I’m not doing much moving around in the physical world any more, but I’ve made a jump in cyberspace. I got all inspired by my progressive blogging family, so now you can follow my domestic adventures for the time being at http://heyicouldmakethat.blogspot.com

another line dropped from the internet cafe in Athens:

I got successfully to my CS host’s couch yesterday, and he (Constantinos or Costas) turned out to be very cool– a laid-back electrical engineer for the Metro with great taste in music. I chilled there with him for a while, watched some House, drank some mountain tea, and did crossword puzzles while he did ironing, then we hit the town to meet up with some other surfers and their host, a friend of Costas’. We walked around the neighborhood under the Acropoli and Costas showed me the part of the town that, 100 years ago, used to be full of goats and stables and constitute the entirety of Athens. After a little stroll, we found the other surfers and then a bar.

They’re both from the states also, Utah and Nevada, and enjoying their first night in Europe at the beginning of a long trip. I gave them all my best traveling advice and the guys and I drank Rakomelo, a Greek specialty combining the Turkish/Greek (big dispute here) liquor raki with honey and spices and heated. The girls had chocolate milkshakes. Oh how soon they’ll learn.

Today I ventured out with my map and walking sandals to get some culture. First I visited the Acropoli and saw the Parthenon and Athena’s temple, but unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries at the top of the hill. Oh well, you’ll have to believe me. After that (and new batteries) was Hadrian’s library, the ancient Agora, and the flea market. Now I’m pretty bushed, not to mention completely sick of tourists, so I’m going to head back for a shower and a nap before some more Athenian night life.

Getting very close to home now…

Ugh. I am sitting in an internet cafe in Athens and I still feel like the floor is moving.

Yesterday I had one last afternoon on the beach in Kos, a nice dinner in a rooftop garden, and a farewell visit to my beloved bakery, before I got on the not-so-good ship Dmitrioula at around 9. It was an hour late into port, and what I had expected in terms of a private room with a WC turned out to be a double room across the hall from the WC. Not so bad, except that in the middle of the night I got a surprise roommate in the form of a large, loud Greek woman. Still in all, I managed a warm (if frequently interrupted) night’s sleep, something I would have had a hard time getting on the deck.

We got into Piraeus, the port town adjacent to Athens, at about 12, and I wandered to the Metro without much of a direction, since my host doesn’t get off work until 5 this evening. Following my traveler’s instincts, I took the Metro to the train station, where I found (as I had been hoping) a locker for my bag and vague directions to the tourist information center. Unfortunately, I ended up having to guess which station she’d meant, but I ended up in the right place, Syntagma square. After asking a few more people, I got my hands on a map and directions to an internet cafe, which again failed me. I wandered around in what I thought seemed like a likely neighborhood until my caffeine withdrawal headache got the best of me and I stopped for lunch and a coffee. From there I asked at hotel desks until I actually did find some internets, and here I am. I’ll meet my host tonight, but until then I have the three things a girl needs in a new city: a map of the city, a full stomach, and notes from Wikitravel.

I just realized I have no idea what day of the week it is and only a good guess at the date. The 7th?

One last check-in from Kos, where this morning I woke up with the realization that I’d burned my back pretty badly. There seems to be one strip right in the middle that I missed with the sunscreen… a major drawback of solo adventuring that I had previously overlooked. It’s nothing too serious, just uncomfortable.

After stocking up at my favorite little bakery on spanakopita for lunch later, I found the ruins of an old castle and walked around pretty awe-struck, snapping photos like any old tourist. I can’t wait to show you all in just a week or two! Every time I go crazy with the camera it’s because I wish I could have all of you along with me and the best I can do is bring a little of the beauty home with me.

