A Day in Berlin: Walk Eli Walk

Today was my one day to explore Berlin. I am exhausted and it is only 17:00 (Oh, for you stupid Americans, that means 5pm.) I've spent the entire day walking in circles around the downtown area. This section is kind of like Washington D.C. in that the only people that seem to be here are tourists and government officials, but that's probably because the only buildings are giant megamalls and museums. To put it in vulgar terms that everyone will understand, this city is a historian's wet dream. Berlin has been the center of so much turmoil in the last century that it seems to be struggling to find a unified image. But that doesn't really matter because everyone still wants to go here to mingle with history and be able to say, ''yea, I was in Berlin.''

Last night I was in the more hip area of town where the cool kids hang out and drink beer on the street (for some reason in Europe you are allowed to walk around the block with your Beck's and sip it like you don't give a shit and then go smoke 600 cigarettes.) That is probably where I will spend more time when I'm back here next month because I'm pretty much historied out. Case in point: At Checkpoint Charlie (the old checkpoint betweeen East and West Berlin) they actually have two actors standing there dressed as an American guard and a Soviet guard. The actors stand there all day looking miserable while tourists from the world over take pictures with them and then go buy little trinkets to commemorate 50 years of Communist rule, like one of those little Soviet hats with a hammer and sickle and fuzzy flaps to keep your ears warm. Mostly I've just been walking around, wearing down the soles of my sandals, enjoying the sun, and looking for things to distract me from the fact that Pineapple Express opens in the U.S. today, but not in Europe for another two months.

The other day I noticed I was talking to myself as I walked. I am going to try and combat this with writing in my notebook when I have a thought. This will downgrade me from ''that crazy guy'' to ''that weird guy who keeps stopping in the middle of the street to write in his notebook.''



Also, I visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is about a city block in size and consists of 2,000 cement slabs of varied size. The ground also changes height so that by the time you walk into the middle, these blocks are towering over you. Down below the whole thing they have a sort of museum that tells you in more detail about all the horrible things done to the Jewish people by the Nazis. I was going to go to the Jewish Museum in Berlin which is supposed to be good, but I felt I had done my duty to my people for the day and honestly could not handle anymore death and fascism.

As a reasonably affluent, white American male, my Jewish heritage is really the only claim I can make for minority status. But that is such a stretch. At this memorial where I'm reading about all these horrible things that have happened to my people, I am standing next to this Black American guy. We're both thinking specifically about Jewish suffering, but he probably has a much better idea of discrimnation than I do. I have never felt at a disadvantage for my ethnic background. Albeit I have yet to play a round of golf with President Ahmadinejad, but you don't even need to look that sketchy to attract looks in a convenience store if you are Black or Latino. For me, being a Jew has only given me benefits: I got to go to an awesome Jewish summer camp, when I was in the seventh grade I went to some extra birthday parties, and I have this great head of curly hair. I guess my point is that I feel guilty asking for any of the pity or charity that the Jewish people ask for because I was not the one who suffered and I don't feel like Jews are the ones that suffer anymore. The Jewish people's motto has become ''never again.'' I agree, hate of that magnitude should never happen again, but that should be a universal slogan. Let's never let it happen again to anyone, not just the chosen people.