Surprisingly my presentation went pretty well. My topic was explaining the different Lithuanian holidays, and though a lot are similar to those celebrated back in the States, they had a few different ones. One is called Užgavėnės. This is celebrated in the Spring time to celebrate the defeat of Winter and the coming of Spring. Children can dress up in costumes and walk around to get pancakes, candy or money. Pancakes represent the sun. Another holiday is Goninės, which is the celebration of the day becoming as long as the night. And finally, All Saints Day is to commemorate all those who had given their lives, both known and unknown.
Sept 28
Today was pretty much a filler day. I finished my paper for Social Research and had to write a paper for tomorrow since I’m skipping class on Friday. I know, surprising isn’t it?? For me to skip class is a pretty foreign concept, but there’s a first time for everything I guess! (Or I guess third in this case.. thank you Junior and Senior Cut Day!)
Sept 29
So freaking excited!!! Did pretty bad on my Lithuanian quiz, but at this point I don’t care at all. Finished class at 3:45 and then rushed back to the dorm to start packing for tonight. Thought I had til 7, but due to a change in plans I now have to be ready by 5:15. This isn’t going to go over very well… Gabby helped cook me dinner while I frantically tried to pack everything into my backpack. No room for unnecessary junk, and plus, I’ll have to carry this sucker around everywhere. Hello new workout program!
After two trips down the stairs (an extra one for a mad dash to get my bus tickets that I almost forgot… oh self….), I was finally ready to go. We took off to the bus station to get our tickets to Kaunas. And now we wait for the awesome adventure to begin!!! We like to call ourselves the Fab 5: Calvin, Lauren, Steph, Mike and, of course, Me! Our mission: to travel and have the most adventurously epic time possible! The bus left Klaipeda around 6pm, and arrived in Kaunas (still in Lithuania) shortly after 9. The overnight bus to Krakow didn’t leave til after 11:30, so we decided to walk around the city a bit. It was a pretty cool night, but it was calm weather. We boarded the bus and we were finally on our way to Poland!
Sept 30
The Fab 5 arrived in Warsaw, Poland around 8am. This bus wasn’t much easier to sleep in than our bus last week, but I think I got enough sleep to sustain me for a while. Warsaw is pretty much just a connection city, so we quickly got our train tickets to get us to Krakow. The train got in around 1pm, and a few members of the group wanted to see Auschwitz, a Jewish concentration camp, while we were in Poland. Now normally, I really wouldn’t have wanted to go because history has a tendency to make me really angry and frustrated, but I wasn’t going to say no to the group.
It was softly raining outside and the sky held a soft gray color to it. It didn’t feel menacing, but it certainly fit the dreary mood of visiting Auschwitz. Once we walked onto the grounds, to our right were rows of the Jewish housing. We walked into one of the barn-like structures and I couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like to be forced to live in there. I was snuggled in a warm sweatshirt and coat with two scarves on, yet I was still pretty chilly. (I refuse to say cold until it hits 0.. but for everyone else, it was cold). But it was only late September; the Jewish people had much less clothing than I had. And then they had to endure winter’s wrath during November thru February, with snow on the ground and working outside in terrible, unthinkable conditions.
Calvin asked me a question while we were walking, “Doesn’t this make you lose your faith in humanity?” I stopped to think, because in a way I felt as though I had. I’m usually an optimist, I love to believe in the potential of people and I try to see the good in places that people try to simply brush away. But here, standing in the middle of Auschwitz, a Jewish concentration camp where thousands upon thousands of people were murdered, what good could I pull out of this seemingly hopeless situation? Somewhat surprisingly, I answered, “No… the fact that the Jewish people were able to recover from this horror gives me hope in humanity.” If we stick together, we can survive the terrors of this world. Better times will come, we just have to endure the struggles now in order to get there.
We got back to Krakow later on in the evening, but the city was pretty lively. There was a center square where shops were scattered all around. Steph knew of a kebab place where we could get something to eat. Kebabs are awesome. A Kebab is flat bread with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, ranch dressing, other dressing that kind of tasted like thousand islands, and your choice of chicken or beef, spicy or non spicy. Or you can just call it deliciousness. Either one works.
