Rachel's in Germany!: Beautiful day with friends!!!

Today was great. Marni and I went this morning downtown to HafenCity, right near where Körperwelten is, to go to an exhibit called Dialog im Dunkel (Dialogue in the Dark). It is a place where you can take a tour in complete blackness with blind people as your tour guides, and the idea is for you to experience what it is like to be blind. We weren't able to do the tour unfortunately though, because it turns out you need a reservation. So we ended up wandering around and finding a gorgeous café restaurant with an attached chocolate and tea shop. I bought a two little mini chocolates to try, and Marni had a glass of cherry juice (I tasted it and it was super good). We sat and drew for a while. HafenCity is the old warehouse district, and it has all brick buildings and canals with bridges and cobbled streets. It has an older feel than most of Hamburg and is so picturesque. We really enjoyed ourselves--it was a beautiful day.

At 2 we took the U-Bahn to school to pick up our proof-of-completion certificates from Bernd. There were still people there cleaning up the last of the food and tidying up. Bernd told us that the party didn't end until 7 this morning! That's the German way. Anyhow, Petra and Josephine (a Danish exchange student who worked really hard and whose book came out SO cool) were there too, and we all had a nice talk with Bernd for a couple of minutes. We were looking at some work that one of the other book-illustration students had done back in the fall, and commenting on how much we liked the style. She did a fun and nicely illustrated book for our class about a really bad trip to London she and her sister had taken where everything went wrong. I had liked her illustrations for that book a lot, but her work from the previous semester was more refined and really professional-looking. Bernd said, "Yes, this is very different from the book she did this semester, and I told her I liked this earlier style better. She was willing to take it further and make it more abstract. This is a very important thing for artists, not to choose topics that are too personal. I find that many times when students choose topics that are too personal for them, they are not willing to make the images abstract in any way, and to create really successful illustrations, you must be able and willing to make it abstract."

Wow. For me, that was extremely good advice. I know that not every art piece has to be abstracted, of course, but I always tend to make things too literal, and Marni has been trying all semester to get me to think outside the box and not "literal-ize" everything I draw. I was really glad Bernd said that, because it helped me realize even more clearly that I tend to limit myself in my creative style by rationalizing and analyzing everything I draw. Illustration is trickier than I would have expected. In some ways I wonder how I ended up being artistic, because I am so logical about things compared to a lot of artists. Anyway, I am really thankful for Bernd and all my teachers, because they've given me tons of this sort of practical insight for how to improve my work.

Marni, Petra, and I walked home (the day was so nice!) and then Indra went with me and Marni to the chocolate shop at Eppendorfer Baum they had told me about. I texted Sarah, the girl I had hung out with during our night-light cruise, to ask her if she wanted to meet us. We had originally wanted to do something together yesterday, but she got a fever and so she wasn't better until this morning. She said she would meet us at the Stadtpark. So we had our ice cream at the chocolate place (it was yummy--I had ginger-chocolate and white chocolate vanilla flavors with REAL ginger and vanilla!) and then took the train to the Borgweg station to meet Sarah. We walked to the Stadtpark and took her up to the top of the planetarium where Indra had taken me and Petra back in early March. The park looked so different in the summer--the trees are so green and full, and people are all over the lawns! It was amazing to think how much had happened since we were up there last. Indra and I took a new picture to compare to our first one.

We walked to the Stadtparksee after that and sat on the dock to stick our feet in. Indra said she wanted to go swimming, and I said, "But we don't have our swimsuits. Otherwise I would." Indra said, "I can go in with my clothes. I don't mind." The water did feel really nice on our feet, and I was only wearing a tank top and leggings, not jeans like I usually do, so I said, "I guess I'll go in too, if you want to." So while Marni and Sarah sat and talked on the dock, Indra and I took a little swim. And it felt AMAZING. We were sort of cold when we got out, but it was still so nice. I feel like I truly experienced summer now!

When it got to be around 7, we walked Sarah to the station at Saarlandstraße and said goodbye. She leaves Hamburg tomorrow. I was so glad we got to see each other one more time before she went on her way! (By the way Sarah, if you end up reading this blog, it was so great to meet you and to hang out at the Stadtpark! I hope you had fun with us!!!)

Indra and I got one more ice cream scoop at the place at the end of our street on our way back home. We had Gelatinno, which is a specialty of that place and is a really yummy fruity one with a swirl of apple-lime in it. Marni went back to her apartment after that, and Indra and I went to take showers because we were cold by then. When we came into the kitchen to make dinner, five of Petra's friends had shown up for their last night together, since everyone is leaving town soon. Indra and I weren't thrilled about it because we were tired, but we just made our dinner and ate at the counter (we made Indra's recipe for baguette pizzas, which are super easy--you mix up shredded cheese, diced salami and ham, and bell peppers and then spoon it on top of half a roll and toast it in the oven). Dave was there and he made a Pringles cake topped with cheddar. Actually it wasn't bad, but it was a little weird. I feel like none of Dave's cakes are failures--they all taste kind of yummy to me when I try them, but they are definitely not made the conventional way. Petra made hummus, which I tasted and which was extremely good (her family owns a Lebanese restaurant, so she's got the skills!).

After that Indra came to my room and we worked on our present for Roland and Gaby. I'm doing part of it and Marni will do the rest. Like the light-boat cruise, I'm not telling what it is until we give it. Roland and Gaby are coming this week to see us one more time, so we will present it to them then. Indra and I had fun singing to Frozen and Der König der Lowen (The Lion King) while we worked on it.

Right now it is quite a bit after midnight and Petra and friends are all in her room immediately next to me. It's an extremely hot night so I have no choice but to leave the window open. They brought rum and beer and they are so hammered right now. They keep saying ridiculous and/or obscene things, and very two minutes somebody goes in to use OUR bathroom. At the moment someone is playing my guitar very badly. I loaned it to Petra for the weekend and right now I'm wishing I had waited till tomorrow to loan it. Glad this is not a regular occurrence. I think I will be sleeping with earplugs tonight . . .

Oh THANK GOODNESS, they're leaving to go somewhere. They're marching out singing "Barbara Ann" like a bunch of drunken sailors, but at least they're leaving! Praise the Lord--I can sleep in peace and quiet now!

Photos from the day: