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!

posted by LizC @ 4/01/2005 03:58:00 PM