Geuten Tag!

I have a debate in class tomorrow to prepare for, and a test on Wednesday, so what am I using my free time to do? Update my blog, of course ;).

Hello from Berlin! I never thought I would say this, but its really nice to be back in a country where they speak German. Compared to Polish, its the easiest language ever! We just got here yesterday morning, so I haven't done a ton of exploring yet, but my first impression is that this is an incredible city. I'm getting ahead of myself, though - first step is finishing out our time in Poland.

The last two days we spent in Warsaw in the frigid cold (I loved it, but all the wimpy Californians I'm travelling with couldn't handle it). Our guide, Gabriel, took us on this absolutely incredible walking tour that he called "the tour of the apocolypse." He did all of this research and found pictures that were taken immediately after the Warsaw Uprising, of the remains of the city. Then he walked around the city now and found the spots where each picture was taken. It was unbelievable. The Warsaw Uprising, which occured during the Second World War, resulted in the Nazis basically destroying the whole city. There was also an uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, and that resulted in the ghetto being 100% destroyed. We went to the center of the ghetto, and there is literally nothing left of it. Its now just a regular city block. It was incredible to see, though, how little of the city was left after the bombing, and what bad shape the few things that remain are in. Because of the communist rule, buildings haven`t been repaired, even over 60 years later. It was amazing to see.

Two nights ago we went on an overnight train to Berlin. That was quite an experience because the cars were SO small, but I really can't complain...being tall paid off. The three tallest girls and three tallest guys got compartments in the luxury class car, so our beds were longer and padded and we got free cookies. All in all it wasn't a bad night! After we arrived yesterday morning we had breakfast and got settled in the hotel and then took a walking tour of Berlin, and saw all the big sights, including the remains of the Berlin wall and the parking lot that now covers the spot where Hitler killed himself inside of his bunker. Last night we went to a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic, which was incredible, and then enjoyed a great night's sleep in our hotel (which was a nice change from the hostels!).

Today marks the halfway point of this semester, which is amazing to me. I can't believe how fast its going!!

Alright...off to study for my test. Having to sit inside a hotel and study on your free day in Berlin is some form of cruel and unusual punishment, but I guess I'll be okay ;).

all my love...

Poland

Hello from Warsaw!! Sorry I've been so terrible about updating lately - finding the time to sit down and do it is proving to be more and more difficult.

We've been in Poland for about a week now - we started out the trip in Krakow and then arrived in Warsaw yesterday. We leave here for Berlin on Friday night, via overnight train. In the words of our guide, Gabriel, we'd all better have a good sense of humor about the train - apparantly the compartments we have to sleep in are prettty tiny!

During our time in Krakow (which was absolutley beautiful!!) we focused on some pretty difficult topics. We spent a day visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, and another day talking all about Communisim (not exactly bright, cheery subjects!!) I may go into it another time, but basically, going to Auschwitz was exhausting, draining, and horrifying. Mostly, though, it was absolutely surreal. To stand in the place where millions of people were murdered was indescribable. I've seen pictures of it and videos, but actually standing there was so surreal. It was peaceful and quiet, and completely terrifying.

The communism tour we took, on the other hand, was crazy! Literally, though - the company calls themselves the crazy guides. They picked us up in an old communist-era city bus (it looked like a giant red twinkie) and then took us to an old resturant where they fed us beet juice and little shots of vodka (at 10:30 in the morning - even the professors!). Then we toured the old communist part of the town with these crazy Polish guys...it was completely out of control. The weirdest part of the whole day, though, was that there is a film director making a documentary about the main guide of this company, Crazy Mike. So, they were filming our whole tour for this documentary - everywhere we were going there were all these camera men and sound men running around filming us, sticking cameras in our faces, and recording everything we were doing. It was ridiculous, but a much needed lighter day after going to Auschwitz.

The rest of the time in Krakow we spent visiting the Wawel (pronounced Vavel!) Castle and other sights of the city, and just enjoying the new beauty of the city. Also, enjoying capitalism and shopping :).

Today marks 7 weeks into this trip, and therefore 8 more to go. Can't believe I'm almost halfway done!!

I'll try again soon....keep your fingers crossed for free internet at the next hotel ;).

all my love...

The City of a Hundred Spires

Prague is, in a word, incredible. The hotel we are staying in is literally 30 feet from the Charles Bridge, so we're really close to both Old Town and New Town, and its wonderful. I don't feel like we've done a whole lot in our couple of days here, but that may be because we have our first test tomorrow morning, so most of our free time has (unfortunately) been spent studying.

Yesterday we were supposed to have a walking tour of the city, but we waited at the meeting point for 20 minutes, and our guide never showed up. One guy said that it was just because we blend in so well that the guide didn't know we were the group of American tourists ;). Personally, I think its more likely that he saw us and bolted in the other direction! Anyway, we ended up having a less-orthodox tour led by our trusty professors and their guide books. We got to see the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace. It was no Buckingham, but it was still pretty cool.