After dinner we walked to the train station to get our overnight tickets to Prague, Czech Republic. Played a few rounds of Durak (or Fool, a game explained in the previous post), and then I taught the group Presidents. It’s a tricky game to explain, so you have to play it to understand it. But it was getting close to midnight, we already had a long day and we were looking to get up around 6. Time for some much desired sleep!
Oct 1
Stupid train ticket checking people… They are required to come at every major stop to recheck everyone’s tickets, not caring about the fact that you’re asleep in blissful warmth. The train car got a whole lot colder over the course of the night, but finally around 6:30 we arrived at the train station in Prague! Not many stores were open this early in the morning, so we walked around the curving streets of the city. Steph and Mike had the great idea to go out on the bridge and watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous to watch the sun slowly climb over the city buildings. After a while, we headed back into the heart of the city to get some breakfast, or at least sit in Starbucks until the restaurants started opening.
After eating, we walked to find the Dancing House. It is this crazy cool building that has a bent structure. It looks awesome, and Mike was really excited to find it. But for all the excitement, while walking past a park, Calvin mentioned taking a nap. I all too readily agreed to take a short nap (shocking moment #2.. I hate taking naps). The park was gorgeous, and it had a fountain and everything. I got all settled against my backpack, and enjoyed the moment to be able to rest my eyes. Calvin had picked his spot at the fountain but came over after realizing it would be really bad if he ended up falling in. I forget how it happened, but somehow we got on the topic of s’mores! And then this lady walked by with some pastry that reminded Steph of s’mores. When Calvin and I heard this, we took it as a sign and convinced the group to go into the bakery to get something sweet to eat.
After our snack we walked along the bridge where a whole group of artists had set up stands to sell their different crafts and paintings. There was a lot of metal work, and as I looked at each piece, it reminded me of my craft class and I remembered how to make all the earrings and necklaces that were hanging. It was really cool. From one of the vendors, Steph heard about this giant graffiti wall. It was trickier to find than expected, mostly because the directions given to us weren’t exactly accurate, but we found it. It was all about love and filled with different lyrics from the Beatles. Calvin found a pen on the ground, and I proceeded to add my little artistic flair to the wall: “I’m in love with being in love with you… forever and always <3 KLS” But then we wanted something to represent the Fab 5. So with our genius idea in place, I hoisted Calvin up to stand on top of Mike’s shoulders, and to mark our place on the giant graffiti wall. It was awesome!!
We stopped at a restaurant for some traditional Czech food for dinner: dumplings (severely sticky potato wedges) and some mixture of meat and sauerkraut. I’m not exactly sure what it was, but it was pretty tasty, and very filling! After another walk through the city, we headed off to the bus station to be on our way to Budapest, Hungary. Unfortunately, the bus attendant refused to let me board the bus since I had somehow managed to forget my passport in my room (Mom, don’t say it! I know you’re rolling your eyes at me.. I’m sorry). Despite the pleas of my friends, we watched as the bus drove away, and we huddled together outside the bus station at midnight to quickly create a Plan B. We decided to walk to the train station, but ended up getting escorted outside for the 2 hours that it had to close (anyone want to explain that one to me??). We wandered back to the center of the city and sat in a pub until 3 when they closed as well. Walking back across the city to the train station, we huddled together in some locker room for the remaining 3 hours until we could buy our tickets to get us back to Krakow.
Note to all your travelers out there: Not like you probably need reminding.. but the first two things that should be packed for each and every adventure must include your passport/travel documents and your tickets. Everything else you can probably scrape by with not having, but I tried to forget both of these before I left, and succeeded in leaving behind the most important one… Save yourself the devastation, and pack smart, and early.
Oct 2
Our train back to Krakow had a layover in Brohum, Czech Republic. The town was incredibly cute, and the Fab 5 stopped in a local café to enjoy a hot cup of cappuccino before getting back on the train. We arrived in Krakow around 3pm and decided to try and find a place to sleep for the afternoon since last night didn’t turn out exactly as planned. Steph had the wonderful idea of asking a monastery or convent for a place to sleep in exchange for a couple hours of work. But some people decided to get married today, so both places were filled with celebrations, and no room for five sleepy travelers to rest. But the convent did help us locate a hostel in town to spend the night! We were so excited.
