I'm sorry I haven't updated this in so long. Also, there still are no photos because my computer went funky and I need a larger hard drive before I can so much as touch my photos, which are all just on an external harddrive.
Anyhow...Poland...the weather in Krakow has finally warmed up. It is beautiful, the grass is green, trees budding, and tons of outdoor little market shops are now out on the Rynek. Tourists are EVERYWHERE and I feel very satisfied knowing I know how to not get ripped off and where to find cheap real pierogi, some cool places to go and so on. Then again, I feel like there is a ton of the city to see that I haven't explored yet because it's just been too damn cold.
Last week I traveled up to the Baltics, stopping in Vilnius, Lithuania, then up to Riga, Latvia, then on to Tallinn, Estonia. The weather ended up being beautiful and the farther north we went, the sunnier it got. I tried local beers, got to meet up with a friend I'd met at camp in 2004 in Hungary, met up with someone who had been in Krakow last semester in Riga, and walked a ridiculous amount all over Tallinn in the one real day we had there. The Baltic Sea was really nice, though freezing cold. I took a ton of photos, so when I can get them up....or if I can, I will.
What else...I turned 21 a few weeks ago. So did another guy from America on my program, so we had a combined Mexican themed party at some friends' flat. We even found Corona beers here, but they were from Spain...I miss good Mexican food. And sushi. And steak. Mmmmm.
Classes aren't so challenging still. I imagine we'll get slammed with papers and so on right at the end, but until then, not so much of anything minus Yiddish homework, which I'm not even getting credit for, but eh, I'm learning something.
On Friday morning I head out early to the airport and I'm going back to Mount Holyoke for 10 days to visit people, say gbye to seniors, and hang out since it's Easter break in Poland. I'm incredibly excited about that.
Nothing else is new really...life in general is fine. Krakow feels more like a home-ish type place after traveling around, since I actually know more or less where I am sort of going...well, way moreso than up in the Baltics. And I have my own bed here, which is nice...no more hostel beds. Yay. And a computer. I missed mine. I'm sort of unhealthily attached to mine, but now that the weather is nice, i might be headed to the outdoors to sit, drink coffee, and read when it's warm and sunny and I can people watch all the tourists and locals like a good anthropologist.
Hope you are all well! Write me if I haven't heard from you in a while or if you just want to say hello: ossip20h@mtholyoke.edu
Monday, April 6, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
My address...maybe???
So...I think this is my address...if you are sending me something though, let me know so I know to tell the people downstairs I am expecting something...I might ask my program director though if its better to have things sent here or maybe to his office instead...
Hillary Ossip
ul. Piastowska 47
Dom Studencki Piast
Numer Pokoju 427
30-067 Kraków, Poland
Hillary Ossip
ul. Piastowska 47
Dom Studencki Piast
Numer Pokoju 427
30-067 Kraków, Poland
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Finally a day with warm weather!
Today we had beautiful weather. It was warm enough that I didn't even need a coat and the sun was shining. I had two classes...one, Polish History, meets at 10am Weds and Thurs, meaning I need to leave my room by 9:15ish every morning...ouch...early...but the professor seemed pretty decent (a phrase I've picked up from an English friend), so hopefully that'll go well. I then went to lunch at a place called, I think, The Pink Elephant, that had comic-like paintings all over the wall and awesome elephants as well. Then back to school for Polish literature...the prof apparently spent time down at Indiana University, so he knew a lot about Indiana. Then I went and ate a kabob and had tea with some friends at a friend's flat. Tonight I'm going back to that flat for a birthday party. I need to make sure I get a reasonable amount of sleep. Yesterday I was completely exhausted from sleep deprivation and probably also culture shock (considering in Guatemala I also went a lil crazy and felt tired and incredibly off for a week or two)...anyhow, yesterday was a major disaster with the lack of sleep and I can't let that happen again ever. Never ever. Tomorrow I have the 10am history class again, so yeah...that'll be an adjustment getting up to make it on time. Then I have Jews in Poland, then Polish language. Lotsa stuff. Im not sure what the plan is for the weekend. I took some pictures today because it was so nice out, so I'll post some of them soon. Sorry about not putting up pictures since my first real post from here...I promise I'll get them up soon!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Art class = hiking?!!!
