Hi Ho Hi Ho off to work we go!

Monday 

The better part of our Monday was spent in a bus driving to Krakow. These hours are too boring to fully describe... So I won't. 

That afternoon when we eventually got to our destination of lovely Krakow we had a lecture. Exciting day I know, sorry guys. 

Our lecture was on the three most prominent Nazi death camps that were located in Poland during World War II.  It was very depressing and I won't sadden you with retelling it. 

Tuesday

A salty day! We went exploring the famous salt mines located outside Krakow. The tour started off with taking 400 steps to get underground. It got increasingly colder as we went and my ears kept popping. But it was worth it! The mines were way cooler than I thought they'd be. 

Everything was made of crystallized salt. And I mean everything! The floors in some areas were tiled... With salt tiles! 

When the miners were down in these caves they became artists. They sculpted statues, chapels, chandeliers, and much much more. Out of the only thing around, salt. 

Pretending to lick the walls of salt

Salt statues

Once upon a time...

Salt was a very lucrative business. Those who mined it and lived in the town around it were very wealthy. It was even more valuable than gems and gold. More than 1/3 of the royal wealth of Poland once came from these mines. Salt uses to be the only way to have food to keep through winter. It was used to for healing as it kills bacteria. It preserves like crazy, and not just meat. It was once used to help slow the look of aging. This stuff was a one stop shop for Europeans and Poland had the largest supply. 

Giant underground chapel made of salt. Actually used for services

Salt carvings

Salt Chandelier

And do you want to know where the German fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves came from? Salt Mining! I know Disney showed us gems in the movies but it was actually salt they were mining. I mean who now-a-days would think salt valuable? Of course they used gems so little kids would understand! 

Dwarves scene carved out of... you guessed it... Salt

That afternoon we went exploring the inner city of Old Krakow. Gorgeous! Old architecture abounds here since the Germans didn't destroy it. This part of the region technically uses to be part of the German empire and they planned to make it apart of the country again. Hence why they didn't want to destroy it. So glad they didn't because I love adventuring through old streets and studying old architecture.

Clock tower

Weekend Adventures

This past weekend was extremely eventful for me. I ended up scrapped, bruised and at one point lost in Poland. Yikes!

Saturday

We spent the better portion of this day taking a quiz, writing papers, and doing tons of readings. I will say one thing about this Dialogue; we read a ton here. Every person in this Dialogue knew a good deal about WWII and Holocaust history before we arrived, but once we leave we will all be experts on the topic. 

That afternoon, the plan was to do a ropes/obstacle course, and then cook out. The cookout afterwards was a great deal of fun. Students from Warsaw University came to our hotel and we talked and talked and talked. The good thing is we now have contacts in the city that can show us around.

However, the ropes course didn't end well for me... And truthfully many other students. 

The ropes course was going well and was a lot of fun for all of us. We were all joking around and taking pictures while others tried out the training course and then moved on to the actual (very tough) course. I ended all that happiness unfortunately...

I came to a section in which you had to swing on a rope from one platform to another. There was no where to hang on to the rope I.e. a knot in it. If you know me you know I have bad shoulders and there was no way I was holding my weight up. But the guide told me to go. Yeah, that was a bad idea. As predicted, I slid down the rope, and instead of landing on the platform I smacked right in to it. Ouch ouch ouch. And as I hung there the guide told me I had to go back, and do it again. So, I did. The ending was the same needless to say. 

At that point I demanded to be unhooked and let down. My legs were covered in scraps and rapidly swelling bruises, and my fingers were painfully scraped from sliding down the rope. I had to immediately go back inside the hotel and clean everything up and bandage myself. 

Proof... some of my ouchies

Don't worry I am fine. It was just painful, but thankfully I carry around a lot of very strong antibiotics and such to make all this go away at a more rapid pace. 

Sunday

Sunday started off great! We had the day off so we all planned to go into the city. But, first we had to take advantage of the absolutely delicious Brunch that was available at our hotel. Salmon with chanterelles, bacon, fruits of all kinds, crepes, and an unforgettable chocolate fondue fountain.  Yummmmmmm

Buffet!

