Here's the standing ovation part! Or the Epilogue.

Hooray I'm back with the family in the US of A!! You never can really grasp how much you appreciate it until you spend 6 weeks out of it. Even when I made it to Atlanta I was so excited to be the one that understood everyone and not the other way around! But if you can believe it, I had an adventure just getting home!
At 6am on Thursday I was picked up by an airport shuttle. I was the only one with the guy because the person I was supposed to go with decided to get a later shuttle since his flight didn't leave until almost 10am. S we are driving and the cobblestone roads are putting up a fight! I love cobblestone roads but they are MISERABLE for traveling on. I feel like I got my brains knocked a little loose. Anywho, we get to the airport and the driver goes around to get out my bags. Now mind you, I had fragile things in my smaller suitcase because who knows what could happen if I put it in my checked luggage. So this fragile bag had my computer and some souvenirs for my people. The driver opens the door and my bag falls the ground- the fragile one. I almost had a fit. And what's worse is that he BROKE the bag so it only had one of the little stands so it was lopsided and couldn't stand on its own. UGH! So he says he THINKS that my flight is in Terminal 1. Excuse me? What do you mean you THINK! Luckily it was in there or I would have dropped Fragile and womped on him. I find my gate and all that jazz and I get really excited because I knew I was on my way home. I even got to sit by myself in my row of seats because our flight wasn't full! But that's where the trouble started.
I looked at my watch and realized that it was 10:45 and my next plane left at 11:20 and we were still in the air. Not even making our descent in to Dublin! So I pushed my little call button and the flight attendant came and just stared at me. I was like I'm going to miss my flight because we aren't going to get there until 11:15 and it leaves at 11:20. She continued to stare and I asked her what I could do about it. Then she says to me like I'm so sort of idiot, we are now an hour behind, it's only 9:45 their time. Ok fine but I didn't realize that! I felt stupid but she didn't have to look at me like I was! So then it was the worst landing of my plane experiences. We were teetering back and forth from wing to wing all the way to the ground and we bounced so hard when we hit... I thought I was going to be really ill. I rushed to customs- they had 2 lines open and there were a large number of Non EU people there- including myself! In retrospect, I realize the guy that stamped my passport when I got to Ireland was the same guy who stamped it when I was leaving it. Weird. Anywho, I got stamped and rushed to my gate where I realize, in horror, that the plane that was supposed to leave before mine at 9:30 still hadn't left yet. So it was like 11:30 and I was so LE MIZ!! So then I hear my voice paged over the intercom to go to the desk- Ok happy to get away from the screaming children. I was secretly hoping they weren't on my flight. I get to the desk and I don't even really know what they were talking about- something about not having an actual ticket and just having an e-ticket- I don't know. But I asked the lady if, since we would be leaving considerably later, if I would miss my connecting flight in Atlanta. She said no but that she could put me on a later flight if I wanted to be sure- NO THANKS. So we finally get gone from Ireland and it turns out, we already were made to go through U.S. Customs in Ireland before we even left so we wouldn't have to do it when we got to the US.
The flight from Dublin to Atlanta wasn't so bad. I sat next to someone who didn't speak and only had to get up once. The food was actually pretty delish! I was able to watch 3 complete films and a couple of episodes of TV. It was really a pleasant flight and much shorter than the one that took me there. So I arrived in ATL, I normally complain about the heat but when I felt the warmth as soon as I got off the plane I was so excited because I knew I was home, and I had to go get my luggage from the baggage claim and take it over to have it RECHECKED to go back on my plane. I thought this was the most assinine thing ever! Not to mention that now I had TWO broken bags because either the Czech people or the Irish people broke near the top of my big bag so the handle to roll it came out like 2 inches... more LE MIZ! Imagine my frustration. So I recheck my stupid bag and get lost trying to find my gate but I had time because we landed at 4:30 and weren't supposed to leave until 5:50, so I was good. I get to the gate and get in line to board the plane and when my boarding pass is scanned it makes this terrible beeping sound- Oh crap. It turns out that even though I had told the happy ladies in Dublin NOT to change my flight, they did that anyway and I was put on a flight leaving at 6:50! UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH! That's exactly how I felt. These are the times when I wish I had the super power of Teleporting- just like Kurt from X-Men 2.
I sat in the corner and pouted. I spent $1 on a 2 minute phone to tell Parker to tell mom that I was going to be late. I saw people I knew from my trip and I didn't even try to get their attention. I was ready to be done. Finally it was our turn to leave and everything was going better or so it seemed. I got on the plane and it was all fine and dandy until this family with 2 small children sat next to me. They were a cute family, going to Disney World to see the princesses, you know the type. The youngest girl could not have been older than 3 or 4 and she proceeded to scream for long periods of time, although intermittantly, the entire 1 hour and 5 minutes of our trip. And what did the parents do? Shhh please sweetie don't do that. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!!? Take their ass to the bathroom and have a good talking to about how you behave on the plane or there will be NO PRINCESSES!! That's just me. I would have done it for them. However, they let me go in front of them to get off the plane. This was bliss for me. I strongly resisted the urge to through myself on to the ground but I didn't. I took the happy tram to the main terminal and I swear it couldn't get there fast enough! I saw Mom and Jay on the other side of the glass and it was just amazing happiness. When I got to the end of the corridor though, leaning up against the giant planter was PARKER!!! I was so excited! He tricked me but it was the best trick EVER!!
We got my bag, which was already waiting at the baggage claim- SWEET! And we left. We went to Chick-Fil-A which was pure happiness and then came home. That's all and it was amazing. So now I will go see Dad and Grace (yay) and start my life back over again in Tallacrappy.