This morning I also bought a ticket for the ferry to Piraeus/Athens (amazing what you can get done when your sunburn keeps you from sleeping on any side!) which leaves tonight at 8 and chugs away through the night. I’ll get in at about noon tomorrow and find my way to my couch. I paid an extra ten euros for a cabin, which means I’ll have a bathroom and a place to lock my bag. Do I get a prize for still having everything I left with? Unfortunately, I have MORE than I left with and my bag is getting heavier…and I no longer have a spot on my shoulder without even a little bit of sunburn, so it’ll be a pretty unhappy trip I expect. I miss Turkey, where the guys wouldn’t let you carry your own bag…

I’ve been dreaming every night of my parents, and of friends I haven’t seen in years, and last night even old teachers from Suitland… I think it’s finally time to come home.

okay, sorry for the lame title but I’m feeling a little uninspired at the moment. Actually, that’s a lie; I’m feeling totally inspired to abandon my old/new life and lounge around in the Cyclades for the rest of my days. Today I went to the beach in Bodrum with my host for a few hours (don’t worry Mom, I only got a little burned.) The water was chilly but perfectly clear with a pebbly bottom and only tiny little waves, all under a great big blue sky and surrounded by scrubby green mountains. When I caught the 4:00 ferry to Kos, it was all I could do to stay on the boat, the scenery was so breathtaking. Dring the whole hour-long trip I sat alone on the top deck and got whipped around by the wind while watching these Goliaths of mountains rise out of the sea and mist. It’s not hard to see how the Greeks ended up with such dramatic legends when surrounded by such majesty.

Kos is a cute little seaside town a little larger than Bodrum (although you can see each of the cities from their respective harbors.) I met a guy who works on the ferry named Dimitris who recommended a hotel near the harbor where I could get a cheap room and I took his advice and found the place. I was so elated to finally have my own room with a little privacy that I actually laughed out loud when I put my stuff down on the bed. It’s a cute little place with a sunny balcony and a comfortable bed, so I think I’ll stick around tomorrow and bike around the island and then see about getting a ferry Monday or Tuesday straight to Athens. Santorini turns out to be relatively hard to get to at this time of year (the first week of tourist season) and I’m getting tired of always being on the go, so I’ll just do what I feel like. So there!

I struck up a conversation with a Dutch woman at the table next to me at dinner who also seemed a little alone, and she turned out to be a really cool conversation partner. She’s taking a vacation from her kids and husband alone, and we might bike around the island together tomrrow. You never know.

Missing all of you and looking forward to seeing you soon!

whew, I survived Istanbul! it actually turned out to be pretty fabulous. I was supposed to fly to Bodrum yesterday afternoon but I changed my ticket so that I could spend an extra night with my new Istanbul buddies (and it ended up being cheaper in the end.) For one thing, I found the (not-so) secret alley-street wıth all the H&M rejects and fell-off-the-truck clothes for 5 or 10 lira each (3-7 u.s.) and got summer clothes, which I had been sorely missıng after my Portugal misadventure.

Gökhan, who I was originally going to surf with, arranged a CS meetup ın Taksim, the big party neighborhood, and Fuat and I had a few beers together and then found the rest of the crew at a club down the street. Six or seven Istanbul CSers came and brought four of their guests, two from Canada and two from Russia, and we shook it on the dance floor to traditıonal Turkish and Romanian dance mashups and assorted other tunes, including (and I am not making this up) “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” by TMBG. Those two bellydancing classes I went to finally came in handy.

After a late night, Fuat and I got up at 8 to meet Gökhan to see the Asian half of the city a little. We took a ferry across the Bosphorus and had Su Börek (literally watery phyllo pastry wıth cheese but actually more lıke noodle casserole) and tea at various cafés along the coast. It was starting to get cloudy but still breathtaking of course. In the afternoon I said goodbye to my excellent hosts and found my way to Atatürk Airport to catch my flight to Bodrum. So. Here I am.

 Bodrum is a really touristy city on the Mediterranean coast, surrounded by craggy mountains and quaint countryside. It doubles or triples its population in the summer months, but since the season officially started two days ago it’s still nice and quiet. I’m surfing wıth a naval engineer named Ibrahim, and this evening he showed me around the downtown area a little and made me dinner. Tomorrow I’m goıng to investigate ferries to Santorini and go to the beach, and probably leave either in the evening or Monday morning for the islands. I just hope I’ll still have enough time since I’ve adopted a leisurely pace in terms of moving along my course.