Fondue

That afternoon we went into the city. We spent the first 2 hours searching for a synagogue.  Two of the girls in our group are Jewish and really wanted to find one in the city. Sadly, the hours were fruitless and we did not find the synagogue. 

Waiting for bus into Warsaw

After that disappointment, we headed to the large mall located in the middle of the city. Some girls needed banks, others restrooms, postcards, some essential articles if clothing, and a pharmacy; all those items could be found in this mall so it seemed a great one stop shop. When we arrived those two girls and the one guy in our little group left us. 

At the mall we all found what we needed and more. I found the Hard Rock! And for the sake of tradition I got another international Hard Rock shirt :) these little babies keep racking up. Love it!

When it came time for dinner the group wanted to stay in the city and go drinking. We had to be out of the hotel extremely early in the morning to drive to Krakow. This did not sound like a good idea to me as we still needed to pack and being hungover for an early wake up calm sounded terrible. So, I decided to make my way home by myself... This starts my second adventure. 

I jumped on the bus to head an hour back to our hotel. The city bus I have to take back ended up changing routes due to traffic and bypassed my area/stop without me knowing as I don't speak the language and didn't understand the announcement. As the stops kept coming up and the time kept passing I started to get antsy. Nothing looked familiar and I was sure I should have already been at my hotel. Eventually, I decided to take a chance. 

I tapped on the shoulder of the girl who looked about my age sitting in front of me. Sadly, she spoke no English, just like everyone else around me. I, thankfully, remembered how to spell the name of the city our hotel is in, accents and all. I pulled out the paper bag my postcards were in and wrote the name on it, showing it to her. She said the name smiled and proceeded to use universal body language to tell me that my stop was passed a VERY long time ago. At the next stop she motioned for me to get off with her and showed me to a different bus stop. She talked and pointed at the signs and schedules on the bus stop wall. I basically understood but thankfully she waited for the bus with me and put me on the one I needed. Thank you kind Polish girl! 

But my tale isn't done yet!!! Once I got on the bus I realized I needed to let the driver know when he should turn off for your stop on this bus. Problem! I had no clue when to turn off. About 3 stops after that another girl walked onto the bus. She had a suitcase and was reading a textbook. I knew two things about this bus, it had my stop in it and it ended in Warsaw. I made the educated guess that she was a university student and went over to her seat at the bus. I hoped I didn't scare her senseless and said, 'excuse me' with the biggest smile I could muster. She answered in English! Thank The Lord. We proceeded to communicate in a conversation partially in English, partially in Polish, and partially in pointing. Again, I was fortunate to find a helpful person who got the driver to pull down the street to my stop and then gave me directions on how to walk from there to my hotel. 

Crisis averted! Thank goodness for my ability to stay calm and figure things out. Also, for my amazing luck finding kind and helpful people. 

Torture and a show

I know I know. My titles are getting increasingly sadistic. I can't promise it won't continue...

Friday

Today, started with a lecture on the Soviet secret police and their torture methods. I know I keep writing the happiest stuff right. 

History lesson coming up, but still super interesting... If your a history buff too. 

Stalin era torture is some of the most graphic and extreme methods of torture perpetuated by a peoples unto another human that most of us have ever been able to gain knowledge of, partially due to the fact this occurred in recent history, and partially because it was so well-documented. The Soviet secret police was not only out for information, but to both physically and mentally break down a population of people. 

Subsequently, the Soviet secret police were distinctive and diverse in their use of torture during their investigations in comparison to past regimes and nations. Contrasting with other investigations undergone throughout history, the Soviet secret police were not only seeking out truth, but forcing someone to admit to crimes they hadn't committed. 

These investigations and torture methods were meant to break a person, completely. With their extreme methods, the Soviet secret police were able to not only break the individual and humiliate them, but were also able to intimidate the entire populace into submission. The fear of these interrogations became so appalling amongst the insurgents that many would even commit suicide ahead of being captured. 

It was known throughout the population that the tortures were exceedingly cruel and slow. To break a person into confessing to a crime the Soviet secret police would not only beat those held prisoner, but subject them to freezing temperatures, starvation, lack of sleep, the risk of disease, lack of sunlight, and multiple devices intended to inflict mass amounts of pain. Throughout these interrogations one was not allowed to pass out as to avoid the pain, in many cases those being tortured were administered shots to keep them alert. The end result was to get each and every one to confess to the crimes that were brought before them and because of the methods used, almost all did confess. Those few who did not confess were more often than not killed or their health was severely affected as to pain them for the rest of their shortened lives. The central theme and intention of these interrogations and mistreatment of the populace was to terrorize and to assert dominance by the invading army.

