I am writing you from a shop in Kreuzberg, a district of Berlin. Kreuzberg is an area that pretty perfectly demonstrates the constantly evolving social culture of the city. On a tour of the city – titled ‘The Alternative Berlin Tour’ – we learned about this district. It started as an area for Turkish people to live. It was initially pretty impoverished and not a popular destination. Areas like this attracted artists, for its cheap rent and the ‘authenticity’ of poverty. As more and more artists moved to this area, it became more and more popular and gentrified. It is now a very popular destination for the youth and tourists of Berlin; the streets are lined with grungy bars and tourist shops. Now that the area is popular, artists have begun their migration to the next unpopular area. This is the lifecycle of Berlin.
The Alternative Berlin Tour is just one of the many interesting excursions we have gone on. We’ve been inside the Bundestag, Germany’s capital building, in which we were introduced to the democratic processes of Germany and got to walk up the wildly coolglass dome at the top.With an element of coincidence and beauty, German gay marriage was legalized in the building the very next day. We spent a day in the Jewish History museum. The architecture of this museum is like nothing I have seen before; it utilizes space and ‘the void’ in hopes of provoking a sense of loss or confusion. We went on a walking tour through what was one a Stasi Prison. In this prison which was once a prison of East Germany, people considered to be enemies of the state, including those that attempted to flee to the West.
I’ve made some really great friends here in Berlin. In a very Berlin way, not one of the people in my little squad is actually from Germany. Each night we all gather at an apartment and have a beautiful dinner on a porch overlooking a village that was previously that was previously lodging for American soldiers.
After, we walk the city streets with no destination in mind. Sometimes we end up in a bar. Sometimes we end up at an Open Air, an outdoor movie theater. Life in Berlin is quite nice!