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To me, leaving Amsterdam symbolized the end of the first half of our trip. It meant leaving countries where I am comfortable and familiar, and languages and cultures that I understand. When I left home many months ago I had only managed to research as far as Amsterdam, and everything else was so far in the future... Well now I'm past that final frontier and I'm trying to acclimate as quickly as possible--learning languages in a slapdash manner, and trying to cram information about history and culture so that I might not feel totally distanced from where I am.
Germany was a stepping stone in that process. In Berlin and Leipzig I at least had Scott as a translator, and many things seemed familiarly Western, but there were many signs showing that this half of the country was once Soviet territory. For our week in Germany we took it easy--exploring local markets, book store, and second hand shops, but we also saw a lot of history.
We went to the DDR Museum which offers a hands on experience of everyday life in East Germany where people were always tempted by Western catalogs and advertisements on television and radio, but where there were always shortages and restrictions on everything. We went to the Contempory History Museum that explained the politics that lead people to this harsh reality. And we walked along the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall, now an open air gallery covered in colorful messages of love and freedom.
Just walking around the residential streets of Leipzig we could easily see the juxtaposition of Western and Eastern neighbors. The facades of many houses that were once grand and intricate have worn down to a point of desertion. Our friendly hotel manager explained that "this is what Communism does." It is hard for me to imagine someone trying to justify such brutality and intolerance, especially to use Karl Marx's beautiful theories as a rationalization. But it was interesting for me to learn about all the propoganda and coersion that people were subjected to. In all Germany was a really great place for me to recover from excessive art museums and tourists, and to get ready for what Eastern Europe has in store.
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