Day 332

When I said goodbye to Heather and Violet last night, we had big plans of going on a road trip to one of the lakes today. But an unexpected rainstorm blew in. We met in the city anyways, deciding it’d be a good day for a museum. The Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism is where we ended up.

Since it’s where the NSDAP was founded, Munich is associated with the rise of national socialism more than any other German city. The building that holds the museum is the same place the Brown House used to be, the former headquarters of the party. I only recently recovered from my trip to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, so this museum may not have been the best choice. Parts of it were equally as graphic and disturbing. It went into more detail about the state of Germany after WWI, and what attributed to the downward spiral that ended in WWII. The focus was on Munich’s particular role, and what life was like here back then. There were several interesting facts that I wanted to include, but now I can’t remember them. A part of the museum was dedicated to the notable German citizens who tirelessly fought Hitler and the socialist movement–most who died doing so.

There was video footage of American military troops riding a tank through a very bombed Munich. Apparently they dropped so many, the explosions could be heard in Switzerland. The museum talked about how the city’s population was split. Some were upset, some were relieved. In the video, Germans stood on the streets, happily waving their white handkerchiefs. Others cried as the members of the police and political parties were taken away as prisoners. The American House was established in Munich later on. People could come to read and listen to mainstream media. It was intended to show Munich how democracy can be implemented and practiced. It’s still there, today. Now it serves to inform the public of the importance of transatlantic relations between Bavaria and North America. It’s library is used by many high school and university students.

The last exhibit was called “The City Without”. It examines the film The City Without Jews, and looks at Germany’s treatment of the Jewish population during this time. Then it compares that to Germany’s treatment of Muslim refugees in current time–particularly, here, in Munich. It showed a picture of a poster that hangs in one of the suburbs right now. It says “no Muslims in Bavaria”. As you leave the museum, a quote by Primo Levi in 1986 is painted on the wall. It says, “it happened, and thus it can happen again”. When I left Dachau, I comforted myself by saying the past is the past, at least we can move forward. This museum didn’t give that same reassurance.

Feeling unsettled, we looked for a counteractive stimulus and decided on going to see The Lion King. We got lunch at a spot I’ve been to several times and always enjoy, then made our way to the theater. We got there fifteen minutes late, thinking we’d have just skipped the previews. Turns out, the movie was in 3D which didn’t sound appealing to any of us. We looked online and found another theater that was playing it in 2D, thirty minutes later. The movie was great and I wept over two animated lions falling in love.

I don’t know why, but today felt like it was our first time in the city–like we had never used the public transportation before. Getting from the museum, to the restaurant, to the movie theater, to the second movie theater was an event. Each route involved buses, trams, and subways. That’s typical, but today it felt challenging. We’d walk to a tram stop, only to find that there was a delay, and another one wasn’t running for thirty more minutes. Multiple times, we’d come out of underground stations and have no clue where we were. The three of us spun in circles, looking for signs. At one point we got off the subway, then realized it was the wrong stop. The doors were still open, so I hopped back inside right before they closed. It was the most awkward way I’ve ever moved my body. I can only imagine it looked a frog standing on its back legs, trying to behave like a human. The struggles of the day made it so comical. I feel like I spent it in a constant state of laughter (minus the museum and the part of the movie where Mufasa dies).

The icing on the cake was when we got to the theater. Because of our transportation difficulties, we were late. We had missed the “Circle of Life” scene and the movie was in full swing. The only spots available were the front row. The screen was low, so if you walked in front, your body would cover the movie. We all had to dart across to find seats. I led the way, sprinting in a low duck. Heather followed, then Violet. Right as I sat down, I heard a thud. Heather had missed a step and fallen right in front of the screen. Violet fell to her knees to ask her if she was okay. And also because she was uncontrollably laughing. Because the movie was playing, the theater was silent, so we tried to keep quiet. As Heather picked up her popcorn and took a seat, I felt like my head was going to burst from contained laughter.

I said my final goodbye to both of my friends at the train station. Like with all of the people I have grown close to here, it was anticlimactic. When you meet people under these circumstances, you know that your time with them is only temporary–that one day you will have to part ways. Even though I’ve only known Violet for a short amount of time, it feels like she’s been my friend forever. And Heather was my closest companion here. I don’t know if I would have made it through the second half of this experience without her. I am grateful for their friendship the same way I am grateful for Kacie and Riley’s. I can’t imagine this year without them. I came here with the intention of “meeting new people”. And I’ve met so many. Too many to recall or include in this blog. I’ve had countless conversations with people whose names I’ve forgotten, but whose stories I remember. I expected to have them and I expected they’d have a positive impact on this experience. And they did. Those many surface level relationships are the ones I thought about before coming. I didn’t think about the few genuine ones that would grow from them. The ones that made me see myself through a different lens. Becoming friends with people whose lives, up until now, were significantly different than mine has taught me a lot. I’ve learned things from them that I may not have written down, but will keep in my heart always. And now I have somewhere to stay if I ever end up in the South, Australia, or England! And vice verse, if they ever make their way to good ol’ Montana.

Things from today I want to remember:

• how many people have been riding the rental motorized razor scooters through Munich lately.
• how the museum was free because people had protested the fact that they had to pay to learn about that information.
• learning that one of the art museums in the city was bombed in the center. The rest of the building is old, besides one newly rebuilt chunk in the middle.