Lots of things happened on Wednesday. I got to see all the IES interns, toured the Reichstag, saw Berlin from up high, and discovered my new favorite restaurant.

However, I'm saving all that for another journal entry. Right now, I want to detail today's most terrifying adventure. This is the story of how I got lost in Berlin with no cell phone.

Once upon a time, I was invited to lunch by the father of one of the families that has adopted me. We planned to meet at 1:00 at the Humbultain University Nord Mensa, or north cafeteria. I thought it was an odd location, but he assured me it had lots of good food for decent prices. Fair enough.

In the morning, I got a text on my phone from the provider. "Renew your SIM card!" it told me. "Your plan expires today!" I frowned, reaching for my purse. I carry the information card for my SIM card around with me just in case. It has my German number, my SIM pin code, and the website where I can refill my balance. I knew the SIM card plan was only good for one month, but I hadn't realized how quickly time had passed.

No problem, I thought. I'll just renew this puppy online and I'll be good to go!

I hurried to the website, not wanting to spend too much time away from my work. However, my SIM provider did not want to cooperate. I was given three options for renewal: Go to the phone store and renew, buy a card with extra minutes from the grocery store, or download their app. Since I didn't have time to go to the store to renew my phone or buy minutes, I went to download the app. Easy, right?

This app is not available in your country.

I almost threw my phone. Crap! Looks like I wouldn't be able to renew my plan until after work. Around this point, my data had shut off. No more text messages or calls for me. At least my phone could still connect to wifi.

Brilliant! I could download the map to the Nord Mensa before leaving work! I hopped on our building's wifi, got the bus schedule, and took a screenshot of all the transfers I needed to make. Done.

12:30 rolled around and I left the office for lunch. The first bus I needed was right on time. Beautiful. I hopped on.

Then I went to check my phone to see what stop I needed to get off at. That's when poop hit the fan.

My phone froze, and I couldn't see my pictures. No worries, I'll just restart it. A few seconds letter, my phone screen reloads. I go to log in, and my heart stops.

Please enter SIM card pin

The only time I had to enter the pin was when I first bought my SIM card. I put it in and promptly forgot it. And the card that has the pin number on it? I'd left it out on my desk when I was trying to renew my minutes. Panic settled in as I realized I only had a vague notion as to where I was supposed to be going.

I knew I needed to get off at the Hauptbahnhof and make a transfer. The bus I was on displayed the "Hauptbahnhof" station name on the screen and was pulling to a stop. I jumped off, then realized that I was not at the Hauptbahnhof. I was one stop too early. The next M41 bus would be arriving in 10 minutes. I knew I couldn't wait that long. Luckily, the M48 bus was coming in just one minute. Surely all the buses would be heading towards the Hauptbahnhof, right? I mean, that literally translates to "main station". I got on the M48 when it arrived.

Not all buses are heading towards the Hauptbahnhof.

I ended up on a road I'd never seen before. (I'd later learn I had been mere meters away from the East Side Gallery). I got off the bus at the first stop, really nervous now. There were only 10 minutes until 1:00, and I still hadn't made it to my first transfer.

I sprinted across the street. There was a bus station on the opposite side. If all else failed, I figured I could ride back to the previous stop, wait for the M41, and get to the Hauptbahnhof.

Most bus stations have an electronic sign that tells you when the next bus is supposed to show up. This one did not. It did have a paper schedule, but the buses are not always exactly on time. Cue several agonizing minutes of waiting until a bus finally appeared around the corner. I hopped on without a second thought.

By some small miracle, this bus was going to the Hauptbahnhof. Relief overcame me, until I realized I didn't really know which bus I was transferring to.

I got off at the central station, only to find not one, but four bus stops within a one block radius. Two of these stops had at least three lines going out from them. Oh boy.

The stop I was currently at only serviced the one bus line, so I knew I needed to move. The stop directly across the street would likely just take me back to where I'd been. One of the other two, then.

I picked a side and waited for a bus. When it pulled up, I got on the front and asked the driver in very concerned German, "Geht dieser Bus nach Humbolthain University?" "Does this bus go to Humbolthain University?"

"Welche?" "Which one?" The bus driver asked, irritated. "Es gibt viele Campusse der Humbolthain Universität in Berlin." "There are lots of Humbolthain University campuses in Berlin."

"Nordmensa...?" I tried.

"Die Andere." "Other side."

I thanked him and ran off the bus. 5 minutes until 1:00. The street light took an eternity to change before I was able to get to the other bus stop. I was really sweating now, and not just from all this running.

At the bus stop, a young woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I spoke English. Oh my goodness, yes, do I speak English! A lot better than my German. She wanted to know when the next bus would come. I told her they usually run on 10-minute cycles but were often a few minutes late. When the bus finally rolled up, her relief was visible. She thanked me profusely, and I tried to act like I wasn't just as lost.

Just my luck, the bus she got on wasn't going towards the Nordmensa. I was able to discern that from the shabby paper maps at the stop, so I saved myself that massive headache. I waited and waited and finally the right (hopefully) bus rolled up. I knew we were going generally in the right way, but I didn't know where to get off at.

Again, I turned to the driver. "Welche Haltstelle ist in der Nähe von Humbolthain Nordmensa?" Which bus stop is near Humbolthain north cafeteria?

He gave me an apologetic shrug.

I wanted to cry as I sat down. I was on the right bus, but I didn't know where to get off. It was already 1:00, and I had no way to contact this poor guy I was meeting.

The bus had three stops until the end of the line. I decided to ride it all the way, getting off only if one of the stops looked particularly like a college campus. I knew from my earlier research that the bus stop was mere meters away from the cafeteria, so hopefully I could use visual cues to orient myself.

Stop after stop passed, and no universities. At last we hit the last stop, and the bus driver made us all get off.

I hit the ground running (almost literally), my head swinging back and forth as I looked for a cafeteria.

There.

I almost shouted with joy as I power-walked towards the outdoor tables filled with students. It was 1:08.

I hurried inside, but it was pretty big. Still worried, I began frantically scanning the tables. He wasn't there. Not outside either. Not in the lobby. No, no, no! Had he left without me? Assumed I wasn't going to make it?

I stood in the lobby, re-evaluating. What to do, what to do...

At 1:10, I finally saw him. He walked in, smiling, and I hurried over.

"Sorry," he told me in German, "I'm a little late because there was a campus fair going on."

And for the first time all afternoon, I could breathe normally.