Berlina and Orjan and Naima in Berlin

It’s harder to find people who speak German here than you might expect. I could imagine living for years here without ever having to learn. In fact, I know people who have.
What’s really fun is when your second language is the common [second] language. I spent last evening with three Swedes and a Deutscher. We spoke mostly German, mine being second best [brag brag], and occasionally english. Sometimes swedish slipped in and three languages flew around at the same time.
It was, in general, a lovely night. Swedes are wonderful. I will generalize. It made me miss olds friends with whom I’ve sat on pillows on the floor around candles, food and wineglasses. But also more optimistic about the idea of meeting people the world over with whom it is easy to laugh, in meager words.

oh yes, and I met up with Berlin! I mean, Berlin in Berlin, I mean Berlina, as she is called here, in the city of Berlin. Berlina (the person) of Berlin (the city) formerly Berlin (the person) of Bard. She had just gotten back from Morocco (the city). But this is all only interesting for those at Bard (the college) who knew her.