Paz y Amor,
Laura
Monday, June 29, 2009
Off to Roma!
We check out of our Hostel tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon and we leave from the Krakow airport at 6AM Wednesday morning. So, we will be putting our luggage in lockers at the train station and then hitting the town until around midnight or so and then heading to the airport for a early check in. So, I won't be back online until Wednesday afternoon. Until Rome...
Pictures from Auschwitz Concentration Camp
The first picture is one of the train entrances into Auschwitz II. The second is one of the sleeping conditions. Each bed had three levels, each bed slept around 7-8 people- it is a regular single bed. The third picture is the main gas chamber in Auschwitz I. The fourth is a picture of one of the borders. Finally, the fifth is the main gate to the camp. The phrase on it means "Work is freedom". It is considered the cruelest saying because at Auschwitz work was not freedom, death was.
On a Brighter Note
I just received new from my Alpha Lambda Delta advisor Dr. Butch Hill that our OU Chapter has won the Order of the Torch Award. This is the award I had to apply for when I submitted the scrapbook of our chapter's events of the past year. We are one of five out of 255 schools that won!
Visit to Aushwitchz Concentration Camp
Sunday was our first full day in Krakow. Jackie and I woke up fairly early with the intention to plan out our day. Right when we woke up, we found out a few others were planning on going to Aushwitchz, so we tagged along with that group. As we were walking to the train station we ran into our directors that gave us information on tours of the camp, so we planned one of those. We had about four hours until the bus picked us up, so we just walked around the city. It is very very pretty. Visiting the concentration camp was very eye opening. You know that monstrosities such as the Holocaust occurred in history, but it really sinks in when you see the remnants of it first hand. The most shocking part of the exhibit to me was the case full of the hair of those that were murdered. It was this massive case (I would attempt to give dimensions, but I would totally be off) of the hair that was shaved off the bodies by other prisoners of those that were killed in the gas chambers. The hair was then packaged and sold to countries around Europe to use. In another case right by there was a reel of cloth that was obtained from somewhere, I forgot the country, and after doing DNA testing, they confirmed that it was made from the hair of those who had died. They knew because they found traces of the chemical used to gas them. Overall, it was a necessary experience, and I am glad that I chose to go take a tour. I will post a few pictures of it later.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Made it to Krakow Safely
Well our journey took a little longer than expected. About two hours into our ride (a half an hour before our first planned stop) the bus started smoking due to a lack of coolant or something. So we had to wait for a city bus to come pick us up and take us to the nearest city, where we ate lunch and hung around until another tour bus met up with the other bus and transferred our luggage. Then we ended up stopping at a little town called Kazimierz, where some sort of festival was going on. It was absolutely beautiful and on the biggest river in Poland. Our hostel here in Krakow is pretty nice, however, not as nice as our one in Warsaw. It is quite a bit smaller and I am pretty sure that we are the only people staying here. Hopefully I will be able to add some pictures of Warsaw and Kazimierz.
Paz y Amor,
Laura
Friday, June 26, 2009
Stepped on US Soil Today
Today we had presentations at the American Embassy in Warsaw (which is technically American soil). We met with students from Poland for about two hours yesterday and discussed various topics- Environment, Energy, Security, Economics and Cultural Differences. They treated us to lunch afterwards. Then about 8 others and I went touring the city. We went to Old Town Warsaw, the only part of Warsaw that wasn't destroyed during WWII bombings. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is probably my favorite part of Europe that I have seen thus far, not that I have seen that much. Then, again, today were our presentations. They were pretty informal and short, but they were very interesting. A few of the foreign ministers spoke with us about American-Polish relations and Poland's significance in the EU and NATO. It was a lot of fun. As of now, we are just hanging out in the Hostel. We will probably go out tonight for a little bit. Tomorrow we leave for Krakow at 9AM. It will probably take us about eight hours to get there, including a stop for lunch halfway. I am assuming the hostel has WiFi, so internet shouldn't be too much of a problem. So until Krakow...
Paz y Amor,
Laura
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Warsaw!
