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There is an interesting mix of old and new, which I didn't expect. Beautiful cathedrals,
museums and national monuments juxtaposed next to modernity.
I experienced an infamous night of Berlin clubbing until the sun came up. Rome comes to
mind.
You can have deeply intellectual conversations with people who don't consider themselves
intellectuals. I find myself arguing about politics with tradesmen and cafe owners often,
and surprised when I learn of their occupations. They see my surprise and ask me why,
and I say something like "I thought you might have been a professor" and they say
"No...but I read, and I think. Isn't that enough?" Yes. Yes, it is.
The history here walks hand in hand with the future. You can't walk anywhere without
being reminded of Germany's troubled past, but it seems to serve as a motivator for them
to be more progressive in the future...as evident by their lively community of immigrants
and artists, iconoclasts and rebel-rousers, all of whom are protected. They own it and
remember it with heartbreaking clarity.
That's all for now.

Jennifer Neal

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