200,000 bei Obama

By Eric: Being in the Tiergarten with over 200,000 people - all ages, races, walks of life - I was struck by the great buzz of anticipation awaiting a speech from a U.S. Senator from Illinois. I asked a German friend could she imagine a crowd like this for any German politician or European politician and the answer was an emphatic - Nein, nie!

So it was with a sense of pride to see that America can still evoke a promise of such great hope in the world. I also felt the pride of living in a city where the summer's evening crowd, gathered en masse, imbued such excitement and a sense of a world community and did so in typical Berlin style - in an über relaxed and easy going way.

Kusi can attest to the fact that I have read and watched an awful lot about Obama. I mean a lot! So for me, I knew that the speech was not going to be a campaign style speech. Overall I thought the speech itself was good but with moments of greatness. It walked a thin line of outlining a new direction for America and its relationship with Europe while also being careful not to criticize Bush or American foreign policy as is the custom when travelling abroad. I thought a lot of the speech was for diplomat's and journalist's ears. Even so, as many times as I have watch videos of Barack speaking, their were still moments of the speech that gave me, an unabashed Obama fan, major chills and inspiration. I was reminded later that this was the largest crowd, three times over, than Obama had ever spoken in front of.

I feel fortunate and happy to have been there. Walking through the Brandenburg Gate, past the Reichstag, into the Tiergarten, past the Soviet War Memorial and watching Barack Obama stroll along the Victory Column - it felt like an historic evening. A moment in time where the chance for things in the world to get even a little bit better seemed somehow within reach. The most profound thing I can think to say is - How cool is that!!

(Soviet War Memorial)

Here are my favourite parts of the speech, the chills up the spine moments for me.

"That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

"Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

"People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

"We are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again."

World Breakfast Tour

I am finally getting to post these photos from my recent outing with my tandem partner Sandra at the All Nations Festival. This cool festival is hosted by the foreign embassies of Berlin. Basically one day every year a number of the embassies volunteer to open their doors to the public. This year's theme was 'Fruehstuck' or 'Breakfast', which meant that each of the participating embassies were to showcase, among other things, their traditional breakfast.

The host embassies open this year included Nepal, Malta, Jamaica, Myanmar (which we presumed would be empty because of protesters like us) Afghanistan and Lesotho. It was all very well organised. We just presented ourselves at the embassy of our choice and were given a cute mock passport which we got stamped at each embassy we visited. Myself and Sandra started off at the Indian embassy, where we, as women, were given a bindi as we walked in. Eric and our friend Joydeep also went along but at a different time (so unfortunately there are no photos of their visit) and they were given a tilaka.

We were also given a chance to try on a sari. I have to say that I loved my sari and didn't want to give it up at the end. They also had this questionnaire to fill out, which if you got all the questions right you won a prize. Unfortunately myself and Sandra were too embarrassed to hand in ours as we could hardly answer any of them. (Here were some of the questions: What is the other official name (as per the Constitution) of India? a) Hindoostan b) Hindia c) Bharat and d) Industan. Which of the following is India's national animal? a) Lion b) Tiger c) Elephant d) Snowleopard. Answers below.)

And if you are wondering what they eat in India for breakfast, see above photo. Yes, that's right - as Eric exclaimed, "they eat Indian food for breakfast!" There was all different types of curry which smelt delicious but was a bit too early in the morning for me.

Next we went to the South African embassy, mainly because it was just next door. However, they didn't allow any photographs. (Boo!) So the only one I could take was of the (free) breakfast they provided. We got a free sample of boerewors, which is a type of sausage (VERY strong taste) eaten with a tomato puree and sticky mushy rice. It didn't do much for me but Eric said he liked his.

Then it was on to the Malaysian embassy. This place was packed with people. They had a table showcasing traditional Malay cuisine, which looks like a blend of Indian, Chinese food and South East Asian food, reflecting the cultural mix in the country. Myself and Sandra only got to taste some deep-fried banana balls, which were super sweet and oily, and a deep-fried pastry, very like a samosa. I would have really like to have tasted some of the bigger dishes but the queues were too long.

This was a man at the Malaysian embassy in traditional tribal dress.

