Diane’s World

Hey world: Yes, I’ve been listening to Marlene Dietrich a bit recently. It sounds like Berlin. Sorry it has been so long since I’ve written. It’s nice to know that you are all being patient with me and still checking for updates. I am doing better and better every day in Berlin. There is definitely something about Berlin that I really enjoy… but I can’t really say in words what it is. A week ago, my good friend from Washington (who studies in England) came to visit me during her Spring break. I finally got some pictures of Berlin in general - but Michaele took them, not me Here is the entrance to my school: Some fake little bavarian town set- up in Alexander Platz during easter weekend The Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church -Bombed by the allies in WWII and left destroyed as a warning to future generations. \ MICHAELE! And… oh the Reichstag as well. (Note, the next three pictures were taken the same afternoon. Crazy Berlin weather) Brandenburg Tor The Halocaust Memorial- it always seems to start snowing at the most creepy times possible. hm. (You will see more of this later when I talk about Weimar and the Buchenwald Concentration Camp!) Fernseher Turm in Alexander Platz Berliner Dom - Built just as Germany became a country, and rebuilt after the allies bombed it in WWII Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels! I kicked Mr. Marx - it was fun! (He’s the one that is sitting!) For the weekend, we took a small trip to a the little city of Weimar. I knew that Michaele was a Holocaust history enthusiast, so I wanted her to see the Buchenwald concentration camp. The weather the whole time there was foggy and creepy, and at the very end (just as we were arriving on the ash grave where the SS dumped all the jewish ashes) it started to snow. It was quite the sobering experience. The railroad tracks that brought in so many jews, political people, homosexuals, gypsies, sinti, and anyone else the nazis didn’t like: The darker rocks indicate where a barrack used to stand, that held the “prisoners”. They were destroyed after the war because of health concerns. Entrance into the camp. I have the last few pictures (with the snowy grave) in my camera yet… I’ll save them for the next post. But it was the most haunting part of the trip. Back in Berlin, there are little gold cobblestones that tell you where the Jews used to live, and where they died. On the short walk to my school there are 7 victims of Auswitz. Let’s just say, history is very very real here. But that is all depressing: I shall end with something we all that be happy about: APPLE STRUDEL! AT MY FAVORITE RESTRAUNT! I hope you enjoyed my post that was long in coming! Huge thanks to all of you who are staying in contact with me, it means a lot. Until Later, Dee Dee