Euro-Trip: Day 12 - Tues. June 21, 2011: Berlin

We started the day by visiting 2 schools in Berlin. The first school was an equivalent to an elementary school and housed students in grades 1-6. This school participates in a project that creates natural open spaces on school grounds to be used as a playground or common space area. The second school was an integrated secondary school housing students in grades 7-12. The school is integrated because students on track to the university go to school with students planning on going on to an apprenticeship.
We then went to the neighborhood community center. The neighborhood has a large migrant population and has a goal of educating the parents of these migrant families on how to survive in German society. The men of this community center were kind enough to cook us lunch consisting of Turkish food....it was awesome!
Our next appointment was with the Commissioner of Foreigners and Migrants for the district of Charlottenburg, one of 13 districts in the city of Berlin. His job is to ensure the peaceful integration of the different cultural and ethnic groups living within his district. He said this is a difficult task, as some groups do not wish to integrate people from different cultures into German society.
We then drove to the Turkish market in Berlin and got a chance to shop around and bargin for items within the market. We ate dinner at a Turkish/Mediterranean restuarant close to the market.
Our day ended with a walk along the East Side Gallery. This is the only section of the Berlin Wall still standing and has been covered with artwork commissioned by various artists.