My Trip in Reflection

At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don’t keep other people out, they fence you in. Life is messy. That’s how we’re made. So you can waste your life drawing lines… or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines… that are way too dangerous to cross. Here’s what I know: If you’re willing to take the chance, the view from the other side… is spectacular.

And that is exactly what this trip has been about. Each one of us finding the edge of our comfort zones, and then pushing it even further to explore even bigger and brighter things. We spent long hours together. Learning so much about each other, and about ourselves. Three months in another country can really change a person. But not enough for you yourself to notice, just enough for your friends and family back home to notice. You get back and everyone has questions. "What was your favorite place? What was your favorite part? What do you miss?" 

Well. To answer the questions... All of it. Now of course there were parts, as for every trip, that weren't so great. But I assure you the bests far over weigh the worsts. But lets get to the last bit of my trip. I left Olomouc and headed to Prague, very very excited to JUST GET HOME! So excited in fact that I didn't sleep... Partly because I was too nervous to miss my flight, as I still didn't have a phone, and partly because the thought of being back in the states in less that twenty-four hours was too overwhelming for my brain to shut down. 

After a rough time getting my two huge luggage cases to my hostel, staying up all night, then dragging them to the airport (breaking one in the process) I was just ready to get on the plane and leave. I went to check in my luggage and lo-and-behold, I had to pay for an extra piece of luggage. A long and emotion story short, I threw out half of my luggage and ended up taking what I could cram into my other suitcase. But I was off. I boarded the plane and with a sigh of relief took off for home. With the recent attacks in Europe the security was tight, and I was searched at EVERY airport I stopped at. 

Fifteen hours later I was finally home! I was greated by my teary eyed mother, as the rest of my family didn't know I was coming home early. We drove the long road home, stopping a few times because of various visual impairing storms, and by 2 a.m. I was finally back home. I snuck up into my room making sure not to wake the rest of my family.

The next morning I was awoken by the screams of my sister. I was finally home and she was going to make sure the world knew it. The day continued and I continued surprising more and more of my friends and family. Tears were shed and laughs were had and it lasted for about a week or two.

About a week after getting home I came across another blog which perfectly explained what it is like to come home. I leave the link to the blog in the bottom if you want to read it, it isn't too long, and is definitely worth the read. I definitely could not explain it any better than the author has. But for those of you who didn't read it, it basically says that you go out into the world, learn so much about the culture and you find yourself, then you come home and you're all everyone wants to talk about. But then after the high of coming home has dulled, you're sitting alone and realize nothing has truly changed here. Sure some people back home have a new job or boyfriend, but they don't realize how much you as a person has changed. It goes on to say that "I don’t mean hair, weight, dress or anything else that has to do with appearance. I mean what’s going on inside of your head. The way your dreams have changed, they way you perceive people differently, the habits you’re happy you lost, the new things that are important to you. You want everyone to recognize this and you want to share and discuss it, but there’s no way to describe the way your spirit evolves when you leave everything you know behind and force yourself to use your brain in a real capacity, not on a written test in school. You know you’re thinking differently because you experience it every second of every day inside your head, but how do you communicate that to others?"  This is all too true. I came back and sure I've shared my experiences with people, but I don't want to be 'that' person that only talks about their trip. You know that person, we ALL know that person. The type of person that no matter the conversational topic, finds some way to say "Well when I was in...". I just couldn't and still can't get myself to be that person, because truthfully no matter how hard I try to explain my experiences, you cannot and will not see it the way I did. So what we have here is a down right conundrum. I spent three months in Europe and all I really brought back with me was the knowledge of some other language that no one else around me can speak, and experiences I can't truly get others to understand. Now I see why travelers devote their lives to finding new places. Being back home just doesn't do it for them any more. There is so much out in the world to see that people truly cannot explain to you.

So I will leave you with this.

We're all going to die. We don't get to say over how or when. But we do get to decide how we live. So do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be? Can you be stronger? Kinder? More compassionate? Decide.

