20 Years

Twenty years ago this day, I was probably lying in my crib, sucking my thumb and trying to make sense of... well, senses. I am not quite sure how a five-month-old baby's brain functions, but I want to say not too much was going on in life. Just me, with my thumb, having a good time. Oh, and maybe a stuffed animal was involved. So that made two of us in my world.

But 20 years ago today in Berlin was a whole other story, one I can only piece together from old documentaries, newspaper retrospectives, and first-hand accounts from those who have experienced it. I don't want to get too deep or sappy because this day doesn't quite hit home for me, but living here for a little over 2 months now... you are inevitably faced with the presence of what Berlin used to be. Divided. Torn. And now, rebuilding. Stronger and more refined, but the edginess and the scars are still present.

I thought it would be appropriate to pay tribute to the 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Pretty spectacular, I must say. By the Brandenburg Gate there were 1000 "Dominoes" set up along the path of where a part of the wall used to stand. Each domino was hand-painted by school children and local artists. The Domino Effect is what they were trying to get at... Berlin loves this type of stuff (refer to my last post about giant puppets roaming the city). It's cute, but then again, does it take away from the significance of the commemorated event itself?

I somehow managed to break my SD card (hot mess moment #837), but the image I reposted was better than the ones I took anyways.