This past weekend I ventured off to Poland with the kids from my program. And I mean ALL the kids. 50 or so 20 year-olds trapped on a bus together for 9 hours both ways- yeesh! But, it was still a good time :) Then the Freedom Festival in Berlin Monday evening- but let's do this in a linear fashion, eh?
Be warned- this is going to be a looooong one. With lots of pictures. I did alot the past few days, there's much to say about it!
Left at 8am Friday morning for Krakow. Stopped at the border at a Walmart-like supermarket monstrosity for an hour to stretch our legs and get some provisions to move onward. Let me tell you- whoever's idea it was to put a bunch of bored, hungry kids in a Walmart for an hour on a roadtrip must have had some sort of commission deal happening with the store- we all bought WAY too much. Arrived in Krakow around 6pm, had a lovely vegetarian meal with a kamaradka, decided we were a bit too worn down to go out, and fell asleep watching movies dubbed very poorly into Polish.
Next day went on several walking tours with the group. Saw yet another castle, the Jewish ghetto, a flaming statue, all sorts of nifty stuff. Evidence below-
Polish pride!
Town square.
I make such a cute little tourist, don't I?
So many gorgeous churches...
See, wouldn't you be intimidated if a group twice this size entered your establishment? :)Had Ukrainian and Polish food, drank tatanka- my new favorite beverage! A special spiced vodka mixed with apple juice- so gooooood. Then Sunday morning it was another early day, this time we were off to Auschwitz.
So if you know me, you know that Religious studies is my passion- what I want to do with my life, so to speak. You would also know that Judaism is my area of specialty. So this was a really important trip to me. I've studied the subject of the holocaust of course, and I had been to a concentration camp here in the Czech Republic; but this is Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp built by the nazis, and the site of the largest mass murder in the history of humanity.We arrived, and entered the camp of Auschwitz I- walked under the infamous "Arbiet Macht Frei" [work makes you free] and saw the brick buildings, one after another- lined up menacingly against the backdrop of ever-gazing watchtowers and twice erected razorwire fences. Each building is an exhibit to a different aspect of either the camp itself, or the people who were butchered there. It was truly chilling, and I'll admit openly that it brought tears to my eyes more than once. Auschwitz I was used not just for the extermination of Jews, but also for Poles, 'political uprisers' (those who even breathed a word against the Nazi regime), homosexuals, and whoever else the Nazis thought to eradicate. After 2 hours, we took the quietest bus ride I have ever experienced to Auschwitz II, Birkenau- a camp used specifically for the extermination of the Jewish people.
The above picture is the view from inside the camp of the railroad tracks where boxcars were constantly bringing in new 'prisoners'. This camp is a vast, open, haunting place with buildings here and there- little more than barns, used to hold 'prisoners'. It is extremely grassy, but I'm told that no flowers grow there; no birds ever fly over; no wild animals live in the surrounding woods. It is a damned place. The gas chambers are all but gone, as the Nazis destroyed them to cover up their crimes. But this isn't a history lesson... I just mean to express how much being in that place affected me. In the back end of the camp, there stands a monument with plaques in no less than 15 languages, all with the following inscription-
'For ever let this place stand as a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly jews from various countries around Europe. Auschwitz-Birkenau 1940-1945'.
Being in that place only reiterated to me that me life's calling is to teach religious studies, to teach the history of those people to the next generation. I've never been so sure of that until now, and I know that I will follow through on it. I know I will not be the first nor the last to do so, but it is what I choose to devote my life to.
And now onto a less intense, but still extremely important topic- the Freedom Festival in Berlin, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the destruction of the wall!
Got back to Prague from Krakow at 7.30pm, and by midnight, I was on another bus to Berlin, due to arrive at 5am. Got there, met a friend at his hostel, got a few hours of sleep- then off to the festivities! Did lots of wandering, went through 3 rolls of film, saw the painted dominoes the city had set up for a 1.5km around the Brandenburg Gate where the wall used to stand, ate currywurst, drank beer and spiced wine, then stood in the freezing rain for 5 hours with the other 500,000 people there, listened to speeches dubbed from various languages into German (including Hilary Clinton, ugh), and finally watched the dominoes fall. It was an amazing experience, and I have pictures to prove it!
Dominoes by the river.
Very cool domino painted by kiddos.
Myself and my brother-in-arms J.C. , drinking the mulled mead to keep warm!
Wet!
Why yes, that is Bon Jovi performing.It was very cool. Caught a midnight bus home and arrived at 5.50 this morning. I won't deny, I did miss my 9am class today... I just couldn't wake up to get there. But I somehow made the 12.30 one, and went grocery shopping, and updated all my pictures and blogs and yadda yadda yadda... In short, this weekend was very FULL, but absolutely spectacular. Somber at times yes, but completely worthwhile. But it was nice to get back to Prague to my tiny little flat/dorm room and sleep in a familiar bed and cook on my own little hot plate. And I have no doubt that tonight will be a glorious night's sleep. The first full one in 3 days!
Once again- have I mentioned what a spectacular experience studying abroad is turning out to be?
That's all I've got- and it's alot regardless!
Cheers,
Erin
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