So yes, you can waste your life drawing lines. Or you can live your life by crossing them.

https://london2cape.com/adventure-travel/the-hardest-part-of-travelling/

The Proper Way To Break Up. (Study Abroad Wise)

“Isn't it funny how the memories you cherish before a breakup can become your worst enemies afterwards? The thoughts you loved to think about, the memories you wanted to hold up to the light and view from every angle--it suddenly seems a lot safer to lock them in a box, far from the light of day and throw away the key. It's not an act of bitterness. It's an act of self-preservation. It's not always a bad idea to stay behind the window and look out at life instead, is it?” ― Ally Condie

Now that quote doesn't exactly sum up how leaving our little fairy tale of a country is going to be. But i thought it kind of showed what, at least my memories from this trip, feel like. As our last week together as a group comes to an end. The bittersweetness of going off on our own, knowing that we are different and better people, but also being able to look back and not regret any of it bites at my mind. So today's blog is going to be a quick reflection about our last week in the Czech Republic and how quickly our last five days running across the country together came to an end.

Just your typical American tourists.

We started our last hoorah on Tuesday, heading to the gorgeous little town of Litomyšl. For those of you who don't speak Czech... Lee-toh-me-shull. For the first time as a group we actually got a nice hostel! And not just a nice hostel, an old brewery of a castle! We threw our stuff up in our lofts and headed out for food. After a deliciously cheap dinner and a rather fancy restaurant, we headed back to the hostel for our short introduction to the town and a tour of the church. We set out and found a "modern art" exhibit in one of the gardens where a cylinder was cut out of the front of a charter bus... I don't understand it but it was rather amusing. Next it was to a pizzeria and then I, being a bum, spent the rest of the night in my room avoiding people.

Early morning wake up call and we were off again! This time to Kutná Hora. Again for you not Czech speakers... Coot-nah Hore-ah. We looked around the amazing church of bones. And then... wait what is this? Yet again, and rather oddly, we had ANOTHER nice hostel! This time it wasn't a hostel... We stayed in a REAL hotel! We got a quick look at the city, had some lunch, a tour of another church, and then we were on our own for the day. The night didn't go to waste however! No no no. We spent the night out on the balcony, reminiscing, growing, and living in the moment. I could have lived the night a hundred times over. Just to keep the memories going, and not have to worry about the future. However the night was short lived. We had a tour the next morning. So off to bed!

Do we look like proper miners?

Getting up the next morning I was excited for the day's tour. However after we arrived to the Silver Mine and we descended to the depths... I quickly changed my mind. It was cramped, and when I say cramped I mean 2 foot across and 6 foot tall was about the largest area we walked through. It was wet and it was dirty. But hey, we did get to wear a lab coat and cool looking miners helmet! The tour concluded our time in Kutná Hora, and we were rushed to the bus and off again to yet another tiny town.

But FIRST! We got the chance to tour the Budweiser factory here in the Czech Republic. No it's not the same as the American Budweiser. They are actually two completely different companies. And yes, I can say that Czech Budweiser was rather game changing. I will keep that to the extent of information I go into with the tour. But it was quite enjoyable.

Česky Krumlov

Česky Krumlov. (Chess-key Crumb-love) A amazing little town ripped straight out of a disney movie. Red roofs break out from the foliage in basically the middle of no where, with a huge castle hundreds of years old looking down upon it all. It was a sight to be seen for sure. We spent our time there touring the castle, walking through the gardens, and in the end we, at least the more adventurous of us, went rafting down a river. Well, it started off miserably. It was rainy and cold. But as the captain of our boat I wasn't about to let my troops morale drop. Luckily, a few minutes, maybe only ten, the clouds opened up and the temperature rose. The sights of the sun cascading through the trees above, glimmering and dancing over the water. It was incredibly peaceful. Now that peace didn't last long. I'm not sure if it was twenty minutes after we set sail and we were all jumping into the river. Whole boats at a time. We had only a few hours to get the most out of our last activity together... and that is exactly what we did.

Our group braving the open waters.

My boat. Obviously the best looking group.

