Arme Schlampe

Wow. I can read about it in the papers and follow exchange rates, but I didn't really understand how weak the dollar is until today, when I paid $7 for a cup of coffee.

Now don't get me wrong, it was a fancy coffee and probably the best I have had in years (melange) but this is kind of silly.

No, it is completely ridiculous.

However, theater tickets on opening day at the Volkstheater were only $12 yesterday. We went to go see Eine Heikle Sache, Die Seele by Dimitré Dinev. (A Tricky Thing, the Soul) enjoyable, completely macabre, and very funny at the same time. It is a farce about a wake that plays heavy with existentialism and living in exile.

Today is an excellent museum day; it is cold and rainy. I went to see the Paul Klee exhibit at the Albertina, and had to skip a few activities I had planned because I spent three hours on just that part of the HUGE gallery. Raise your hands if you knew that Klee was so fascinating. In fact, I found myself breezing through the Oskar Kokoschka exhibit at the same place because I had had enough culture for one day. At this point I should probably mention that I had gone to the museum because of Kokoschka in the first place. (Kokoschka is Austrian, while Klee is just Swiss.)

I did learn one new word in dialect from a friend who ha drecently been to Bern. Apparently in Switzerland, it is not unusual to see "Mistkratzer" on the menu. This translates to "shit scratcher" Can you figure out what dish this refers to?

Speaking German again has resulted in broken gears in my head. I've forgotten a lot. However, after three days I'm already at the language crisis phase where I also can't remember how to express myself to say in English, either. This is a good sign. After a couple of days of this, I generally speak much more fluently.

I wish I'd thought to bring my camera software. It would be fun to actually post the pictures on the day they were taken rather than two weeks later.