The most interesting fact about the Soviet police was that they understood all the ethnic cultures they encountered and systematically broke the populace. For instance, in areas of the Ukraine bodies were desecrated after death and put on display in the city center. People were made to pass by it everyday and if you reacted the Soviet's then realized you knew the person and you were taken away as well. Whereas, in Islamic cultures, after tortures men were shot in the back of the head and then dressed in military gear and arms so as not to insight extreme violence from the population. 

The afternoon was filled with the rather long movie The Pianist. While long it is a great movie, very well done, and I recommend it to everyone.  Just be prepared to spend the whole movie depressed. 

It is based off of the book The Pianist, an autobiography. It is the true story of a Jewish man who lived in Warsaw throughout the war. I don't need to tell you what he went through. I have a feeling as we are heavily educated in Holocaust history during the war you have some idea. 

Side-note: If you do decide to read the book I have some great music list ideas I can give you while you read it. My iPod seemed to know what I was reading and provided the perfect background music for the moods of the book. 

I Saw an Uprising and Went to Prison

The day started off early as we had a jam packed plan of tours in Warsaw. By public bus (a harrowing way to make it into town) the trip into Warsaw takes about an hour, so we always have to factor that into our schedule. 

Outside the prison

The day was to start with a tour of a former KGB prison. Here is the catch... It's still the working prison in Warsaw. This happens to be one of the most notorious prison for prisoners of war and as such was a must for our study of WW2 history. While there we were supposed to only get a history lesson and see the historical portions of the prison. While we did get to view the cells of the former KGB prisoners and the old torture cells, we were also given tours of the ACTUAL prison. 

Prison basement (torture area)

Stepping inside those former (we hope) torture rooms was already an our of body experience. The mood in the room dropped by more than half and everyone became quiet. There is no describing the feeling you get when stepping between those walls. It's as if you can feel the horror that fills them. 

To find ourselves next surrounded by inmates just caused everyone's hearts to fall into their stomachs. Poland is one of the societies that believes in rehabilitation. This is in part due to their tragic past in which people were persecuted for no proven reason. As such the prisoners are basically allowed free reign and are not hand cuffed! They go through therapy lessons, are able to go out to take classes in the University, and even obtain jobs on the outside. The guards joked that some of the prisoners actually made more money than them... Just crazy. However, since the inmates are roaming the grounds that means we were given extremely close contact with them. I think I stopped breathing at points!

 I know I should not overly judge these individuals and that I'm surrounded daily by dangerous individuals, but sorry I couldn't help that paranoid panicky feeling.  

metro

After the prison tour we had an hour to grab some lunch and take our mug shots for our bus passes. Basically to get a monthly bus/train/metro card in Poland you have to provide a passport photo. But the thing is none if ours were acceptable because for these the focus of your picture has to be the left side of your face. We all found out that this is not our good side haha. 

The afternoon was filled with the Warsaw Uprising Museum. 

Ticket to museum

Many people combine or confuse the two uprisings that occurred within Warsaw. There was the Ghetto uprising that was done by the Jews and then there was the city wide uprising undertaken by those outside the ghetto walls. 

I became aware of the strength of those people who lived in Warsaw during this trip to the Warsaw Uprising Museum. During our lectures and readings there were mentions of the trials the people had to endure and the ways they were able to survive. The imagination is only so strong when there are no sensory elements to use, and when you've never experienced some of these things it is hard to even comprehend such torture. It was when I was crawling through those reconstructed sewers within the museum that I came to realize the extremes a person will go to; to survive. In those small dark tunnels with the noises of the sewers playing I started to panic and my breathing became erratic even though I was in no real danger. At those moments, I began to imagine what it must have been like to have been starving, tired, scared and then forced to crawl through tunnels full of filth and bodies. I know there is no way I could ever truly understand, but in those moments my pride in being Polish was not just in their abilities to rebuild themselves but in their abilities to conquer their surroundings.

