Conclusions...

Things I have decided today (or recently):

1. Graffiti is sad....especially when it defaces an elementary school that is still in use.

Graffiti is prevalent in almost any big city but Berlin seems to be especially colored by it (my mom told me before coming that it was the case). It's very rare to see a park bench, bus seat, fence, wall, restaurant, hotel, or old building that doesn't have some kind of "art work" on it. And the older the building, the more there is. Not to mention, colors decorate all the subway walls, stairways, and buildings that back up to the train tracks.

A local park sign.

2. Bicyclists that either cut off a bus, ride in the bus lane, or think they can out-race a bus are seriously suicidal and almost give me a heart attack just watching such close encounters.

3. Life as a taxi driver can't be very exciting and I sure hope they're paid by the hour. They seem to sit alot waiting (at least during the day) for so-called customers to come or for people to re-think taking the bus, and take them instead.

4. Maid Service doesn't seem quite as wonderful when it means waking Brycen only 30 minutes into his usual 2+ hour nap and he doesn't go back to sleep....

5. Brycen thinks all men from above (our apartment window) look like Uncle Mike. "Mike, Mike!" While eating a Popsicle the other day he said, "Hey, Mike! You want some? C'mon!" (He's already resorting to bribery to get Uncle Mike to visit). haha.

6. Cream of Asparagus (which I didn't know even existed and was bought because I thought it was Cream of Chicken) doesn't taste too bad. With some sprinkles of pepper (the only spice I have), it tastes pretty good dripped over some rice, chicken, and corn.

7. If I were to pack for this trip again, I would definitely pack little sandwich baggies of my cooking spices. It's hard enough trying to re-create my masterpieces with the German version of the ingredients or what I think are the ingredients but then add no spices (other than pepper--which thankfully the hotel provides)....things are tasting mighty funny these days. Not terrible...just when compared to what it's "supposed" to taste like or what I want it to taste like. And I'm cheap and refuse to pay 4 Euro/each for spices that may or may not be what I think they are and have plenty back home in Indiana. :)

8. Bike bells are cute but make me jump at least a foot whenever used near me. I'm guessing the bicyclists that choose to use the bike lane (which shares the sidewalk and can be easily mistaken as just more sidewalk) ring their bell out of common curiosity when approaching so I know that they are approaching and don't all the sudden (without looking first) turn or swerve into their lane on a mission to cross the road and thus get hit by them--which really is thoughtful if that's what they are doing.

For awhile, though, I thought it was because they wanted me to move over for them (while, clearly in my lane...even though I have made the mistake of being in their lane before) and I was getting alittle disgruntled. How much room can one person need??

9. Bryce and I really need to find out what this word means but until then, we'll just laugh.

10. When a McD's has an "Easy Order" machine, the name may be misleading. While on the tour bus last Saturday, we pulled up next to a McDonald's that advertised machines you could place your order yourself and I was immediately intrigued. So we went back for FHE last night and tried to order ice cream...unsuccessfully...twice.

It ended in errors and us having to order just like normal. Obviously, no fun in that.

And McD's is more expensive here than back in Indiana so we won't be returning. They did have a Magnum McFlurry though! Magnum ice cream (pretty popular here) is amazing and McFlurries have been my favorite dessert as long as I remember. Put the two together-- chocolate heart attack, enjoyed by all three of us. Very, very rich.

11. If all German words followed the same spelling concept as "rezeption" and "polizei", reading German would be a piece of cake! Just switch the "c"s for "z"s and maybe add an additional letter onto the end.

12. Their machines here are smaller and take a whole lot longer.

After unsuccessfully washing and drying clothes in our hotel room (the clothes were still not dry after 48 hours on the clothes hanger in the bathroom...and that was only half of what we needed done....not to mention, needing the clothes dry so we had some to wear), we caved and spent 9 Euro (about $13 in the U.S) to wash and dry one full load of whites.

To wash one load: 5 hours of machine time!!

One cycle of our cute, cute dishwasher (1/4th of the size of our dishwasher back home): 2.5 hours!

The dishes do come out pretty clean though and our whites smell really good....always a good sign and I hope, are a whole new shade of white after the morning I spent waiting for them. There was no timer on the machines so Brycen and I went up and down the five floors (by elevator, thank goodness) to the basement at least 15 times checking the clothes status. Laundry DAY, has a whole new meaning.

13. No husbands should leave at 5am and come home at 9pm. We might be in Berlin, but I still need a husband. Hopefully, the experiments will go better tomorrow.

14. The more my belly grows, the more heads that turn when they realize that I indeed might be pregnant, as I'm pushing another child in a stroller.

Happy 25 Weeks!