Softballs are not "Soft"

Today was Mother's Day ("was" because it's technically now Monday in Berlin), so Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Don't worry, I called home already and also posted a status update on Facebook. I suppose I did everything but send a card and flowers home (like I saw many German guys have on the bus today)...sorry, Mom...

It's also my sister's birthday, so happy birthday to my older sister. We are now officially two years apart again (by numbers, that is). I will catch up to you again in a few months. Six to be exact.

So, this morning, I woke up before 11 AM (rare on weekends), and I made chicken for lunch. Yum. No pictures, 'cause you've probably already seen it a few times now. 

After lunch though, I headed out to a baseball field nearby, where Brandon's team had their game today. It was my first actual game I've watched them play, so it was rather interesting. The weather was great at the beginning of the game. In fact, it was so sunny I thought I'd get sunburned. Weather changed midway through the game though and cooled down a bit. Thank you, clouds. 

I watched the first inning and a half near the Bandits' dugout (that's Brandon's team), and I just made mental observations. I told Brandon afterwards, but I didn't share my thoughts with any of the team members I knew since it didn't seem nice to show up for the first time and start giving my thoughts and opinions on their level of play, etc. It was certainly entertaining though, and they were working hard out there. Sadly, final score was something like 23-0, and the game ended after the 5th inning due to the mercy rule.

I enjoyed watching the game though and actually after the second inning, I watched it with another Fulbright friend of ours, Mary, who also lives in Berlin. We'd also met during the conference in March, but we never connected again after that brief encounter until today. It was rather fun, and it was actually quite fun to cheer Brandon on. It embarrassed him slightly, I think. Haha.

Midway through one of the innings though, a right-handed hitter for the other team came up to bat, and he fouled the ball straight in Mary's direction. Since I was just to her left, I reached my arm out to not even catch the ball but just deflect it away. Well, any baseball/softball fan knows that trying to catch a ball barehanded is not the smartest or most pleasant thing to do. I had a nice imprint of a softball on my hand after that and of course it stung. (Picture here is not the hitter, but it gives you an idea of the hitter's box).

But aside from my hand, no one got hurt, so we were all good. I suppose I should've tried to just grab the ball one-handed, but oh well. As the day wore on though, it wasn't my hand that hurt—it was my elbow. I think the force of the ball knocked my arm back slightly and with my arm extended it got my elbow a bit funny. In any case, I fully expect to wake up with a sore elbow tomorrow. 

After the game, Brandon, Mary, and I went to a park near my place and just chilled in the grass with a beer in our hands. Wonderfully relaxing and fun to just enjoy the nature in Berlin. Plus the weather has been absolutely awesome this weekend. It's supposed to stay nice this week as well, but too bad I will miss it.

We parted ways around 6:15 PM, and after dropping off my stuff at home and changing into jeans, I hopped back on the tram and headed to Kreuzberg. I met up with my buddy, Jay, and his friend, Mark, and we all went to my favorite schwarma place at Kottbusser Tor. Oh man, those schwarma sandwiches are so good!

It was really quite pleasant to then stroll around Oranienstr. and have a beer at a sidewalk bar. We ended up sitting there for a good three hours and chatting about everything from sports to politics to just random stuff. Good fun. 

Anyway, I will have to wake up early tomorrow to pack and get ready for my trip. My flight leaves in about 11 hours. Wonderful. Talk to you when I reach Paris.

Ciao,

Sam