I've had two days of class so far. My Polish art class seems like it'll be good. We meet Mondays in class and Tuesdays we go around Krakow to see, feel, touch, experience, taste and "lick" (as my professor said) the artwork because it's better to actually see it than to just look at pictures of it on a computer screen. My Jew class is ok...seems like a lot of it is going to be review, but the professor also wants to take us around Krakow/Kazimierz to see what he's talking about. So that's cool. Tomorrow I'm sitting in on a Polish history course and then a Polish lit class, and need to figure out when beginning Polish will be...and I still haven't heard back from the Yiddish professor, but hopefully I can work something out with her. So far I have no homework, which is a bizarre and foreign concept to me. Anyhow, I am super duper tired so I'm gonna take a nap perhaps. In art class we walked around a town across the Wisla River where the Jewish ghetto was, and then hiked up a huge hill to a burial mound. Twas cool and super foggy. Hope you are all doing well. Comment if you want. I'll put up pics from last week soon.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sorry for the lag in updating this!
So...last time I wrote, I'd been here for only a few days. I've now been in Krakow for over a week. While I don't know my way around, I'm figuring things out...where bus stops and tram stops are, where landmarks are so I can find my way, where I can get 24 hour pierogies, mcdonalds, or kebabs and zapiekanka. Classes begin tomorrow...I'm not exactly sure what I'm gonna take yet because this week is basically for shopping for classes, so we'll see.
Tuesday we went on a tour of Kazimierz, which is where the majority of Jews lived back in the day. It was hard to see. I knew it would make me sad, but being there and seeing everything that used to be and how there's practically no Jews left was hard. I made the Jewish population of this town go from about 200 to 201. Woo. It's still neat to see the places though, just also really sad. It makes me angry with history and what happened and why there are almost no Jews left and how it's just turned in to a place to see where people once lived and did things and not a place where people can see a culture alive. I might try to get in touch with people at the Jewish Community Center here if I can figure out how to get there and who to talk to and maybe see what is going on in the community here, because while it is extremely tiny, it still exists and I'd like to know the current scene and what has become of Krakow's Jewish community.
On Wednesday I went on a tour of the oldest part of the university I'm at (Jagiellonian...it's old...if you are bored you should look up its history online). It was cold. Nothing too exciting. I didn't bring my camera, so no pictures...sorry!
Thursday I went to Nowa Huta, a communist planned community outside of Krakow. It reminded me a lot of the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria...lots of cement block buildings. There was an incredible church there that was really neat. No pics again, but its worth looking up Nowa Huta online as well if you are curious about its history. I won't be able to do it all justice. Thursday night I went to a big party in a flat, which was fun. Friday I got registered with the city of Krakow and did something to get a visa to Russia so I can go in May.
The weekend has been pretty tame. Friday I hung out with some friends at their flat and watched Saved, yesterday I took a walk because it was sunny, went and got pierogie, which normally I don't like but I tried it with liver and groats, which sounds odd, but was actually very tasty. I also found out they make things very similar to blintzes, which are basically crepes filled with sweet cottage cheese and sour cream on top...very Jew-y food...lots of food here overlaps with Jew food, which is pretty cool. I then went and saw "He's Just Not That Into You" which was cute. Today has been pretty uneventful, so nothing to really tell. I'll update this again when I can and put up pics soon.
Tuesday we went on a tour of Kazimierz, which is where the majority of Jews lived back in the day. It was hard to see. I knew it would make me sad, but being there and seeing everything that used to be and how there's practically no Jews left was hard. I made the Jewish population of this town go from about 200 to 201. Woo. It's still neat to see the places though, just also really sad. It makes me angry with history and what happened and why there are almost no Jews left and how it's just turned in to a place to see where people once lived and did things and not a place where people can see a culture alive. I might try to get in touch with people at the Jewish Community Center here if I can figure out how to get there and who to talk to and maybe see what is going on in the community here, because while it is extremely tiny, it still exists and I'd like to know the current scene and what has become of Krakow's Jewish community.
