Two Weeks In!

Cześć!

I have been in Poland for two weeks already and I realize I haven't updated my blog. It's not because I don't want to, just that I'm so busy! I think of things to add all the time and my blog enteries would take hours to read if I put everything in, but I'll try to touch on most things! Lets start at the beginning -

I left St. Paul/Minneapolis on Aug 13th at about 11:12am. It was an emotional morning, but once I got on my first plane I felt better because I knew the adventure was about to begin! All my flights went well - were on time, smooth and I didn't miss any connections. I slept through most of my flights (luckily for me I inherited Dad's ability to sleep anywhere!) I flew to Newark, NJ and then to Munich, Germany. From the moment I stepped into Munich's airport it was clear that I had arrived in Europe. The airport was sleek, white, modern, space stationish and had special rooms for smokers. It was nothing like the Minneapolis airport! From Munich I flew to Warsaw, the capital of Poland. I was not nervous until the plane landed, more exhausted, but upon landing I had butterflies in my stomach! It turned out wonderfully though! My luggage arrived in fine condition and my host family was waiting for me with a sign. After giving me a big hugs, they shuttled me off to their car for the ride to Kielce.

The first few days I spent in Kielce were fast. The night I arrived we had supper, I unpacked, went for a tour of central Kielce and went to bed. I was lucky that I didn't suffer from any jetlag - I have been sleeping well from the begining! The next day I went to church in the Kielce cathedral, had dinner with the family, watched a movie with my host sister and after the rain stopped, we went for a walk around Kielce. Kielce is a beautiful city and I'm lucky enough to live about a 10 minute walk from the center. There is a beautiful old street full of shops and resturants and a couple of parks with a pond that hosts swans. My family took me to the top of a hill and from there I had a great view of the city. It is nestled in rolling mountains covered in pine trees. I can't wait to explore it more!

On August 18th I left Kielce with my host sister, her cousin and the two other exchange students (Sarah and Gerrado) living in Kielce. We took the train to Kraków where Sarah, Gerrado and I met up with all the exchange students in Poland. The train is great! You can get almost everywhere and it is extremely cheap, especially for students! My ticket from Kraków to Kielce (the ride back) was only 14 złoty (about 4 dollars!)

For the next 10 days I lived in Piekary, a suburb of Kraków, at a bording school that served as our home for the Rotary sponsored language camp. The camp was wonderful! There were 30 other exchange students and we got to know each other so well. There were exchangers from USA, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Tiwan and rebound Polish exchange students. Getting to know everyone and all the laughs and times we shared was the most incredible thing. I'm so grateful to know them all.

Besides getting to know all the other exchangers, I had 4 hours of Polish class each day. Class was very helpful, though I am no where close to being able to speak or understand everything in Polish, it is a ridicously hard language. However, I can understand a lot more and am able to pronounce things. I know more vocab and how to congugate present tense verbs. I am hoping to be able to continue taking Polish class here in Kielce.

In the afternoons we embarked upon cultural excursions. We went to Zakopane, Stare Miasto Kraków, the salt mine in Wieliczka, the largest mall in Poland, and the Tyniec Monastery. Each trip was wonderful and special in it's own way. The Tyniec Monastery is the oldest Monastery in Poland, first inhabited in 1044. It sits over the Tyniec river and I could see it from my bedroom window at the language camp. It is a Benedictian Monastery and about 40 monks live there. One of the monks gave us a short tour, as most of the Monastery is off limits to non-monks. The most incredible moment occured when our tourguide monk sang Gregorian chant for us. We were sitting in this medieval monastery church and his voice filled the building, powerful and mournful. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.

Old Town Kraków is rumored to be one of the prettiest places in Europe. It was gorgeous. We were lucky enough to go twice, once on a tour and the second to wander by ourselves. I got to see and hear the Kraków trumpeter play his tune from St. Mary's Church (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trumpeter_of_Krakow - check out this link to learn about the story of the trumpeter!). I wandered around the rynek (market square), watched traditional musicians and ate some amazing ice cream! We toured the Wawel Castle, walked through Krakow's dragon cave and just looked in awe at the sights. I would love to go back because there is so much more to see and do!

Zakopane is located in the very southmost of Poland, about 20 miles from Slovakia. It is a popular tourist destination in both the summer (hiking) and in the winter (skiing). It is absolutely beautiful. Zakopane is located in the Tatra Mountains, the highest mountains in central Europe. We took a tram to the top of one lookout and then went to the Tatra National Park where we hiked aways. We followed a playful river, winding through deep gorges. Towards the beginning flocks of sheep grazed next to the trail. It was wonderful! We also attended church in Zakopane. The Zakopane region is known for wooden buildings and this church was a fine example. It was up on a hill and the mass was said outside, conducted from the side of the church. The area surrounding the altar was covered in flowers, it very pretty and fit the natural mountain feel of the area. Unfortunately, due to the amount of people visiting Zakopane, it was the last weekend before summer ended, we got stuck in traffic on the way home and it took about 5 hours to get back to school... But some great memories were made on the bus ride home!

So after a wonderful 10 days I arrived back to Kielce on Saturday night. It feels good to be back with my host family and settling into a routine, though I miss all the other exchangers. Last night Sarah's host parents invited Gerrado, Ola and me to the opening concert at Kielce's new ampitheater. It was a lot of fun! However, the temperature dropped significantly and by the end of the concert I could see my breath and was frozen solid.... I wasn't prepared for freezing temperatures in August! : )

I start school Wednesday, so I'll let you know how it goes!

Mariah

PS - Pictures will be uploaded soon, I promise!!