Kromeriz

Today I traveled to the town of Kromeriz in the Czech Republic! It was a lot of fun and I have some great stories to share!!

Stat

So I might have already informed you of this, but the Czech Republic is the number one beer-drinking country in the world. The average person consumes 161 litres of beer annually! I am happy to report that I am contributing nicely to maintain their status! When In Rome! :)

Tram Party

So this wasn't exactly the safest place for a party, but it was most definitely a good time! The International Student Club from Masaryk rented out three trams last night and brought A LOT of booze for everyone! It was a great time! The funniest part was the crazy looks I was getting from people! At one point I had someone come up to me and inform me that my Czech beer probably wasn't the best thing for the baby. I told them I was drinking for two these days! The subject was dropped.. haha* I'm inappropriate.. :) Anyways, we went to a club in town, Livingstone, afterwards where the DJ played hot hits like "You're the one that I want" (from Grease) and "Time of my life" from Dirty dancing.. All in all, it proved to be a great night!! I am enjoying my time here in the Czech Republic!! :)- **PS- pic one is of me, my tram pass, and my booze....pic two is of some friends on the tram... pic three is of Rach and I at the club....**

Sunsets......

I am OBSESSED with the sunset that was on the way home from Poland! It was s0o0o0o0o beautiful! I took about twenty pictures of it.. here are two.. :)

Sharing

I hate to share. I grew up with a Dad who wanted to buy my sister and I two of everything so that he didn't have to hear us fight about it later. I blame him. :) I will repeat it, I HATE TO SHARE. This trip has made me share. I always share hand sanitizer, but I think that is because I don't want other people getting me sick. I love sharing food and I think it is a great thing to do in a foreign place. I remember in middle school, I used to intentionally buy the small packs of gum because you are just supposed to share gum with anyone and everyone around you when you get it out. Why is that? Why does everyone feel obligated to ask everyone around them if they want a piece of gum when they get it out? Can't you get your own? It's really not that expensive! I guess I associate sharing with preparation. If you need something from me, that means that you were not prepared enough to have it yourself. I promise I am getting better about it... Sharing ability is definitely one of the large changes I will bring home from this trip.... But I still buy the little packs of gum... haha*

Krakow Krew

Krakow was a beautiful city! I fell in love with the square as soon as I saw it! This picture is of our group in front of the fortress that used to protect the city. There also was a wall around the city for protection. All those little holes/windows in the fortress had little men holding guns or bows and arrows or tridents or something to protect the city. I didn't ask, but, what if the enemy just came to the other side of Krakow? Did they think of that? hmmmmmm

An excessive amount of salt....

On Sunday morning, we left for the Wieliezka Salt Mine, which is about 30 minutes from Krakow. Salt was the source of Poland's wealth back in the day and we visited a mine that had been excavated for 900 years! That is A LOT of salt! It was essentially an underground city! Nearly one MILLION people visit the salt mines annually and our group of sixty added to that statistic on Sunday.... I got about four different things out of the experience:

1) Horses were used for horizontal and vertical movement of the mines. The last horse that was operating in the mines was only done with his duty SIX years ago! Doesn't that seem archaeic? There are totally electronic machines that work wonders these days! The guide assured us that the horses were treated kindly and emphasized their importance to the mines, which are now done being excavated.

2) The largest undergound chapel (Chapel of St. Kinga) is in the mine. It is situated 101 meters under the ground. What's that? Like three football fields right? The chapel costs 1700 PLN to rent for your wedding. That is $7,000! Yikers! That price better come with a toilet made out of solid gold as a wedding gift! Sheesh!

3) We were stuck in that thing. At the end of the tour, our guide gave us "ten minutes to do what we wanted, and then he would meet us at the elevator." WE COULDN'T LEAVE UNTIL HE DID! We had seen all the mine! What did he want us to do? Oh yeah, there were a lot of conveniently placed souvenir shops 101 meters under the ground. So, really, "doing what we wanted" translated to: BUY SOME SOUVENIRS and when you have bought a sufficient amount, I will allow you to get on the elevator. So I bought some salt and got in line for, quite possibly, the scariest, most crowded elevator ride of my life.

