Goodbye NYC, Guten Tag Berlin!

 

patriarchyOur final full day in New York City started with an analysis of the photograph on the left, which we quickly bestowed the title of “End of Patriarchy”. The title seemed to be a fitting start to the day given the repeated motif of social justice, activism, and civil disobedience throughout our week in NYC.

 

This conversation ceased, however, when Jim Eigo and Michael Kerr from ACT UP NY arrived to speak with us again. Listening to Jim’s mostly undocumented narrative of what it was like, living through the 80’s and 90’s, when HIV ran rampant and claimed the lives of so many was an incredibly moving experience. Jim’s narrative was raw and emotional, and made me feel more immersed in the terror the entire community felt, than anything thus far.

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Michael hung out, bestowed upon us brand new ACT UP NY buttons, and ensured that each of us had enough ACT UP clothes to last us a lifetime. Having a few hours to spend with Jim and Michael, to listen to their stories was such an intimate experience, and has been by far my favorite part of the trip.

si  Following our conversations with Michael and Jim, we ventured over to Greenwich Village to the historic Stonewall Inn. Upon arrival, myself and two other trip participants presented on the historical context of the Inn, including the Stonewall Riots, and how the riots changed the gay community irrevocably. Listening to Tree Sequoia, current bar tender at the Stonewall Inn, speak to his experiences as a young man who used to frequent the Stonewall before the raids was an incredibly enlightening experience. Though Tree is 77 years old today (31 if you like ’em young), he speaks about life before the riots as if it were yesterday. “It was a better time, in my opinion. At least, it was more fun,” Tree reminisced, talking about bribing the police, working at a bar under the control of the mafia, and the constant, invigorating risk of attending a bar regularly raided by the police.

 

Tree divulged his perception of how the area has changed over the years, reminiscing about the good ole days when you could sneak up to the rooftop of any given building, lamenting that now, every door is locked up. He candidly discussed his own experience during the HIV epidemic of the late 80’s and early 90’s, discussing all of the loss that he experienced, and how the loss still affects him today.

Overall, talking to Tree was a much different experience than talking to Jim. Their stories feel so much different, where Tree seems to look back on the past with fondness and longing and Jim with pain and loss. These stories of these two men, both who have watched the queer community change over the many years, were so moving to listen to first-hand. It’s a special memory for me, knowing that we may very well be the last generation to hear from people who were there the night of the Stonewall Riots. I hold my conversations with individuals who are long term survivors and activists in the fight against the HIV epidemic so dearly. I know that I am incredibly lucky to have been given the opportunity to have these experiences over the last few days.

 

As our final evening in NYC drew to a close, I spent a quiet night in my dorm room, doing laundry, packing, and preparing myself for a long day of travel. After waking up bright and early to have my final breakfast in the city (a fabulous toasted poppy bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese), I reluctantly rolled my suitcase into the elevator and took my final 22-floor ride in the elevator to leave the NYU Founders Hall dorm.

 

Together, we arrived at the Newark Airport nearly 6 hours before our flight, made it through the shockingly painless security process, and spent five hours in an airport, anticipating the long, 8-hour-flight we would soon be boarding.

The hours flew by pretty quickly, and after two movies, two mostly edible berlin collageairline meals, and an entire book later (If I Stay by Gayle Forman, a great book if you’re looking for a tear-jerker!), we landed in Berlin, exhausted, but excited to be on the next leg of our program!

After a few hours of much-needed relaxation, we ventured off to visit a piece of the post-WWII Berlin Wall, now decorated with a bright yellow spray-paint peace sign. It was shocking to me how what I would have assumed to be a stark reminder of the context of the wall, seemed to be a memorialized in a peaceful way. This reminded me that the Germany we visit today is not the same Germany I learned about in middle school, something I hadn’t realized I’d been nervous about up until that moment. Of course, I knew that WWII was over, that Nazi Socialism had come to an end, and that the work and death camps had been liberated long before I was born, but I’d never really learned about present-day Germany, up until I found myself here in Berlin.

 

Being here today has been tough. I don’t speak or read German, and find myself unsure of what to do when a language barrier prevents me from living my life as I would usually do. I’ve never been out of the USA, so I’ve never been in a position where I need to be concerned about not being able to read menus or maps, but it has been strangely liberating to navigate the few blocks I’ve managed to explore thus far, despite being in a foreign country for the first time.

 

Overall, the day presented a few surprises after we saw the wall. We explored the Mall of Berlin, witnessing both an Indian dance flash mob and a protest for unpaid wages within an hour of one another. Both experiences were exciting, and made me happy that I hadn’t chosen to sleep my jet-lag away. Now, it is nearly 10pm in Berlin, and I haven’t had any substantial sleep for over 30 hours. I am exhausted, but I am fulfilled, looking back on my experiences in New York City and so far in Berlin.

 

I hope you all look forward to hearing about our upcoming adventures. I am incredibly excited to be here, learning about history while simultaneously embracing the present-day culture of these new cities. Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my experiences these last few days!

One thought on “Goodbye NYC, Guten Tag Berlin!”

  1. All of your experiences and observations are so nicely written! I’m not sure how you can even connect two sentences together with so little sleep. You are missed here in NYC already!

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