Everywhere you look

Graffiti covers nearly all of Berlin's buildings. Grafitti writers will tag any and every building as high as the arm can reach and the paint will spray. But why? Today I went to meet Gideon at a Graffiti battle, but he never showed. I did sit and watch for a while, but I'm still curious about what compels them to do it. I mean, why spray paint on the side of a building when you can easily do the same on paper or canvas?

Without Gideon there I felt like an outsider. Well, I am an outsider. Many of them didn't want to be photographed so I only got to shoot stealthily from one side. The way it works is the mediator (the guy with the black head covering) chooses a word or what would be called a "tag." Then, the next two competitors on that list in the middle come to each side and write the tag five different times. When both are finished the crowd votes. This is just round one. With each round comes eliminations and the task becomes harder. The tags become more intricate, and the last man standing wins.

Before I made my way to Kruezberg for the battle, I went back to the East Side Gallery to get some better pictures of the wall. Again I was confronted with the enormity of the history, but also the beauty of the gallery that's left. It, like the rest of the city, is covered in all these glorious paintings that are essentially grafitti. It's like Berliners protested the wall by painting on it, and so now it comes natural to them to do the same to the rest of the city. Sometimes in protest and sometimes just for fun. I can't help but think that the wall is at least indirectly responsible for the brilliant street culture of Berlin. It influenced the way Berliners expressed themselves by being the canvas for their frustration, and continues to be responsible for many of the problems Berlin faces today. According to the New York Times, Berlin's unemployment rate is at 17 percent and the city is in debt $77 billion. Reunification and rebuilding takes so much time and so much money, but as Berlin Mayor Klaus Woweriet famously put it, "Berlin is poor but sexy."

This spectator enjoyed the best in the house while the rest of us sat on hard benches.












and the wall...












A man admires the section of the wall at the East Side Gallery.

Pictures from Thursday

From the Altes Museum yesterday. All the state sponsored museums are free after 6 p.m. on Thursdays.















TIME magazine's Andrew Purvis talked about his job as an international correspondent Bureau chief in Berlin with us Thursday morning. He also gave us some insight on Berlin itself, and how different it is from the rest of Germany.







Sunflowers for sale at one of the many train stations.

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!

Fantastich

The last two days have been jam-packed. After my last post I went to another grafitti store called Yard 5 to see if I could find a subject for my photo story. The woman at the counter introduced me to "a friend of the store" who happened to be an American grafitti artist from Boston. I thought perfect, but he was leaving to catch a plane back to the U.S that night. He was a really nice guy, but he didn't personally know any other writers (graffiti artists are often called grafitti writers) in Berlin.

Disappointed, I made my way back to the train station, but not before stopping in Wicked Print, a small clothing store. The girl working the counter caught my eye with her shoulder-length, hot pink dreadlocks. Her name's Doreen, and she's agreed to be my subject! So tomorrow I'm going to photograph her and the store and hopefully collect the audio as well.

Also, Gideon from Overkill actually e-mailed me. I guess it was the language barrier that made me think he wasn't all that interested in helping me. He said that he knows of a few writers who might be doing a big wall on Saturday legally, so it would be OK if I shot some photos. He also invited me to meet him out at a club, but I'm nervous about going by myself. Maybe if some of my fellow UF in Berlin-ers would like to join me...

Would anyone be willing to go? Panorama Bar on Friday night with a grafitti artist named Gideon. Let me know if you're interested because I won't go alone.

Either way, I now have two pretty solid stories.

Afterward, I met back at the hotel with everyone and we went to see a German musical, Glanzlichter der Revue at Freidrichstadtpalast. It was quite a show. Tap dancing, circus performers, a mini-blimp, a fountain that came out of the stage and lots of feathers. I'm unsure what "Glanzlichter" means, but guessing just based on the show I'd bet it means Glitter.

Then we went to an art/ squatter house called Tacheles. It was my favorite place we've visited so far. It was so unique and unlike anywhere else I've ever been before, very Berlin. We weren't really allowed to take photos, but I did sneak some in. I figured it'd be OK since I bought a few prints from Tim Roelofs.



On Wednesday, I went on the fat tire bike tour that the group did last Saturday. The weather was beautiful and we stopped at a place for lunch called Schluesen Krug in the Tiergarten, the former hunting grounds for the Prussian Royal Family.

So much history in one little picture. A man with his bike wanders through the open-air museum at the sight of the Gestapo headquarters, shot through an opening in a section of the wall. Topography of Terror



The guy who took my order. There were lots of great colors at this place.














