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O satisfy us in

the morning with

Your lovingkindness,

That we may sing

for joy and be glad

all our days.

Psalm 90:14

NASB

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Wrapping up the show

Hello, everyone, it's a lovely day in Riva. Last night I stayed up late writing stories. But I got to sleep in because the last day of English (we had our exam Monday) was just a fun day, so we canceled the first half and had to go at 10:45. This suited me fine, and I was able to get my last story written. So now I'm done with English totally. This afternoon we had our Italian exam, which was very easy and included a group chatting/skit part. That worked well and was fun. Then I went up the hill to the Pabiana and did research for this, my last paper--last thing period--of the schoolyear! Yay! I made pretty good time on it at first, too.

Other highlights of the day... In addition to finishing up my English work and Italian class totally, I was thrilled to get friendly emails back from two potential employers that I sent resumes to yesterday. I have had previous contact with both of them, and even though there's nothing really concrete they invited me to apply for, they were very helpful. I am very happy about this. :) Also in the news, I just found out that I will be able to take the one class I needed this fall as an independent study. Thank you Dr. Easter for your willingness to do this! This simplifies my scheduling for this summer and next fall, and it's great to find this out today, because I had some other important details hinging on this. I'm thankful!

Tonight's feature: Spending time with people here as it's the last few days. I have really been enjoying the people around Riva now that we're going. For so long, I didn't really feel any comradery with them, and pretty much felt obligated to show myself friendly, but that it didn't ever really reap anything relationally. Now I feel to some degree friends with pretty much everyone here. I was on polite terms with everyone before, but I feel like now there are people who I could call friends. It's a really great thing. It's amazing how much it changes my perspective on being here. I feel like just in the last few days, I've loosened up enough to be myself around people, and guess what, they're not scared off! Well... not too many of them. :) The weirder ones are the ones I hang out with. :) Not really. I just mean it's great to be here and to finally feel comfortable with these people I've spent three and a half months with. I'm only sorry I didn't start feeling this way sooner. I think it is due in part to the warmer weather, which means we're all more relaxed in general, and especially due to knowing that we're leaving soon and going back to our lives where we probably won't see each other much (except for some people, but not the whole group). Also, we realize now all the things we have experienced together. It's really fun. Now I'm going to miss it. :)
Gotta go! Still have one paper! Goodnight!

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Monte Tamaro

Today Justin and I went with a group of our students and the architecture students (a small group of us) to Monte Tamaro, which is about 40 minutes away by train. We left right after lunch and rode the train. When we got to the little town where it is, north of Lugano, we rode cable cars up the mountain. The day was incredibly clear, which is perfect because it's definitely high enough to be affected by clouds. Also, since it's pretty near Lake Lugano (like Riva and our mountains), there is a lot of potential for fog. Anyway, it worked out beautifully. We could see so many snow covered mountains from the top. There was lots of space with grass and a little lower, trees. There was also a really interesting church there--not old, like I expected, but the artistic work of some famous architect around here. Some odd things: there were large areas of grass that had lots of tiny white crocuses with some purple ones too. They were so tiny and beautiful. I really liked how they were just down there in the grass, growing how they pleased. Another strange thing was that there was a little pond absolutely FULL of frogs. They just kind of sat there with their heads poking up and jumped and swam around. It isn't like it's that warm up there either--it was pretty nice up there today, but there was some snow right by the pond. I got a good picture of a frog chilling in the water with his legs spread out behind him.

Well, I got that big paper done. I stayed up late to do it, but I think I did a good job, and now I only have one medium paper left and four one-pagers. The four are due tomorrow. I also have an Italian exam tomorrow, which shouldn't be too hard.

It's fun to think that we only have about four days left. It is getting less appealing to leave now, because the weather is so nice, and the thought of leaving makes everyone enjoy each other more than ever before. I feel like I'm just getting comfortable enough to really be myself. Oh well. I'm thankful for the trip and especially for a good ending. I'm also glad to be wrapping up my schoolwork.

Well, I have stuff to write. Better go. Thanks for all the comments, everybody. AG, the weirdest thing. Do you know that just yesterday, before I got your comment, I was thinking about the word "vicariously"? Really. I love that word. Familial units, it was great to hear from you. :) Laura, glad you got your project done. ;)

Love you guys. E

Monday, April 25, 2005

Haggard

Not really. :) But really tired of writing papers. This one I'm writing right now is a monster. It's taking so long. I'm combining two essays into one, and took forever to do the first part. Now I'm on the second part and really really wanting to be done but still needing to do research and unfortunately having trouble concentrating where I'm trying to work.