4) It was real salt. Remember those posts that I said I was five years old? I just HAD TO KNOW. Was this a tourist trap that was all set up? Or was this REAL SALT... Turns out, I know at least the walls were salty.... :)

Nothing says Polish food like.....

So on Saturday night in Krakow, Brandon, Becky, and Rachel all wanted Mexican food....terribly.... So we went to this restaurant on the main square. They were so0o0o0o happy to be there! The restaurant was really cute and our group got a little 'cabana' to sit in. We ordered nachos and cheese that looked pretty authentic. Let's just say the Mexican restaurant ending up being EVERYTHING we dreamed a POLISH MEXICAN RESTAURANT would be! :) haha* That reminds me of a story I never told because we were a little embarassed about.... In Spain, we went out the first night for dinner. ((At like nine at night....hahaha*)) Anyway, we asked for Chips and Salsa.....Our Waiter's reaction was great... That's Mexico you halfwits! Opps... Our bad.... haha* After Polish Mexican, they wanted McFlurrys. Nothing says Poland like Mexican and McDonalds...

So we went for a McFlurry... This brings me to another point. There was ONE size of McFlurry there.... And it wouldn't even have been a SMALL in America! It was about half the size of a small! haha* Let me also add that Marko thought it was completely bizarre that we were going out to eat after we just ate... The American Way, he said... :) We returned to the hostel for an INTENSE game of Kemps... haha* I'm pretty sure Marko and Tina (Both from Slovenia) were cheating.... :) Or maybe Brandon and I are just THAT terrible at the card game....

HUGE DECISION

s0o0o0o0o0o Mark and I have been talking about the beginning of the rest of our lives together... Last night, we both started our applications to join the Peace Corps in May 2009. http://www.peacecorps.gov/ This will give us plenty of time to say goodbye to friends and family and leave for Africa or Asia or wherever in the world we are sent for 27 months.... Thoughts?????

I'm such a fool

Turns out that I am coming home on the 15th of May.. that is a Thursday.. My roommate Rachel just informed me of this.. She is on the same flight from Prague to Amsterdam.. Haha* That was a pleasant surprise this morning! I get forehead kisses one day sooner!!! :) Love you and miss you all!!! See you in 42 days! :)

Krakow Castle

The Krakow Castle was a really beautiful sight! We got to see a great view of the city and also got to hear of the tale of the Krakow Dragon that apparently still resides there... Or is dead now... I didn't catch that... Because I was thrown off by a comment from Marko (From Slovenia). Listen for it.... it's a good one.. haha*

St. Mary's Basilica

St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow is absolutely breathtaking. It is so intricate and you even have to pay to take pictures inside it! They are very strict about it. I just sat in one of the pews and took it all in. I love going to churches here! It gives me the opportunity to stop and really soak up where I am! I feel truly blessed to be in Europe this semester! I have met so many great peopl and have seen some AMAZING sights. Pictures are great, but (as I have said many times) THEY DO NO JUSTICE to seeing it in person. The picture of the cross with the stained glass window in the background is my favorite. It was so beautiful.

Singing in the Rain

So it rained on Saturday while we were in Krakow. We were all singing and dancing in the rain (because that is what I do...) haha* when all of a sudden we realized what a TERRIBLE song we were singing: Czech out the lyrics:

It's raining, it's pouring

The old man is snoring

He went to bed and bumped his head and couldn't get up in the morning.

WAKE THE OLD MAN UP! IS THE OLD MAN OKAY? WHY DID OUR PARENTS TEACH US? IS THE OLD MAN OKAY? WAKE HIM UP!!!

