Find, Stalk, Buy!+Real Freedom=AMAZING!

I have finally found good tofu! I went to a great little Thai restaurant (where the waiter spoke German to me and scared me!), where I actually found tofu that tasted amazing and not disgusting! It was "ein schoenes Tag" (a beautiful day), as the waiter said. Actually I mentally freaked out when he started speaking to me in German, but when I realized that all he was saying was that the weather was nice and that he wasn't trying to talk about politics with me, I calmed down, and said that I would rather speak German than English.
After an amazing lunch, I hopped the U-1 to one of the many great flea markets in Berlin. I ran into Olivia and Stephanie, who had just been there, and said that it was amazing, which it was! I had to repeatedly ask myself how many bags I really need (but those purses were so cute!), how many jackets I have room for in my suitcase (none), and on and on! I knew if I started buying things right away, I would have easily blown 100 Euros in twenty minutes! Of course, I have been saving my money for Berlin because I knew that the shopping is amazing and there is so much to do, but I could not imagine how awesome Berlin is!
After I got through there, I went to the opposite extreme on the other end of the U-1--the Kufuerstendamm! Another thing I was brainwashed into absolutely wanting to go to! As we were pulling out of the station at Warschauer Strasse, a German tourist who was sitting across the aisle from me got really excited. "Is that the Berliner Mauer/Berlin Wall?" Her companion, obviously a Berliner, nonchalantly replied in the affirmative, which got this woman so excited. I turned around and looked out of the window, and sure enough, there is was, the East Side Gallery.
A short 15 minutes later, I was ascending the steps out of the Kudamm U-Bahn station. The first thing I saw was the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechnis Kirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church). It was bombed during the war, leaving only the facade and bell tower standing in ruin. The spire pierces the sky in a broken edge that stands as a stark reminder to the devastation of war amid the bustling street filled with high-end stores and die-hard shoppers. On either side of the original church are blue-glass buildings, one is the new church, and the other the new bell tower. The ground floor of the bell tower is a fair-trade shop featuring handmade items from all over the world, as if to say that given the site's history, it was taking a step forward to rebuilding a more peaceful and just world. All in the name of tourism.
I went up and down the Kudamm, knowing that I wanted to be back at the church by 6:00 for Gottesdienst (Sunday services). The Kudamm is to Berlin what Michigan Street is to Chicago--many amazing stores to keep my shopaholic heart content and high prices to break my bank account. I had to employ my shopping strategy to keep me from buying everything in sight--find something I really like, think about it, maybe go back to the store just to make sure I really want it, and then go back a few days later if I actually plan on buying it. I wanted to find the KaDeWe, or the Kaufhaus des Westens, which is the largest department store in continental Europe. When the store has to have its own information desk at the entrance, with maps in twelve different languages, you know it's big! I didn't have much time before church, so I headed for the food floor. I need two hours for the food floor alone! It has everything imaginable, including a selection of American food like Betty Crocker cake mix and Kraft Mac and Cheese. I can make God's cookies if I wanted! There are so many types of meat, and if you wanted you can choose which swimming thing you want to take home and cook, but obviously that didn't interest me. I was in love with the chocolate cases, the pasta case, the bakery case. Oh my gosh! This was one floor! I have to go back, as cheesy and touristy as it sounds!
Then I went to church at the Gedaechtnis-Kirche. The new sanctuary is round and very modern with walls made of square of blue glass. I have been used to going to church in large, ornate Catholic churches, so to come into this one was a pleasant change--especially when the pastor processed down the aisle and I saw that it was a woman! Welcome to being back in a Lutheran/Evangelishe church! The church was obviously meant for tourists, as it did not have a congregation with the "regulars" and being right in the middle of the tourist and consumer heart of Berlin. The pastor was amazing--I love it when the pastor genuinely loves what she is doing, sharing the word of God with the congregation. For the first time, I could understand the readings, the prayers, and the sermon, and not simply because of the rituals of the service! The scripture reading was the one (which I can't remember to save my life) when Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment. Another Godspell scene! Of course, it is to "love the Lord your God" with all your heart, soul, and might. "And the second is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself." One of my favorite verses. Then the minister talked about freedom in her sermon; I really hope that it wasn't a service staged simply because of the church we were in. She said that we cannot truly be free when war and conflict are rampant in our world, and where people must stand on the streetcorners, begging for spare change. She referred to one person in particular on a specific corner of the Kudamm, and you could leave the church and find him exactly where she said. Freedom, she said, (and keep in mind this me translating from German) is a condition between God and man, and between man and man, and if we miss both of these crucial points, we can never be "free." A much better point than invading, "liberating," and killing. It was one of the best services I have been to in a long time. Despite the fact that there wasn't communion and I had a hard time paying attention after a certain point in the service (but I am so used to Father Randy's five-ten minute homilies at Loretto). I hadn't been to church since Krakow, and going to a Protestant service with a woman (for a refreshing change!) was amazing! Another dream come true, another once in a lifetime opportunity! Another truly amazing day in Berlin!