After eating lunch we continued our tour. I saw the Brandenburg Gate, where David Hasselhoff did his famous (or infamous) performance of "Looking for Freedom" right before the wall fell.
Many more-famous things have happened there, of course, but watch the video. It's so funny.


Tulips in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

The bike tour was awesome, but the best part of Wednesday was definitely the bar we went to after dinner. I don't remember the name of the place or if it even had a name. It was basically a garage with a bar, a projector for the Manchester United v. Chelsea game and a ping pong table.
When you get to the bar you pay 5 euro to get a paddle (you get it back at the end of the night), and everyone who wants to play circles the table and rotates around it hitting the ball when it comes to their turn. If you miss you're out, sort of like musical chairs. The final two battle battle it out in a regular game. I think it's called "Chinese Rules" or something. What a sight- everyone in the bar just running around this ping pong table. We dragged Freeman along and he made it to the final three a bunch of times. See Harrison's blog for pictures.

And that was just Tuesday and Wednesday! I want to tell you all about today, but I'm exhausted. I'll try and post tomorrow before I meet with Doreen.

Goodnight!

Random Pictures

A woman admires a statue inside the Memorial Church




Checkpoint Charlie. I just made it for the last stop on the tour.




The roof of the Sony Center.



Downtown in the former American Sector. In the background is the famous memorial church.

I loved his eyes! There was a man in Potsdamer Platz that had an entire team of these huskies.




Two Berliners chatting by the fountain in Alexanderplatz.

Alright, so I've been in Berlin Now for 3 days. It's been amazing! I'm still playing catch-up (hence, this blog post being so late), but I've taken some great photos and seen lots of cool things.

Berlin reminds me a lot of NYC, but it's cleaner and there are definitely less people. The public transportation is so easy to navigate, and for the most part Berliners are super friendly.

Yesterday I went to Overkill, a grafitti and sneaker shop, to see if I could find a subject for my project. I spoke to the man at the counter, Gideon, who said he would pass my information on to someone who might be interested. I'm going to e-mail him today to make sure he's actually going to. If not, I need to find a new subject!

I chatted with this really interesting guy on the train coming back from Overkill, and now I'm kicking myself because I didn't get his contact info.

Tomorrow I'm going to do the bike tour by myself, so that will take up my whole day. I'm getting nervous about time, but I'm sure it will all work out.

STILL in NYC

NOTE: I copied this from my other blog. Now I'm in Berlin, but I thought everyone would like to hear the horror story.

Delta Blues

I missed my flight. I should be writing from Berlin right now, but I’m still at Miles’ apartment enjoying dismal NYC weather. I will never be late to the airport ever again. From now on I’m planning for three hours of traffic everywhere I go.

I was supposed to be on Delta #78 with professor Freeman and a few others on my trip that left JFK at 7 p.m. I’ll admit that I definitely should’ve left earlier, but two hours in traffic?! I arrived at JFK and had to get through a long line of other travelers before I was told that I had missed my flight.

I have never been so frustrated or felt more stupid in my entire life. I’ve been looking forward to Berlin for the entire school year, and now I am missing some of the most exciting parts of the trip.

I definitely learned a lesson- sitting in the airport for an extra hour is way better than getting stuck in traffic and missing a flight, especially an international departure.

After I was told I missed it, the guy at the counter (who had a terrible attitude to begin with) tried to reschedule my flight for the following day. By this time all economy class seats had been booked, so the charge for changing my reservation + the difference in fare came to $1,936.61.

Needless to say, I made a scene. A huge scene. And all the guy at the counter had to say was “step away from the counter, and don’t forget your bags.”

From then I went to ticketing to see if someone could help me, and, of course, they couldn’t. I called Cheaptickets.com and they couldn’t help me. It really seemed like there was no way I was going to get to Berlin. I didn’t have the extra 1,900 dollars , I didn’t want to call my family and ask for the money, so I did what any 19-year-old girl would do and continued to make a scene.

After a few minutes of hysterically crying and cursing myself and everyone at the airport, I did begin to pull myself together. I called my family and Miles back. My grandparents transferred me $1,000 out of my only-for-emergencies account (in which there was only 900$, so now if anything happens I really am in trouble). And just as I was about to blow 1900$ dollars on another plane ticket, Miles called me and said he and his mom were searching the internet and had found a flight that would leave Saturday and would only cost $1,232.

Delta did sort of refund my flight, by giving me a $900 credit, which I will use because I’m always flying to NYC. I guess I’ll just have to spend the rest of my summer trying to put back some money in my emergency account.

What a day. Lesson learned, but man, this sucks.

Either way, my flight tomorrow leaves at 6 p.m. (I’m leaving at 1:30… taking no chances), so see you in BERLIN!