The weather has been rainy.

I don't have time for a feature tonight.

Schoolwork is going, but not fast enough.

Time is flying. I'm really excited to be coming home this next week. Yayhoo!

I need to go. Sorry this is so boring. I simply don't have time to write more.

Goodnight!

Friday, April 22, 2005

HEY!!! I'm Back!

Hi guys!! :) I'm back blogging again! Today is Friday, and this weekend Justin and I aren't traveling anywhere except for a day trip tomorrow. I'm so excited about it. I was really glad to have a day here where I could get up without needing to go somewhere. I stayed up at the Pab most of the day, and worked on my paper, ate lunch with Justin, and wrote some letters and postcards.

I'm also excited because later Justin and I walked down to the lake for a break and we had a nice talk. Then we came back and got to eat a real dinner instead of a bag dinner, (long story), then I got some plans worked out and got some free clothes from people who have too much stuff to take it all back. Yay! :) Oh, and I got a great pair of shoes from my roommate, too. Thanks Stevie!

Yeah, and I have a lot to do on my paper still, but I'm really glad about how smoothly it's going.

And I'm excited to be coming home soon. I get pumped up thinking about it. :)

So... tonight's feature. European angles. I don't remember if I've talked about this before, but Europeans feel no obligation like Americans do to work in right angles. Around here you will see many houses with kind of oblique angles here or there, or even apartment buildings with odd-angled corners. This is more common in older cities. Europeans also use odd angles at their road intersections. Sometimes this means several roads intersect at one point instead of our usual four or maybe five; incidentally, the roads crossing to the other side often change names on the other side, which makes navigating by map difficult. Having many roads intersecting in one place necessarily makes the traffic and the shape of the intersection itself different as well. Back to angles, often in an old city, you can stand on a street and look across at some building facing you and see both the left and right sides of the building at once, because the building has a narrow front but slopes out from both corners to be wider at the back. It seems kind of strange to see both sides at the same time and to see buildings so narrow. This usually happens at one of those places where the streets also intersect oddly, such that the shape of the building matches the shape that the roads make. Smart.

Well, it's nice to be back with you all. I look forward to seeing you all again in person. :)
Love,
me.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Hello and hello.

Hello. First blog in a long time! This has been a bad week for blogging. I've meant to, but I don't think about it much during the day and I have been going up to the Pabiana earlier this week than I usually do, and there's no internet access up there. I've been going up in vain attempts to get work done, since I have several papers left before we leave for Blacksburg, which is in nine days. NINE DAYS, I TELL YOU!!!

Tonight's feature: I don't feel like having a feature tonight.

Today was good to mediocre. This morning I was exhausted, but amazingly got more awake as the day progressed, paying attention in class and even following much of the lecture while multi-tasking. After class (political science today), I ate lunch and soon went up to the Pabiana to work. After some time of trying to work but not really achieving it, I began to actually work. Justin and I started working on the porch, because it was fantastically beautiful and sunny outside, and the green mountain in front of the slope we live on was clear in the sunshine. Also, the sky was intensely blue and there were huge, shockingly white poofy clouds in the sky. The little daisies which are all over the Pabiana's yard were very bright also in the sun. Alas, the sun went away and it got cold, then Justin and I moved inside and I continued to get things done. Then we came down here to dinner, and got finished up in good time. The day was fine, until I got an email about not getting the job I was sort of counting on for the summer and into the fall. The fact is, I should have been writing more emails to people, but I thought things were going well with this, and I was really busy for a while and couldn't handle everything, and then I came back and kind of assumed I would get that job. So I'm not extremely crushed about not getting the job, though I would have liked it very much I'm sure, since it was in Blacksburg, a writing job with flexible hours... but what I really am sorry about is that it's April 21 and I don't have a job. And everybody else has probably taken care of their job searching already, so I don't know what might be available. :( I'm sure it will turn out fine and God has something in mind, but I could have handled this better. :-/

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Dear Everyone,

I'm so sorry, but I forgot/didn't have/take time to blog this week! Never fear--I am taking my computer on the trip this weekend to Gouda, Holland, and Bruges, Belgium, so I'll work on getting caught up. :)

Bye now!

