Brunch in Berlin

It´s good to hear from Ethan. I´m glad he made it home safe.

London wrapped up with a big send off from the investment bankers. Irungu, Tapiwa, Rashmi and I met up with Namisha (another Jerry hallmate) at Canary Wharf, just as everyone was getting off work. It´s a fun crowd—they all work within half a block of eachother. We split our time between talking about the subprime loan crash and reminiscing about college over drinks at the local i-banker bar. The place was swarming with ospiffy looking traders and analysts in slick suits. I was definitely the only one in shorts!

I bid Namisha farewell and wished everyone good luck with their training. The next morning I was greeted in Berlin by my cousin Kalani flanked by another group of Stanford friends. Kalani, Sarah and Sam had all studied at the Stanford House in Berlin over a year ago during the same quarter that I was studying at Stanford in Washington in DC. We all met for the first time when our programs converged for a conference in Beijing and now it was fun to reunite over a year later in Berlin. Kalani and Sarah have a great flat in Mitte in East Berlin that is serving as a focal point for all sorts of friends as they travel through Berlin. Last night I met Stephanie and Daisy, too other Stanford kids spending the summer in Germany. We all had a blast doing what German´s seem to do best; namely eat and drink. We went to Dolce Pizza, then a wine bar, then a beer garden and then a bar. It was good times.

This morning we had a big brunch and then Kalani gave a great tour of the Berlin wall and Potsdammer´s platz. We zigzagged back and forth across the former iron curtain and stopped by Kalani´s old office at the DB tower. Needless to say, this city has a lot of interesting history.

Now its time to get more food. Much more to discuss tomorrow!