Lastly we ended up at the embassy which houses the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. At first we weren't too sure where in the building to go, but then we heard this stream of music, the sound of foot-stomping and hand-clapping, which we duly followed and the above photo is what we found. A veritable fiesta of singing and dancing and general carrying on. Great fun. And that was our final stop on our World Breakfast Tour, from India to South Africa, Malaysia, Central America and then back to Berlin again.

Answers to quiz questions: c) Bharat and d) Tiger.

Friends, glorious friends

So I'm finally getting to post up photos from the last couple of weeks, when we were lucky to have visits from friends from Ireland. It's been two weeks of hanging out, sight-seeing, walking, talking, catching up, eating good food and drinking good beer and wine. At first I thought it would be weird to see people from Dublin here in Berlin, as the old song from Crowded House goes, 'two worlds colliding'. But actually we got used to having our friends here very quickly, so much so that it's actually a bit weird now that they are gone.

First came Emma and Una (pic above), who were actually our first visitors here in Berlin. (We were very excited, maybe even a little over-excited.) These guys are old pros when it comes to Berlin having been here a few times already. Actually with its laid-back and arty atmosphere Berlin suits them down to the ground.

We had a really relaxing time with them which included taking a big long meandering walk through Berlin's famous Tiergarten (pic above). We also managed to bump into the Berlin Gay Pride parade, which was a stroke of luck since we weren't too sure when it was on but had been trying to find it. I have to say that we were just settling into their visit when it was over so we've made them promise to visit again hopefully very soon.

Next came the lovely Mark Joyce, who was on a "working holiday" here in Berlin. This meant that in between working with Eric on web stuff we got to hang out and see some of the sights of Berlin. We got to show him things like this quirky shop near us that sells all things DDR, including gasmasks, old army jackets, posters and medals.

We also got to visit a cool DDR bar in the Hackescher Markt area of Berlin, complete with memorabilia and packed with a gang of young backpackers.

One of the other things we did with Mark was go on a boat tour along the Spree river in Berlin. It was a really nice way to see the city, taking in the old quarter of Berlin, the Museum Island and the Reichstag (pic below).

Though Mark was here for nearly a week there were still lots of things that we still didn't get to show him including the Fernsehturm, the Stasi Museum and the Bauhaus Museum - just to name a few. We are hoping that these will serve as a carrot to get him back to Berlin on another visit.

Next up, Mulrooney-Heffernans in two weeks time!

I Heart Skype

I just wanted to proclaim my love for my recent discovery - Skype. For those of you who don't know of this wonderful invention, it's a programme which you can download onto your computer for free, which allows you to call other Skype users for free. If you have a webcam, it also lets you, with amazing 21st century technology, to see the person you are speaking to. Yes, that's right - see the person you are talking to! Now I know that this isn't cutting-edge technology as it's been out for a while, but for me it seems completely space-age. We have been able to have virtual face-to-face conversations with our friends from home (above our friend Richie a la Skype).

The great thing has been that we have also been able to see our friends' kids (above is Dee and Richie's Seimi saying "hello"), whom we miss dearly. Knowing how kids grow up so quickly it's great to be able to see them every now and again and to remind them of what we look like. So anyway, this is a plea to all of you with computers to get in contact via Skype (kusiokamura and ericeckhart32). We can give you a virtual tour of our apartment! Our real, authentic DDR wallpaper! Our antiquated, crappy gas oven! We'll even let you see what we are eating for dinner! (You can see mini-pic in the corner of the pic above - just a taster!) See for yourselves if Eric has grown a huge bushy handle-bar moustache. Or not. Whether I have really grown two inches in an amazing growth spurt. Or not. We are but a Skype away!

Linguine with Red Lentil Sauce

I am posting this veggie recipe at the suggestion of Eric (!). I have been experimenting with some vegetarian dishes recently and this one came out quite nicely. Though it has lentils (not one of Eric's favourite foodstuffs), it still got the carnivore's thumbs-up. It is just a ragu sauce but with red lentils instead of minced meat. Apparently this kind of dish was very popular in the poorer areas in Italy where meat was not always readily available.

I got the basic recipe from a lovely cookbook that Joe gave me called Pasta for all Seasons, adding only a few things of my own like fresh rosemary (just because our plant needed trimming) and some red wine (just because there was a half empty bottle lying around). I also added an onion as I would for a ragu. I'm sure you could also any kind of veggie you wanted, like courgette or mushrooms for example.

