ddr

Party In The DDR

At 0600 we checked out of WoW hostel and sat on the bench outside smoking the last of the pot. We still had magic mushroom truffles with us but didn't care to risk them on our flight to Berlin, thus we simply left both containers and their instruction manuals on that same bench, and headed for the airport. If a hostel full of hopped up party animals can't make use of them, Im sure the janitor, who saw us leave them there, will have a nice little giggle with them while performing his daily tasks. Although I can just as well imagine him using them for more nefarious purposes, or simply throwing them away, we may never know.Once on the flight Zane put down his food tray and covered it with a jacket then laid his head down over it. He stayed in this position for the two hour duration of the flight, even as the person in front of him repeatedly slammed back in their seat attempting to recline, which would slam Zane's head each time in the process, but didn't phase him.Meanwhile I was nodding off back and forth in delirium. Which is the least beneficial, rest wise and the most damaging to your neck, but since I find it incredibly difficult to sleep sitting up, it would have to do. Once we landed we bought 3 day, all public transport passes for 29 Euros each and took the train to the outskirts of Berlin where our couch surfing host Annika lives. After exiting the station we walked a ways in her general direction, passing what seemed like whole city blocks of derelict buildings, which they probably were, this is the old East German portion of Berlin after all. The first building we went to was the wrong place, which itself ended up being an abandoned manufacturing plant of some kind. The second try was the correct one, we rang the bell and were let in by her roommate Thomas.Thomas was very courteous and helpful, open too. As he smoked a rolled cigarette and drank Hell beer, he told us about how him and Annika had started out as roommates then became lovers. Which despite what everyone else in the flat thought of, they went with anyway. "Which of course ended badly," he said, yet they still remain as roommates even now. After telling us this story he showed us the flat, which was not at all what you'd expect from the outside. It had a huge bubbler jacuzzi in one of the bathrooms, which didn't work but was just as impressive to look at, with a toilet, bidet, urinal, two basin sink, and a large marble shower room with rectangular plates on each corner that shot out water, it was a full body shower room, like being sprayed with a fire hose from all sides. Then there were four very nicely decorated and spacious bedrooms, and yet another bathroom with a normal shower, sink and toilet. Thomas said we were welcome to the food in the fridge and gave us the keys to the house before leaving to do some errands in town. Zane and I decided to grab a bite to eat, so I looked up a place on yelp that was close to us and we walked there together. The place was called Masala, the menu was all in German and the waiter was Indian but spoke no English. I ordered something Vegan and Zane went with the lamb curry. My meal was basically vegetables wrapped in leaves and smothered in Chinese sweet and sour sauce. It wasn't bad, but good isn't the right description either. Zane was happy with his choice though.Back at the apartment we both passed out for several hours until Thomas and another roommate, as well as two Israeli friends of Annika's showed up. The drinking and smoking began, but we had no supplies, so we went to the supermarket and bought four tall cans of beer, which was a shame, as Thomas put it, since they weren't in glass. To top it all off we got a 5th of Captain Kooks rum with a 1.5 liter bottle of Freeway cola, lol. All of which cost us something like 11 Euros. Once Annika and a few other people showed up the plan was to pregame (get drunk before the main event) at the house and go out to a club later. But the clubs don't open in Berlin until at least 11pm and the best time to go is 1am, or so we were told. In any case, after finishing the rum between us and a few beers, Zane still had his heart set on going to the clubs, but our hosts had other ideas.Annika & Thomas, Tal & Peter(the Israelis) Simone & Caroline(German girlfriends of Annika) Vincent(the French roommate) Zane and Myself all walked into the night and entered an old theater that had been abandoned immediately following the break up of East and West Germany. As I walked through this time warped piece of history I felt as though I was walking through the halls of the Titanic, had it been used extensively for 30 years and then simply been left to rot in dry dock for a half century. It really was spooky in a lot of ways, the grand red curtains torn upon the stage, hanging in tatters, old wooden chairs rotting into the floor, the hallways still lined with posters from the postwar period, faded in perfect hues of white and gray mold. We had split up into two groups while in the ballroom, Annika, Caroline and I went through the theater, along the aisles and up on stage, to the back where a wooden ladder led to the fly gallery above(where the ropes and cables are operated from above the stage) from there we squeezed through several tight spots and around a few ancient winches to the sky port access. We climbed up that and opened the hatch, where Zane and the others were already waiting. They had taken the stairs, which was the easy, but much less interesting way to reach the roof. From the top we could see lights reflecting off of the river that separates Berlin into two main areas. East and West. One side with new and brightly colored buildings, and the other with a quagmire of monotone miseries held together by lack of need or desire, to see them live, in any capacity other than pigeon coops once more.   It was a fine time up on that roof, but by 4am not even the liquor could keep the icy wind from drawing us back to the house. And so it was. We returned to the comfortable confines of the apartment. Some of us continuing on till dawn, others fading into drunken slumber as soon as they got back, myself included..