here i am

Photos: the New Synagogue, and the Brandenberg Tor--Berlins Icon.

The plane ride was long and uneventful. There was a really angry baby on each leg of the journey and sandwiched in like a sardine in the center of 9 seats, there was not a lot of assistance that I could give. I remember those years, and although for the most part my children have always been excellent fliers, there have been trips where no one was happy. We arrived, somewhat jet lagged and were met by our Young Journalists. They decoded the transit system for me, and then I jumped off a bus leaving Maya in the care of her friends and made my way to my hosts flat. I quickly discovered that the instructions given to me by my mobile provider do not work and as yet neither does the help number. I have managed a work around.... and in a way, its nice to be disconnected.I have also discovered many new things: you have to open your own train doors here, the keyboard on the computer is totally different so I cannot type without looking.Everything that makes a sound makes a different one: ambulances, trams, traffic lights. Today I kept getting lost on purpose: I was on my way to a museum and ended up at a flea market which I could not resist, then went back to go to the museum and ended up at the New Synagogue, a moving experience that brought me to tears, especially when I realized, standing before the reconstructed shards of the bima of Berlins immense REFORM shul, that at that very moment, my own temple was welcoming the community into our new synagogue after 2years of reconstructing. Maybe I will get to that museum tomorrow. I sure do find interesting things every time I try! Meanwhile, I have not seen or spoken to Maya, but I hope to see her at a Danish film tomorrow........