Trike! Bed! Oh, that damned Cream Sauce!

Boddinstraße U-Bahn

Where to begin?  So much is happening!  I finally feel alive!  I have a home again!  I am aware that I make an impact, that folks care about me.  I am getting closer to achieving my goals.  I had an hour long conversation in German!!!  It was slow.  My conversation partner was very patient and had to repeat herself a lot, but when I landed here almost 6 months ago (has it been that long?) I NEVER thought I would be able to say more than a few sentences.  Practicing a language is a little like yoga, where at first you think, "Man, I will NEVER get the hang of this."  But then you just practice over and over again and soon you can touch your toes.  

I'm not making any money right now, but I'm flexing my creative muscles and making connections.  Not only do I perform improv regularly at the Space Station but I have been hired as a performance coach by Trike, a Canadian duo with a very unique sound.  We're all a bunch of broke-ass-artists living on a dream and barely squeaking by, so at the moment, there's no money, but so far Trike has fed me, kept me full of coffee or wine, and given me a pair of free tickets to their show tonight.  I really like working with them on the more theatrical portions of their show.  It feeds something important inside me.  Also, my network of artists is growing and diversifying as I try to figure out exactly where I fit into this crazy city.

Stephen (Trike) and I have a headphones party as I listen to his song and he listens to mine.

 I am moving for the 4th time in 6 months and after this one, I only have one more until I get my permanent home!  I moved a suitcase and my monster army backpack as well as a bag of groceries over to Rubensstraße today.  I take the rest of my things over gradually, the three bags of odds, ends and toiletries I still have at the temporary horror-sublet on Schillerpromenade go tomorrow and I hope to have the rest of my stuff out of Robert's place by the end of next week.  And on Tuesday, I get a BED!  It's a fairly thin and cheap futon, but it is the size of a full bed and it is FREE!  I now get to enlist a few other folks to help my move it via public transit on Tuesday.  Oh, boy, this is going to be interesting!  Maybe I can find someone with a car...

I've been pondering the idea of home and what the hell is it, and I have come up with this simple list of what it takes to make me feel like I have a home:
1) A bed that is large enough for me and one other person
2) Easy access to internet.  Doesn't have to be wireless, but I have to be able to access it from my laptop.
3) A roommate (at least 1) who enjoys sharing meals together occasionally.

And this I will have! I have a very small room with a loft bed for the next 1 or 2 months near Friedenau (there is NOTHING special about this neighborhood.  Boring and quiet and with transit nearby.  Sounds good to me.)  In April or May, we move to Wedding, on the U-8 line, right in between Pankstraße and Osloerstraße U-Bahn.  So cool!  Wedding is a still ungentrified area with a lot of Turkish and Arabic influence, and only 15 or 20 minutes away from Neukölln with public transit.  This area of Wedding was in my top three districts I was hoping to live in in Berlin, and now it's happening.  Woo!

Walking down Weserstraße past Silver Future in Neukölln I found this.  Disturbing really!  Doesn't it look like snow?  Now look at the close-up below

Spring is here early and it's lovely!  I am finally wearing my summer jacket again!  Know longer do I need to wear cotton tights under my pants!  I can't wait for the flowers to start blooming.  I hear the winter was extremely mild, but for my California blood, oh, it was hard!

I have been feeling good lately.  Alive!  So good and alive that I decided to make Robert dinner the other night.  I made pasta with chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce.  I should have used cream, or sour cream.  But milk was easily at hand, so I used that.  A lot of it.
Um, a word to the wise:  even if you are not lactose intolerant, don't do this unless you want to have serious stomach issues for about 3 days.  Really.  It's still not over, but I'm through the worst of it.  Damn, there is nothing to make one feel vulnerable and helpless in this world like feeling ill in a foreign country.  I have health insurance, but am unsure of how to use it, plus, if I go to the Apotheke, how do I ask for what I need?  I did learn a new word though: Verstopft, as in "Ich bin verstopft."  Look it up.  Then hope it never happens to you.
I'm happy to say that thanks to the natural remedy of good quality (and sort of pricey) apple juice, I am feeling MUCH better. Although now there is the opposite problem.  Hmm.
Enough poop talk.  Here are a few more pictures.  Enjoy!

Neukölln

Neukölln

Mexican food in Berlin? No thank you!

Does this look like a burrito to you?  No?  I didn't think so.

 

 

 

 

 

