Weekend 1,part 2,Peruvian Eyes

I write this now,for I may never write this afterwards.
Soon the details will become hazy,I wont stress my memory and improvise instead.

The second weekend was a touristy as you it can get.So,i would rather not write about it.I would get offended if anyone called me a tourist in Berlin.After all how many tourists could say?(scroll down for answer)

'Ich bin ein Berliner!'(I am a Berliner!)

So,I get into this bus with the professor.Flash my free ticket at the driver(who doubles up as the conductor,and no he does not scream out all the places the bus is heading towards,neither does he walk around the bus.Yes,he does sell tickets who choose to buy from him.Most ppl buy it from ticket machines on the bus stop)

The driver gives me a 'Hmmm,long night of science' look.

I give him a sheepish 'will exploit free ticket for other purposes' look.

He gives me a 'move on,there are others behind you' look.

I give him an 'okay okay' look.

All right this is stupid.So we are standing in the bus for a while and then this guy gets up from his seat.

I will switch to the past tense now,its more classy,less yuppy.

I went and plomped myself next to a chinki-ish looking but not chinki woman.I am really good at figuring at which countires which chinki women are from.You need a good eye to read those eyes.I must admit,i was completely baffled.All I knew was that she was well,super pretty.

Soon after,a barrage of Turkish women entered the bus.There is a sizable Turkish population in Germany.Nice people,remind me of Indians a bit.Not just in the way they look,but the loudness of manner.So this Turkish woman started screaming at a German guy,for he was not shifting to the window seat.The guy refused to budge,but some how all the screaming sounded like it wasnt a serious argument.So here was my chance to find out what was happening,and i asked the woman next to me.Also,i wanted to find out which country she was from.I asked her if she spoke any english.

She said "a litoool"She explained to me that it was all a joke.The German was pretending to be offended,because the Turkish woman did not say excuse me in German,and just rattled off in Turkish.

A quiet minute and then she asks "India?

"yes,and you?"

"South America",treating me like a retard who knew only names of continents.

"Oh,where in South america?"

"You know Peru?"

Now,do I know Peru or what?The land that was the setting for my abortive attempt at a novel.Did I know Peru?I once had a 62 page manuscript about a boy who did not like football.

So I told her as much.She started laughing and wanted to know the story.

Story.

Further laughter.

I am a touch offended.But what the hell,it was a stupid story.

" Where did you get those ideas from?Internet?"

Embarrasingly right.

"Maybe you can tell me a little about Peru then."

Please note i was speaking very slowly,slower than the usual slow me,enunciating every word.

"Where are you going now?"she asked.

"Well there is an exhibition about blah blah,....."

"Oh"

I could tell she was not interested i n the long night of science.

"I am going to a jazz concert in Friedrischstrasse right now.Perhaps,you can come after you are finished."

WOW!

I would have gone right then,but there a slight problem.If you have been reading attentively,there was Dr. Dasgupta somewhere in the bus.So i took the address,not hard for it was an open air concert.

I was about to get off.

"Oh,i did not ask your name."

Josemaria,she said.And i left.She did not ask mine.Good thing too,for i might have missed my stop in trying to tell her my name.

For two hours we saw some interesting exhibitions.Then my man here was tired and wanted to leave.I said that I ll continue visiting these fairs.

I took the first bus to the appointed place.

It took me some 10 minutes to find Josemaria.I could say "her" instead of Josemaria,but i think i wont get to use that name so often.

4 hours,great music!I did not enjoy the hardcore Jazz but the bluesey bands and the percussions were awesome.I learnt much about jazz from her.Not too much about Peru.
4 hours,great company!She studies in Munich and would have left sunday morning.

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Answer 1. Two( me and JFK, he famously said those words in 1960 something.It apparently made him very popular in these parts,something i am striving to achieve)

Weekend 1,part 1

It was an interesting weekend to say the least;although,it wasn't meant to be one.On saturday,I was supposed to attend the 'long night of science' organised by the 4 universities of Berlin.TheTechnical University,where i Work is one of them.The secretary of my department,was kind enough to give me a ticket which entitled free use of public tansport from 1700 hrs to 0300 hrs the next day.I felt that this God sent piece of paper was too good to waste on a lamescience fair.I was sitting and chalking out places to visit and to max out my ticket.Meanwhile,Dr. Dasgupta,the visiting professor from IIT Kanpur,was busy making plans of his own.Those plans involved me for some reason.

Saturday morning,I walked to Tiergarden.Dont let the garden part confuse you,it is absolutely huge.On my way,i came across a famous flea market.Later,I learnt it was one of the biggest and most famous in Berlin.About the size of the thursday vegetable market near my house,but infinitely more interesting.Obviously,I was apalled to see people not bargaining.I think Russell Peters is right on target when he says 'Indian people cant live without a bargain'.Okay,i wont try to bargain in a supermarket,but i thought the whole purpose of a flea market was to sharpen your bargaining skills.

I ran a bit in the tiergarden,and got lost.Not the scary kind of lost,but the exploring kind of lost.I ran bythe river Spree and it was an awesome feeling.The 'Grossen angel' or the golden angel helped me find my way back.I left home at 8 and returned at 11.The golden angel stands on an intersection where the 'Street of 17th june' meets 'Unter der Linden'.Workers from east Berlin held a massive protest on this street on 17th June 1953.It is the Berlin equivalent of Jallianwallah bagh.Okay,too much history.

After that I went to the university to do a little work and met Dr.Dasgupta there.He had figured out a great plan involving us watching the night of science.Not bad,except there goes my free ticket.So,we left together and at 1700 hrs we saw the inaugration.I immediatly realized that this wasnt a chotta sa fair,but absolutely huge.It must have been an organizational nightmare.Centres all across the city,special buses to run etc.But this is Germany,and everything was brilliantly done and bang on time.

(to be concluded)

Berlin

Decent day's work.It could have been better,had i not gone out to check out the hostel.
Busy day tomorow.There's a Coldplay concert on the 19th,may go if i m not low on money.
I had indian food last night.The german waitress was flirting in the lil' hindi she knew.I tried to flirt back in German.But her hindi was much better than my german.sample this..
Pretty German waitress(i m having the daal): Achha hai ?
Me:seht gut,danke(very good,thank you)
PGW:Behlin me kab ayee(i quickly forgive her for giving me a shot of estrogen)
Me:Heute(Today...I lied,not knowing the word for day before yesterday)
PGW:achcha hai?(Berlin,i guess)
Me:Yes it is beautiful( unlike her,i did not want to use the same words again,so i swithced to english)
So,there...
Must learn German.Herr. Quelle,my landlord is keen that i learn too.
Dhananjay