There are many debates now-a-days as to whether the people in Warsaw should have fought back. If maybe they didn't fight they could have survived longer. I completely disagree with that viewpoint. As part of the museum we got to see the death certificates written of people found in a mass grave in one part of the city.  Hitler had given the order that 100% of the city and people within be destroyed. Within a day 60,000 men, women, and children had been murdered. The people of Warsaw chose to fight back and survive. It is the same decision I would have made in those circumstances. I don't know anyone who would just lie down and be exterminated.

Another part of the tour showed an birds eye view of what the city looked like after the Soviets forced the Germans to leave.  It's hard to imagine a city that used to be considered on par with Paris and St.Petersburg reduced to rubble - 85% destroyed. In parts of the city today the remains were just pushed into hills and built over. Before the war 1.3 million people lived in Warsaw by the end only 1,000 people remained. The city is a living graveyard, and it very inspiring to me that the people of Poland decided to rebuild in it. 

Needless to say this day was nonstop emotions and extremely hard for me to come to terms with, nevertheless fully express to others. 

Fun in Warsaw

Pictures credited to Professor Burds and his mad photography skills...

Dialogue students outside the gates to Warsaw University

In a presentation room inside the History Department of Warsaw University with our Host the Department Head Dr. Dariusz Kolodziejczy

Public Gardens located atop Warsaw University Library

Sneak attack picture! I almost managed to smile in time.

Graffiti must be obeyed!

The 'Dead Drop' perpetrator with the bag in question strapped to his front... 

Our resident Hooligans :)

The group touring 'Old Warsaw'. Isn't it beautiful? 

Witamy w Polsce! (Welcome to Poland!)

Two Dialogues in one summer what was I thinking?! When I got back from Spain I was supremely burnt out, but after two weeks at home I was able to recuperate a bit. Thank goodness because this Dialogue to Poland is shaping up to be quite a doozy.

Sunday/Monday

Ready to go!

It's officially our second day in Poland, but we actually left the States on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say it was a very long day-ish of traveling. We flew out of Boston at 4:30pm and landed in our connection in Frankfurt around 5am their time and left on our last leg of the journey at 7am, getting to Warsaw at 9am.









Even though the flights were long and I am notorious for being unable to sleep on planes it really wasn't all that bad. We flew Lufhansa and those Germans do it right when it comes to flying, the seats were pretty comfortable, the array of entertainment choices were superb, and the food served was excellent. As most of you know the food, if their is some served on your flight, usually sucks so its awesome when you actually can enjoy it. :)

We got picked up from the airport in a snazzy little Mercedes-Benz bus with bright orange interior, that we have delightfully named the Party Bus for its coloring.

What we didn't realize is that the hotel we are staying in is an hour outside of the city. This fact was a little bit of a bummer, but it means we are staying at an extremely nice hotel. In fact, today (Wednesday) we came down to breakfast and found out our lobby was taken over by a film crew for the most popular sitcom in Poland, and apparently a famous Polish rock star is staying here as well since he was being interviewed on the back patio. Hope they like have American extras...

The rest of that first day in Poland we spent touring the grounds of the hotel, in a lecture, and finally some naps and dinner. Nothing too exciting just jet lag

Tuesday

The next day was an early morning for us all, legitimately and just physically feeling it. Since we had an hour ride ahead of us we had to be out of the hotel early to get to our appointment at Warsaw University. Our first stop of the day was a lecture in one of the University classrooms given by the head of the History department there. Don't ask me to pronounce or spell his name, it would just be disastrous. I have definitely not conquered this language yet, sorry. He gave us a 'brief' (2 hour) overview of the history of Poland leading up to World War II. He heard that we are only here to learn about WWII history and he was appalled since his area of study is ancient history and insisted we needed this lecture. It actually turned out to be pretty interesting since I didn't know beforehand most of what he taught. Did anyone else not know that Poland didn't really exist until the 20th century?? Even at Ellis Island people from this region didn't register as Poles, but as Prussians or Austrians. It wasn't till they arrived in America that they realized they were Polish... Surprise!