Monday, April 11, 2005

Today I'm back in Riva

Today was the first day back in Riva for a long time! It was nice to be here. I am enjoying the book we're reading in English for the first time all semester, I had a great prayer time earlier where I got my focus back on target, and a good afternoon of getting stuff done.

Tonight's feature: Spring in Riva San Vitale. Everything is so beautiful here now. The grass is green and lush, many kinds of flowers are blooming everywhere--yellow ones, little daisies, and violets are all over the grass, not to mention daffodils and anything else people have planted, white trees are blooming everywhere, and the trees on the mountains are turning green. It's turning into a totally different place than it was this winter. It really makes me feel different about Riva--instead of feeling like I'm struggling to maintain a peaceful, whole existence here, I feel like it's becoming a garden where I'll want to stay. Speaking of which, the Casa has a garden. It's a very nice little European garden, with tables and chairs, a terrace, some grapevines on a trellis, shrubs, a little maze of gravel path in the shrubs, palmetto trees with hairy trunks, and flowers. It's beautiful. I really like having it there. I plan to use it as much as I can before I leave. :)

Feature: The European approach to shopping.

Europeans seem to prefer small stores that provide one kind of good, instead of large department stores like Walmart (though there is apparently one here in Wurzburg, amazingly enough!). It's not that there aren't large stores and department stores, but there are many greengrocers, stationery stores, bakeries, butchers, and toy stores. Also, Europeans put a great deal of emphasis on display. It seems to me that most store windows fit one of two categories: either the window is very fashionably done, with few items displayed in an eye-catching way under fancy halogen lighting, or the window tries to display everything the store sells--which is eye-catching in itself for the sheer volume of items in the window. I have some great pictures. Hopefully someday I'll put them up!

Feature: The European approach to transportation.

Europeans do use cars a lot, like Americans, but they also use trains a great deal for longer distance traveling. Americans might use trains more if they were more available, but I guess it seems like trains wouldn't catch on as well in the U.S. I don't know--it seems like Americans like the individuality of using their cars. Europeans also use bikes and rollerblades and walking a lot more for short distance travel than I am used to. I'm sure there are lots of people in American cities who travel by foot a lot and who use rollerblades, but I think Europeans definitely use bikes more widely than Americans. Americans bike a lot, but it's different. Americans bike largely for recreation, and some for transportation, while Europeans bike largely for transportation, and some for recreation. Also, most biking Americans fit in the young to middleage group, and I would say more than half are men. In Europe, all kinds of people, including older people and more women, use bikes, and for everything, including grocery shopping. The result is that bikes are better designed to be practical--a typical bike has a bell, fenders to keep mud from splashing, and one or more baskets; also, cities are more bike-friendly. Many sidewalks actually have a bike lane between the pedestrian part and the road, and there are traffic signals for many bike lanes, so bikers don't have to find a separate path or ride in the road.

Feature: The European approach to thirst.

The European mentality is that if you are thirsty, you should either bring your own bottle of water or whatever you want to drink or else plan on buying it while you're out. This is to say that, if you are thirsty and really want a drink of water, you almost always have to buy it because there are no water fountains and water at restaurants comes in bottles. As for water fountains, I have only seen one while I've been here, and Dr. Taylor said that was about the third he had ever seen in Europe--and he's come here every summer since the seventies. At some restaurants, they are really nice and if you buy another drink of some sort, they'll give you tap water for free (as opposed to making you also buy either regular bottled water or carbonated bottled water off the menu). The results of the European approach to thirst are that 1) in most places except restaurants, people don't mind you bringing your bottle in with you--so you can shop with your juice or whatever, and 2) I am often dehydrated because one only wants to pack so much water for a daytrip and I don't like buying more. I wish water was more available, but I like how you can take your bottle in with you as a result of the no-fountain policy.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Coming back from the 19-day venture

Well, we got on the train at 7:30 a.m. in Prague and rode various trains all day. We arrived in Riva about 10:15, and headed up to unpack and bed! Got some work done, saw lots of beautiful beautiful countryside, enjoyed the nicest train I've been on yet, and stood/sat on the floor of the fullest train I've been on yet. Oh, and we ate weird Czech sweet thin rolled-up bread things for breakfast. It was quite a day.

Saturday, April 09, 2005

Prague, Czech Republic (second day)

Saturday Justin and I thought we'd get up early and head out around 8:30 instead of taking all morning like we usually do. Also, our hostel doesn't have breakfast, so we wouldn't be able to kill a bunch of time there (usually a big time sink). So we left a little after 8:30, took the metro into town, and found an internet place. I had heard back from a potential employer and have a phone interview set up for Wednesday!