Pushy Poles

So let me just mention another cultural difference. Spacial issues. I couldn't help but notice how people pushed their way through crowds in Poland! It was very interesting to watch! haha* People literally would grab a person's backpack and push it (and them) to the side so they could pass them on the sidewalk! haha*

Cultural Differences

This is my friend, Wadih. He is from Lebanon. I know that I have talked about him before! He makes fun of me a lot because it seems like I always have a deadline! I ALWAYS DO! My entire thought process is completely dependant upon the next time that I am supposed to be somewhere or do something. Beause of him, I am trying to live a little more in the 'moment.' I still am always thinking about how much time we have left though. I call it responsibility, Wadih calls it dumb. Our differences were proven again on Saturday morning in Poland. Our group had to be downstairs at 7:45 am for breakfast. I woke up at 7:20 and made everyone else in the room wake up. We needed to be downstairs in 25...20...15..10... minutes... Wadih just laughed at me... And showed up downstairs around 7:55 or 8:00.. Our group had already left for breakfast. He made it, but it totally showed our differences. Wadih says he grew up knowing to add an extra fifteen minutes onto any time that was given to him. And maybe he would show up by THAT time... Maybe not.. If not, it wasn't a tragedy... I showed up downstairs on time....for me.... He showed up on time... for him..... We ate breakfast together... :)

Negative

Okay, it was an April Fools Day joke... I held pretty strong all day... It was easier to keep the secret via email, but hard to keep it with my new friends here... I had some people telling me congrats and letting me know what a fun mom I was going to be... I felt terrible! haha* Anyways, to prove I wasn't preggo, I went to a party downstairs in the dorms last night and brought a beer.... I got some crazy looks until Darren came up to me and informed me it was not okay to booze while I was preggo. I said, "Great! Because I'm not!" The pic is of Darren and I! :)
Classic reactions include:
Jenny: "Hunnie...the only one you MAY trick is Steph. Not me though, my dear :) I'm not buying it for a second. MUAH!!"
Abby: "I CANT BELIEVE YOUR PREGNANT!!!!!!! how far along are you?? What are you going to do about the wedding, and your beautiful dress....Tell me girly, I need some details. What did your parents and marky say???I MISS YOU!!!!XOXOXO to you and the wee one from Terre Haute :)"
Emily: "Abby fell for your April Fools Day prank... Nice job..."
Chris: "you'll be 8 months preggy at your wedding! :) Hopefully you will make it through the rest of your semester without morning sickness and all that other stuff! Okay, I'm done for the day. If I look at your blog tomorrow and it says APRIL FOOLS just now you got a butt kicking coming! :) Love you! "
Bridget: "haha. good one. too funny. looks like there is no more pub visiting for you. "
Amanda: "Whatever dude...Im not stupid...its APRIL FOOLS!!! But if you are pregnant I STILL LOVE YOU AND CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU!!! (the only one that will fall for this is probably Steph....haha ) ;) MISSS YOU!!!"
Kate: "Sorry Tiff I didn't take you seriously for one second, at least say something believable like you have herpes or something hahahaha kiiiiiiiidding!! "
Kayla: "you don't have me fooled missy... I do belive you waited till april 1st to post this... ;) "
Mark: "No you aren't! Take that down! Do you know how much damage control I'm going to have to do because of this?!?! TAKE THAT DOWN! I'm serious! Pretty cool, Tiff! You are on the other side of the world! Laugh it up! TAKE THAT DOWN! I still love you though...."
It's not down, but at least I admitted it's false... Sorry, Markie! :)

Positive

I apologize to all of those people who were offended about my 'tangent' blog post. Yesterday, Rach and I went to the hospital after a home pregnancy test came back positive. I haven't gotten my period since I have been here, but thought it was related to stress and the change of atmosphere. Turns out it was for a different reason. Yep, you guessed it, I'm pregnant! Sometimes life throws unexpected curveballs at you, but I am very excited about this one! Cannot wait to see you all in a month!! AGGGHHH!!!!!.... Guess this means no more pivo for me.....

