Feeling at Home

If there is one thing that this experience has taught me is that if things are looking down that a good (or even not so good) night of sleep will definitely help.  Things are looking much brighter on Monday morning.  I decide to take my new bike for a spin to the grocery store.  I put my backpack on and go.  Just me and my bike and it feels really good to be self sufficient.  I'm typically a very independent person but because of the language barrier I've had to rely a lot more on Marty for daily exchanges and things than I normally would have at home.  I know I can muddle through an exchange but when there is someone right there who speaks the language, why bother?  But for my own sanity and self preservation I know I need to get out there and do it.  Grocery store and bakery  success.  I know I sound like a toddler as I try to ask my basic questions and pay for things but I do it and have enough groceries/fresh bread for the next day or two.
We also finally met up with a family that I had been emailing with for months who had moved from Colorado to Berlin back in March.  They have children the same ages as ours and from the sounds of it are quite similar.  The kids and I board a bus and head their way.  They are dog sitting a golden retriever puppy so we figure it would be fun to meet the puppy too.

We head toward their house and get off on the right bus stop but can't figure out which way to go from there.  The kids get cranky when I go the wrong way (3 different times in 3 different wrong directions) but we finally find the right apartment and the kids hit it off immediately.  Bridget (the mom) is great and shares all of her hard earned 6 months of advice about Berlin living.

Josie and Elia are quick friends and seem to like a lot of the similar things. They are definitely preteen girls.   Benjamin and Tesh are literally two peas in a pod.  As we were walking the boys were behind me and I couldn't tell which one was talking.  "Can you lick your elbow? "  "I'm the fastest runner, let's race."  "I can burp really loud, watch!" and so on and so on.

We walk the dogs to a park and the dogs and kids play for a bit and then we head back.  I've brought some food and Bridget has some food and we put all of our food out on the table and we eat picnic style just like we would in Seattle.  We needed some normalcy.  All of us. Thank you, Sarah for introducing us!! I sense more outings and get togethers with this family.  Thank you Bridget for sharing your home, food and dogs.
Marty does his first live broadcast from Berlin and it goes off without a hitch.  Quite remarkable that we can be here in Berlin in the afternoon and he is broadcasting live to Seattle's morning commute.  Because Marty is worried about interrupted internet connection the kids can't have screen time the way they normally would like to during this later afternoon time.

I haven't gotten around to cleaning or cooking (although I'm still doing laundry on a nearly daily basis) I don't have much to do during this time either.  The kids and I spend an enjoyable several hours playing games on the back patio.

I'm still not brave enough or creative enough to venture into real cooking and we are getting a bit tired of the German "Abend Brot" - evening bread so we decide to eat out again.  It is amazing how cheap eating out here is.
It makes cooking not nearly as economical and because it is much more difficult here for me (the kitchen doesn't have all of my tools and the stores don't have all of the same stuff) eating out is a great option.  Except finding a place we all can agree on is difficult.  Actually just getting the kids to agree is the hard part.  Marty and I will eat just about anything.  I throw out a restaurant named "Good Times" that we have passed many times while in town and it has a large outdoor seating area.  I have no idea what type of food it is and therefore no one can shoot it down because they don't know IF they will or will not like it.  We decide to ride our bikes.  Benjamin's bike is OK as long as he doesn't shift.  Haha!!  So much for a bike with gears.  We will get it fixed eventually.  Josie and Marty ride up ahead.  Benjamin and I a ways back.  There is a special traffic light just for the bike lane but since I'm not much of a biker and I've never biked in Germany I'm not all that familiar with how it works.  Like the car traffic lights the bike traffic lights go from red to yellow to green and BACK to yellow and then red again.  This way the cars are really ready to go when the light goes green.  German efficiency at its finest.  So I hesitate when the bike light goes from green to yellow thinking we should stop but then decide we have time so I tell Benjamin to go and follow him.  When we are just about across the street the car traffic light turns green and someone in a BMW lays on the horn full blast and scares Benjamin and I nearly to death.  We get a man crossing the street giving us a nasty, judgmental glare and apparently he says " Man, man, man, what a terrible example you are setting  and in front of your child" obviously directed at me.  I have to say it is times like this that I'm thankful I don't speak German and worry that this kind of public scolding and putting down will wear us down during our year.  It is funny, I told Marty that I have noticed this attitude in him.  It must be innately German.  He is not that way at all with strangers but he sets very high standards for himself and anyone in his family or tight knit circle. Of course you should KNOW how to cross a street on a bike in Germany.  Doh!! 

But Good Times ended up being good  Indonesian food which our kids had never had.  We all ate and drank to full for 28 Euro.

 This eating out thing is pretty great when it is so cheap!

I make Marty ride with Benjamin on the way home and I trail happily a few blocks behind.