God speaks German

Our time in Berlin was SOOO good. We had the privilege of staying with a friend Stephanie, in Berlin who welcomed us into her home with open arms. After 4 weeks of traveling, we didn't realize how much it would mean to us to have a place to call home. It was a wonderful place to celebrate Easter and to experience what life is like living there.

Stephanie met us at the train station and escorted us back to her flat where we were able to get cleaned up and comfy and settled in. That night she cooked dinner for us (a 3 course dinner) and invited two of her friends over to join us. We had a cheese platter for an appetizer, then this grilled veggie/yogurt/pinenut thing too, and then all sat and ate salad and pasta with veggies. It was so fun just to relax and talk with her and her friends David and Steph, and enjoy each other's company. Even though it was getting late, we took the tram over to another one of Stephanies friends' houses so Emily and I could do some laundry. While the laundry was in we took a stroll to get a drink at a place that Stephanie goes to all the time. She's friends with the bartender, Andres, who was so funny. He's tall and skinny with long straggley hair and a cramer from seinfeld-type demeanor. We chatted with him and with each other then were invited to join this group of British people who were celebrating some guys birthday. The birthday boy talked with Emily and I for a while and gave us a lecture on Italian History. (He was very offended when he found out we had traveled through italy and NOT visited his mother's home town!) he had already had about a bottle of champagne, and we didn't feel the need to argue. So we had an interesting conversation, then went back to pick up our laundry and get a good night's sleep.

Sunday morning was Easter and we woke up to the smell of pancakes and tomato torte. Stephanie was so sweet--she made us breakfast and gave us chocolate kinder eggs because that's what all the kids get for Easter in Germany. It was so thoughtful and made us feel special. So we ate breakfast and got all dressed up in our Easter dresses for church. The church had a guest gospel choir come sing for the holiday, and they were from New York so we got to sing in English. It was so much fun! The church's worship band also did some german worship songs that we knew so we sang along in English while they all sang in German. It was weird to hear "Lord, I lift your name on high," "In christ alone,"and "How Great is our God" in German. It was cool to praise together even in different languages. The pastor gave his sermon, and Stephanie gave us little translated blurbs every couple of minutes so we could follow along. Then we took communion and the pastor blessed us. It was so great to be in church and surrounded by believers--we've been missing it while we've been gone.

After church we went to brunch at Andres' place, and we talked with some more of Stephanie's friends there. (she has a lot of friends). :) David said he would give us a tour of the city, so we got to see Berlin by Mercedes. He drove us around pointing out important things, giving the history behind each one. It was so fun and we enjoyed their company too. The art graffiti on the remains of the Berlin wall are so interesting so we took some pictures and walked around the area for a little bit. For dinner we had what I call German Chipotle--and it was sooo good. David had us all over to his house to watch the kite runner, which we had rented, then we went back to stephanie's to spend our last night there. Before we left the next afternoon on the train, Stephanie made sure we tried Kababs and curryworst so would have had real german food. they were interesting, but fun to try.

Our time in Berlin was so fun because of the chance to feel at home and cared for. We got to see what life was like living in the city, and had a wonderful tour guide to show us all around. Thanks Steph!