New Things

I love learning new things and teaching others new things! For example: New thing I learned this weekend: French drinking games and Greek drinking games.. They all essentially have the same point.. Everyone is a winner.... :) After the games, I got to teach Nikki something new! We were in downtown Krakow loking for a club and saw a group of people dancing around! We joined them while the rest of our group looked on. When I decided to show Nikki a fun game I play with unsuspecting victims from back home. I dance with guys without them knowing it. She wanted to go first. The video shows how it ended up... haha* Later in the night, Rachel and I showed Charles a dance we like to call "A Night at the Roxbury!" Yep, you got it! :)

Long Awkward Pose out of Hand

This is getting out of hand.... and down right annoying... even to me.. I am going to stop doing the long awkward pose thing... Until I get home at least... :)

Dirty Talk

Talking dirty can still be clean! Or talking clean can be dirty! I am not sure which way to present this random story. One day this summer, Mark and I were driving and started talking about how clean statements could sound dirty if you said them the right way. For example: "I'll French your Fries" or (and more appropriate to where I am at) "I'll Czech your Republic." I thought that one was great! We were at dinner in Krakow (at an Italian cafe) with some of the other international students. Charles and Roman are two guys from France. They are great, fun guys. I was trying to explain my clean dirty talk and they didn't get it. I told Charles to say something in French. He looked at his food, looked at me, and said, "Bon Appitet!" You know where this is going! I proceeded to say, "Okay, great! Let's make that innappropriate! I'll bon your appitet!" Neither Charles, nor Roman got the joke. I'm pretty sure it was a quality one. One worth blogging about.... :)

Arrival in Krakow

Okay, let's move to the happier part of my weekend.. In Krakow, we saw some fire dancers in the main square. Krakow was a beautiful city! I loved that one of the first things I saw reminded me of my future husband! :) Mark and I wanted to have fire dancers at our wedding reception in August. We don't think Shriners will allow that, but that does give a PERFECT EXAMPLE of how GREAT the wedding will be! :)

More examples of disgustingness

Birkenau is about a two minute drive from Auschwitz. People who came to this camp had VERY LITTLE chance of survival. This was a death camp. Barracks in the camp were made from materials from houses that were in the area.

There was a part of Birkenau that families were allowed to live at. There was a section for Jewish familes and another section for Roma familes. Pictures would be taken of children playing and having a good time. These pictures would be distributed in order to promote the camp as an okay place. The people would then be forced to write postcards as dictated by the SS. The postcards would be sent to places all over Europe. The postcards would say things about how everything was okay in the camps and that the camps should stay around. The people were killed after the postcards were written.

We saw the barracks. Let me start off by saying that around 400 people stayed in a building designed for 52 HORSES. On one side, tri-level bunk beds. Ten to 16 people slept on each level. The top bunk was the best way to sleep for a few reasons: It was warmer, it wasn't covered by less human urine/feces than the lower bunks, and the insects and rats were less likely to bother the third level. People had to try to protect their head/face from rats at night. On the other side of the stable, I mean barracks: 120 toilets. Let me rephrase that. It was a huge slab of concrete with 120 holes in it. Don't forget that there was no toilet paper.

Language at the camps was a huge issue. People came from all over. I never thought about this. People were forced to live together without being able to communicate.

I went into the guard tower that is at the entrance of the death camp. It was disgusting. The picture of the stairs is when I got to the top. I tried to imagine SS walking up those stairs. What could they have been thinking? Did they think what they were doing was wrong? Were they embarassed to be a part of this? Did they want to secretly help the prisoners? Did they secretly help them? How did they sleep at night? How was I going to sleep tonight? How am I going to explain my experience here? How can I portray the emotions I have experienced in these three hours? Why did this happen? Why?

