The rain seemed to hold back its fury, at least for awhile, as this year's Karneval der Kulturen 'culture carnival' in Berlin began. Turkish pop music blared out of a corner store, as a man selling Turkish fast food shouts, “Bitte schön, lecker, lecker, lecker! Ein Döner ein Euro. Bitte schön, lecker, lecker, lecker!” The heavy humid filled air carries the smell of multi- cultural cuisine throughout the bustling international crowd. Falafels, bratwurst, baklava all melt together as giggling children dance around the sidewalk eating wads of cotton candy. A cacophony of foreign tongues shouts, laughs, haggles, and scolds young children. CRASH!! A young boy breaks a bottle on the steps of a convenience store; a woman furiously mutters something in Turkish and begins clearing away the debris. The tempo changes as the parade begins. The crowd watches a group of young and agile people dressed in white loose clothing sway with the rhythm of African drumbeats and kick and play fight in the Afro- Brazilian art of Capoeira. Beyond the festive atmosphere, political expression is current and raw. “Kein Mensch ist illegal,” was a leitmotif carried throughout the parade. Masquerading asylum seekers chasing after the“visum,” while the "polizei" chased after them, made it clear that all was not well within Germany for the nearly 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers. Two large plastic and metal figures sculpted in the image of people with only "temporary protection" stroll through the street. Hollow and nearly invisible, those with "temporary protection" are without any guarantee of permanent asylum. Away from the pulsating rhythm of diversity and integration is the challenging future of Germany's diverse population.
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