We spent the night again... talking, reminiscing, and laughing at how in a few short months we came to this.





But our time was up. The next morning we headed back to the bus and with a five hour drive we were back to Olomouc. We packed and then set off on our own, some going for food and others to do laundry. For most of us... it was our last night.

I'm going to miss our little misfit of a group. But for now my blog is over. Don't worry, I know how much you love reading about my life... as well as i still have another class to blog for. So I will do a few reminiscing blogs, and finally a reflective blog about my trip.

The Horrific Truths of Living Abroad.

So it was time for me to have an off weekend. So this weeks blog won't be as fun as the past one and I won't have as much freedom to express my personality but here we go! This week I'm going to go over the horrific truths of daily life here in Europe. I'm just kidding there really isn't that much to complain about living abroad. I mean yeah there's no wifi, there are no ice in our drinks and we have to pay to use the bathroom. But honestly how could I complain about exploring the world? Living here in Olomouc has been an amazing experience. My room has a balcony looking out toward the city.

The lobby of the dorms (or hostels) as they are called here, sell anything and everything you could want. Just not American product wise. Toilet paper, food, drinks, tooth paste, cigarettes. It goes on. Which makes it rather easy when its late and all of the stores here have closed by 8 or 9. Typically bed time is about midnight or later, with a wake up call of noon. (Sorry mom, I know I should do more with my life) Then I start my day.  A nice shower in our little bathroom, maybe some food in our flats kitchenette. And I'm ready for my 3 o'clock classes. It seems to have become a tradition for the Americans on this trip that we all stop at Cross Cafe and get drinks (coffee of course) and food (usually croissants and salad)before actually arriving for lecture. Our classes usually last about 3 hours maybe a little longer. Breaks included.

Belmondo stage

After class we head out for some food and maybe a drink. Back to the dorms for a while, and of course the occasional Czech Lecture homework. Sitting on the balcony yelling about with the others whom also have had the same idea as me. Some had other ideas and decided to head to the bars for the night, and others are passed out in bed from exhaustion. (That is what out Thursdays usually look like) Wednesday nights here are a special kind of night. Back in Kearney its typical to hit up the bar say on Tuesday nights because, "Hey! It's old school night!" Well for us here in Olomouc the same is true, just on Wednesdays. Except for us, Wednesday is BELMONDO NIGHT! Hanging out in the dorms until the last possible tram and then we storm the tram stop ready for a night of fun! We get to the club about 1230 and more often than not we tend to shut the place down. But enough about our ridiculous party life right? You probably are wanting to hear about all of the studious things we do while we are here.
To be honest after class there isn't really much that we do involving class... Well besides write these blogs. Which I have no almost wrapped up. I'm really not sure there is much more to talk about. On our weekends we either have a school based trip, which usually consists of looking at castles or churches... That or we have our own individual weekends where we get to plan our own trips. If there is anything you have questions about, or anything I didn't cover, ask! I would love to let you know what Europe life is like.

We spend our whole lives worrying about the future, planning for the future, trying to predict the future. As if figuring it out will somehow cushion the blow. But the future is always changing. The future is the home of of our deepest fears, and our wildest hopes. But one thing is certain: When it finally reveals itself, the future is never the way we imagined it.

Wanna see a salt mine? Na Cl-ater.

Underground brine pool

Oh is this another blog? Well hello everyone, if anyone, who actually reads this blog. This last weekend we had an amazing trip to a beautiful town. Coming just short of Prague, Krakow in Poland is in my top two favorite cities we have had the amazing opportunity to visit! With an early morning wakeup call on Friday (that's right we got to skip class), we hopped on a bus and headed to Krakow. After a short nap we arrived, of course early, to the Salt Mine of all places. We waited in the gorgeous weather for our guide and ascended into oblivion. Now when I say oblivion i actually just mean 53 flights of stairs. But when you are walking down 53 flights of stairs it feels like oblivion.

