Today was the longest, most drawn out-bizarre day I have had in a long time. I woke up early in Berlin ready to shred all of my errands and discover the city. Turns out shredding errands and getting semi-purposefully lost in a big city is not all fairy tale romance with a cherry on top. Jane, the daughter of my hostess rode with me around the city to fulfill basic errands (get a cellphone, copy my passport, tune up the bike etc) and invited me to coffee with one of her girlfriends (Becky) who lives close by in Berlin's version of Boystown. I was happy to spend time with city girls so I could find out what they did for fun (clubbing and outdoor music festivals), where they worked (cafes, bakeries and theaters), where girls really shop in the city (Sunday flea markets and their mother's closets) and to hear them speak German... It was Becky's one day off all week and I understood that she probably did not want to spend it with me searching for Deutsch/English translations so we could understand each others mundane comments. I left Jane and Becky and started walking around my neighborhood to look for a bike map of the city and get lost in various ways to see if I could find my way back to the apartment again. I was lost for approximately nine hours today. My legs are still throbbing. Those of you who know me very well are probably laughing and slapping their foreheads. But! I know a few basics! and I now have some tricks to let me on track again if and when I get lost again..which will surely be soon. I have actually HAD to learn how to read a map...because I have no strapping, handsome boyfriend to take over the task while I putter around/take a nap. This is good for me/not at all in my nature. Most of my time "studying" this map of Berlin has been blank staring and short naps resulting in drool stains on my fold out map.... We all start somewhere I suppose.

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