Peacock Island and other mysteries

Berlin never ceases to surprise me.

In order to bring closure to my two years here in Berlin, I have created a "Berlin Bucket List" of things I want to do/see before I move back to the states. Included on this list was a visit to Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) in the south of Berlin. It was probably one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had. Really. And there's a reason for that. Some royal family in history decided they had nothing better to do with their riches than put a bunch of peacocks on an island and turn it into a menagerie of merriment and en escape from the "common people". The island included it's very own 30 peacocks, peacock castle, museum of elusive animal exhibits (totally fake, but presented like they were real), giant concrete acorns, ladders that go to nowhere, benches slanted into the ground, costumes, spinning tops with a whip, bowling, etc... It was kind of like a mix between the Twilight Zone and Lost. Yikes.

Speaking of mysteries, we just returned from our weekend debrief trip where we talked about how our years went and how to transition well back to the states. I call this transition a mystery, because it's so strange to me how we culturally adapt and re-adapt to our surroundings. There's all sorts of havoc that can happen when people have wrong expectations as to what it's going to be like to return to their home culture after a significant time abroad. But this is why we talk about it and prepare to deal with it before it happens. I'm so thankful we get this kind of training. I can't imagine how difficult this transition would be without it!