Here’s my check-ın from Istanbul, where the keyboard ıs a lıttle funky and thıs ı ıs where the İ should be. Bear wıth me, folks.

So far my travels have been good and I haven’t lost any stuff or anythıng. The guys I’m stayıng wıth are very nıce and are really goıng out of theır way to make sure I have a good vısıt. theır flat ıs on the European sıde of Istanbul (ıf you look on a map the cıty ıs dıvıded by the Bosphorus Straıt and the western half ıs consıdered Europe whıle the other half ıs Asıan.) yesterday I slept untıl almost 1 ın the afternoon because I dıdn’t get to bed untıl about 7 am. when I got up ıt took a lot of courage for me to get ıt together and leave the apartment, sınce I wasn’t really sure where I was goıng and I don’t speak any turkısh. Fuat (the guy I found on cs) gave me some good tıps though, so I took a bus to the maın part of town, Taksım, and found a tourıst ınformatıon center wıth maps and then some lunch, and ıt got a lot more bearable. I mostly wandered around, found a nıce park on the sıde of a bıg hıll where I got a coffee and sat around enjoyıng the vıew of the Bosphorus and the cool breeze. In the evenıng I met Fuat and hıs flatmate Hassan and we took varıous convoluted publıc transıt methods to get to a neıghborhood by the water on the Asıan sıde where we got these crazy baked potatoes stuffed wıth cheese and vegetables and olıves and all kınds of crazy stuff. Theır frıend Aram met us and we went to a bar under one of the brıdges that connects the two halves to have beers and chıll out. They’re doıng a really good job of tryıng to speak Englısh wıth me even though none of them ıs very comfortable wıth the language. I am very slow at acquırıng Turkısh.

Today I woke up sımılarly late and went, on Hassan and Fuat’s ınstructıons, to the neıghborhoods called Emınönü and Beyazat and Sultanhamet (all consecutıve) where the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya, and other sıghts are. Today beıng May 1, there was a yearly conflıct between labor protesters/students/etc and the polıce, who annually shut down Taksım and the brıdges across the cıty because of some protests that happened there ın the 80s on May Day. To avoıd that part of the cıty I explored the really tourısty stuff ınstead, walkıng around the Grand Bazaar for a whıle, then to the Blue Mosque, and the gardens of one of the bıg palaces. One of the most fun parts was havıng every guy who trıed to sell me stuff guess where I was from. Number one was always France, followed by Italy, Turkey, and England. No one guessed Amerıca even after they heard me speak. It was generally a good day, but pretty hot, and I got a lıttle burn on my face.

Hey, just a quick check-in from Basel, Switzerland, where I’m hanging out with my ‘aunt’ Isa. We’ve just been puttering around the city together, stopping roughly every hundred metres for a coffee, making fun of the young people and their crazy fashions. I got in yesterday at 8 am and followed SMS directions to Isa’s cool flat near the Rhine where she’s lived since forever, and we sat on her balcony and drank coffee and enjoyed the sunshine.

It’s been so fun hanging out with her, it’s nonstop chatter between us (I feel like my English is suffering from spending so much time talking to people whose second language it is, though) and she knows my whole family better than I do. Today we looked at photos from when she lived in the U.S. around when I was born, and she told me all kinds of stories about my parents and all their friends. I haven’t been here since I was two and a half, so it’s also really cool to see the city again, and try to remember being here the first time. The only hard part is that I don’t understand anyone here who isn’t one of the hated German tourists. Baseldytsch is such a crazy form of German that it’s essentially a different language. Reading stuff is easy, though, since it’s only the spoken language that’s weird. Everyone is always lilting and talking about Kaffeli and Tramli.

Anyway, it’s time for me to crash out, as Isa would say, but I’ll update more with photos and narration and all the usual business when I’m back to my home base. The next stop is Istanbul on Tuesday night/Wednesdaz evening, and my couchsurfing host just cancelled! He set me up with another cs host though, and I always have my backup plan so no worries. Ah, the adventurous life of the jet-setting world traveler…

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I posted. WordPress even has a different interface! Sorry, folks. Entries about my trips to Hamburg, Copenhagen, Sweden, and Dublin kommen gleich, as they say. Coming right up. In the meantime, you might have seen photo albums pop up on Facebook related to each of those places. Since they’re captioned, it’s a good place to start.

