Willkommen...from Berlin

Wow......today is my second day in Germany. I flew in yesterday afternoon with a few stops in between home. My flight left South Carolina at 7 A.M. Sunday morning and I stopped in Philly, PA (which is great because my MIL lives there and we were able to spend the afternoon together). Then I came back to the Philly International Airport for my flight at 6:30 P.M. which didn't end up leaving until 9 P.M. (BIGGGGG MESS!!!) But landed in Munich about 10 A.M. which was just in time for my connecting flight to Berlin. YAY!!!! I landed about 12:30 P.M. (Monday) and had to wait a little while for my luggage. But I was sooo excited to be here I didn't care I had to wait. Even though I could tell all of the other passengers were not too thrilled. Then I took a taxi to the airport and meet up with a few other teachers from the seminar. We took an amazing trip to the Wannsee House in Germany, which for those that do not know, this beautiful place was where the Nazi party decided the "Final Solution".

Then after the tour we went to dinner at some place in the heart of Berlin (which for a vegetarian is hard to find something good), but the restaurant was delicious. I ordered Gazpacho, and it was phenomenal. And I was so full I couldn't eat it all, but still perfect!!!! Then we went to the rooftop bar at our hotel and had a goodnight drink and went to bed. Wonderful day.

Today we got up and had a 5 course breakfast  at the hotel and then I had to transfer my things to the hotel I will be staying at for the remainder of the Academy. Which meant I had to carry my luggage for about 20 minutes down the streets of Berlin. Let me tell you-what an adventure-but so much fun!

After checking in to my new hotel (which the view is perfect) we met for a welcome lunch then opening words a local Jewish museum/synagogue.

Hotel view:

After the welcome lunch and words we went on a historic walking tour of Berlin-great history in this city!!!!

A few pictures from the historic downtown of West Berlin:

Then we went to the Centrum Judaicum and had a tour of the museum. Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!!! After which we had a welcome dinner followed by our elective choices, which of course I chose a video line, where we will be responsible for making a video of our experience here this summer!!!

Pictures of inside and outside of Centrum Judaicum:

Well....gute Nacht

“We are alive. We are human, with good and bad in us. That's all we know for sure. We can't create a new species or a new world. That's been done. Now we have to live within those boundaries . What are our choices? We can despair and curse, and change nothing. We can choose evil like our enemies have done and create a world based on hate. Or we can try to make things better.”  -Carol Matas

until next time,
xoxo

Where is summer going???

Wow, so all I can say is I thought I was on vacation?!?!?! My life is busier now then when I am in school. :)

    But it is great being busy-and most of all it is great hanging out with my girls, family and friends. Here we are already at the beginning of July and I have already done so much this summer, and I still have about a month and a half left. My daughters and I have traveled to North Carolina, Tennessee, and Connecticut. I was able to see NKOTB, Boys II Men, and 98* in concert. (Floor seats might I add) But I am getting very excited about my travels coming up in the next few weeks. I will be attending a Holocaust Seminar sponsored by Columbia College next week and then I will be traveling to Berlin for 12 days at the end of July. (Don't worry- I will blog everyday I am there about my experiences).

 My husband and I just celebrated our 2 year anniversary and I struggled to find something that would fit into the "cotton" gift category. So here is what I went with. I bought him an overnight bag filled with sunscreen, 2 pair of shorts, and new swimming shorts, as well as tickets for he and I to go kayaking one weekend this summer. This was my thought: the overnight bag, and shorts would be the cotton and everything is just a bonus ;) Leave it to my husband (the organic chemist) however to inform me that the bag was not made out of cotton. "Kelli-nobody makes bags out of cotton-they wouldn't last 2 seconds" But hey it is the thought that counts. Warren on the other hand made the best gift-he got a t-shirt (made of 100% cotton) and wrote on it personally "Love my wife" and he had intended on wearing it out everywhere we went on our anniversary (this past Tuesday), but I told him that I would not put him through the embarrassment. Again-hey it is the thought that counts right :) That was a great day!!!

 Well-You will be hearing from me more now (hopefully) filled with wild stories of my busy life-

 “Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.”-Judith Thurman

until next time,
xoxo