My trip to the Zoo with Mom

My Mom and my Aunt Thomasin came to Berlin!  They went to a lot of museums and such.  I went with them to a few places, but my favorite day by far was when I went to the Berlin Zoo with my mom.  I'm always skeptical of zoos, but this one was very good.  The animals seemed happy, healthy and had ample space to roam and be themselves.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Elephants are always tricky.  It's easy to find fault with an enclosure for a creature this large.  This beast seemed really happy.  She kept waving at us with her trunk.

This Impala has great camoflauge.

This guy seems pretty relaxed.

Mandrils are so strange

The Orangutan enclosure was HUGE!  This juvenile orangutan was playing peek-a-boo under a blanket.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the male who looked like a giant orange muppet.

The Gorilla enclosure was also large.  There were a male, female and some juveniles.  I watched them for a long, long time.  This male gorilla really intrigued me.  Powerful, gentle, and he looks so much like my dad.

Babboons!

Evidently, this chimp likes to pose like a pinup on his blanket.

Lange Nacht der Theater und Oper

Robert and I at 2€ pizza on Erkstrasse

David Cassel gave me two free tickets to Lange Nacht der Theater und Oper.  This is a crazy night where you can take special shuttles around to 57 theaters in Berlin and see all types of theater, opera, and performance.  It all starts at the Volksbühne, which is a popular and well funded theater house.  For those of you familiar with the Bay Area, I'd liken it to Berkeley Rep.
There were tables set up outside with guidebooks and maps.  I grabbed one and perused possible shows we could see while I waited for Robert.  I selected 5 or 6 shows that were all on intersecting routes, thinking we would get to see at least 4 of them.  I really wanted to go see something at English Theater Berlin, but it was off the beaten path, and it would cut into travel time immensely, so I decided to forego the option.  Robert arrived and sat on the low, stone wall with me, pouring over the program.  "I really want to see this!"  He pointed to a show that was far off the path of convenience, near the Berlin Zoo.  "And this," it was near the Tiergarten.  They would take forever to get to.  We would have to take public transit instead.  But Robert really wanted to see at least one of these shows, and what my boy wants, my boy gets.  So after seeing CreativeHaus Berlin's theater smorgasboard (an excerpt from the Crucible and two other short scenes.  Everything was in German but since I was familiar with the Arthur Miller piece, I knew what was going on.  Everything else was a bit of a mystery) we took the Route 3 shuttle to the S-Bahn and started our adventure.
The guide on the shuttle had told us to take the S-Bahn to the Zoo, then get the Route 6 shuttle outside the UDK.  On the S-Bahn, there were rude bullies who ridiculed Robert for his laugh.  Robert has a crazy, exuberant laugh that makes anyone around him want to laugh, too.  I hated those rude jerks.  We moved to the front of the train.
At the Berlin Zoo, we made a wrong turn.  I knew we were going the wrong way, but for some reason, I didn't say anything.  Self-doubt?  Half an hour later, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be seeing LOFT but at least we had turned around and were heading the right way.  When we finally boarded the shuttle, we learned there had been a program change and the piece that Robert had wanted to see was cancelled because the actress was sick, so instead it was someone doing a solo from Chekhov.  Okay, fine, at least we where on our way.  When we finally got to the theater, we were informed that the next sow was not for half an hour.  At this point, it was almost 23:00, and the last shows at all the theaters were at midnight.  We decided to turn around, get on the U3, make it back to the Volksbühne and at least enjoy the afterparty.
Of course, with disrupted plans and uncertainty, some animosity and grumpiness occurs, and Robert, ever sensitive, starts to look like a whipped dog.  "Just let me be mad!" I snap at him.  "It won't last.  It's not a big deal."
We transfer from the U3 to the U2, where there are some rude and horrible rockabilly types talking shit about foreigners.  Is this the new Nazi uniform, the 50s pinup and greaser look?  Yuck.  The U2 stops at Potsdamerplatz and we have to transfer to a bus for one stop before getting back on the U2.  It's going to be a long ride back to Rosenthalerplatz and Robert and I are both tired, disappointed and made out of nails.  But at Stadtmitte, I realize that we can transfer to the U6!  Woohoo!  English Theater Berlin, here we come!  We'll be just in time to catch the midnight show of 10-minute plays that David Cassel is in!  We get there with time to spare.  The plays are so-so.  The acting is good.  The direction is good.  Both scripts, mmm, a little thin.
After, we hang out with David and his ukulele for a bit before coming back to my place.  Robert and I get home around 2:30 and sleep, finally happy with our Lange Nacht!