Hope you enjoyed my adventures! Thanks for reading them!

Leaving on a jetplane... Tomorrow!

So this is the end of my trip.  First of all it could not have been as much fun and full of amazing adventures without my group of friends, but mostly, my roommate Lindsay Alma Meadows.  I feel that I have gained a friend for life in her.  We are so similar that it's almost scary, but not too bad.  And so, this trip couldn't have been as fantastic without her here with me.  I got lucky, we both did, in the roommate match up.  I feel like Julie might feel about me... as if Lindsay were my younger sister and we are almost the same person... crazy!  Sarcastic, kind of mean, and always fun!

As far as the trip goes, there are hardly words to describe it.  Everyone at orientation said that this would be the best trip of my life and they were so right.  An amazing experience that I can certainly never forget.  There were so many things that I experienced and that I learned that I can hardly contain it all or put it in words.  The culture, the history, the lifestyle.  If you can only go to one place in Europe, Prague is a place I would recommend to everyone, even though some asshole stole my bag.  I can't be too mad because I'm sure it was someone who needed the money in it more than I did, but it was an inconvenience to say the least.  But this still doesn't make me feel any different about Prague.  And Munich isn't bad either. 

I think one of the most important things that I will take with me from this trip, if not THE most important, is the necessity of preserving history so that it does not repeat itself.  I truly believe that it is imperative to keep learning about what happened before us so that we can learn from mistakes.  Even if nations around the world do not choose to heed the warnings from history, it is very critical that people take the time to learn anyway.  

For a less intellectual point of view, I loved my trip!  My friends were awesome almost all of the time, except those times that I vented about them.  This last night we went on a dinner cruise with the whole group up and down the river (I can't remember the name of it right now) and it was so cool!  The food was pretty delicious compared to some of the things they have tried to feed us.  We took fantastic friend pictures and just had a generally good time.  It was a little bit bittersweet but to know that we will see each other, some of us in a week, others when school starts... it's no problem!  I love my friends, even if they have annoying qualities that make it hard to be with them sometimes.  I'm so happy that I was able to make this trip!  I'm starting to get teary while I'm writing this so I will have to end it soon.  

One final thing, despite the incredible amount of work that was piled on us in such a short amount of time, I am glad that I was able to study under the professors on this trip.  They seriously need to rethink what they expect from us in a 6 week period.  I didn't have this much work in a normal semester of grad school so I felt bad for the kids who just finished their freshman year at college.  However, we were able to finish even if there are those who didn't do an amazing job, at least we are done.  

And so my friends and my family, my avid readers, I leave you with those final thoughts on my trip and my final blog.  Should you have any questions or if you would like to get a CD with my pictures on it, please let me know!  This is the last time.

i'm done

Finito.  Finished.  It's all over for me with the schoolwork.  And I feel amazing.  Even though I would rather be home feeling amazing, but the point is that I feel great after finishing all of my work.  And the bonus is that my paper isn't total crap, mostly.  So today I have nothing to do.  Or more importantly, I have nothing that I HAVE to do and no plans that will constrict what I do today.  This is amazing.  I read a book for pleasure last night and almost didn't know what to do with myself.  It was a very foreign feeling since I am usually always reading one at home.  It felt nice.  Tomorrow my plan is to leave you with my final thoughts on my experience of the trip.  Until next time...

Schoolwork... Bah!

So here we are at the institute in Prague working diligently (only some people, but me of course!) on our final papers for this class.  I'm very annoyed with it because I just want to be done with this!  AH!  I'm jealous of my friend Ryan because he got to leave today, under extenuating circumstances of course, but still!  I'm so ready to be home.  I will definitely be bored these last few days because I will have finished with my paper but don't have money to do anything.  And it's supposed to be raining the rest of the week.  It's cold rain.  Perhaps I will watch the movies that I stole from my friend's computer.  Anyway, there is nothing too interesting going on in my life right now except that I'm trying to finish this dang paper.  Boo.  Until next time...

Happy Father's Day to all of you Fathers!

We are back in Prague fighting out our last days.  Fighting is the correct word because we are dragging to finish our papers and our journals and our professors keep adding new crap in... UGH!  We don't have time for this ish and that's what these final days in Prague are supposed to be for.  I cannot express my anger in words because I'm that irate.  I don't need their help!  If I wanted help, I would go to them individually and ask for it.  I do not wish to get together in a group with people who don't even have topics near to mine and 'discuss' my paper.  For what? I know what I'm doing and don't want to listen to anyone else's paper topics.  GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.  Only 4 more nights and 3 days.  Thank goodness.

Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II- Birkenau

Yesterday was something I wasn't sure how I would handle.  We went to the Auschwitz camps.  What many people don't know, including myself before yesterday, is that Auschwitz was really two camps.  There was Auschwitz I, which was the original camp that the Nazis took over that had been used previously by the Polish army.  Then when it got too big they made an even larger camp called Auschwitz II- Birkenau.  It was a total of 440 acres and the sheer size of it was just breathtaking and I was speechless.  At the first Auschwitz camp, we saw several buildings that were the original buildins on the outside but restored on the inside to serve as space for the exhibits.  Only one building remained completely original inside and out and that was what the prisoners there called the 'Prison inside the Prison'.  This is where they had special cells that served specific purposes of torturing prisoners who misbehaved and they wanted to teach a lesson.  There were suffocation cells that had no windows or cracks for air so they would just die.  There were starvation cells and also standing cells where prisoners were made to stand with several other prisoners for days on end without food or windows and would die from exhaustion of having to stand all the time.  These cells were still in tact and visible.  There was the square where they held roll call and if even one prisoner was absent, either from escaping or from dying during work duty, the prisoners were made to stay there until the missing prisoner was found.  The longest roll call lasted 19 hours.  They even performed this in the freezing cold of winter while the SS guard had a small guard booth to sit in.  We saw the hair that was cut off of the prisoners before they were gassed, found by the Soviet Red Army, and even though it was behind a glass wall it still smelled terrible.  We saw the shoes, the glasses, the suitcases, and several other personal items of the victims taken there.  We saw the gas chamber and the crematorium, which were both enormous and enough to make you sick.  

We then took our bus over to the second Auschwitz camp- Birkenau.  As I said before, there are no words to describe the massiveness of this place.  There were only a few buildings remaining of the originals but what was very eerie was that most of the wooden barracks had collapsed over time and the only thing that remained standing were the brick chimneys used to heat the barracks.  The train tracks led from outside the camp, through the 'Gate of Death' and all the way to the end where the gas chambers and the crematoriums stood.  In their haste to leave, the Nazis tried to destroy the crematoriums and gas chambers but only did a half-ass job and so there are still enormous chunks of the buildings still in place today.  The most sickening part is the stairs that the prisoners were made to take down in to the chambers to die.  There isn't really one word to describe this experience.  But I leave you with a question... What do you think 'the Holocaust' means?  Until next time...

Old City Krakow and Kazimierz

First thing today we had our final book presentation... woo hoo!  It was about the post-communism period and the aftereffects of that time period.  We then went on a tour of the old Jewish city of Kazimierz which used to be its own city set up by a king (I can't remember his name) because all the stuff the Jews were selling was cheaper than the merchants inside the town  so they were sent away. Then when Krakow got too big they absorbed in Kazimeirz into the city and was just the Jewish part of the town.  There are a total of 8 synagogues and 8 churches in the city of Krakow but there are only 3 synagogues that are being used.  All of them are the originals because they were spared by the Nazis so nothing is damaged from war, only from time.  It was really cool to see all the old Jewish things that were still in tact from when part of Krakow was the ghetto.

We walked around some more and went to the archbishop's house/palace, which is where Pope John Paul II lived.  Did you know that he was from Krakow??  It's true!  We saw the cathedral where he gave his first mass and the oldest university in Poland, which is where he studied.  We walked to the Wawel Castle which is a major historical place for the Polish because when Krakow used to be the capital, it was where the royal family lived and of course, where Pope JPII gave his first mass.  All of these things were so interesting to see, however, whoever the moron is that planned this trip... I would like to SMACK upside their head because they ALWAYS plan these tours at lunch time!!!! ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So since these are mostly walking tours, we are weak and starved the entire time we are walking around.  And I thought this trip was focusing on human rights... BAH!  

At 2:30 we finally made it back to the city center where we were last night and we got to get up close to this fantastic statue called the "Head of the Blind Lover", I believe.  It's so interesting to see.  And you can climb in it and take a picture from the inside out.  I was too dang hungry to do this so I just took a photo instead.  We finally got to eat lunch at this place called "Sioux", yes as in the Indian tribe and my lunch was called Aerial Flight of the Steppe Eagle.  No lie.  It was grilled chicken with french fries but it was delish!  Another name was Indian Woman's Ecstasy on a Cactus in Cherry Marinade!  It was chicken on kebab sticks.  Needless to say, all of the names were like this.  It was really funny.  After we got done eating, Lindsay (my roommate) and I decided that we didn't really want to stick around and shop because we felt like crap.  So, even though I felt bad about saying it but it needed to be said, I told the group of people we usually hang with that we have to cut the umbilical cord sometime and that it would be ok if we left without them.  It turned out ok for them because I saw them later on.  Linz and I took a taxi- NOTE TO SELF AND EVERYONE ELSE- Don't take a taxi in Poland.   Just believe me and don't do it.  After we got back to the hotel, I took a major nap.  Then we had to watch Schindler's List, which I have never seen before and so it was pretty depressing.  And to top that off, we go to Auschwitz tomorrow and it's supposed to be pouring down rain.  How amazing.  Until next time...