Then J and I shopped around and found all kinds of cool gifts for people and got most of our shopping done finally. That was a big relief and I am really pleased with what I found. Also, in all the internet biz, we hadn't eaten, so we found this little hole-in-the-wall food joint/local old men's cafe and bought a fried cheese sandwich, which Carmen had recommended the day before. It was pretty good--a square of mozzarella or something fried, with tartar sauce and in a big soft warm bun. Then we met up with Carmen and found lunch. After that we shopped around some more and stopped at an internet place again. I really saw God working in how our morning went. I was able to get a ton of necessary stuff done. I got an interview set up, plans made to order a bridesmaid dress, bought a measuring tape, measured myself and sent the measurements by email, bought a gift and helped Justin pick out his, met a friend for lunch, and tried two kinds of authentic Czech cuisine. Boy, what a morning! :)

Then J and I decided that we'd better head back to see what the group had planned for the evening. We were all hoping to go out for Pam's birthday, but Pam had been pretty sick and we didn't know if that would work out. If it wasn't going to, we were considering taking an overnight train instead of traveling Sunday. We eventually decided to stick with the original Sunday plan.

The two highlights of the day were having a great quiet time and then having a really important talk with Justin afterward. I'm thankful. Then we headed out with the group to dinner.
Afterward, we realized we probably should have bought tickets for our early morning train ride from Czech (non-Eurail pass territory) to our stop in Germany. Realizing the little station might not be open that early, and not wanting to have to buy it on the train, or worse yet, be fined, we went on a late-night adventure walking to the big station. It was exciting. I'm not going to detail it here because this is already long and I have to write a story about it. :) So ask me for the story if you want to read it. :) Anyway, it worked out fine and lots of walking, metroing, talking to various station ladies (some of whom spoke English), and more metroing later, we got back to the hostel. The amazing thing was, it only took an hour and a half! Goodbye. :)

Friday, April 08, 2005

Prague, Czech Republic (first day)

Hello. This morning we arrived in Prague on an overnight train. It was confusing getting to the hostel, but we made it. It turns out that most of the features that we were excited about this hostel are actually soon to be here, but not here yet. However, it's nice and newly painted.

Then we wandered down toward town. Justin and I broke off from the group because we had to find an internet cafe so we could get the details for meeting my friend (her name is Carmen; she's from Maryland) in time to meet her for lunch. We finally found an internet place, and I got lots of important email. Nice! Then we left on our way to meet Carmen. We walked a long way and finally rode the metro pretty far south on our map. We met up with Carmen quickly, she showed us around a cool part of town, and then we walked back up to the northern part where we had been to get lunch and meet her friend there as well. STRANGELY enough, we actually ate lunch at a restaurant on the same street as the internet cafe we'd been in earlier. Prague is not that small. It was very odd. Then Carmen, Justin and I walked around Old Town for a while, and then Carmen headed off for the afternoon. Justin and I went up to Prague Castle up on the hill overlooking the city, then we went back to the hostel, incredibly exhausted from all our walking.

Tonight's feature: Back at the hostel, we left again in a while for dinner at a restaurant a block from our hostel. It was authentic Czech cuisine. Unfortunately, it seems to be common Czech policy (like in the guidebooks) to provide extras like bread for dinner and then charge you for them. Our restaurant did this, which made everybody really mad; also, our waiter somehow lost my table's orders and after everyone else had eaten most of their meals, he came back and took our orders again. Then when he brought the food, he still didn't have one meal, and he got our side orders mixed up. :( Everybody was really heated by the time we left.

Prague is a nice city. The architecture is pretty. It seems kind of like a combination of German and Italian architecture in the cities we've been in so far. There are lots of cobblestone streets and sidewalks, like in most of the other cities we've been in. There are some really neat bridges on the river running above the Old Town. One of them has lots of statues on it. Apparently during the Protestant-Catholic conflicts a long time ago, a bunch of Protestant leaders got their heads left out in the rain and sun for seven years on that bridge. Yuck. Prague has lots of crystal shops--all kinds, nice and hole-in-the-wall. Some of it is very beautiful, and it is relatively inexpensive. One interesting thing about being in Czech is that I have no basis for understanding the language because it isn't based on Latin at all, or similar to English (as is German). So it's very difficult to function when it depends on being able to read.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Strasbourg, France

