Quiet riot

As planned, I stayed home last night to avoid the riots. But nothing really happened on our street. There was some sort of demonstration down the street at Lausitzer Platz, next to the covered-window bank:

But people seemed to mostly just stand around. They chanted a bit, and waved some communist flags.

And some police were hanging out at the intersection:


But things were more lively elsewhere, the news tells me. Deeper into Kreuzberg, there was some stone-throwing, and Friedrichshain (the neighborhood to the east) had a more violent protest, where a bunch of policemen were injured (though apparently fewer than normal). And supposedly there was a huge protest over by Brandenburg Gate, but that's a fair ways away.

In other news: I've been here a month, now. I feel a little settled in, but still a little lost. Part of the reason, I think, is that I don't feel like I'm socially invested here at all - I know various people here, but if I ran back to NY tomorrow, I wouldn't feel like I'd really let anyone down (maybe myself, in a way, but that's different). So that's my thought for the morning.

Some words:

• anknüpfen - to tie in with, to begin (I'm still having some trouble getting an intuitive sense of this one)


• monieren - to complain or criticize


• der Krawall - riot