It feels like once we arrived here in Berlin we haven't stopped going at full speed. It's been great and we are so excited to be here and experience as much of the culture as we can in our short time here. I still have that "I can't believe I'm in Germany" feeling, not sure when or if that will go away. But, routine is starting to take shape and I really enjoy being here. It's so nice being able to walk to the grocery store, church, the playground, restaraunts, coffee shops, bakeries, art exhibits, friends homes, etc. The buildings are beautiful to look at and the people are so helpful and many speak English...not all (and that makes for interesting interaction). But, God is good and our time here has been rich in so many ways, and we still have much to learn and we have many areas to grow in. So, here are some snippets from the past few weeks.
We started our time here by helping out with a family festival. There were games, face painting, snacks (delicious ones), balloon animal making, and more.
Henry doing his thang at the craft table. I believe he was painting a beautiful paper plate.
Henry enjoyed being rolled around in this barrel by his friend Grace.
Tyler's main role was schmeiken (face painting) extrodinaire. He did a really great job.
The final day of the festival was rained out so we headed back to the family center to finish it with fellowship and some more "grown up" schmeiken and balloons.
Tyler and I bravely let Maggie paint our faces, mine was quickly washed off but Tyler wore his proudly.
We visited the Berlin zoo last week and enjoyed ourselves despite the overcast weather.
It was an awesome zoo, there were animals we didn't even get to see.
This is still inside the zoo, it was such a beautiful zoo.
Since we were close to this landmark, near the zoo, we took our picture here. Not even sure what it's called, but we had this inner tourist feeling that we should be taking our picture with it.
These are our three interns, Andrew, Seth and Joseph they are great guys. They joined us on our little adventure and we are so glad because there's no way we could have handled two kids and a stroller and several trains with just the two of us, seeing as how our kids refused to ride in the stroller for most of the day. This is the guys with the kiddos in the train station, it's how we get around anywhere outside of our neighborhood.
Back home, Maggie has been working on her photography skills. She took this picture of Tyler in front of the Baal fountain in front of our flat.
Henry is trying his best to blend in with the locals, in both fashion and speech. He's been known to say "Tschüss" (pronounced like "choos") which means bye and "danke" which means thanks.
Last week RUF and MTW sent a vision trip team to Berlin for a few days and one of the many perks of having them here was that the kids and I got to join them for some delicious traditional German cuisine. Shown above is a cabbage roll (not sure what it's German name is) and schnitzel (breaded pork).
While here in Berlin, Maggie has had to take on some more sisterly duties. Like changing "doo-ties," sorry I couldn't resist. Truly the most impressive part of the above picture is that Henry is letting her help. Usually this guy is trying his darndest to escape during a diaper change.
We've been frequenting all the nearby "spielplatz" (playgrounds).
And, we ended this weekend by participating in a neighborhood arts festival. There were art exhibits and music at different locals in our hood.' It was a lot of fun and a great way to wrap up a beautiful weekened.
I think I mentioned in my last blog that Mondays are our family days. The days set aside for our family to be together, and as of late we have been using them to tour Berlin. So, last Monday we headed into the heart of the city and visited the Berliner Dome (pictured above).
We enjoyed a latte in front of the Brandenburg gate, surreal. Maggie and Henster enjoyed apfels.
We went to Humboldt University too (all of this is within walking distance from the other landmark). This is one of the campuses Tyler and the interns are doing research on while we're here. I (Carrie) actually got to take a tour of it Saturday with the interns and found out some interesting facts about it. For example it used to be a castle and it was the most prominent Univ. in Germany before WWII. After the war many of the Jewish prof.'s had been forced out and of course it was pretty much destroyed during the war (along with most of Berlin), so it lost its standing as the leading University. Today it has been rebuilt and is thriving once again. Also you should know that Einstein taught here and I went into the very auditorium where he once taught E=MC2. And I feel a little bit smarter for having done that.
Okay back to Monday, we toured the Reichstag. From wikipedia it is the Berlin location where the German legislature met from 1894 to 1933 and again since 1999. It is a massive building and at the top is a clear circular dome that you can walk up and around in and see the neighboring buildings and the Berlin skyline.
Maggie, Tyler and myself opted for the free auditory tour.
Right outside the building stands the holocaust memorial. It is like a labyrinth and very easy to get lost in if you aren't careful.
This is the bird's eye view of a part of it.
Then we walked over to Potsdamer Platz for lunch at the Sony Center.
And then finished the morning with a stroll through Tiergarten and then quickly headed back for naps. And we didn't make it back before Henry conked out on Tyler's shoulder, but he was transported all the way home and into bed for a gloriously long nap. Partly in thanks to our full full morning and his early rising.
