9:45am, May 10, 2014 Lilienthaler Strasse 10 Berlin, Germany Dear John, The days in Berlin are already flying by fast. I think you would very much like this place. Berlin excites and entices especially in May and June, the most beautiful time of the year to spend in Germany. I wish you could be here right now, and smell the fresh morning air. The trees and flowers are all blooming and fill the air with musky, earthy aroma. Nature is moving with the sunbeams, birds sing and show themselves, looking and singing for a mate to make more birdies with. It really is a spectacle and because today is Saturday, the city is only slowly waking up and shedding Friday nights’ sleep from its hair. I am sitting here with my mom solving crossword puzzles across the room. I am glad to see her although I know she is suffering and in pain most of the nights. During the day she can endure the pain by taking medicine–which is laid out neatly on the table in front of me–but the comfort leaves her when she sleeps so she has to wake up to the pangs that stem from her lower back. I feel for her and yet can not do anything besides being here for these remaining 28 days. Given these circumstances, she sports very good spirits though. She always has been a bright and smiling person and even in her dire times such as now, she doesn’t complain too much. Members of our family can usually see the bright side of things when others would succumb to negative thoughts. My father has a positive outlook, too. So do I. What else? Well, for one thing my dear friend Chris arrived from New York yesterday morning and my father and I picked him up from the airport and drove him to his rental apartment that he’ll be sharing with his co-founder and 2 of his colleagues from work. He had never been to Berlin before (although he did study for a year in Amsterdam) and it looks like he had a good first impression of the city. It really is nice right now. Since both of us are transplants we took a walk and explored his neighborhood first and then, later in the afternoon, walked further and sat down for very good Pizza close to the local canal next to Graefen Strasse. The place was bursting with young people of all sorts and the food and the beer and the dessert tasted delicious. On top of that, my dear friend Irmina showed up out of nowhere with her two sweet kids and we got to say hi and introduce her to Chris. Afterwards we went and got another beer around the corner at a place called “Fuchsbau” which was very, very cool and I recommend it highly. People still smoke in bars! The craziest thing, really, coming from New York where even “vaping” is now banned from the streets. And here, in Berlin, people don’t give a damn and instead enjoy their beer and their smoke and their company. It worked. The combination of scents just worked and I feel like I had forgotten that world. It’s cerebral. It’s good. Today, Chris’ team arrived, I just texted with him. They’re already out and about taking in their new environment, walking around Neukoelln. Funny incident yesterday: I hadn’t had coffee in a few weeks and for no good reason other than indulgence, ordered an espresso for Chris and I each after dinner. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious; However, once I went to bed to sleep I got exactly 2 hours of sleep and stayed awake and conscious for the remaining 5 hours! Basically I did not sleep tonight and knowing myself expect to crash mid-afternoon. Well, and you know what? That’s fine. It’s Saturday, it’s Berlin, it’s chill. I’m not going to stress myself out. The past months in New York were packed with new experiences and while I am looking forward to banging out some really awesome new features this month, I am also in progress of relaxing and living a bit off-computer and off-business. Finally, I just bought a big bouquet of peonies for my mom for mothers day. I bought them still tucked in and expect them to blow up over night to fully show off their currently hidden beauty. I bought one bundle of reds, one with pinks and one with whites. The white ones should give a very nice smell the vendor said. I can’t wait.