sick

Thanks to Masala

In the morning the ladies make a super big breakfast, but all I can eat is the sliced apples and orange juice. Meanwhile Tal and Peter ravage through the bread, cheese, eggs, meat and butter like starved wolves in a chicken coop. After the slaughter we join the Israelis on a journey through the city. They are on their own mission, I just wanted food and water, so we eventually split up. We may be in the capital city, but that doesn't matter, it's Sunday and this is still Germany, and that means that almost everything is closed. So we walked for what seemed like hours, looking for food and water. Eventually I really slowed down, Zane was always at least 15-20 feet ahead of me, which isn't unusual considering his super long legs and quick speed, but this was ridiculous. It was cold too, and eventually Zane and I made the call to return home. Paying a premium for a little bottle of water in the train station, which Im still happy for regardless.By the time we get back to Annika's I have enough bloating and pain in my stomach to know I'm in for a long couple days running back and forth to the throne room, and I'm pretty damn sure it has everything to do with that sweet and sour slop I ate at Masala, the Indian joint yelp thought so highly of.From dusk till dawn I'm squirting Masala like nobody's business. Getting up so often that at one point I decide to just stand over the sink drinking water to continue the next volley thats sure to come. By morning I'm a zombie, wrecked on so many levels its sad. I need food so bad at this point that I leave the house before anyone is awake and go to the market. I slam my finger in the door jam on the way out, a blood blister from the start, just great.. At the super market I get apples, mixed salads that came with their root ball in the bag, very interesting, and an avocado.I eat alone until Annika comes in the kitchen and makes a few cups of coffee, both of which she drinks to her face before she can muster anything more than "hey"... Apparently she's not a morning person, and today, neither am I. At first Annika was going to meet us somewhere in the city, but this was not going to happen, I knew that much. Fortunately for us she quickly finished what she had to do and we all take the bus to a Russian war memorial in Treptower park on the outskirts of town. The place is a graveyard for 80,0000 Russian soldiers who died taking Berlin, its a fairly large rectangle lined with massive iron gates, emblemed with the classic communist star. The entrance is flanked on either side by huge statues of Russian soldiers baring arms and heavy winter coats, while the sides are unmarked graves lined with depictions of the communist struggle against fascism, all of which leads up to the biggest statue of them all at the back. This statue is of a burly russian commander crushing the nazi swastika under his boots, which towers above the pavilion on a mound. Under which lies a little gated room filled with mosaics. I believe it was the only marked grave there. But I can't be sure, since there was no writing I could understand. Next Annika took us to a Mexican restaurant which I only used for the throne, while Zane had a chicken casadia and a beer. From there Annika brought us to the city gate and left us to take her English exam. We wanted to enter the Reichstag, an impressive parliament building erected after the war to commemorate those in office who were slaughtered by Hitlers men for opposing them, but the next available tickets were for the night time, several hours away and we didn't go for it. Instead we head to check point Charlie, the most famous checkpoint between East and West Germany during the cold war, where so many people were shot and killed trying to escape from the Communist regime, including dozens of West Germans who were aiding them in their escape. Its a pretty interesting place. There were actors there in uniform posing for the tourists. By the time we get home Im a gas bomb ready to blow, and I do, just as I sit down on the throne. It was like having several balloons in my body all releasing at different times, the human body really is an amazing thing... Im so exhausted and weak that when Zane talks about going out to the club I half laugh out loud, but mostly cry a little to myself at the thought of actually attempting it. Luckily for me Annika returns from her test and nurses me back to health. She gives me some black Chinese medicine balls, much like those I had in India during our Sk-23 adventure, only those were white. Then she puts a hot water bag on my belly because I'm shivering and feeds me those little pre toasted pieces of bread that my German Grandma (Oma) used to dip in her coffee, only I dip it in peppermint tea, since I don't drink caffeine. I've got to eat something to fill the gaps that are now expanding exponentially inside me, and this fits the bill nicely since I can hardly stand the sight of food right now. I pass out in Annika's room for a power nap, wake up to a bowl of mushed bananas which I slam down. Pack my bags for our bus to Oma's tomorrow and now Zane is leaving with Annika to the clubs, which although was the impetus for our trip to Berlin, I have absolutely no intention of going to, thanks to Masala..