The Protest Finds Me

I don't go looking for protests. I just happen to come across them. I'm serious. This happened all the time when I was studying in France.

Originally, this was going to be about my day at Museum Island.

I got out of the Peromon Museum, at least, I think that is what it was called because I am too lazy to look it up. And I see this mass of people in the distance and a lot of little carts around the masses of people. I knew what it meant: Protest Food!

This is the reason that I love protests. I love to eat. The weirder the food the better.

I don't know if it was actually a protest or a festival. The reason I think it was a protest was that a lot of people were carrying signs in the square (Ven.di), wearing red, and there were dump trucks blocking the road. Maybe it was a Public Works strike. Anyway. They were all just gathered in the square and not marching. So I didn't jump in there with them like I normally would've. I didn't want to be the lost little American girl in the mass of Germans.

Oh, I forgot to mention the chanting. There was this guy on stage. He was doing this pseudo-rap, regae sort of thing. Then there was the crowd participation portion of it.

There is nothing scarier than a mass of German people chanting along with a guy on stage. I've watched too many films. It sounded like if I went into the crowd, I wouldn't come out without experiencing prison sex. It was very primal sounding. I blame all the films I have ever seen on making me afraid of masses of chanting Germans.

I stayed to the edges of the crowd and took some pictures. Then I found a booth selling food. Ah, my favorite. They had loads of the German foods I have only read about in books. I got the currywurst. I did the whole order in German. At this point in the trip, I've learned the less I say in German while still getting the point across, the better. My accent is terrible. The currywurst wasn't bad. Kinda spicy. It didn't leave a whole lot of impression.

My professors in France warned us against eating food from street vendors, but I never listen. I have a pretty strong tummy. Afterall, I eat spaghetti-os. You know, I haven't had spaghetti-os since this summer. They sound kinda good right now.

I wonder what they were protesting?