Men have baby bellies too

As I get rounder and rounder, I can barely believe that my girth will continue growing for another 2 1/2 months! In these photos, Toffi shows his empathetic side, donning the Baby Björn I bought a couple weeks ago to show that expecting daddies can have baby bellies too.


The big news of the day is that we bought a dishwasher! Neither of us are particularly enthusiastic/conscientious about washing the dishes by hand, and we figure this will get worse when we have an attention- demanding baby to take care of. Toffi's parents were kind enough to offer to buy one for us, so today we took advantage of sales to shop around. In the end, we got a great deal on a Siemens model that uses less water than almost any other machine on the market. It'll be delivered on Tuesday, and I can barely wait! It's a weird feeling though - buying large household appliances makes it seem like we're all grown up. And I suppose we are grown up in a way - after all, we're going to be parents soon!

milestones

Today is a day of accomplishments for me. I finished my last research paper of the semester and of this degree program! I wrote a sociological analysis of the specific barriers women face when they embark on a career in local politics. It turns out that in Germany, these barriers are different from those on the state or national level and according to my analysis, they are harder to overcome. Anyway, it's done, I turned it in, and the semester is officially over. The "only" thing left for me to do now is to write my thesis, but I'm going to take a little break before I dive into that project.
The other accomplishment of the day is that I am now officially in the third trimester of pregnancy. As of today, I'm in the home stretch! It's hard to believe my tummy's going to keep growing for another 3 months, but it's all starting to get really exciting.
Also, Berlin is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and thus the EU this weekend. Happy Birthday, Europa!

YESSSSS!!!!

Having already studied politics at Boston University, I figured it couldn't be too difficult to do well on my oral exam in German politics. But last week, a friend of Toffi's, who happens to be a TA for my politics professor, seemed astonished that I had no pre-exam anxiety. I confessed to him that I actually hadn't begun studying yet, but that I intended to do at least a little studying. He looked at me like I was from Mars. I guess he hasn't encountered many students as confident as I am (although I'm pretty sure I have a healthy dose of self-doubt). Anyway, I did indeed study - I used a good portion of the last 4 days before the exam to refresh my memory on certain topics and learn some new details. After all, this isn't just any old exam - it's one of my 2 comprehensives, and thus a huge part of my final GPA.

Well, today was the exam, and my confidence proved to be well-founded. I got a 1,0 - the best grade in the German system, and a much harder get than an A in the States. Damn right!

Oko out and about

On a day when I was sick, our friend Naf took Oko for a nice long walk around Prenzlauer Berg. While he was at it, he took some fantastic photos of our four-legged friend.