On Wednesday I went on a tour of the oldest part of the university I'm at (Jagiellonian...it's old...if you are bored you should look up its history online). It was cold. Nothing too exciting. I didn't bring my camera, so no pictures...sorry!
Thursday I went to Nowa Huta, a communist planned community outside of Krakow. It reminded me a lot of the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria...lots of cement block buildings. There was an incredible church there that was really neat. No pics again, but its worth looking up Nowa Huta online as well if you are curious about its history. I won't be able to do it all justice. Thursday night I went to a big party in a flat, which was fun. Friday I got registered with the city of Krakow and did something to get a visa to Russia so I can go in May.
The weekend has been pretty tame. Friday I hung out with some friends at their flat and watched Saved, yesterday I took a walk because it was sunny, went and got pierogie, which normally I don't like but I tried it with liver and groats, which sounds odd, but was actually very tasty. I also found out they make things very similar to blintzes, which are basically crepes filled with sweet cottage cheese and sour cream on top...very Jew-y food...lots of food here overlaps with Jew food, which is pretty cool. I then went and saw "He's Just Not That Into You" which was cute. Today has been pretty uneventful, so nothing to really tell. I'll update this again when I can and put up pics soon.
Monday, February 23, 2009
I made it
Alrighty...catching up...there's a lot to tell, and it's already 12:51 a.m., so I should try to be as specific and as yet as brief as possible.
Flying to Krakow was...long...I went from Indy to Charlotte, NC, but was in Charlotte over 5 hours before my flight, then my flight was delayed about 45 minutes thanks to snow in Germany. Then in Munich, my flight was delayed to Krakow because of snow. But I made it. Surprisingly only about an hour or so later than I was supposed to get in. On my flight to Munich, I sat next to a German woman in her 50s or 60s who, on hearing I didn't know Lufthansa served free alcohol, proceeded to order me Bailey's on ice. Twas tasty. She ordered for me because she figured since I was under 21 and American, I'd be nervous ordering, and I HAD to have a drink, so... :) Munich was foggy. I don't know what it looked like, but they had free tea at the gate, so that was exciting. And I figured out the phone, so I made some late night/early morning calls to the US. On my flight to Krakow, a Polish man next to me kept asking about statistics on the American economic situation. All I wanted was sleep, so I mumbled this and that to him and then conked out the second he took his attention off me for more than 10 seconds.
Flying into Krakow, well, the outskirts, reminded me a lot of Indiana and rural Massachusetts...mostly flat, a little rolling, scattered homes and apartment complexes, but not much happening. I didn't get my passport stamped or my bags rummaged through because they'd already done that in Germany...good ol EU.
My dorm is a dorm. Cement. Yellowish I think on the outside. Piast. My room is smaller than my single at home, and it's a double. I'm living with an Erasmus (European foreign exchange student) from Portugal. Our room is attached to another room with two guys from my program (one American, one Canadian), and we all share a bathroom. I managed to fit all my clothes into one closet. Be proud. Be very proud. That's winter and summer clothes. And its me. And I like options. Win.
On Saturday, I managed to stay up the entire day, all the way until 2 a.m. to combat jetlag. I walked around the old town, which is really pretty, a park, and lots of other snowy places, but i was lucky and the sun was shining :) It's going to be gorgeous in the spring I bet, once the snow is melted and the mud is solid ground. On Saturday night, we went to a party in someone's flat. There were a ton of French people. And drunk people. And fondue because it was a fondue party. I was feeling homesick, but Althea was her awesome self and made me feel better while she and all the rest of you Mohos were at drag ball partying the night away.
Sunday was spent with more walking. My legs are gonna be like rocks and super strong by the time I leave here. We (2 Americans from my program, my roommate, and a British Erasmus student) walked all over town, through Kazimierz, along the river, I ate real pierogies for the first time...they taste almost like the ones on campus, aka most people would love em but they don't quite do it for me...perhaps they'll grow on me though. We will see. We then went to see Benjamin Button. I'd seen it before, but left during the middle because and missed half. I was bored and quite unhappy about not being in Boston for New Years that day. This time I slept through the first half (thank you jet lag and ridiculously comfy seats at the cinema) and then watched the second half. It was pretty good, but still made me sad and miss the same things. Humph. We then couldn't catch the bus, it was late and we just missed it, so we walked back to the dorm. It started to snow while we were in the movies, so it was a snowy 30 minute walk home. Then I got back here, ate Nutella and peanut butter (yum!) and fell asleep.