Today we spent most of the day in Terezin, a small city outside of Prague. It was a city transformed into a ghetto/concentration camp during the Holocaust. We went into the Ghetto museum there, which really got to me. They had drawings and poems done by the children living in the ghetto, and under most of them was listed their date of birth and death, and most of them were killed before the age of 10. It was really hard to look at those drawings, which remind me so much of the masterpieces created for me by the kids I work with, and know that those little artists were killed shortly after that. We then got a tour of the fortress at the edge of town which was transformed into the political prision (aka concentration camp) during the war. It was not an extermination center, although some people were executed there, but a holding center for people about to be transported East into Poland. Most of the prisoners there were eventually sent to Auschwitz, and most died there. The conditions were unbelievable - there were rooms slightly bigger than my living room that were used to house hundreds of men. One room we went into was used to hold 600 men, and there were only 2 toilets. Our group of not even 50 took up a good amount of space in that room, so I could only imagine what it would be like to have 600 in there.

I think the only way I can describe how today left me feeling is horrified. I have read and studied a lot about the Holocaust, I have visited museums and seen so many films, but none of that prepared me for seeing the actual thing. Its hard to know how to handle it. I guess the only thing to do is remember and mourn and learn. We go to Poland at the end of this week, which will be much more of this intense kind of learning like we had today. I know that it is absolutely essential to see and learn about and feel these painful things, but I would appreciate prayers for all of us - for our sensitivity and open hearts towards the things we are about to experience.

Missing and loving you all from the other side of the ocean...

Vienna and first impressions of Prague

Sorry for the long delay in updating! Since I already have all of this written down in my journal, I think I may just copy little tidbits about my time in Vienna down for y'all!

9/24/07:
After a looonnnnnggggg bus ride, we're here in Vienna and I am SO PUMPED! I'm in the music capital of the WORLD! AND I get to see my parents tomorrow!! Being on the bus for 16 hours really wasn't as bad as I anticipated, and my first impression of Vienna was that I love it. A lot. I'm excited for what the rest of the time in this city has in store for me.

9/25/07:
I LOVE this city. For some reason it reminds me of Christmas. Is that weird? I know its so completely random, but walking around the city today made me think of Christmas and the WBCC program and snow and home, and I got pretty excited.

We had class this morning and a walking tour of the city, led by none other than our wonderful professors. We ended the tour with a group dinner and I got to eat Wienerschnitzel. It really isn't that exciting, but the name is just so much fun. There was a ripple of fear across the group at first that they were serving us fish, but everything turned out okay and no one had any flashbacks to the Bosnian fish incident. After dinner mom and dad got here! I am so happy and excited to have them here.

9/26/07:
This morning we went to the Vienna International Center (the VIC), which is the Vienna office of the UN. We got a tour of part of the building (in all of its 1970s decorated glory) and then had a lecture by a woman from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association (agency?)). She talked a lot about the increasing amounts of nuclear power as a fuel source, and the resulting jobs of the agency she works for. One of the most interesting things she talked about was the current situation in Iran, and how that is affecting her office. She was very adamant that we understand that the IAEA are not weapons inspectors, but are advocates of the correct use of nuclear power. It was a really intersting lecture, especially since we had been talking about nuclear energy and other alternate fuels during class. It was a great experience, and it was really cool to get to go inside a UN building.

After that we went to (yet another!) art museum, and then I got to spend the rest of the day with my parents. We took a few of my friends out to dinner, which was great, and then we (the students, not my parents) went to see The Barber of Seville at the Vienna National Opera House. It was quite the experience, and really entertaining, since I had one of the 4 worst seats in the house. I could literally see 1/23 of the stage (that may be an approximation, but I think its pretty close to reality.) and I found myself watching the shadows on side stage to figure out what was going on. However, the music was amazing, and the opera house is beautiful, so I was glad to be be there.

9/27/07:
Today we went to the Heiligenstadt house, which was the house Beethoven lived in when he was going deaf. It had some memorabilia from his life, including a lock of his hair (!!!) and some original pieces of music, which were so incredible. I don't think that, if you have any sort of appreciation for music, you could be in that house and not be in awe. After that I spent the rest of the day with my parents - going to dinner and just walking around enjoying the beauty of the city.

9/28/07:
I met up with my parents after class and we went to the Belveder Palace - one of the big palaces in Vienna that is now an art museum. It was the palace of prince Eugene a long time ago, so there is a lot of historical significance, and it is a truly beautiful building. There are great gardens, too, so I was happy to see some green :). After that we went to dinner and then I said goodbye to my parents.

9/29/07:
Today was a beautiful day! We drove to Melk Abbey, about 1 1/2 hours outside of Vienna. It is a fully functional Benedictine monastary with paret of the building now as a museum. It was really different - the monks encourage the display of modern art, so its really unique inside. One room is lit with blue light - the color of spirituality - and the word "hore" (listen) is projected on to the wall. Another room is green - the color of nature - and its all about the development of the monastary. My favorite parts, though, were the library and the church. The library was amazing just because it was packed full of dusty, old, wonderful-smelling books. The church was ornate almost to the point of gaudiness, but it was still beautiful, somehow. What was really cool about the chruch, though, was that we got to sing a hymn inside. After a picnice lunch in the cloister garden, we had a river cruise down the Danube. It was SO beautiful - we couldn't have gotten better weather. The leaves are just starting to change and the sun was shining - amazing.

10/1/07:
Now I am here in Prague, and so far I am loving it! Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day - church and vespers and getting ready to leave. Overall, Vienna was a wonderful, heartachy kind of place. Something about it reminded me of home - it made me excited for the home times to com and the reunions and joy and the comfort.

Prague shows signs of being amazing, and our incredible penthouse suite has free internet, so hopefully I will be updating more frequently.

all my love...