The Cathedral

Our guide, whose dry humor was actually rather refreshing, gave us the run down on the history and appeal of the mines as well as information on what kind of salts we were seeing there. I could not for the life of me tell you when the mine first started up, but it was a long time ago. Running until the 1900's. As we walked along the rather spacious halls our guide informed us that because we were in an antibacterial area, we could lick the walls! Weird.... But you bet your sweet a** we did! There were four types of salt that we saw on our short tour. And I licked the walls a mere seven times. Well eight if you count trying the water. Our whole tour lasted about two and a half hours, but it didn't seem that long. We saw an amazing Cathedral (in the mine), an amazing pool, which the lady informed us that no we could not swim in, and even ended our tour with a 3D laser light show. All while we were hundreds of feet under ground! How do you beat that?

Krakow

Well don't worry because I will tell you how we beat that! We got back to our hostel and wouldn't you know it. The Americans found a pub crawl. So after heading out with a few friends and spending probably more than our fair share on delectable pierogis, scrumptious entrees of chicken, rabbit, and beef, and yes more than one bottle of wine we headed back to the hostel to get all dapper for the night ahead.
I will spare you from all the pub crawl stuff, more so because my mother will probably shoot me for just mentioning it. But we had the time of our lives. Twenty one of the twenty four of us went out that night, and wouldn't you know it WE ALL MADE IT BACK?!?! It actually made me rather sad that we only have a few more weeks together because this bunch of misfits is actually starting to grow on me.

The flying rat population

Any way enough with all the sappy crap. The next day we had the longest, most intricately drawn out tour I have ever endured. Not that I remember anything from it... Sorry UNK. But from there we were off on our own. I bought a few souvenirs and had some food; which okay break for a second, one thing about this trip and this was really the only thing I had a problem with... I hate birds so extremely, and Krakow just seemed to be the biggest nest of disgusting flying rats that you would ever find. They just would NOT leave me alone... Okay back to being studious. So after I had my freak out on the birds I headed back to the hostel to find a good tattoo place close by. But having been out the entire night before... I fell asleep. So that night I figured it was probably a good idea to stay in and catch up on my rest.
Our last and more solemn day in Krakow was spent at Schindler's Factory, walking through our guide did an amazing job of giving us the Polish history of the Holocaust and the few good years before. Seeing the names was just as eye opening as Auschwitz was, but with a lighter side to it. Regardless it was chilling. We finished up our tour, walking out into the rain, and headed back to good Ole Olomouc!

Guess who's back... back... back... Back again... 

Prague Zoo Weekend!

So this is just going to be a quick blog about my free weekend out in Prague on my lonesome! Let me just start out by saying that traveling alone is fantastic! There is so much freedom to do your own things and see your own sights it's great. Well I got to Prague about 10 o'clock, met up with some friends I had met on my first week in the Czech Republic and went out for the night. Met some new people and had a great time. But now on to the good stuff!

The Prague Zoo!

So starting off all I wanted to see at the zoo was an aquarium. Well come to find out after paying 150Kc to get in. The Prague zoo doesn't have a freaking aquarium! I was depressed to say the least. But while I was standing in the line I heard English from behind me. I turn around and it's the three random girls. They asked where I was from and all that fun stuff. They were from New York and were studying in Florence and were in Prague for a weekend trip like I was. Well they invited me to tag along with them. So I did. We walked all around seeing the various animals. Those of which all seemed to be rather sad. But nonetheless it was fun! We had some curry wurst, some brambory pancakes (mashed potatoes fried), and some delicious fried cheese. After we had eating we continued on and we were witness to probably the weirdest thing we could have seen that day. In this cage were these ducks and owls. 

There was a little pond with fish about 8 inches long or so. One of these ducks was swimming around the pond attempting to eat these fish, but they were two big for it to swallow. Which resulted in these fish having their tails and fins eaten off... floating at the top of the pond. For a good ten minutes we sat watching this "fascinating display of nature". The duck decided he was finished and walked off. Just as one of the owls swooped in, grabbed the fish, bit its neck and then flew off to eat it. Craziest s**t I've ever seen at a zoo. 

