Arrival and Exploration

 Views outside the airplane window as we descended in Berlin.

 Our lovely airplane dinner.


 12 hours later (18 with the time difference), Teryn and I arrived in Germany to this and more gorgeous views. Getting past Passkontrolle and retrieving our baggage was a breeze. We met Janet outside in the lobby, received two free AB train/bus passes from passing strangers, and immediately set off on our adventure for the day.
    We took the bus and the Bahn to the hostel where I'm now posting this from (at 1 AM, no less) to drop off our stuff before heading off to explore the city. We experienced the various stops and connections that we'll be using during the rest of the time here. We spent some time walking around the gorgeous streets of Berlin (the architecture is astounding, and I've yet to see a tree here that wasn't just bursting with the spirit of spring) and getting used to the trickier stops and then had lunch at Café Sur in Schöneberg, where we got to try some delicious Rhabarbersaft and the popular vegetable of the season: white asparagus. The rest is kind of a blur (we're in the process of getting over our jet lag), but I know that we stopped by Morus 14, where I'll be interning after our program, a couple different malls and shops where we picked up phones, towels, and umbrellas, and Janet's various hotels and places of residence before finally taking the tram back to where our hostel is located and crashing for a couple hours.
   Upon waking up, since Janet was still at a ballet located in some Techno club, we went for a walk and stumbled upon a grocery store, where we saw just how much cheaper food here can be (less than €1 for like 6 loaves of bread!!!) and a Turkish restaurant, where I got to enjoy my first (but certainly not last) Döner.
    Once Janet got back, we went to see the Brandenburger Tor, Holocaust memorial, and Potsdamer Platz, all places well worth waiting to visit at night.
  Overall, the day was exhausting, overwhelming, and informative in all the best ways, and I'm looking forward to taking some more time over the next few weeks to take a closer look.  Pictures will be uploaded later.