Settling Down

 

This past week has been a whirlwind of activity. To start, Danielle was able to meet with the doctor that will oversee her internship on Monday. Her "Prakticum" will be with a gastrointestinal doctor at the Sankt Hedwig Krankenhaus located in the center of Berlin. The hospital is still run by a Catholic order and most of the nurses are nuns. Very cool. At the end of World War II, it was the only functioning hospital left standing in the city. During the days of the Berlin Wall, the communist government tried to shut it down, but all attempts failed. Today, it is one of the teaching centers for Charite, the best medical school in Germany.

On Tuesday, we moved into our new apartment in the Kreuzberg. The neighborhood is primarily Turkish and we were able to get tons of fresh produce at the daily outdoor market which is on the other side of a canal that runs past our building. The only unfortunate part of this experience has been that all Germans said that Berlin is not cold. Little did we know that they were comparing the temperature to Siberia. Just this past week, the mercury dipped into the 40s. We are hesitant to turn on the heat so early in the year, but our weak Californian bodies are ready to capitulate should this cold front continue.

The seminar that my Foundation is sponsoring has been excellent. Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to remembering the atrocities of the Nazis. We visited the Sachsenhausen concentration which was the first such camp erected by the Nazi regime in 1933. From there, the planning of all other camps was made. It was also the place where human beings were gassed en masse for the first time. On Tuesday, we had a tour of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The monument sits just opposite the Parliament building and the Brandenburg Gate which is a strong statement by the government and people of Germany. Interestingly, the monument was built at the initiative of a German citizen group.

On Friday, we visited the Parliament and were able to sit in during the debate over the budget. During one of the speeches (that referenced the financial crisis in the US on numerous occasions) the Chancellor of Germany walked in. Wearing a lime green jacket, Angela Merkel took a seat in the back of the chamber and began talking to someone quite loudly. We could actually hear her chatting all the way up in the balcony. I'm leaving out that we saw "The Barber of Seville" at the State Opera and that we spent one day in the country side. We have pictures of all of it, so we hope you enjoy.