Thursday was our full day in Strasbourg, France. Thursday was a tiring day. We got up and first thing went to the European Parliament of the European Union. We got a tour, the eighth-grade tour I believe; our teacher was hoping the guide would give us a more in-depth tour since he's already taught us some about it, but I was okay with the tour she gave us. I enjoyed seeing the building. It was very glass and metal and wood and used space in very interesting ways. The building has three parts: an arc (as seen from the sky) with a dome in it, and a tower part that fits into the arc. The dome is where the parliament actually meets. There was a lot of symbolism in the way the building is designed--for example, the tower looks unfinished, and that is to symbolize the European Union's perpetual state of growth and change. My fave part of it was the "black tulips." The black tulips are these massive round privacy chat areas that are specifically designed to mute out the sound of the people talking inside. They have an open area for a doorway, and little benches around the circle inside like restaurant booths.

After the EU, Justin and I were mavericks again and walked back in the rain instead of taking the tram or a taxi. We toured along the river and finally made it back to the hotel. It is getting pretty outside because the leaves are finally coming out and are radiantly green. I think they must be very happy. I saw several swans and lots of beautiful flowering trees. Also, I almost died by a dog. I liked his house and told Justin to look at it. Justin pointed at the dog, who then became very angry and barked viciously at us. I was just thinking to myself how fortunate it was that this high gate separated him and me when he leaped from the bank of his yard up ON TOP of the nice shoulder-high fence with a smooth, wide concrete slab top. I was not happy with that and left immediately, very thankful that he did not follow through on his threat. Beware the chien!

Later that day I wandered down to a fantastic cathedral by myself and soaked up the music and the stained glass, which was spectacular and reminded me very much of Notre Dame. I think it is about my favorite church so far. There was also a really great mosaic on the back wall, and an astronomical clock. Sadly, I missed its going off. However, I wasn't too much in the mood to be bothered and I left before too long.

We had our dinner with the group and left immediately from it for the train station with our stuff to ride our overnight train to Prague.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Wurzburg

Tuesday we headed up the steep hill behind our hostel to the castle at the top. I liked the castle grounds a lot. The walk up was beautiful, with a really great view of the river and the town and other houses outside of the town, and there were vineyards on the slope on both sides of the path as well. We visited a museum in one of the buildings while we were up there and saw some really famous woodcarvings (by a man named something like Reimschneider) and different artifacts from that area and time.

Then we went into town and visited the palace of the bishop of Wurzburg, which was ridiculously grand. The palace was modeled after Versailles, and was huge and extravagantly decorated. The rooms were huge, with painted ceilings, the floors were magnificent parquet, and the entrance was big enough for the empress to be dropped off inside by the staircase from her carriage. Also, the staircase is very famous and big. The gardens were lovely and were my favorite part.

Later we had lunch together at a neat restaurant--the room we ate in as a group (which was really fun by the way :) was decorated like a chapel or a medieval church. I had baked camembert cheese with toast, butter, cranberry jam, and fried parsley. I really really liked it. The cheese looked like a little fish patty or something because it was breaded; I think it still had its rind.

Then we broke for the day. Justin and I shopped for shoes and sweets, settling for an odd chocolate covered mound that turned out to have some kind of pulverized nut filling. We sat on the edge of a fountain and talked while we ate that, then each had some down time alone before dinner. After dinner, Justin and I climbed back up the hill and watched the sun set from near the castle. It was a beautiful sunset, framed by the hills and the castle wall and the vineyard. It was a great time. Then we went out with the group because it was Dr. Schuetz's last evening with us. We went to the bar of the same restaurant we ate at for lunch. It was great to spend time with the group and I enjoyed hearing Dr. Schuetz's stories. Afterward J and I went on a little walk with the Taylors by the river, and then headed back to the hostel.

Tonight's feature: When we stepped outside of the Ratskeller, our restaurant and pub for the day, I saw a man walking along in 17th century dress or something like that--he was walking along with a great tricornered hat, a long black coat, and probably interesting hose and shoes and cravat. He was carrying a lit lantern and a halberd, I believe they're called--long spearlike weapons with an axe-looking head. I watched him and we smiled when he looked our way. A few minutes later, we saw a little black smart car (a very very small European car that looks toylike) buzz back by, and as it drove off, we saw the halberd sticking up from the back. How funny. :)

Monday, April 04, 2005

Traveling to Wurzburg

Today was a travel day. We rode the bus from Berlin to Wurzburg, which took all of the morning and much of the afternoon. I am always glad for the time on the bus because it allows me to sleep or work or read or think or whatever. I do a lot of sleeping.

