The Internet Personified: Home for a bit
Stray observations from Berlin before I dash off again
Just got back from our two week trip to Spain yesterday and the airport train back home is a totally different beast on a Friday evening. Normally it’s just us and Germans returning home or on a business trip or whatever (say Wednesday at 9 am) but this time it was packed to the gills with very young Euro tourists, all looking to party all weekend. We sat right behind a group of Extremely Young People—I am ageing at the rate of “good god, are these toddlers allowed to be outside without their parents?”—who leaned against the divider and chatted extremely loudly, with absolutely no self consciousness about everyone they knew. Eventually I worked out that the loudest girl had invited her two friends to come and stay for the weekend, because they were all students together somewhere. I think Ireland? I also only realised Loudest Girl was German about halfway through because she spoke in the American-est of American accents, something I am noticing about teens all over Europe. Gone is the German-English accent, French-English, Spanish-English etc, now everyone has the same flattening of vowels, the same drawled endings to their words. One day there’ll be no accents left, and we can all blame TikTok. At one second hand shop I was in in Spain, the woman next to me spoke zero English (I asked her a question she couldn’t answer) but sang along perfectly to the pop song that was playing.
The reason we were back on a Friday evening is that the elections are this weekend. The AFD will not win this time, but they’re getting a little too close for comfort. And people’s views are also changing at the rate of “I’m not a racist but…” It’s quite open on r/berlin, the racism. It’s easy to have a scapegoat which is what the right wing is making the irregular immigrants into. (“Irregular” being a nicer word than “illegal” but if there’s an even better word please let me know.) You Know Who did the same in the 1930s, and we all know how that turned out. Still, as an optimist, I have faith that the amount of protests against the right wing, the amount of discourse we’re having around this etc, will lead to something. A change. People don’t have jobs though and that’s always a dangerous place to be, as we know from India.
The trip was good. We went through several stages of our relationship to tapas, from “omg can you believe we’re in SPAIN eating TAPAS like the LOCALS?” to “if I see another tapas again I’ll die” and finally, “ok fine, I’ll eat more tapas since that’s all they serve.” Tapas = highly overrated. However it is bitty plates of food to eat while you drink, which is something you could learn from, BERLIN. But honestly, these people colonised the other half of the world that the Brits didn’t, so would it physically hurt you, Spain, to add some spice to your dishes? ANYTHING. Even a sprinkle of pepper. Or cumin! They do do a lovely ham sandwich though and I travel everywhere with a tiny bottle of hot sauce in my purse, so we made do. I returned and immediately, at 9.45 pm made dal-chawal which we finished off without leftovers in one great orgy of not having to eat out again. Why is Indian food the best food to come home to? (Re: dal, I have a couple of favourites, but homecoming is usually what I call Tushita’s Dal, after my mum’s friend, Tushita Patel who wrote a really good cookbook from which it’s from. Garlicky, tomatoey with loads of sizzled cumin and pot-in-pot so super easy to just put on and then go unpack while things happen.)
I’ll tell you more about Spain and our trip in a dedicated post, I kept a travel journal and everything, but also I wanted to tell you I have a new travel column! The lovely people at Splainer asked me to “do” Europe for them in my own way and we started with my massive guide to Berlin which is not all oh Checkpoint Charlie etc etc (don’t go to Checkpoint Charlie unless you’re passing, totally touristy.) You can read it here via my gift link and consider subscribing to Splainer, I’ve been a subscriber since they started and it’s the first thing I read every morning.
Missed a really cold week of below freezing temperatures and lots of snow, but this morning it’s bright and sunny. For me, the winter’s basically over, I have this week and then I’m going off to India in the first week of March and only returning April 4. Normally, we leave in January, normally being, since we moved here, and this time, woof, it’s been a hard and cold winter, filled with grumpiness and tiredness (and illness, me here and K in Spain). I’m going alone, K’s out of hols and has a work project to be here for, which is sad, but it’s good for couples to spend a little time apart every now and then especially if you’re joined at the hip as we two are. I have to think about what to bring back though, what do you think is a good present?
I just read this morning that being extremely irritable was a sign of perimenopause. Doesn’t it seem like everything these days is a sign of perimenopause? My ear has really been hurting when I sleep on it for too long (the outside of it I mean), is that a sign of perimenopause? Meanwhile Old Faithful (my period) continues on schedule.
I don’t have much else to say but I don’t want to end on perimenopause. I’ve had a bunch of joyous reunions—not just with cats, who continue to be the best cats in the whole world (objectively true)—but also with my favourite coffee mug, my hairdryer (shortly), my library books and my mail (two magazines in it.)
Speak soon! I’ll be back in your inboxes by the beginning of March with a list of what I was reading this month.
xx
m