Today orientation began. We went to see where our classes would be held (right across from Wawel Hill, see below), get our handwritten student IDs, handwritten transcript books, and so on. Funny thing: I had to send in pictures for my student visa and also to the program. This picture is now on my student ID, tram pass, visa, transcript book, and dorm card...and I look like a boy (comfy waffle shirt with my threadless 3 birds on a wire and what is that bat doing hanging on the wire next to us? shirt)...sooooo, that is everywhere and I will never escape it, hahah. We then went out to lunch and the portions were HUGE and my stomach is small. I didn't finish, but the soup and kielbasa was amazing, and I couldnt even barely touch the other part of the meal.
Then we went on a tour of Old town. St. Mary's Cathedral was incredible and had so much detail. I couldn't take pics, but you should look it up. We then went to more churches with more beautiful stained glass windows and sculptures. Then to Wawel Castle. Really pretty. I climbed a bell tower overlooking the whole city. You can place your left hand on the bell, which is connected to your heart, and make a wish. And so I made a wish. It was a really good one, but I can't tell what it was, because then it won't come true. Then we went out to a bar and I had hot spiced ginger beer, and man o man it was good, like hot apple cider. Yum. I couldnt finish it though, so I had help. Then we went back to the dorm, I finally got internet, played some phone tag, with people in the states, finally unpacked, laughed a bit about the loud crazy Russians partying next door, lost my passport, found my passport, ate more pierogies, then sat down here to write.
I miss you all very much. It's pretty here, and I think I'm going to like it, but I still miss a lot of things about the states. It was particularly difficult on my flight leaving the US because we flew right over Massachusetts and swooped past Hartford, Worcester, and Boston and I wanted to scream, hey! let me off! that's home down there! I want to be at Mount Holyoke. Obviously there was nothing I could do to stop a plane flying around 600-something MPH, so they didn't stop to let me say ello. Basically, I miss you all.
I should get to bed...tomorrow is another crazy orientation day with morning business dealing with passports, registration, getting around town, safety and so on, then a lot more walking and a tour of the Jewish quarter, along with plans for pizza and perhaps going out to a club with some Erasmus students in the evening. We will see if that actually happens, but that's the plan. It should keep me busy, which is good, because my brain is annoying me thinking too much right now to the point of silliness. And I know ;)
G'night! Comment on my posts purleease, because I love hearing from everyone and staying connected to home. Internet is wonderful.
Flying to Krakow was...long...I went from Indy to Charlotte, NC, but was in Charlotte over 5 hours before my flight, then my flight was delayed about 45 minutes thanks to snow in Germany. Then in Munich, my flight was delayed to Krakow because of snow. But I made it. Surprisingly only about an hour or so later than I was supposed to get in. On my flight to Munich, I sat next to a German woman in her 50s or 60s who, on hearing I didn't know Lufthansa served free alcohol, proceeded to order me Bailey's on ice. Twas tasty. She ordered for me because she figured since I was under 21 and American, I'd be nervous ordering, and I HAD to have a drink, so... :) Munich was foggy. I don't know what it looked like, but they had free tea at the gate, so that was exciting. And I figured out the phone, so I made some late night/early morning calls to the US. On my flight to Krakow, a Polish man next to me kept asking about statistics on the American economic situation. All I wanted was sleep, so I mumbled this and that to him and then conked out the second he took his attention off me for more than 10 seconds.
Flying into Krakow, well, the outskirts, reminded me a lot of Indiana and rural Massachusetts...mostly flat, a little rolling, scattered homes and apartment complexes, but not much happening. I didn't get my passport stamped or my bags rummaged through because they'd already done that in Germany...good ol EU.