After about five or six hours it was closing time and my day at the zoo with my new friends was over. I had planned on heading to a tattoo shop that was next to my hostel but sadly by the time I got back it was closed. Putting that one down as the first on my list for my next free weekend! So that's my story... Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures!

Fierce

"No King. No King. Nananananaaana."

New baby Elephant only weeks old.

Chillin in the monkey exhibit

I tried to speak Parseltounge to Nagini...
But sadly it didn't work

New baby Gorilla only days old

Taking on Italy Pt. 2

I managed to rip some pictures from the cloud and from Facebook so today's post won't be as horrible as the last!! Sorry to everyone who had to read it without having their inner child be able to look at pictures!

On to the next adventure! After we were off on our own in Venice it was time to head to our Hostel. Being the adventurous types that we are, the girls and I planned to camp the last night we had in Venice in a handsome little camping area just barely on the mainland. After a confusing time getting bus tickets we wound up at our "Hostel". Cute little bungalows awaited us and we were quick to get in a nap... Fast forward 2 hours... We decide to head back to the islands so that the girls could get in their gondola ride. Now call me a cliché but I refused to ride the gondolas... Sorry to everyone out there but if I'm going to be riding in a romantic city in a romantic little boat while some dude signs to us in Italian, then it's going to be with someone I love and not just three girls I met a month and a half ago. Anyway, past the gondola ride, we headed back to our "hostel" and had some delicious dinner then headed to bed.

Wake up! We were off to our train and headed to Rome! After a few hours we arrived. And it was... well to be honest it wasn't anything you would hope for. We headed from the stop to our hostel and there was trash, covering everything. Trash on the ground, trash in the metros, trash in the trash cans overflowing in heaps onto the ground. It was a mess.

However, we got to our hostel and it was a sight for sore eyes! Imagine beach resort without the beach. Palms trees, a pool (which wasn't accessible even though it was 85 degrees), a restaurant and bar, and when we got to our rooms... You guessed it! We were camping again! This time in little tents. Now when I tell you we have had horrible wifi this entire trip, I absolutely mean it! Yet for some reason the 3 nights we spent camping in Venice and Rome were the best we have had this entire trip. Which was amazing because I was actually able to catch up with family and friends without horrible skipping in our Skype calls. The next few days were filled with visiting the Vatican, which was beautiful. Even if you are not catholic I highly suggest taking a tour. There is so much culture, not only from catholic history, but from Roman, Greek, etc... On top of going through the Vatican museums, we were able to see the Sistine Chapel. I am not sure why, but for some reason in my mind the image of God and Adam was all that I thought there was in the Sistine Chapel. But no... I could have laid on the floor looking up at those magnificent paintings for hours. There was so much happening and so much to tell in every brush stroke it was just breath taking.

So after about 15 minutes in the Chapel we were escorted out and into the actual church in the Vatican, which was just as amazing in and among itself. But that was enough for the day. We headed back to our hostel and ate and had a drink or two at the bar and went to bed.

The next day was just as filled with adventure, we went to the Coliseum and saw where a lot of deaths happened. Sadly we didn't know we had to go on a guided tour in order to get to see all of the actually cool stuff, so our tour ended rather abruptly. Up next was the Roman forum and then we were off to our hostels to get our lives arranged. We met some Australians whom happened to be our neighbors and had the time of our lives in Rome. But that would be a story for a different day. So we woke up rather late, missing our chance to see the pope. Oh I know, it's just heart breaking. But really it wasn't. We headed to the train station and we were off to Florence.

Now when you, or atleast when I, picture Italy; there are arrow streets, blooming walk ways, clothes hanging from the windows, and bright colors everywhere. Well Florence is exactly what Italy is. It was magnificent. Absolute architectural eye candy! Every second in Florence was a delight! We went to the Michelangelo look out point, and to see the Statue of David, it was all just wonderful! Besides the fact our toilet was in our shower?!? But other than that. We spent two wonderful days in Florence and then headed to Milan. I will keep it short with Milan because it wasn't my favorite. It was somewhat like Rome. Dirty. But it kind of seemed like the gangster side of Italy. You know, the mafia kind of thing? Well We did have a few rather great meals there, a nice little Mexican restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe, and a great Turkish Kebab place. But other than that we shopped at extremely over priced stores, and I had the great experience of losing my phone.