Wurzburg is really pretty. Very picturesque, with a castle on the hill overshadowing the town (have you heard this before?), old buildings, vineyards on the slopes around the castle, a river running through the city, and yellow fields on hills behind the city that show the clouds' shadows.

When we got here this afternoon, we couldn't check in for an hour and a half, so everybody had free time till then. Justin and I crossed the bridge to get to old town and noticed they were letting boats through with locks, so we used almost the whole time watching it. It was really neat, but patience-inducing. I'm not sure how I did. :) Then we came back here for a nice little dinner of schnitzel and potatoes, and now everyone is prepping for a competitive game of Egyptian Ratscrew at 7:30. Hm. Big plans for the night. I think I might watch.

Tonight's feature: The bathroom at this place where we went today for our lunch break. In this particular bathroom, after you wave your hand in front of the autosensor to flush it, a little thing comes out from the back of the toilet and hovers over the seat. Then it spins the oval seat around underneath, washing and drying it at the same time. Interesting.

Sunday, April 03, 2005

Sunday in Berlin

Sunday started with a walk around Berlin. Justin and I were originally planning to break off when the Taylors did to check out a church service with them, but decided we would actually get more out of the walk. So we changed plans. The walk was really cool. I enjoyed seeing Berlin--it's a very pleasant city, and pleasant walking city-- and enjoyed the absolutely beautiful weather. We saw the square where an early conspirator against Hitler was shot, the Brandenburg Gate, the square where the Nazis did their bookburnings, and an old part of town.

Around lunchtime, we broke and were free for the day. Justin and I, Rob, Chris, John, and Will left and got lunch on the way to visit a concentration camp near Berlin called Sachsenhausen. We rode the train for a while and enjoyed talking with a nice Norwegian family who was amused (as I was) at Rob, Chris, Will, and John, sleeping in their seats in a row. We took a wrong turn when we got to our stop, though, and ended up walking for a long time through a small town that was really nice. It kind of felt like America. After an hour, we took a bus back into town and walked the right way this time, and found the camp.

The camp was a sad, brutal place. It seemed kind of unreal, because there were just pictures and no people and the day was so beautiful. Several of the buildings had been converted into museums, and they had markers and a map that explained things. I am glad to have gone. I have a lot of pictures and will hopefully someday put them up.

It was a good day. Spending so much time outside on a beautiful day was really good for me.

Friday, April 01, 2005

Hi there from Berlin.

Hello, everyone! I am in Berlin right now. It's really cool. I feel like I relate to the history here a lot better than many of the other places, because it was so recent and I have talked to people who experienced it more firsthand. It's also kind of a low city compared to many cities we have been in, where they build up so much. It just seems like you can see more sky in general. Also there are some really cool buildings with lots of neat shapes and metal and glass.

Today we went to meet a member of the German parliament. The building was really neat, and I enjoyed hearing his perspectives on the questions we asked. He is the chair of the defense committee, and also does a lot of German-Israeli goodwill stuff.

We also saw some of the Berlin Wall, and Checkpoint Charlie, the spot in the wall where people could pass from the Communist side to the American side. We visited the Jewish Museum also, which was pretty cool.

Tonight's feature: The coolest thing about the Jewish Museum was how they used architecture to communicate two main things. The whole museum was made in angles that were very acute on two sides and very obtuse on the other two sides. Nothing was square for part of it--not even vertical walls or the floor. At the end of two halls were two different architectural things. One was to express the Holocaust. You went through this door (not right angles) into a concrete room that had a flat floor, but the walls were at strange angles and were extremely tall, finishing with a black ceiling high above the floor. One corner of the room was a really narrow angle. There was a ladder to kind of show your one hope of getting out, but it didn't reach low enough to the floor and only ended in the ceiling anyway, so you couldn't have gotten out. Also, the only natural light were these little holes in one wall. You could hear the street noise through them, but couldn't really tell where it came from because it echoed around. Also, they just emphasized that you couldn't get through them to outside even though they seemed hopeful. The room was also pretty cold, and apparently in the very acute corner, it decreases in temperature by a degree every few steps. It was very powerful. I'll write about the other another night because it's late and I'm tired.

Good night, all, and be good and I can't wait to see you again!