This morning I went running in Goerlitzer Park, as planned. I noticed yesterday that there were a few people running there, but not too many. Either the Germans run much less than New Yorkers, or else they go somewhere else to do it. But running was okay - I was (predictably) mocked by a group of Turkish teenagers in Lausitzer Platz (which I go through to get to the park), and thought of an appropriate rely in German only 10 or 20 minutes later ("Kommen sie mit!").

After the run, I had a breakfast of toasted Heidebrot, Gouda cheese, and sour cherry jam. Ate it while standing on the balcony of the apartment. It was amazing. (I felt a punch of homesickness when I woke up this morning, so I needed to force my brain into a good mood).

Last night, I cooked for myself and Amy. Despite burning the first batch of rice (stupid German electric stove with its counterintuitive control placement), it came out pretty well: a bunch of sauteed red cabbage, zucchini, carrot and white beans served over (here's the inspired part) peanut butter rice. I thought of using peanut butter for flavor kind of late in the game, so it wasn't really possible to mix it in with the vegetables. But two spoonfulls mixed into the rice worked out really well - makes the rice a more interesting part of the meal. That was my grand intellectual accomplishment for yesterday.

Today I have an appointment with someone at the bank (to get my stipend coming). Right now, I'm working on my translated Nora Roberts novel for German practice. It's pretty good. The highlight of the present chapter: "Margo brauchte sie. Und gleichzeitig wurde ihr schmerzlich klar, dass sie ihrem Mann nichts merh bedeutete." Who would have thought that Margo would come back to the Templeton House just at the time when Laura's marriage to Peter, which Margo had secretly disapproved of from the beginning, was falling apart? Even though Margo was involved in a drug-scandal, it's starting to look like Laura is really the one in need of help.