"Learn from the past, Look to the future, Live in the present"

The location for Auschwitz was very strategic. There were many sets of train tracks all over Europe that led to the area. As mentioned before, there was a very high Jewish population in Poland. Among other things, this made the location a strategic one for the Nazis.
My guide said 1.1 million Jews alone were deported to Auschwitz. One million of those died. A book I bought estimated 1.5 million Jews. The problem is that no one knows for sure. Read on to know why....
Nazis went to Jewish ghettos around Europe. They would sell tickets to the Jews to get out of the ghetto and "work in the East." The ticketscreated the illusion that people were paying for their way to "Work in the East." People were chosen for death right when they got off the train. They were lined up and about 25% actually passed the immediate selection. The remainder were told they were "going to take a bath for disinfection." This would make sense because sometimes the train rides would be two weeks! Cyclone B is an insecticide gas. It was used as the gas to kill the prisoners. Ten cans of Cyclone B killed about 2,000 prisoners. The gas chambers had faux shower heads installed to reassure and comfort those arriving to them. It took a minimum of 5 minutes to die, once the gas was released into the chamber. Usually, death came about ten to twenty minutes in. Corpses were transported to the crematorium. Golden teeth were melted and sold. As I said earlier, hair was sold to textile plants to make socks, blankets and clothes. Money was stolen out of the bags and suitcases the victims brought. Some prisoners had the job to go through the luggage and sort it. They were allowed to eat the food they found in the bags. This was to keep them healthier, stronger, and alive longer. This was a good job for a prisoner in the camp to have. It was named "Canada II" because, at the time, the country was known for its prosperity.

The crematorium furnace took two days to kill those who were gassed in one day. This was inefficient, so the SS resorted to a faster method of throwing the corpes in a pile outside and putting oil on it. They would set the pile on fire. This is another reason the entire camp is now a graveyard with no tombs. Terrible. The picture is of the window of the crematorium. The head of the camp lived right by the crematorium. His children played in the backyard....FEET away from this building. SICK... The head of the camp was tried and hung in the camp after the War. The place where he was hung is between his backyard and the crematorium.

* Remembrance * Awareness * Responsibility *

Auschwitz is an example of man's inhumanity towards other men. It serves as a reminder of the past and a warning for future generations. Let me just say I was near tears (and nearly hyperventilating) when we pulled into the parking lot. One might ask what my FIRST THOUGHT was when I stepped off the bus: "What an utterly disgusting place." I knew this was going to be quite an experience.

Many people died at Auschwitz. Where are the graves? The whole camp (and surrounding area) is a graveyard. The victims were creamated in their ash was dumped in the nearby river.


There is a sign over the entrance to the camp. "Arbeit macht frei" means "Work brings freedom." Of course, nothing brought freedom, but the prisoners didn't know the truth of this cynical inscription.


We saw the barracks at the camp. They were two story and around 700 prisoners would sleep there. The rooms had concrete floors and people had to lay foot to head, head to foot, on one side in three different rows per room.


Did you know that the Germans didn't invent the 'concentration camp?' The British did. They had concentration camps until the 1930's. Germans created the death (extermination) camps.


We saw some barracks with bunks also. The prisoners in the camp had to sleep two to a bed. The beds were tri-level. I will talk more about this later when I get to the Birkenau section.


The prisoners were photographed when they got to the camp. Some of these were displayed in the halls of the blok with the barracks. Some of the people looked SO YOUNG..... There were two dates below the pictures. The first date was the date of arrival. The second date was the date of death. Some dates were days or months apart. :( All had a second date. All.


Blok 11 held the prisoners of Auschwitz. Yep, there was an even WORSE place to be in Auschwitz. These people committed horrible crimes like sharing rations with others or stealing extra portions. Terrible Crimes. They went through a trial to be convicted. We learned of three different types of punishments. The first was the standing cell. The standing cell was about 3 feet by 3 feet, with just enough room to stand. Five people would stand in it at a time. They would stand there at night and be released in the morning to work with the other prisoners. They would have to return to the standing cell at night. One person who shared his rations was sentenced to three nights in the standing cell. The second type of punishment was hanging in 30 minute increments. The video is of our tour guide explaining the story.