Hey everyone,
I am safely in Poland. The internet is working well here, no problems like in Germany. The train rides were a tad bit stressful. Our first one, from Leipzig to Berlin was ten minutes late, and we only had like 15 minutes to transfer. However, a very nice young man on the train helped us communicate to the conductor, so he radioed ahead and other train to wait. After that, it was smooth sailing. I caught up on my journaling and I finished reading "The Sunflower". Thank you very very much Mrs. Van Horn getting me that book for Christmas, it was awesome. Very inspiring. We have to be ready tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 8:30 to meet with our teammates from Poland that we will be working with in the fall.
Paz y Amor,
Laura
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Offline for Awhile
I have to turn in my Ethernet cord tonight, so this is the last time I will be on the internet again for a few days. We leave for Warsaw tomorrow at 10:51 AM and are supposed to arrive around 6:20PM I believe. So, depending on the internet situation in the Oki Doki Hostel, I may not be online again until about Friday.
Pictures from Sunday: Battle of the Nations
The first picture is from the cemetery that surrounds the monuments. It is a cemetery of wealthier people, and it is actually more like a park with big stones and structures as tombstones. It was really beautiful. The rest are pictures of the Battle of Nations monument itself.
I Forgot to Post about Sunday First
Sunday was practically a free day. We had one meeting at 3PM. So Julia and Maciej, my teammates, took Amanda and I to the Battle of the Nations monument, which was spectacular. We then went to a grocery store and bought some food together and went back to Maciej's flat where he cooked us lunch. It was DELICIOUS! Pictures of the monument are above.
Presentation Day
Yesterday (Monday) was the big presentation day. I woke up around 6:30 and got ready and we headed to the Villa Tilman. The day started with opening remarks at 9AM and then we began the presentations. Contrary to my expectations, I was not nervous at all when I got up there. It must have been the incessant practicing I did the night before. After our presentations we were debriefed by the Consulate that is an expert on our topic. Then we were given about a three hour window where we left the Villa and revised our presentation. We met back at 2:30 and represented our topic, clarifying our issues and changes. After words we toasted with some champagne and had some appetizers. Later in the evening, we met up with our German teammates and sang a little at a karaoke bar.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Fun Free Day
Today, Saturday, was our first free day. Diana and I were planning on going to Berlin, but we could not find anyone else to go with us to make the train tickets cheap enough. So, the two of us just stayed in Leipzig and waked around the city for the day. IT WAS AWESOME. The city was the most crowded I had seen it. Vendors were out everywhere. We went down smaller streets that we hadn't been down and stopped in a lot of little boutiques and tried on clothes. I probably spent too much money on clothes, but that's okay (I am keeping a very concise budget- Excel style). We went up in the Panorama building, which is the tallest building in Leipzig. It is near the center of "campus" and its shaped to resemble an open book. We went to the very top floor and went out on the lookout and took pictures of the entire city and the thundering clouds that were heading straight for us. After it began to ran we went left and went to have two cups of coffee at a little cafe nearby. Then we continued to shop for a little while and tour the city. At the end of the day, I TRIED A BROTWURST...I know, first time I have had meat in months. But I was unable to find the veggie ones that I was told would be here, so I figured I had to try one...When in Leipzig, right? Now we are back at the dorms and are getting ready to go out for the night. Pictures of the day are to come.
Paz y Amor,
Laura
Practice Presentation
The practice presentation went very well- they actually told us we may have too much concrete information, which was one of the better feedbacks. I am glad to hear that Brian is finally cleaning out him room- good job bro! I got my grades back yesterday...4.0 for the quarter :)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Lots of Work and Drama
The past two days have been very stressful. Everyone pretty much had to rewrite their papers, so teams had to work around schedules of the German teammates other classes. We handed in our final draft of our Policy Paper and Executive Summary at 6PM (about four hours ago). Yesterday there was a lot of drama. Some students brought up some concerns with our director, kind of inappropriately, and things got blown out of proportion. The conflict has yet to be resolved...more updates on that later.
Tomorrow (Friday) I do not have to be in town to work until about noon, so I get to sleep in and I think I am going to wake up and do a little grocery shopping. We have our first practice presentation tomorrow around four, so I will let you know how that goes.
Paz y Amor,
Laura
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Keep Reading
I just posted a lot of pictures and posts, so if you want to read them all, you may have to scroll down to the screen and choose "older posts" in the bottom right hand corner. I am still learning how to work the blog, so I didn't label all of the pictures, so if you have any questions...just ask :)
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