Linguine with Red Lentil Sauce

1 glug of olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup of red wine
1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
vegetable stock (I use a good bouillon)
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried oregano or basil)
dried linguine

1. Heat up olive oil in a big saucepan.
2. Add the onion and garlic and fry for 2 mins.
3. Add the carrots and celery and fry for 5 mins.
4. Stir in the tomato paste and then add the red wine.
5. Add the red lentils and the herbs and then cover with vegetable stock.
6. Bring to boil and then simmer until the lentils are cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
7. While the lentil sauce is cooking cook the linguine in a large pot of salted water. Add a little of the cooking water to the sauce if it is too thick.
8. When pasta is al dente drain and put in pasta bowl. Top with sauce and serve immediately.

We had this with salad and some fried bread that Eric made. He rolled out some leftover pizza dough and cut into two pieces. Then he heated up a little olive oil in a pan and fried the dough until puffy and golden on both sides. A successful Team Eckamura effort!

Gig night at the Volksbühne

Been meaning to write this one for a while as this gig was a few weeks ago now. Oh how time flies by! It was our first gig outing in Berlin. We had passed by the Volksbühne a couple of times (it's just down the road from us) and had thought it looked like a cool building. We then heard it was a theatre and had just been waiting for the right opportunity to go and see something there.

This name "Volksbühne" means the "People's Theatre" and was originally built to bring theatre, namely socialist-realist plays, to the masses. It's now known for showcasing (very) experimental theatre. Eric's tandem partner told him about one of the plays she had seen where five people were playing five separate pianos at the same time while taking their clothes off. Now that's not something you see everyday!

Anyway, I saw a poster that said that Joan as Policewoman was playing there and that was that. For those of you who don't know her music I suppose you could describe it as 'modern soul', though it doesn't really quite capture what its about. I've linked her page so if you get a chance have a listen to some of her songs.

It was open seating on the night so we were right up front for the first act, a band called Dominique (pic above). Unfortunately poor ol' Dominique weren't anything to write home about. The lead singer talked rather than sang in the songs (Leonard Cohen-ish but not pulling it off) and the backing singer I think had a bit of the jitters and didn't really hit her notes. It was quite cringy. I have to say that if it had of just been them on the night I would have been sorely disappointed.

Luckily the main act, Joan as Policewoman, were fantastic. Though we moved a few rows back as the music was a bit loud up front, we still had a great view. Joan Wasser is the brains of the outfit and she is just brilliant. As well as being gorgeous (the only woman I can think of that could get away with wearing gold pantaloons!), she is also a great performer - interacts with the crowd, is warm and funny. She played mostly the piano and a bit of guitar, as well as most of the singing. Her and her band, just a guy on drums and a bass player, were so professional and so tight. Both myself and Eric were really impressed.

They played well over two hours and also played a number of songs as encores (a sign of a good-hearted performer). It was a really balmy summer's night so we sauntered home after the gig with Joan's songs still in our heads in post-gig bliss. No jackets, just music - the perfect gig night!

It's Cicada Time!

This blog (my first nature post) was inspired by an email I got from Eric's mom the other day to tell me about the recent arrival of the cicadas in Huntington. Though I had heard of cicadas before, I didn't really know that much about them. Anyway, Nita's description of these creatures fascinated me. She described them as something out of a horror movie - 3 inch long insects with red eyes that bury underground and only emerge every 17 years! So me being the inquisitive person that I am immediately googled them, and she was absolutely right! Above is a photo of said cicada. Red beady eyes, as described by Nita. Notice also the strange horror film-like deadpan expression.

I'm not an insectophobe. Well, not really. But there is something about seeing swarms of insects that gets my skin crawling (have a look at the above photo and see if it doesn't do the same to you). Apparently these cicadas don't bite or sting. They do however make quite a racket, a kind of relentless high-pitched noise, and they tend to wreck trees and shrubs where they bury their eggs. They will hatch and then fall to the ground before burying underground. And then they'll stay there for another 17 years. Fascinating eh? I think worst of all is that there are so many of them - millions apparently so that they get into everything. One tried to ambush Nita the other day by hiding in her washing. The coward! Anyway, this is an invite to my American family to post your favourite cicada stories in the comments section. The more horror film-like the better! Speaking of which check out the molting cicada below!

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