I knew that Mexican food in Berlin would be weird.  Still, I had to try it.
I've been really careful with money since I've been abroad, scraping by on a strand of a shoestring, finding most of my clothing on the street, reading material at the flea markets and walking the extra block or two to the cheaper (if less convenient) grocery stores. 
I was meeting Robert at an art opening (which was quite disappointing) at 7:30, so I decided to get my stroll on down Oranienstraße around 6.  Oranienstraße is a hip and trendy street in Kreuzberg with lots of cafes, boutiques, and restaurants.  There are some döner and falafel shops, some Vietnamese places, and two Mexican restaurants.  Felt like walking, so I chose the one farther from my apartment.
Santa Maria Mexican Diner in Berlin is about as far from a San Francisco Taqueria as I could ever hope to get.  You know that 'no-ambience lighting and Mariachi music" that make a Mission district taqueria a true and honest experience?  In Berlin, one has to go to a late-night Kebap shop to bask in this type of cheap eats glow.  I know I am in for an interesting experience when I walk in and hear the a Clash album playing.  I don't remember the name of the album.  It's the one where they cover Bob Dylan's hit, "Maggie's Farm."  Good music, for sure, but not taqueria music.  Also, the lighting is, well, nice, soft.  And there's table service.  And I don't see ANY Mexican people.  Weird.
But I remind myself that I am not in California anymore.  Mexico is far away.  Of course, this will be a different sort of dining experience.  I force the doors of my mind to remain open as I order.  Though tempted by the vegan option with pumpkin and spices,  I stay true to my original goal of having a  comparative experience and order the Tippa de Pollo.  The Tippa de Polla is 6,50€ and is advertised as a chicken burrito with beans, cheese and salsa.  Look at the above photo.  Just look at it.  Does that look like a chicken burrito to you?  Does it?
If you've looked at the photo and you are still unsure whether to answer yes or no, let me help you out a little bit.  First of all, this "burrito" is wrapped in some sort of lavash or flatbread.  It's the right shape, but it's really not a tortilla and should never be used as one.  The beans?  Well, the were refried pintos, but not the ultra delicious type found in the Bay area.  No, these refried beans tasted like the beans from one of those little bean and cheese freezer burritos you stick in the microwave when you are all out of more edible food.  The chicken?  Well, there was a lot of it, and it was pretty tasty I guess, but the spices were all wrong.
Look at the picture above one more time.  See that brown-purpley mess next to the "burrito?"  What the hell is that?  Is it supposed to be Mexican food, too?  It's a sort of pickled onion and pepper pile.  I don't get it.
Over all, the above pictured was an edible, but not wonderful meal.  It was the most expensive meal I've had in a while, maybe since I was in London four months ago.  I'm not sorry I had the experience.  I was curious so I tried it.  But you know what?  I'm sticking with 1,50€ döner and 2€ pizza, thank you very much.
The food in Berlin, German and Turkish alike, is FANTASTIC, but I'll save my taco-time for this June and July when I'm working in San Francisco.

The King of Pop kills the Devil, Oranienstraße, Kreuzberg

Outdoor Turkish Market and FOOD, FOOD, FOOD! (Celia, this one is for you!)

Typical German Breakfast-Bread, Cheese, Meat, Butter, Boiled Eggs.  (Not Pictured here are the wide variety of Frischkässe spreads also often present at such events as the lazy, Sunday morning Früstuck)

This post is for my friend Celia, who lives in Oakland, California.  Why for Celia, you might wonder?  Well, this post is about food, and food is Celia's passion in life.  So there you have it.

Though many ingredients found in California can also be found in Berlin, there are a few things that make the cuisine very different.  For one, mexican food, though available, is not so common.  You can't find black beans or refried beans at the common Supermarkts.  They may be available somewhere, but I haven't seen any yet.  Instead of the late night taqueria, here we have döner kebap, a Turkish meat sandwich made with meat carved off of a spit and server on bread with cabbage, sometimes tomato, and sauce.  Döner  is widely available and if you know where to go you can get some real quality food for 1,50€.  Some döner shops also have very reasonably priced falafel.  In general, Neukölln is a little cheaper than Kreuzerg, but there are exceptions to this rule.  Pizza is also pretty inexpensive if you know where to go.  There is a place in Neukölln on Wildenbruchstraße that has a huge variety of personal-sized pizzas for 2€ each.  My favorite is the shrimp, squid and cheese with tomato sauce and chili oil.  

But let's talk more about Früstuck (breakfast), shall we?  This is by far my favorite meal of the day, when I have time, that is.  While I am a fan of hot ceral, oatmeal only makes it's appearance at my breakfast table occasionally.  Generally, whether I'm eating alone or with friends, breakfast includes bread (either sliced or little rolls called Schrippe) cheese, honey, sometimes cold meat, and any variety of spreadable Frischkäse.  My favorite is currently horse radish, though I also like the Herb and Garlic very much.  Frischkäse can be very expensive, but it's also possible to find it in the Lidl or PennyMarkt for under ,70€.  Boiling eggs seems to be the most common way to prepare them in my sphere of

influence, although they are of course cooked every which way here just like in the rest of the world.

Robert and I went to the Turkish Market on Maybachufer along the canal on Friday.  A gorgeous mishmash of colors, the outdoor Turkish Market takes place on Tuesdays and Fridays until 6.  The closer to the end you go, the better the bargains.  I got a bunch of bananas for ,50€ and Robert got three avocados for 1€!  I also found some very inexpensive and high quality cotton tights.  Today I'm wearing them under my pants because it is SNOWING outside!  (I look out the window and see the little flakes falling.  Opening the window, I stick my hand out, catch a flake on my fingertip, taste it.  I hear a tinkling sound as the flakes touch the ground.  So beautiful.)

We also bought some turkey eggs, which are much bigger than chicken eggs.  They tasted pretty much the same as chicken eggs, though.

Below are some photos from the Turkish market.  I tried to focus on colors and textures.  I hope you like them.

As well as food, you can also by clothing, incense and knick-knacks at the Turkish Market

and they have some really good deals on fabric.

and yarn

I was so surprised to see dragon fruit!  It's an  Asian fruit, very beutiful.  The inside is white with black speckles.