More Meandering. . .

*Warning: This post contains alcohol! Read with caution!*

"When in Berlin!" is what we keep saying to justify our decisions. We haven't made terrible decisions by any means but it reminds me of something my Momma taught me long ago: When people ask you "why?", you reply by asking "Why not?!" So when deciding whether or not to try a drink while I'm here my attitude has been, "Why not?" Let it be known that I have zero intentions of ever being drunk, this is simply for the life experience. 

So Christina goes to the bar to get a drink and comes back with two. Ah! I actually had already had my first drink earlier, a Bailey's and Coke. It only had a double shot of Baileys but it tasted like a float coke! When she walked up with these I knew I was in for a treat. This is a Swimming Pool and was much stronger than my previous drink. 

Photos were necessary because we all acknowledged that this was a monumental moment for me, because I have been unsure if she would ever "socially" or "casually" drink. 

Our other friends had a drink as well and this had little effect on me. I suppose one unintended effect was the message it must have sent to people not in our group. We were all sitting, talking, having drinks, doing our school work for this trip, and enjoying ourselves when a handsome gentleman walks over and begins making small talk. I keep to myself while the others entertain his conversations. He walks away then comes back a few minutes later and sits next to me with his back away from everyone else. He makes small talk, asks me about my blogs and emails that I was working on, then tells me I should "close my pc and do more important things." Long story short, this guy invites me to his room. YES! his room! Perhaps my friends finally noticed that I looked extremely uncomfortable and butted in the conversation after multiple offers from this man. As soon as he walked away we all headed to our rooms. And he was married! What a creep. Not nice. 

But today has been lovely! This is the House of the Wannsee Conference where 14 men gathered and decided in 1 1/2 hours what the "final solution of the Jews" would be. Essentially in that amount of time they outlined what the plan was for killing every Jewish person.

Our guide for this site did an incredible job of pointing out the details and significance of certain images. For example, in the top right corner of this photo we can see another person taking a picture of this event. This shows that people realized this was strange and worthy of documentation. This point is further proved by the sheer number of "bystanders" including businessmen and bakers. Shouldn't you both be working on a Thursday morning at 10am? And if you put your hand over the "bystanders" on the left side of this picture how does the image change? How would the lack of an audience change the situation for the Jewish men and for the Nazis? It would certainly change the emotions of both parties even if it didn't change the actual situation.

This is the library in the Wannsee House. After listening to, reading about, and looking at photos of such disturbing things I became physically ill. As much as I enjoy being surrounded by books I couldn't really indulge myself because I felt nauseated by everything I was taking in. I'm not sure why I felt so strongly after this and not after every other site but it certainly had a different effect on me. 

Photo from Christina's camera. 

Dr. Izumi, myself, and Dr. Skaggs

Christina, Yevagenia, myself, and Morgan. 

After that we all parted ways so Christina and I went to this open market we had heard about. It was so perfect! However, we were exhausted and weren't able to enjoy it as fully as we had hoped.

This makes me hungry! 

Perhaps you'd like to sit awhile under a warm blanket?

We stopped at a great little stand that had 3 tables inside. Christina was really excited about food! 

We were so worn out on the way home that we had no shame in laying across the open seats. I could have stayed on the train for a very long time and napped because it feels like you are being rocked to sleep! Instead, we opted for some rest time at the hotel. I think that was a good decision. We are headed to some club tonight with Yevagenia. I hope I find energy! 

xoK