courtyard meeting
First tenants' meeting in the courtyard today. Fourteen flats, eleven came. I've lived here seven years and met maybe four of these people properly.
Frau Pohl from the third floor (retired teacher, very organized) brought a plum cake and a folder with tabs. Herr Yıldız brought chairs. The students from the second floor brought beer and a lot of opinions.
The rumor: Spreeblick wants to "modernize." New balconies, insulation, maybe an elevator. Everyone knows what modernization means here. The work is nice, and then the rent goes up so much that half the building has to leave.
We agreed to all join the Berliner Mieterverein, the tenants' association, and to tell each other immediately if anyone gets a letter.
Frau Pohl wrote down everyone's phone number by hand. I'm now in a WhatsApp group called Hausgemeinschaft Antwerpener. It already has forty messages.