1 month-averssary and the land of the Poles!

I bought my host parents flowers today to celebrate me being here a month! Well, it's actually been a little over a month but whatever. I'm alive! haha. It's been an interesting month but it's been awesome. And like everyone said, it's gone by too fast. At first I was telling myself that time goes by fast so these three months will fly by. But now I don't want them to.

My trip to Poland was unbelievable. My feet needed to be amputated by the end but I saw so many cool things that the pain was absolutely worth it. I don't have time to explain all of it so a short run-through will have to do. On tuesday night we got on the night train at about 11:30ish. The train left at midnight. Night trains are interesting. (insert sarcastic tone here) I'm glad I had the bottom bunk because I wouldn't have been able to get on the top one. I was in my own little area while the other girls were all together. I got a good night sleep. It was a bit cold and I was at the back so I would get a whiff of the rather disgusting bathroom, but now I get to say I've been on a night train. I really cannot remember what time  we got into Lyviv but we spent a few hours walking around the city before we met our bus driver and drove to the Ukraine, Poland border. We got to the border at midnight and it took us 3 hours to get through. We arrived at the salt mines at around 6 in the morning. We slept (or tried to) on the bus until it opened at 8ish. Some girls stayed behind while me and about 10 others toured the salt mine. It was amazing; lots of cool sculptures, a chapel, a ballroom, and even a place where you could bunjee jump. After climbing at least 400 stairs, licking some walls, and sending mail from 130 meters underground we got back on the bus and drove to our final destination, Krakov. Our hostel was called the Joker Hostel. There was graffiti on the walls and a full coffee cup table inside. It was pretty neat. We separated into three rooms and hungout for a while before deciding to go to Schindler's factory. It was a good walk to the factory and along the way we got to see a little of Krakov. Immediately we all fell in love with the city. It was clean, there were no stray dogs, people were smiling and best of all, it didn't smell like cigarette smoke! After figuring out how to use the tranist system, with help from a polish man, we made it to the factory. The factory itself was made into a museum. There were lots of exhibits explaining first how the Nazi's took over Poland and then how Oskar Schindler employed the POW's and eventually saved them from being killed or taken to concentration camps. There were some moving accounts from men, women and children about their experiences during this time. I hope people were able to look at pictures that I posted on fb. All of the stuff in the museum, except for his desk and a few other things, were all props but they still made for some interesting pictures and helped you visualize the environment. By the time we left the museum and were walking back to the hostel, I was seriously considering asking someone to carry me the rest of the way. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to wear flip flops for the day. Lesson learned.  That night a few of us decided to get pizza at a place not to far from our hostel. Ok, Friday. In the morning we had arranged to have a English tour guide take us through Aushwitz. We woke up around 5:30ish and had to be ready by six to get on the bus and be at Aushwitz at 8. Once at Aushwitz, we met up with our tour guide and with headsets and cameras in hand, we began at the front gate. Rather than explain everything on here, go look at my pictures on fb. I give detailed explanations of everything in the camp. Walking through the camp, it didn't affect me as much as I thought it would. Thats not to say that what I saw wasn't moving and I did tear up a few times but I wanted to remain strong. I feel silly saying this but the photographer in me was paying attention to the details all around me. The lush trees, the green grass and the way the sun was hitting the buldings made the camp look beautiful. It didn't seem right to me. When I was home and editing the pictures, I didn't feel like the place deserved color. Thats why, if you look at my pictures, you will notice they look dull. Anyways, after we toured Aushwitz we made the short drive the the much bigger camp, Beirkenau, built soon after Aushwitz. In fear, Hitler ordered that the crematory as well as most of the camp be destroyed in 1945 before the liberation. Aushwitz was where people were murderd, mostly in the gas chambers but Beirkenau was where the prisoners were housed. Alright so we drove back to the hostel at around 1 in the afternoon. One of the girls in the group organized to go on a walking tour of Krakov. At first, because it was a walking tour I was hesitant, because of course my feet were hurting but I knew that if I didn't go I would be missing out on a good experience and the chance to learn about Poland. So feeling somewhat reluctant, I joined the other girls and we met up with our beautiful tour guide, Marta (? I think that was her name lol.) Again, rather than explaining everything here, go to my fb and look at my pictures. We went inside churches, saw the presidents house, visited the university and took pictures at a renaissance square. After a picture with Marta (?) we went our separate ways. After buying some art in the center square we decided to get some ice cream from a place we passed a few times. I don't think some of the pictures from this part of the day uploaded but this was THE MOST AMAZING ICE CREAM I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY 19 YEARS OF BEING ON THIS EARTH. That is capitalized for a reason. I'm not exaggerating. I got three scoops but I wish I got 248. Honestly. We found out later that it was homemade. Oh my goodness, it was heaven. Ok, enough about ice cream. By the time we slowly devoured our ice cream and got back to the hostel it was time for bed. We woke up the next morning, feeling really bummed that we were leaving Poland and also for the long bus ride back. That bus was squishy and hot. But the highlight of the ride was going through the border. One of the girls in my group (sorry Sammi, haha) has a pretty awful passport picture and each time we had to give the officer's our passports we eagerly awaited to see the look on their faces when they saw hers. 2 our of 4 grinned and one actually laughed after we all started laughing. We got into Lyviv about an hour before our train was to leave. Hungry and tired, we walked a short distance to a burger place and got what looked and tasted more like a cabbage salad rather than a hamburger but it did the job.

Alright so theres my trip to Poland in a nutshell. I can never seem to write a short blurb about anything lol. The next trip is already planned and payed for. Ready? I'm going to Prague, Budapest, Drezden and Vienna!!! It's a 9 day trip and we leave on the 21st!

Until next time, paka!