All in all I am extremely happy to just be back in good ole Olomouc. Where the people hate us but the prices are low and the food is good!

The Little Einsteins take on Italy Pt. 1

Pardon the lack of pictures. All of them were on my phone. Which is no longer in my possession... Thanks Milan.

Well... We are finally back in the Czech Republic!! After what seemed like the longest and busiest two weeks of my life we are finally back to good old Olomouc. So for this weeks blog I have 2 weeks to cover since we just got off our spring break. However I'm not totally sure how to keep an audience amused as I ramble on for twenty minutes about how my spring break went. So, with that in mind I'm going to take my huge trip and break it into two blogs this week. So I'll split it up as our school affiliated trip experience and my personal experiences afterward. With that in mind... Let's get to it!

We started our excitement on the 12th. Waking up in the early morn in order to hop up on the bus and take a beautiful three hour nap on the way to Vienna, Austria. Here's where it gets real exciting ladies and gents. Thinking since its past noon and we had half an hour before our tour of Vienna was to start me and a few of the girls figured we needed to go get food. We thought everyone was heading out. Well they weren't. What we thought was our lunch break was actually just time to get situated and then go get food with the group... Well we got back to our hostel and everyone was gone. So after frantically trying to find out where everyone went we eventually gave up... and took a nap.

Though all was not lost for the Vienna trip. The next day we were able to go and see the Habsburg Museum. Which basically is full of jewels and paintings and things from the Habsburg dynasty that no one in the world would ever be able to afford. One piece included an emerald of over 800 karats. After walking through there for about an hour we got the chance to go to the Vienna Natural History Museum. I was in heaven. It was interactive and all the fun stuff a child like me loves! Room after room of rocks and minerals, rooms of bones and ancient civilizations, room after room one after another. Finishing it all off with a whole floor dedicated to animals. Sadly we had to rush through it a bit since we only had an hour and a half. But it was definitely worth it!

We were on our own from there. Shopping and food was next and of course you have to experience the night life while you're out and about! So we found an amazing pub that happened to be for tourists and international students! We made some pretty cool friends (most of them being American for some reason) and then we had to get on the bus by 6 a.m.

A 7 hour trip with a few stops thrown in and we arrived at the train station in Venice. Now I was expecting to have to get on a bus. You know... because Venice is an island and all. But luckily they have a train that will take you straight to the island! Now when you picture Venice you see beautiful buildings and rivers. That's EXACTLY what it looks like. If you were to add hundreds of other tourists walking back and fourth everywhere you turn. But I really wasn't complaining. Venice was beautiful. The rivers. The people. The food. All of it... Well except for the prices. We got a few tours of the city. Followed by a tour of the palace of the duke of Venice and then we were left on our own. But hey, it only took us a little over an hour and a half to find our hostel!

2 days in Venice with our group then we were left to fend for ourselves in the wilderness of Italy. We were left with only one thing on our minds... "We're going on a trip. In our favorite rocket ship. Zooming through the sky!!!!!!"

My Auschwitz Experience

Halt! Stop!
(in front of electric fence)

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” ― Elie Wiesel, Night

I wanted to write this blog and say so much right after we got back to campus on Saturday... But I just didn't have the words. I'm still not sure I do. But I feel after leaving that I either have to tell everything, or say nothing. So this one is going to be a long one. This blog isn't going to be the same as the last I have done. With the last few blogs I have made witty comments and had a generally good time talking about my experiences while I've been here in Europe. However this last week I had the opportunity to tour the concentration and death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau. Going throughout your day you don't know when you will have a life changing experience. You can't possibly have any idea of how things will impact you. But when I say that this was a life changing experience, I fully mean it.