For now, I guess a little bit of review from the past few weeks: I’ve been pretty consumed with travel and school since we left for our group trip to Scandinavia just about three weeks ago, since directly after I had two weeks of finals and papers and a weekend trip to Ireland. I took my last exam yesterday, though, so I’m officially done with the semester; this evening is our farewell dinner at Brentanostrasse 50.

Last night, a bunch of us saw off the first to leave, Aaron and Jamie. Even though I know I’m going to see them this summer and next semester (Jamie is at UNC Chapel Hill and Aaron is, like a lot of my friends here, at AU in D.C.) it was still really tough seeing them go. It really represents the beginning of the end of Berlin life, the disintegration of the little world we’ve built around ourselves here. I’m actually starting to cry just writing this. Despite bouts of homesickness and exhaustion, and a general excitement to be back home, this past week especially I’ve been feeling really attached to the city, my friends, my apartment, even to German language and culture.

I suppose to some extent it’s just an aversion to change in general, but I really feel sad to have to leave the rarified atmosphere of study abroad. I know some of what I enjoyed was the ability to be really self-focused for a while, just to work on myself and learn things for the sake of being more wordly and cultured. It’s been an indescribably powerful semester for me, which I’ve been trying to explain here and in other venues for four months without really being able to convey just how strange it is to be here. The closest I’ve gotten is to say that I feel like my life ended when I got on the plane at Dulles, or was put on pause, and I got to start a whole new life here. Now, it feels like this one is ending, but this time I know I won’t get to come back to it in a few months. It’s been a transient dream life, and I’m only realizing now how that the moment I always expected, when I’d feel like it had really sunk in, never came.

Just as I could never imagine what it would be like to live here, I find myself unable to really imagine what being home will be like. I expect some amount of reverse culture shock, and I’m kind of afraid of feeling like I don’t really belong anywhere. I am really lucky, though, to have made such amazing home-local friends, most of all Kristina, who is staying here for the summer, but also all my AU and UNC friends, and the various east coasters. We can be kind of a support group for each other hopefully, and at least we know there will be a few other people stateside who’ll get our inside jokes and understand our Denglish.

Now, as I’m packing up my things here and tying up loose ends, I’m also preparing to travel alone for two weeks as kind of a farewell to Europe and final test of my independence and resourcefulness. Saturday I leave for Basel, where I’ll visit my aunt Isa until Tuesday night, when I fly to Istanbul. I’m couch surfing there with a local, and when I’ve had a few days’ fill of the city I’ll find a ferry to one of the Greek islands and hop my way across the eastern Mediterranean. It’ll be like my own little amazing race to Athens, where I also have a couch lined up. I’m flying back to Berlin on the evening of May 10, spending a night and a day with my lovely Kristina, saying goodbye to my host family, and getting on my transatlantic flight home on the morning of May 12 (my half birthday.)

I’ll wrap up this introspective feelings-fest with a snapshot of one of my semester highlights. Last Friday we had a big party with everyone in the program, organized by the student assistants in a rented-out underground club. Kristina and I made our DJ-team debut spinning mp3s from our laptops, and I’ll always have fond memories of my favorite new Berliners dancing and singing along to “Love Generation.”

(backdated for chronological continuity; don’t get confused!)

So on Friday, February 28 our entire 75-student program piled on to an express train bound for Hamburg, one of Germany’s other city-states and the richest city (per capita) in the country. Our visit to Hamburg was only the first part of a week-long sightseeing tour; posts about Denmark and Sweden are coming next!

One of the best parts of the four days we spent in Hamburg was actually the hostel we stayed in. It was part of the Hosteling International chain, and was hands-down the biggest hostel I’ve ever seen, with a huge dining and activities room which included giant chess, a pool table, and a great view of the harbor. Here’s a reverse view, from the harbor:

the whole tan building was the hostel, and it also had a few floors underground.

