One of the highlights of a week in Berlin is getting to play ultimate frisbee every Thursday! There are a lot of different organizations in Berlin––men’s, women’s, and mixed––so I joined a fall league that brings the frisbee community together. Earlier in the semester, I was practicing with a team called Parkscheibe and going to pick-up with a team called Yeehaw, so it has been nice to still see those people at the league. I am on the green team called “BÄMBooo” (pronounced BAM-booo) because bamboo is green, strong, and resilient.

There are a lot of cheesy clichés you may have heard about study abroad. Things such as: 

To study abroad is to EVOLVE

The further you venture away, the more you will meet YOURSELF

The less you close yourself off the more your mind will OPEN

(This is a third, more imaginative take of a previous blog post. Historical events here derive more from my own imagination than facts. For more concise, factual information check out my blog post “On the other side of a Different Sea”)

“The Tapestry of History is woven of many threads” - Jacqueline Carey 

(This is a second, more imaginative take of a previous blog post. Historical events here derive more from my own imagination than facts. For more concise, factual information check out my blog post “On the other side of a Different Sea”)

“Those who don’t know about history are destined to repeat it.” - Edmund Burke

(This is a second, more imaginative take of a previous blog post. Historical events here derive more from my own imagination than facts. For more concise, factual information check out my blog post “On the other side of a Different Sea”)

“We are not makers of history, we are made by history.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

From pizza in Italy and Spanish paella, to waffles in Copenhagen and vegetable tajin in Morocco, our stomachs were never empty and our taste buds were never bored! Abroad is definitely the time to be adventurous with your food choices and try all of the traditional dishes in the places you travel to. I also highly recommend trying out some cooking classes, even if you aren’t the best cook or don’t particularly enjoy it, because you can meet new people, learn how locals cook, and it’s just fun!

The students here always say that they’re having a great time. Last weekend was always the best of their lives, expect for next weekend of course— that’ll be even better. Everyone is always a little behind on work, spending a little too much money, sleeping several hours too few but reminding all of their new acquaintances how incredible their lives are.

Charlie is sitting in the same place I left him last week, and as I walk into La Carpa Bar, he begins to sing, “A hummm, duhh, dumm, doo, mi mm mmmm mm may Sharona!” 

“Charlie…” Alex warns from behind the bar. His brow is cross as he dries another Estrella Damm mug and places it below with the others. Efraín continues to grill, entirely undisturbed. 

While walking to class, I get stopped at a red pedestrian light in Plaza Cataluña and am quickly swallowed by a crowd of mostly white faces. They chatter in German, English, French, and a few others I can’t quite identify. A red double decker bus chugs past with an array of greying hair, pointing fingers, and camera straps peering over the sides, listening dutifully to the speakers booming from every corner that explain the social importance of the city’s largest square.