Walking the same roads the
prisoners once did

Since high school I have wanted to tour these concentration camps. Thanks to my sophomore english teacher having us read "Night" by Elie Wiesel. So knowing that during my time here I would get to go and have this experience I was thrilled to say the least. However, walking off the bus I immediately felt my body become pounds heavier. The grey sky and rain added to the solemness of the area and my mood changed in a matter of seconds. Walking through the gates we had to pass through metal detectors. This just added to the tenseness of the area.

Walking to the "dormitories", our tour guide told us stories of how every morning and night the prisoners of Auschwitz had to march to the sound of music in order for the guards to count them. Sometimes this took hours. All I could think of as we walked to the first building was, "Someone died here, some one was tortured here, someone was shot there." It was a rather unsettling walk to say the least.

“Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing... And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes.And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: "For God's sake, where is God?"And from within me, I heard a voice answer: "Where is He? This is where--hanging here from this gallows..." That night, the soup tasted of corpses.” ― Elie Wiesel, Night

All of the buildings in which we went into were dormitories which had been turned into memorials for the fallen victims. In the first building on the first wall as you walk in is a quote saying "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Turning into the next few rooms were pictures taken by the Germans and by the prisoners were hanging on the wall, depictions of the selection process haunted the halls and rooms. (Though this happened more often in Berkenau than Auschwitz) During this process, those whom were deemed unfit to work were sent to the gas chambers and told they were going to be sanitized (in order to keep the prisoners calm). The "lucky ones" were sent in the opposite direction to be registered.

Shoes taken from the prisoners
(not even half of them are shown)

Just of few of the prisoners brief cases

The second and third buildings that we went to were filled with a collection of pictures of the prisoners which had been held there, as well as items taken from the prisoners upon arrival in Auschwitz and Birkenau. One of the most haunting rooms, which we were not allowed to take pictures in, was filled with human hair shaved from the men and women killed in the gas chambers. This was more than an emotional tear jerker. Thousands of pounds of hair filled the room... Tears were shed all around and silence fell upon our group. No one had words for what we were seeing... and this was just the beginning. Moving out of the room we entered another and another walking through a total of 6 rooms, each containing different things taken upon arrival. One was filled with glasses and cloths, another with shoes, a third contained suit cases all with names written on them. The fourth contained pots and bowls, the fifth prosthetics, and lastly contained thousands of combs. With each room the faces of my classmates drooped further and further.

The wall memorial

We continued on. Only to come to yet another dormitory. This one being preserved to show exactly how the prisoners of Auschwitz lived. This was a special dormitory though. It was where those considered to be problems were kept, for execution and/or torture. Beds of hay lay on the floor, which our tour guy informed us were filled with lice. We walked then past rooms filled with wooden bunk beds stalked 3 beds high. Then it got more emotional yet. Our tour guide informed us that the washrooms which followed were used for the executions. The prisoners were to strip and then be led out of the door to a wall where they would then be executed. The wall was destroyed after Auschwitz was taken over, however it had been rebuilt only a few years after as a memorial.

Crematorium 1 Gas Chamber

The next room we saw was the most emotional. We had the opportunity to walk through Auschwitz Crematorium number 1. Here the prisoners were corralled and gassed. The once smooth stone walls were now covered in claw marks and scratches from the last remaining strength that it's victims could muster trying to escape. The room had an extreme heaviness to it, and even breathing was hard. I got out as quickly as I could, only to walk into the furnace room in which the bodies of Auschwitz's victims were burnt.  The thought of all of those killed and burnt here was enough of a psychological scar, let alone trying to imagine how someone could carry out such an order.

Entrance to Crematorium 1

Thankfully our tour was over. Not that we even got to tour all of Auschwitz. But we boarded our bus and headed for Auschwitz 2, also known as Berkenau. This one being even significantly worse considering it was just a concentration camp, but a Nazi death camp. Getting off the bus I immediately felt nauseas and my once excitement to learn about this historical place had now completely ceased to exist. As we walk around it was a lot larger than I had imagined it would be. Not that I would really know, since I barely looked up from the ground. Which also didn't seem to help much considering all I could think of was all of the prisoners walking across the mud and broken cobblestone roads to their, more than likely, deaths.

