This morning, Brandon and I both woke up by 8 AM and then we went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for our dinner tonight. Brandon's current roommate, Mario, is heading back to Spain tomorrow, so tonight was his last night in town and we wanted to celebrate with a nice, homecooked meal. Check out what I found in the "American" section of the grocery store.
After we shopped and prepped food for dinner, Brandon and I headed to Potsdamer Platz to meet our old "boss" so to speak. We both volunteered (Brandon still, actually) for the Meet US program through the US Embassy, where we would go out to local schools and speak about life in the US. Heike, who oversees the program, was meeting us for a little coffee/tea, which was nice. It was great to catch up!
Once we wrapped up our meeting, we headed to Schlachtensee, which is a lake in southwest Berlin near where I lived in 2008 during my HIA fellowship. It's a nice lake where people go swimming and chilling by the water. Apparently, there are also huge catfish in the water, which rarely but every once in a while will attack humans who venture too close to their nests. Naturally, that freaked me out a bit, but we still had a blast.
The weather was gorgeous, and even though it was warm out, the combination of swimming in a freshwater lake and laying out on the nearby grass with huge trees around us was just absolutely perfect. Surprisingly, this was actually the first time I'd ever gone swimming in Berlin. For Brandon though, it was his second time in two days. In fact, he took my underwater camera out for a swim and got some pictures.
We chilled on the grass for the rest of the afternoon, and it was nice to just soak in the sun (yes, I used sunscreen). The view and the sounds of the surrounding wildlife was quite relaxing.
Once we got home and showered, we went to pick up fish for our evening grill fest. We stopped by a Mediterranean grocery store, where Brandon apparently knew the owner and often got a nice discount. It was quite impressive, and I snapped a few photos of the food and drink selections.
After shopping, we went home and prepped dinner some more while snacking on some grilled mozarella (amazing) and Spanish olives (delicious).
I had also marinated some meat earlier in the day, so it was soon ready to be grilled. The fish (herring) was nicely prepared as well. With Brandon and Stefan, you always know you'll have good fish, since they study fish for a living and enjoy catching fish as well.
Stefan soon came over and Mario came home as well. Our old friend from our Fulbright program in Marburg, Nora, stopped by as well. It was a great reunion! We had quite the grill party once all the food was done.
It was a very pleasant evening, and it was beautiful out, too, since tonight was a full moon.
Later in the evening, a few of Mario's friends came over as well, so that was fun to have so many friendly folks over. Tomorrow, Brandon and I will find some time to go back to Schlachtensee with them, although Brandon first has to go to work and I have a meeting with my old Fulbright faculty advisor.
All in all, it was great to catch up with more friends and meet new ones as well. See a theme here? :) I am running out of time in Berlin though, and I still have many friends to visit. I don't think I will be able to visit them all, sadly.
But, till the next update...
After we shopped and prepped food for dinner, Brandon and I headed to Potsdamer Platz to meet our old "boss" so to speak. We both volunteered (Brandon still, actually) for the Meet US program through the US Embassy, where we would go out to local schools and speak about life in the US. Heike, who oversees the program, was meeting us for a little coffee/tea, which was nice. It was great to catch up!
Once we wrapped up our meeting, we headed to Schlachtensee, which is a lake in southwest Berlin near where I lived in 2008 during my HIA fellowship. It's a nice lake where people go swimming and chilling by the water. Apparently, there are also huge catfish in the water, which rarely but every once in a while will attack humans who venture too close to their nests. Naturally, that freaked me out a bit, but we still had a blast.
The weather was gorgeous, and even though it was warm out, the combination of swimming in a freshwater lake and laying out on the nearby grass with huge trees around us was just absolutely perfect. Surprisingly, this was actually the first time I'd ever gone swimming in Berlin. For Brandon though, it was his second time in two days. In fact, he took my underwater camera out for a swim and got some pictures.
We chilled on the grass for the rest of the afternoon, and it was nice to just soak in the sun (yes, I used sunscreen). The view and the sounds of the surrounding wildlife was quite relaxing.
Once we got home and showered, we went to pick up fish for our evening grill fest. We stopped by a Mediterranean grocery store, where Brandon apparently knew the owner and often got a nice discount. It was quite impressive, and I snapped a few photos of the food and drink selections.
After shopping, we went home and prepped dinner some more while snacking on some grilled mozarella (amazing) and Spanish olives (delicious).
I had also marinated some meat earlier in the day, so it was soon ready to be grilled. The fish (herring) was nicely prepared as well. With Brandon and Stefan, you always know you'll have good fish, since they study fish for a living and enjoy catching fish as well.
Stefan soon came over and Mario came home as well. Our old friend from our Fulbright program in Marburg, Nora, stopped by as well. It was a great reunion! We had quite the grill party once all the food was done.
It was a very pleasant evening, and it was beautiful out, too, since tonight was a full moon.
Later in the evening, a few of Mario's friends came over as well, so that was fun to have so many friendly folks over. Tomorrow, Brandon and I will find some time to go back to Schlachtensee with them, although Brandon first has to go to work and I have a meeting with my old Fulbright faculty advisor.
All in all, it was great to catch up with more friends and meet new ones as well. See a theme here? :) I am running out of time in Berlin though, and I still have many friends to visit. I don't think I will be able to visit them all, sadly.
But, till the next update...
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