incredibly glad that I was able to go with school so that I didn't have to worry about any planning. 

We went to see the Hradcany castle, which is said to be the biggest in the world.  There were so many different dimensions that I'm sure I missed parts of it. It was definitely gorgeous and cool to see. 

 

(The castle)

One of the craziest things I experienced in Prague that nobody warned me about were the metro system escalators!! I tried to take a picture of it, but I don't think it is possible to get a good one that could effectively capture the depth and speed of it.  I am not one who is easily scared, but I was definitely nervous riding it the first few times.

I found a video online that seems to do a better job at capturing this ridiculous experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJNvNy4bj0g 

.... TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

The Downers

Berlin has been amazing! I couldn't have picked a better place to spend an entire semester!

Since I have been sharing all of the positive experiences since coming to Europe, I thought I should share some of the bumps I have encountered along the way.


Bed Bugs:

"Don't let the bed bugs bite."  You've heard this all your life, as a way to wish someone to sleep well.  I hope I can experience the severity of this misfortune for you.  Bed bugs are terrible- really, don't let them bite!

The little red bumps didn't appear until about 6 days into my school planned Nuremberg/Prague trip.  It apparently takes 3 days up until 3 weeks for people to show symptoms- if they ever do at all.  A friend of mine that I was rooming with started showing symptoms the third day of our trip.  None of us could figure out why she had red bumps and quickly excused it as a rash.  Then a few days later the rest of us rooming together began having these red bumps.  For me, the bumps entirely covered my arms and legs (no spots covered by clothing).  The itch was terrible!! I did not want these bugs in my apartment. As soon as I got home, I ditched all of my belongings on my balcony and jumped into the shower.  My stuff remained on the balcony for a couple of weeks until I could acquire the laundry coins necessary to clean/kill the bugs.  Several pieces of clothing were shrunk by the hot temperature necessary to kill the bugs and some changed colors, but overall I had the best possible outcome considering the circumstances.

Below is a picture of my elbow, several days into the healing process. (All of the red bumps are bites!)