Our Classroom :)

Afterwards he gave us a tour of the campus which is located in Old Warsaw on the 'Royal Street'. Meaning that way back when this was where all the royals built their palaces since it is right on the river, amazing views and a breeze is exactly what the princess ordered.

Gate to Warsaw University

We ended up finding one of their conference rooms where speakers come to give talks to the students of the History Department. And guess what?! It was a room full of columns and replicas of Greek and Roman sculptures. Can someone tell me why this doesn't exist at Northeastern??!! Curry Ballroom is looking sad now.

OH and to top it all off guess what stands in the middle of campus? Just Guess. If you said Palace you guessed right! Yep a palace exists on the grounds of Warsaw University. With a grand staircase and gold inlaid rooms and all. Here is a picture of me chilling in the middle of campus on a fancy sofa for student use. It currently serves as the regent's palace/home, and we think President Auon gets too many perks.

We asked about tuition here in Poland and especially for this particular university since it is gorgeous. You're not going to believe me but I'll tell you anyway. Back during Communism only 30,000 students attended and you had to pass an exam to get in, if you passed you got education for free. Nowadays 30,000 students who score the highest still get to go for free, but another 30,000 can go if they would like to pay. Right now you're thinking oh dear their expenses must be so high to have to pay for the other half of the students... well its not the United States, so nope. The Professor informed us that the highest tuition was for the law school and that was only $3,000 per year. I think I may be moving to Warsaw, sorry folks.

After the Palace he took us to the University library, again Northeastern gets trumped. A mass majority of this library is actually underground. And why you may ask. Well, because on top of it are public gardens. Trees, fruits, flowers, and veggies grow right above a library and in certain spots there are windows looking down into the library providing natural lighting. Wicked cool, I must say.

Destroyed Warsaw, Poland

After the Library we took a walk around Old Warsaw. Which just blows my mind. After WWII 85% of Warsaw was completely and utterly destroyed. The people of Warsaw afterwards actually decided to rebuild parts of the city as they were beforehand with their Baroque cathedrals and Greek influenced buildings and so on. Why haven't other cities and countries done this? The Polish people have so much pride in their history and past they don't want to forget it so they recreate its magnificence. I mean last summer in Bosnia-Herzegovina we had tours of the city and they had decided to keep some of the damage so they would never forget the horrors. In comparison to the Polish reaction I find that just silly, why focus on the terrible parts of your past instead of the good?

After tours we grabbed a late lunch in an outside cafe. Yummmmm cheap good beer and WAY too many pierogies to finish. Living the life!

Lunch!

We ended up taking the public bus back and boy was that an experience. Standing for an hour in a giant sardine can with no airflow, not okay. Needless to say it was sticky and gross and smelled horrible. On top of it all the bus driver was insane. Quick stops and NASCAR starts, meaning everyone was constantly being thrown around. And you had to run on and off that bus because it was all rolling stops and running starts. Obviously a vodka shopping trip by the whole group was needed after that adventure. When in Poland right!

Wednesday

Since we spent all day in Warsaw yesterday, today was lecture day. We were supposed to have a lecture yesterday evening but that didn't pan out. Too exhausted.

Today started out with another uber delicious breakfast served by our hotel. Must say all our meals here are pretty awesome.

Professor Burds giving his lecture

Our first lecture was given by Professor Burds, our Dialogue leader from Northeastern. He gave a recap of yesterdays lecture from the department head of Warsaw University and then expanded into what our Dialogue is actually focused on... World War II.

Comic during war

Basically we are learning every side of every issue that faced Poland during this time. But there is some historical background we need to know before we can truly understand what people were thinking.

After Burds' lecture we had a guest lecturer who is an expert in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This lecture was a bit depressing but very informative and interesting overall. It got a little awkward in the end during question time when both Professor Burds and another student asked about things that were published within the past 10 years that he didn't know about. And in some cases refuted the information he was currently aware of...oops!

aahhhhhh :)

The rest of the day the group has been spending reading our assignments. Since by tomorrow we have 54 page reading to finish on the KGB prisons. And an entire book to read by Friday :( yikes


Keep reading for the rest of the trip! Tomorrow we are visiting Rakowiecka Prison, a KGB prison that is still in working use today. dun dun dunnnnn. We have to dress appropriately so as not to insight issues with the prisoners we may run across, super creepy.