Whew

Today was a really productive day. I've gotten a great start on my project. The easy part, the gathering of the photos and the audio, is over. Now, I have to edit. I'm a bit nervous because I've never really taken photos before, much less edited them or collected audio for a story like this. Mainly, I think, I'm a bit self-conscious because I know many of my fellow travelers are more experienced, but what the hell...

So here she is... Doreen Kappel. Besides having a very interesting look, Doreen has lead an extremely interesting life. She was born in Karlmarxstadt in East Germany and is only 19. At 14, she wasn't getting along with her mother so she decided to leave home and has been traveling ever since. She lived in numerous abandoned apartment buildings and houses before growing tired of having to look over her shoulder constantly. In Germany, if you're under 18 and the police catch you living on the street they'll send you to an orphanage. Doreen said she had been sent to orphanages a few times only to escape the second she got the chance. She moved to Italy for three years and continued to live on the street and in squats with her friends, but, even though she escaped the worry of being thrown in an orphanage, she still had to worry about being kicked out of the squat she stayed in. She worried a lot about leaving all of her clothing and her dogs in the various squats because she never knew if her stuff would be there when she got back. After turning 18 she decided to return to Germany and has been living in Berlin for close to two years now. For the first time, Doreen has a regular job and apartment. Along with her new responsibilities comes the stability she's never had before. To make money while she was traveling she worked as a street performer and fire breather, but now she works Monday through Friday from 12-8p.m. at Wicked Print. She loves partying and performing with her band, an all-girl electronic music group called the dirty crack bitches. They're part of what Doreen called "the bad taste movement."

That was pretty much my day. I really wanted to go out tonight to Panoramabar and it looked like everything was a go, but now everyone is tired. Plus, when I asked Gideon what time he was going to be there he told me not until 3 a.m., so I think this panoramabar place is a bit too wild, even for me.

Tomorrow, I'm going to go do some more sightseeing. I'll probably wake up early and go back to the Murdered Jews of Europe Memorial and the Eastside Gallery since many of my pictures from that day were ruined by a white balance fiasco. I want to go inside the Reichstag, but I've been told the wait is really long on the weekends, so that will wait until Tuesday or Wednesday probably. At 2 I'm going to a Grafitti Battle that Gideon invited me to which should be really interesting.

Berlin is truly an awesome city, but there are two fatal flaws: 1) The no ice thing. I've been so thirsty ever since I got here because the iceless drinks aren't cold enough to quench my thirst. The good thing is that I have been "forced" to drink beer with every meal, so I shouldn't really complain.
and 2) Time. I don't have a watch, which is frustrating enough, but they measure their time one to 24 here. I know it's pretty simple to figure out, but it's just not the way my mind works. I never know what time it is because I don't have a watch, my cell phone isn't working and everyone else is on the one to 24 clock that I just can't grasp.
and I just thought of something else 3) The weather. Although I'm starting to like getting to wear my warm weather gear, I just wanted to wear shorts and a T-shirt so badly today. I haven't been cold really, but getting dressed takes time because I have to worry about being cold. Also, I'm really pale ... and it's May!