Apologies.  It has been almost a month since I have posted.  First, my mom came to visit.  (Yeah!  My mom came to Berlin!)  Then, I developed a really serious condition in my right eye called Iritis that seriously impaired my vision and made it really difficult for me to be around bright light.  It's been, in a nut shell, horrible.  I have been on a steady regime of cortisone eyedrops and pupil dialating drops, and I am slowly recovering.  It's been two weeks.  I have ANOTHER doctor's appointment on Wednesday where hopefully Dr. Fiedler tells me I am all better because otherwise I have to go see a specialist.  And why did I get this eye disease?  What is the verdict?  Stress.  Stress tried to take my eye.  Oy vey.  What age are we living in where we cannot just LIVE?  Life has gotten so complicated and expensive.  Indeed, it's hard to maintain creativity when one is so focused on mere survival.
David Cassel and Iwona had their baby(!) so the improv group has been on hold but we are starting again this Friday at a little venue in Kreuzberg called T Berlin
I have SO MUCH to write about, but now I am short on time, so instead I'm just posting a little update to let you all know I'm still here.

Neverending Buckets of Stress

Lots and lots of pictures in this post, but first for neverending buckets of stress!  Woohoo!  How, you're asking.  How can it be?  Berlin is a big party town where everyone drinks Jägermeister until 5 am, right?
Maybe that's your Berlin, but it sure as hell ain't mine. 
I did my American taxes and was really excited that I didn't owe anything.  I had saved a fair-sized chunk of cash to pay to the IRS, but it was all mine!  Happy day!  I bought my return ticket to Berlin for August 14th and breathed a little easier knowing that the date of my return to Germany had been set.  I paid my rent.  I breathed a little easier still.
Then I got a bill from the TK (public insurance company that is not currently insuring me) for 255,97€.  They said they wanted it paid in full by April 10th or they would charge me a 5% late fee on what I owed every month.  I called to contest the late fee, saying that I could pay on a monthly basis.  "Sorry," said the woman on the other end of the line, "We can't waive the fee."  So I wrote them a letter telling them that I would pay the whole 255,97€ by July 10th, after I've gotten a few paychecks from the summer camp I'm working at.  I showed it to Robert and he helped me turn it into more formal German.  Crisis number one averted.
Crisis number two came this morning when my boss at the summer camp said she would give my job to somebody else if I couldn't make the first day of training on the 30th.  Problem was, all my plane tickets had already been purchased. 
May 27th, bus to London, arrive May 28th
May 29th fly from London Heathrow to Newark, NJ
May 30th fly from JFK to Oakland and arrive at 8:30 pm
Problem was, the meeting was from 6 to 9.
So today I had to buy another plane ticket from a different airline that leaves JFK at 6 am and gets to SFO by 9:30 am.  Cancellation fee for my Jet Blue ticket was $100 and I could only get the remaining $78.80 in flight credit, which I won't be using because Jet Blue flies in North America only.  I then emailed my boss my itinerary and asked for a job contract.  I am, once again, in a financial shithole.  I will feel a little better once I get a reply from her, but seriously man, I can't get a break.  I get leads to possible performance gigs that lead nowhere.  I'm onstage with an Improv Troupe EVERY WEEK and I am good!  But there's no money.  And I don't mean there's only 10 or 20€.  I mean NONE!  I am potentially gaining a new performance partner, and I am having a lot of fun, but I'm also worried about starving!
I met with an artist today who wants to make little fanzine/graphic novels.  Cool!  I'm into it!  But there's no money.  What is a girl to do?  I'm smart, talented, broke, and speak crappy German, but I'll tell you one thing.  When I get back here, I'm finding myself a job.  ANY JOB that has steady pay.  Oy!   Enough about me.  Here are some pictures with funny captions.