An example of the beds

Remains of Crematorium 3, there were
5

We toured a lot less in Berkenau than we did in Auschwitz. Mostly because a good majority of it had been destroyed when the Germans fled. We did however see the platforms in which the selection process was conducted, Crematorium 3, and a preserved "cabin" in which the prisoners were held. Dirt floors and wooden bunk beds, with no heating, and no ventilation... Complaining about not having wifi seems like a very obsolete thing now... I have definitely come to have a better respect for the world from this trip. One that I honestly cannot express. No I would never go back. However I won't ever forget the experience I had in Poland.

So I end with one more quote from "Night" because it seems all too important to not include.

“For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” ― Elie Wiesel, Night

Cultural Differences Pt. 1

"Now I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun drenched elsewhere." - Isabelle Eberhart

My sun drenched
somewhere

Oh how that quote is far to truthful. If a year ago today you came up to me and said that I would be studying in Europe I would have thought you to be completely insane. But I did it. I'm here... And let me tell you. Boy is it a culture shock!

Pardon the fact that this post isn't as fun as the last few have been. The last month has been a chaos of trying my hardest to not have my entire presence scream, "AMERICA!", every time I walked into a room. My attempts so far have been futile, but I am still determined. So today's blog is going to be all about the cultural differences and just how badly we stick out here.

What Czechs look like.

For a good starting point the last 4-5 days the weather has been gorgeous. 60's-70's during the day maybe dropping to 50 degrees during the night. So naturally like a typical Nebraskan would, I've been wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Well as I have come to find out that is NOT how the Czechs go about life. They all seem to still need their heavy winter coats, long sleeves and jeans. Just incase of frost bite I guess. However this does make it pretty easy to play "Spot the American" when I lose my friends. But you know, while we're on the topic of clothing, I'm not so sure that the fashion of the 1990's or even the 2000's has really passed through here yet. Everyone seems to enjoy frowning in their drab, boring, dull colored clothes. Meanwhile the Americans are walking around in our bright colors and smiling faces.
Moving on from the clothing we can move to the food and pub situation.

Olomouc Train Station

Now in America it's polite to wave at the waiter if you need something. But let's face it the waiter walks by every 30 seconds to see how our food is doing anyhow. Well here in the Czech Republic that's not the case. The waiter comes to take your order, bring you your food, then to take your money. If you need something in between you have to wave the waiter down, which here is not polite to do, or just suck it up. Pick your poison. Another thing which is somewhat taboo here that is just common courtesy in the States is tipping. The waiters here are not working for your tip, and leaving one on the table is not acceptable. So if you waiter did an "exceptional" job i guess would be the right wording, then you just add to the final bill you pay after the meal. More math for you to do in the end I guess.

Staying along the lines of food for a bit... Heads up to those who are thinking of traveling to the Czech. When you order desserts hoping for the sweet delicious cakes or

When the other Americans
leave. We play.

sundaes that you would get back in the US, that is not what you're going to get. There has been far too many times in which i have ordered what seemed to be a delicious dessert all warm and sweet. Just to take a bite and have my meal ruined by a sad bland bite of nothing. Sugar does not seem to be a big thing when baking here, neither does vanilla or cinnamon.

Alright so enough of my sticking out rant. There's still something to mention about the differences of Czech to the States. It would be transportation. Now in the States its not uncommon to have a car and take a 5 minute drive across town right? Or maybe a 3 hour drive to a different city. Well here in the Czech most people do not have cars. At least not the common folk. Most people here either take the Trains, the Buses, the Tram, or they just plain walk,

Find the Americans

No she didn't punch
that sign...

and let me tell you I have done my fair share of walking. Just like our parents used to tell us as kids, I walk uphill both ways to and from school. Let me tell you, my calves are going to be rocks when this trip is over.

Now for class we have to write about the culture changes at least twice, so I'm going to leave this extremely long blog where it is for now and continue it later on.

"Travel isn't always easy. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts and even breaks your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully you leave something good behind." -Anthony Bourdain