My dorm is a dorm. Cement. Yellowish I think on the outside. Piast. My room is smaller than my single at home, and it's a double. I'm living with an Erasmus (European foreign exchange student) from Portugal. Our room is attached to another room with two guys from my program (one American, one Canadian), and we all share a bathroom. I managed to fit all my clothes into one closet. Be proud. Be very proud. That's winter and summer clothes. And its me. And I like options. Win.
On Saturday, I managed to stay up the entire day, all the way until 2 a.m. to combat jetlag. I walked around the old town, which is really pretty, a park, and lots of other snowy places, but i was lucky and the sun was shining :) It's going to be gorgeous in the spring I bet, once the snow is melted and the mud is solid ground. On Saturday night, we went to a party in someone's flat. There were a ton of French people. And drunk people. And fondue because it was a fondue party. I was feeling homesick, but Althea was her awesome self and made me feel better while she and all the rest of you Mohos were at drag ball partying the night away.
Sunday was spent with more walking. My legs are gonna be like rocks and super strong by the time I leave here. We (2 Americans from my program, my roommate, and a British Erasmus student) walked all over town, through Kazimierz, along the river, I ate real pierogies for the first time...they taste almost like the ones on campus, aka most people would love em but they don't quite do it for me...perhaps they'll grow on me though. We will see. We then went to see Benjamin Button. I'd seen it before, but left during the middle because and missed half. I was bored and quite unhappy about not being in Boston for New Years that day. This time I slept through the first half (thank you jet lag and ridiculously comfy seats at the cinema) and then watched the second half. It was pretty good, but still made me sad and miss the same things. Humph. We then couldn't catch the bus, it was late and we just missed it, so we walked back to the dorm. It started to snow while we were in the movies, so it was a snowy 30 minute walk home. Then I got back here, ate Nutella and peanut butter (yum!) and fell asleep.
Today orientation began. We went to see where our classes would be held (right across from Wawel Hill, see below), get our handwritten student IDs, handwritten transcript books, and so on. Funny thing: I had to send in pictures for my student visa and also to the program. This picture is now on my student ID, tram pass, visa, transcript book, and dorm card...and I look like a boy (comfy waffle shirt with my threadless 3 birds on a wire and what is that bat doing hanging on the wire next to us? shirt)...sooooo, that is everywhere and I will never escape it, hahah. We then went out to lunch and the portions were HUGE and my stomach is small. I didn't finish, but the soup and kielbasa was amazing, and I couldnt even barely touch the other part of the meal.
Then we went on a tour of Old town. St. Mary's Cathedral was incredible and had so much detail. I couldn't take pics, but you should look it up. We then went to more churches with more beautiful stained glass windows and sculptures. Then to Wawel Castle. Really pretty. I climbed a bell tower overlooking the whole city. You can place your left hand on the bell, which is connected to your heart, and make a wish. And so I made a wish. It was a really good one, but I can't tell what it was, because then it won't come true. Then we went out to a bar and I had hot spiced ginger beer, and man o man it was good, like hot apple cider. Yum. I couldnt finish it though, so I had help. Then we went back to the dorm, I finally got internet, played some phone tag, with people in the states, finally unpacked, laughed a bit about the loud crazy Russians partying next door, lost my passport, found my passport, ate more pierogies, then sat down here to write.
I miss you all very much. It's pretty here, and I think I'm going to like it, but I still miss a lot of things about the states. It was particularly difficult on my flight leaving the US because we flew right over Massachusetts and swooped past Hartford, Worcester, and Boston and I wanted to scream, hey! let me off! that's home down there! I want to be at Mount Holyoke. Obviously there was nothing I could do to stop a plane flying around 600-something MPH, so they didn't stop to let me say ello. Basically, I miss you all.
I should get to bed...tomorrow is another crazy orientation day with morning business dealing with passports, registration, getting around town, safety and so on, then a lot more walking and a tour of the Jewish quarter, along with plans for pizza and perhaps going out to a club with some Erasmus students in the evening. We will see if that actually happens, but that's the plan. It should keep me busy, which is good, because my brain is annoying me thinking too much right now to the point of silliness. And I know ;)
G'night! Comment on my posts purleease, because I love hearing from everyone and staying connected to home. Internet is wonderful.
I have interwebs!!!!