We were pretty conveniently situated on the border of the neighborhood called St. Pauli, which, besides being the nightlife center of the city and former residence of the Beatles, includes the main tourist attraction, Europe’s largest red light district. The Reeperbahn refers not just to the street of that name, but to the historic and world-famous area of St. Pauli where (legal) prostitution and strip clubs comprise the majority of the business. As you can imagine, we were initially fascinated, but quickly skeeved out.

Even closer than die sündige Meile (the sinful mile) was the fairground that hosted the annual Hamburger Dom. Compared with Munich’s Oktoberfest, the Dom is a huge carnival/fair complete with rides, games, food, music, and Biergartens. The majority of our nights were spent here, because it was just so damn much fun.

me and the gang fresh off some crazy ride

Another highlight of the Dom was running into our program director, Dirk, and getting to hang out in the carnival with a middle-aged Dutchman with a propensity for unintentional humor. There are countless running jokes in the program about Dirk, and he’s achieved something of cult status among FU-BESTers and alumni (like our personal Chuck Norris.) The best part is, as far as we know he’s completely unaware of it.

John and Dirk in the Dom Biergarten

Of course, we also had tours of the city and got to enjoy some of its cultural offerings. Unfortunately, Hamburg is not a pretty city and its culture seems to be similarly disappointing. Our first tour was on foot, and primarily consisted of our (admittedly, good-natured and funny) tour guide pointing out important features of the shipping and goods storage system and various pieces of evidence that Hamburg is a really rich city: “And here you see in these shops windows some of the watches you would think to pay maybe a few thousand euros for.”

The next day, we had a boat tour of the harbor, which was arguably more dry and boring. At least we had good weather, though. The tour guide, while not particularly engaging in his own right, was thoroughly hungover and the combination of his accent and the English he learned made listening to him talk more fun than listening to what he was saying.

“so roundabouts here we have a what you call containers for the ships to have cargos in. Hamburgian Harbor has the most here of any, it is what you say really top of the pops.”

After the tour, we took the opportunity to explore the city a little on our own and enjoy the sun. We visited the little beach that we’d seen from the tour, but it turned out to be surprisingly dirty and crowded, despite being located adjacent to one of the nicest neighborhoods in the city.

we didn’t stay very long

We also found a remarkable little Hamburg institution, Spicy’s Gewürtzmuseum. It bills itself as being the only spice museum in the world, and I believe it. Because of Hamburg’s legacy of shipping, spices and coffee are a big part of its history. Spicy’s features big sacks of herbs and spices from around the world, which you can sink your hands into and smell, along with little features about their history and collection. All in all, it was a really fun place to explore, and a little off the beaten path in terms of typical tourist attractions.

a sack of cloves next to a sack of mace

a sailing ship made entirely out of whole cloves

As part of his effort to get us cultured, Dirk arranged for us to see a performance at the Hamburg Kammeroper (chamber opera.) I was excited because we were seeing Orpheus and Euridyce, which is supposed to have been one of the revolutionary pieces in the history of the western opera. Apparently, the Kammeroper was staging it as a modern rendition, however, so Orpheus’ trip to the underworld was replaced by a heroin trip and the entire production took place in a modern apartment. Despite being alternately confused, grossed out, and bored, the music was well-done and the performers did a good job of salvaging what was otherwise a series of the worst decisions (hopefully) that director has ever made.

Our last night in Hamburg, our petite, gorgeous, feisty friend Casey decided she’d had enough of the gender discrimination perpetrated by the hookers in the Reeperbahn and vowed to dress convincingly enough like a boy to be able to walk down the famous Herbertstraße, where women are forbidden to go. Through a creative combination of borrowed clothes and our combined makeup, she made her transformation and walked the street escorted by some of our more adventurous guy friends.

I think she was pretty convincing

All in all, I wouldn’t really recommend Hamburg. Maybe for a day or two, if the carnival’s in town. As usual, though, the gang and I make fun wherever we go, so it was a good time.

the dream team: Sean, Tim, Casey, David, John, me, Eric, and Jessica (and Kristina as photographer)