Scary moment #2: Hostels require a passport in order to check in. Calvin can testify to this, I looked like I was about to freak the flip out. Luckily for me, they only needed one passport per group, so I was spared having to plead with the guy for a place to sleep. We dropped off our backpacks in our room, and with lighter spirits (and backs) we went off to explore the city once more. Another round of kebabs and some gelato, we stopped to enjoy a street concert, the NZS (Independent Student's Association). They had all these different bands get together to honor some musical movement? I’m not exactly sure about what, but Lauren and I still had a blast jumping around to the music!
Your birthday ended with a bang, Caroline!!
Oct 3
After a very refreshing rest in the hostel, we got to spend another glorious day in Krakow! Mom, be sure to tell Grandpa how much I’ve enjoyed Poland. I love it!! We stopped by the castle once more, since the previous night it was closed. We even attended a church service in the castle, it was so cool. Since we had already seen the city twice, Steph took the group to the Jewish quarters along the outskirts of town. Despite her and Mike’s amazing map reading skills, the quarters were a bit more difficult to find than expected. As always, right as we gave up, we turned the corner and Steph yells out, “Here it is!” The plaque that they had to honor the Jewish community that had lived in these slums had rocks on top of it. Where flowers can die and eventually perish, rocks are a more solid and long lasting representation of remembering someone.
Having an afternoon train ride to get us back to Warsaw, the group headed to the train station to begin our travels back to Klaipėda. After some help from a kind girl we were sitting with on the train, we made it to the correct bus station and waited for our bus. But the tickets were slightly confusing: Lauren and I had our matching tickets for the bus at one time but Steph and Mike had matching tickets for the same bus yet at a different stop. Poor Calvin bought his tickets last, and was forced to get on a completely separate bus from the rest of the group. I got on the bus first to make sure my ISIC card would be accepted. It was and I quickly rushed to my assigned seat and sank in it with a deep sigh of relief. We watched Calvin stand outside for a few minutes until his bus pulled up behind ours. With a quick wave, he confidently walked out of sight towards his bus.
There was a large group of Latinos that were sitting in front of us, laughing and having a grand old time. Normally I wouldn’t have cared at all, but Lauren and I were trying to sleep and it was not easy with the group being so rowdy. Not to mention my mind was constantly trying to translate what they were saying! Plus, the person sitting in front of me had her seat reclined all the way back, making it highly uncomfortable to sleep. Mike (Henry), I am so sorry because now I understand what you go through every time you travel.
Oct 4
Steph, Mike, Lauren and I arrived in Kaunas around 4am and waited for Calvin to arrive about half an hour later. I got a bit silly due to lack of sleep, and was hopping around and walking circles around the pillars, peeking around them back at the group. Only the other three there can fully appreciate the level of shenanigans that was going on with me. As promised, I sat down and began making signs to welcome Calvin back to Kaunas. They read, “Welcome to Kaunas”, “C. RUTH”, “We *crossed out* I love you!” and the last one was a “tulip” since Lauren wanted to buy him a flower. Oh the crazy things I do…
We waited eagerly with our signs to welcome Calvin back home, but he wasn’t getting off the bus. I started mentally freaking out, thinking he wasn’t able to get on the bus, but finally he walked out and over to where we were standing. He had just been woken up by the driver, and sleepily made his way down the aisle. He told us about a slight fiasco that he endured back at the bus station in Warsaw. The bus I had seen Calvin walk towards, was apparently the wrong bus. When he handed the driver his ticket, the driver handed the paper back to him and shook his head. Calvin asked again, “Kaunas?” and pointed to his ticket. And again, the bus driver simply shook his head no. Luckily, a guy who spoke English was standing nearby and pointed Calvin to another bus that had just pulled up. With a glimpse of hope, he walked over, asked the driver, and happily got on the correct bus to Kaunas. Poor Calvin… Thank God we all got home safely!
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