Hey all. I finally have internet in my room. I'll get pics up as soon as I can load em on. I felt dorky and touristy taking em, but I mean, I had to take some so I could put up something so you could see where I am! Miss youuu!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Today is the day
I am about to leave for the airport...AHHH. I am nervous and tired right now but I'm sure everything will be okay. Talk to you all on the other side of the ocean! Crazy...!
-Hillary
-Hillary
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tomorrow...
My stomach is churning. I'm excited to finally be going but I am nervous and sad that it means it's going to be that much harder to stay in touch. I know it's all going to be okay, but I'm just nervous.
Tomorrow my flight leaves at 10 a.m. from Indy, I get into Charlotte, NC around 12:30 p.m., have a 5 hour layover, fly to Munich around 5 or 6 p.m., get into Germany around 8ish a.m., have another 2 hour layover, and finallllly get into Krakow at 12:30 p.m. in time for a practically full day there.
I'm thinking about all you back at Moho a lot. Have fun at drag ball Saturday night. Althea, I hope your dress works out and I'm sure you'll look stunning...I can't wait to see pictures, even if it's hard remembering life goes on at Mohome and I'm not there to experience it or be a part of your lives there. I expect this will turn out to be an experience of a lifetime too though, so it's a trade-off...one where I wish I could have the best of both worlds, but alas, I'm no magician, so patience -- not my strongest virtue -- will have to ensue.
I haven't finished packing...I actually went on a crazy toiletry shopping spree so lugging that over should hopefully not be too bad...I mean, once it's there, it's there and it's not coming back. That's sort of how Guatemala was too: lug as much as possible there, leave as much as possible behind coming back to the states. I might just keep half of it here though and have my mom ship it over when I need it to save the $50+ fee for overweight suitcases. We'll see.
I have a journal now. I'm going to write in it. And I was saved the task of writing the first entry, which I'm really happy about...and don't worry, I won't forget ;)
Maybe next time I write an entry, I'll have pictures to put up too so I don't bore anyone with my blabberings about nerves. It's exciting that I'm finally going. I've just had far too long to sit around and think about going. Driving me madddd. Tomorrow the thinking ends and the doing commences. Bout time.
Tomorrow my flight leaves at 10 a.m. from Indy, I get into Charlotte, NC around 12:30 p.m., have a 5 hour layover, fly to Munich around 5 or 6 p.m., get into Germany around 8ish a.m., have another 2 hour layover, and finallllly get into Krakow at 12:30 p.m. in time for a practically full day there.
I'm thinking about all you back at Moho a lot. Have fun at drag ball Saturday night. Althea, I hope your dress works out and I'm sure you'll look stunning...I can't wait to see pictures, even if it's hard remembering life goes on at Mohome and I'm not there to experience it or be a part of your lives there. I expect this will turn out to be an experience of a lifetime too though, so it's a trade-off...one where I wish I could have the best of both worlds, but alas, I'm no magician, so patience -- not my strongest virtue -- will have to ensue.
I haven't finished packing...I actually went on a crazy toiletry shopping spree so lugging that over should hopefully not be too bad...I mean, once it's there, it's there and it's not coming back. That's sort of how Guatemala was too: lug as much as possible there, leave as much as possible behind coming back to the states. I might just keep half of it here though and have my mom ship it over when I need it to save the $50+ fee for overweight suitcases. We'll see.
I have a journal now. I'm going to write in it. And I was saved the task of writing the first entry, which I'm really happy about...and don't worry, I won't forget ;)
Maybe next time I write an entry, I'll have pictures to put up too so I don't bore anyone with my blabberings about nerves. It's exciting that I'm finally going. I've just had far too long to sit around and think about going. Driving me madddd. Tomorrow the thinking ends and the doing commences. Bout time.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Countdown: 2 Days
I've figured out what I'm packing. I need to put it in a suitcase. I need to weigh that suitcase. If it's too heavy, I have a problem.