A few weekends ago, Robert and I decided to go to Treptower Park.  The S-Bahn wasn't running and we had to take the bus.  Robert DOES NOT like the bus.  Look at this pouty face!

Spring is here!  At least it was a few weeks ago.  Now it's cold and rainy again.  In fact, it might even snow.

New thrift-store dress, Treptower Park

There used to be an Amusement Park in Treptower Park.  It's closed now.  Sort of creepy!  You can see it in the movie "Hannah" which is in German and English

This was once an entrance to Funland!

Dead Amusement Park, Treptower Park

I want to live in this trailer! Dead Amusement Park, Treptower Park

Dead Amusement Park, Treptower Park

There is an overpriced cafe at the dead amusement park.  You can sit and eat in this!

 Treptower Park

And for 2€ this train will take you around the whole thing.  It is my dream in life to one day be the crusty carny who drives this thing.

Trepower Park

Graffiti, Kottbusserstrasse

Springtime, Friedenau cemetery

Fresh grave, Friedenau cemetery

Billboard Mod, Weserstrasse

The Birds

I haven't posted in a while. I've been writing quite a bit, but nothing that I'm ready to go public with yet.  I felt it was time for a blog post though.  After all, I don't want you to all give up and leave me, never check my blog again, so on this cold spring Friday, I'll write about birds.

Actually, the story begins at my tiny apartment in Friedenau that I share with one other person, the fabulous Sedrik.  My room is 10 square meters and shaped like a hallway.  On certain days, it's okay.  On other days, I can's stand the lack of space.  The furniture is too large for the room and there's no room for a decent work area, but in May Sedrik and I and another person named ClausKatrin are moving to a 3 room WG in Wedding where I will have 17 square meters of space all to myself and I am VERY excited.

But back to the present.  Sedrik and I have a small balcony attached to the kitchen.  It's mostly where we hang clothes to dry and when Robert comes over, it's where he smokes his cigarettes.  There is a bunch of trash, disorganized clutter, and plants lying about, or there was, until for a few brief days it was sunny and warm here in Berlin and I decided to make myself a work area. 

Down to the basement went the ugly roll of carpet, back to the store went the plastic bottles (you get Pfand, or money back, for plastic and Glass bottles.)  Away went the dead plants and into a bucket all the once used soil.  I filled the birdfeeder, than swept and even vacuumed the tiled balcony floor, wiped down the white folding table, put some candles on it, and voila!  Beautiful balcony!  I even hung up a bag of fake flowers I had found on the street months ago.  I had a nice, clean, outdoor work area!  And I started writing about my past, my personal history.  Two hours a day on the balcony.  yellowhammers, wheatears and treesparrows came to dine at the birdseed buffet while I scribed, having tiny conversations and arguments over nut and seed.  How lovely! 

See how pretty I made it?

Then the weather got cold again, so I had to take my writing practice inside.  Two days later when I looked out at the balcony, the freshly swept tile floor was littered with birdseed!  It's as if these tiny Avians had had a food fight!  I mean, they really put some effort into flinging the stuff around!  Gone was my image of shy and polite little creatures, delicately nibbling at their brunch.  These guys were party animals, getting wild and crazy at some seedy singles bar, trashing the place before winging it back to the nest.  Their chirpy conversations have become vulgar to my ears.  I'm the late night cleaner, the one who locks up the joint after everyone else has gotten wasted and gone home.  Those damn birds.  Thank god they don't shit where they eat!

Look at this carnage!