In the background of the video, you can see the third type of punishment: The Death Wall. I also posted a close-up pic of it. This was the most common punishment for those convicted of crimes in Auschwitz. Prisoners would have to strip their uniform off before making the walk to the Death Wall. This was so the uniform could be used again. They would then walk, naked, to the wall. When they were facing the wall, one of the guards would shoot them in the back of the head. Their naked corpse would be carried to the crematorium to be disposed of. The guide told us that the guards sometimes made prisoners line up single file and shoot one bullet. This was an experiment to see how many they could kill with one bullet.


I also took a picture of Blok 4. This is the one that got to me. The extermination blok. The whole building is full of prisoner's belongings found when the camp was liberated. Eyeglasses, blankets, suitcases, (I'll explain later) clothes, shoes, pots pans, hair. HUMAN HAIR. Heads were shaved and hair was sold to a nearby textile company in order to make blankets and clothes. DISGUSTING. The suitcases really got me. There were s0o0o0o many. Right after the suitcases, was a case of BABY CLOTHES. After that one? A WHOLE CASE OF BABY SHOES. At this point, I am hysterical. I was wearing my sunglasses in the building, trying to cover it up, gasping for air because I was finding it hard to breathe, and wiping MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF TEARS away from my eyes with my scarf. I'm in HYSTERICS at this point. Then I walk into the next hall. More shoes. A long hallway with glass cases on each side FULL OF SHOES. It just proved the number of people who lost their lives here. HYSTERICS. Oh, I didn't mention another glass case: empty Cyclone B cans. The gas used in the chambers. One can would kill about 1,500 to 2,000 people. The case was FULL! TERRIBLE. AWFUL. SICK. DISGUSTING.

Another note

My Grandma made me a scarf before I came abroad. She told me to wear it to keep me warm and protect me while I am in Europe. I think of her so much, but even more when I wear the scarf. If EVER there was a time for me to wear my Grandma's scarf, Friday was the day. I wanted my Grandma to be with me so bad that day. I remember spending a week with my Grandma and Grandpa Crowley in Wisconsin when I was younger (Probaby ?10-12?). Grandma took me to the library. She still tells the story of when we walked into the huge building with all sorts of books a little girl would LOVE to read.... I told her I wanted to find books on the Holocaust because I was very interested in the topic and wanted to learn as much as I could about it. My Grandma thought this was such a great way to focus on a subject and read. She helped me find some books in the library that day and we left with a memory the two of us will always share.

I have always been the one in my family that is a little outspoken and a little confident. Okay, A LOT outspoken and A LOT confident. I know that if I put my mind to it, I will do it. I know that there is nothing in this world that I cannot do. And if someone tells me I cannot do it, that is absolutely more reason for me to pursue it. I remember telling my Grandma how much I wanted to study abroad when I was just a child. Here I am. I went to the library before I was 12 and wanted to learn as much about the Holocaust as I could. Friday, more than ten years from that library visit, I arrived at Auschwitz.

My Grandma is one of my best friends and greatest mentors. I love her so much! I want to be her when I grow up. I especially wanted her with me on Friday. So I wore the scarf.......

Before I begin

Let me just acknowledge that I AM AN ACCOUNTANT... In NO WAY am I a historian. I wrote down (frantically) as much as I could when I was at Auschwitz. The next post is going to be very long, with all my Auschwitz knowledge.. :) Let me just begin with two things: 97% of Poland is Roman Catholic. That is the largest Catholic percentage for a country in the WORLD. I also must add this statistic: Prior to WWII, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe of 3 million. Post WWII? 300,000 remained.... Prepare yourself as best you can..... Let's begin....

Home From Poland

So I got in from Poland last night! Krakow is a BEAUTIFUL city! Also, Auschwitz was one of the most moving places I will ever visit. The most DISGUSTING too. I cannot wait to share all about it... Let's just say that at one point during the tour, I could have curled up in a ball in a corner and CRIED FOR DAYS! It was AWFUL! I have a terrible feeling in my stomach even TYPING about it.