In other news, I need to get out of Indiana and on to traveling. I've been without friends (minus the two days down at IU - thanks for having me you guys!) for a week and a half and I'm ready to be with friends again. Yesterday I stopped by my high school, but a lot of things have changed and teachers have moved around and come and gone, but I got to see Mrs. Robb and went out for coffee with Mr. Gulde, which got me excited again about going and reminded me of my interest in Eastern European Jewish culture, history, and tourism. We'll see how much I actually learn in Krakow, but it was refreshing and it's always a pick-me-up chatting with Mr. Gulde. I was then a bum and sat around doing nothing for hours, but I have amazing friends who are keeping me afloat talking online while I'm still stuck in limbo. I am so thankful for all my friends, and I will miss you all while I am gone.
Today I met a man who survived the Holocaust with the Bielski brothers (who the film Defiance is about), and he had some amazing stories and also taught me some survival Polish. We'll see how far that gets me! Getting a functioning international phone has been a hastle. Not much else is news worthy. I'm spending my last two nights with family, and my younger siblings couldn't be growing up faster. Anyhow, I should probably go see if things fit in my suitcase. Bye for now!
In other news, I need to get out of Indiana and on to traveling. I've been without friends (minus the two days down at IU - thanks for having me you guys!) for a week and a half and I'm ready to be with friends again. Yesterday I stopped by my high school, but a lot of things have changed and teachers have moved around and come and gone, but I got to see Mrs. Robb and went out for coffee with Mr. Gulde, which got me excited again about going and reminded me of my interest in Eastern European Jewish culture, history, and tourism. We'll see how much I actually learn in Krakow, but it was refreshing and it's always a pick-me-up chatting with Mr. Gulde. I was then a bum and sat around doing nothing for hours, but I have amazing friends who are keeping me afloat talking online while I'm still stuck in limbo. I am so thankful for all my friends, and I will miss you all while I am gone.
Today I met a man who survived the Holocaust with the Bielski brothers (who the film Defiance is about), and he had some amazing stories and also taught me some survival Polish. We'll see how far that gets me! Getting a functioning international phone has been a hastle. Not much else is news worthy. I'm spending my last two nights with family, and my younger siblings couldn't be growing up faster. Anyhow, I should probably go see if things fit in my suitcase. Bye for now!
Monday, February 16, 2009
I leave in 4 days. I should probably start packing
Today is Monday. I leave Friday. I should probably start unpacking everything from school so I can repack what I need to bring to Poland. I keep straddling between being nervous and excited, and worrying I made the right decision to go, and then getting nervous again, then excited again, and back and forth and back and forth. Its about time I just go there and stop thinking about going there and if I made the right decision and what it might be like. Usually I am just excited to travel, but this time is different because it's not over the summer and I'm missing a semester at Mount Holyoke, which is hard, to say the least. Hopefully at the end of everything, I won't regret going and will have gotten a meaningful experience out of this adventure of mine. Now I should probably stop procrastinating by writing here and start working on the unpacking and repacking of my life in suitcases.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Distractions
I spent Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon down at IU (Bloomington, IN) with friends from high school. I had a really nice time. I have to keep myself distracted until I head out on Friday, because I'm both nervous and excited and hoping I made the right decision to go. I still have a lot to do to get ready, and yet not all that much at the same time. I want to either be in Poland already or back at Mount Holyoke, because it's hard living in limbo and not having real things to do with myself. Only 6 more days until I leave. Crazy. I have no clue what to expect.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Waiting until the 20th to cross the big pond
This is my attempt to keep whoever is interested up to date with my life in Krakow. I am currently in Indianapolis hanging out at home, packing (or procrastinating packing), running errands, getting ready, and bumming around until February 20th, when I head off to Poland. Last Thursday, I drove to Indiana with Althea, and if I can figure out how to post pictures, I'll put some up from the drive from Mount Holyoke to Indianapolis and our pit stop at Niagara Falls. In the meantime, I am getting both excited and nervous, and hoping for a great time. Keep in touch with me, either through emails, facebook, or whatever else. It's always nice hearing from everyone, especially right now while I am in limbo land waiting to leave and trying to keep my mind off of everything else.
Niagara Falls 
Althea and I at Niagara Falls
Friendly Niagara Squirrel
Downtown Indianapolis
Althea and I at Niagara Falls
Friendly Niagara Squirrel
Downtown Indianapolis
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