Week 5

Week 5-

This was the first time that the entire SPICE 2017 group traveled together for a trip, which I thoroughly enjoyed!  Berlin was very different from Erfurt in many ways.  Because Erfurt was a part of the Eastern side of Germany during the Cold War, it was a part of Soviet Russia's culture.  Berlin, however (though the entire city itself had been split into East and West) was much more open to visitors and outsiders.  Part of this being because not only was Berlin split into two, it was also completely isolated for those many years as well.  The wall was torn down not only for obvious physical reasons, but for symbolic reasons as well, allowing people to come and go as they please, something the city had not allowed for thirty years.  I believe this is one reason why Berliners speak such good English as opposed to those in Erfurt whose citizens (at least, the older ones that is) speak mostly German and Russian.

Berlin has so much to offer!  The government district was such an amazing place to be, and very welcoming.  The DDR Museum had shown us what the majority of the Soviet side of Germany/Berlin's everyday life was like.  The video game museum allowed us members of SPICE interact with each other and form a closer bond.  The Holocaust Memorial offered a closer and personal look at the dedication of victims in an abstract form.  And finally, the Berlin Wall itself was the most symbolic and emotional to me.  It reminded me that it had only been about 6 years before I was born that this wall was torn down.  Loved ones were able to see each other after years and finally reunite.  And to come to Berlin to see it crawling with people from all over really got to me and made me happy but also sad that such a thing had been erected. 

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