A Little Rain.

The last couple of days we have had some major rain storms here. It has been incredible. In an attempt to get home on Thursday evening (after dinner out) I turned a fifteen minute walk into a fifty five minute compilation of mad dashes mixed with doses of waiting in the shelter of something! I actually made my first ever visit to a Ukrainian police station on this trip home ... they had an open door when I needed it. Haha.

The shops in the metro station near my flat were completely flooded out - everything from floor to ceiling was completely ruined with water. Pot holes are now classified as craters and there is even more humidity hanging in the air. Lovely.

Here are some pictures I found of the downtown area. They were taken during the second storm on Friday. I managed to get caught in the metro during this one. Thankfully the train managed to get started up again and I did not have to get out and walk through the tunnels. Trust me, that is a reallly bad thing!
Its been fun to watch the rain fall so quickly in massive amounts, but I think we could use a break for a couple of days!

I Should Have Known.

Tonight I had my friend E over for dinner. We arraigned ahead I would cook and she would bring dessert; I anticipated that she would bring some kind of fruit and chocolate (that's how we roll here ... love it). However, when she showed up and handed me dessert the first thought I had was "man, ignorance may be bliss ... but I should have known better!"

Cherries would be the dessert of my future!

I am sure that cherries showed up at my house tonight merely because they are the fruit du jour right now and that it really had nothing with God trying to test my intestinal fortitude and my commitment to truly being here; I could not help but chuckle to myself at the thought. And how did E choose to serve the cherries?! Well, just like every normal person around here ... wash and eat! All I can say is I bon appetit'd with the best of them.

Boy, I sure like cherries. Perhaps I can take on a few intestinal worms in exchange for sharing a bowl full of perfectly delicious cherries with a friend!?

Ignorance Is Bliss.

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking around town with an American friend. As we past the many street vendors that were out, most of whom were selling cherries, I commented how much I liked cherries and how good this seasons were looking. "You do know how to eat cherries here, yes?" was her follow up question. Umm ... well, don't you just wash them and eat them? I responded. She told me I was supposed soak the cherries in cold water overnight so that all the worms would crawl out and die. Then I should store them in the refrigerator to keep the worm larvae from hatching, but that I could eat those?! Appetizing, yes?!

Over the next weeks as I continued to pass the cherry vendors, I could only think about those worms - and was she serious?! I remember eating so many cherries last spring/summer. I did have a few batches that produced lots of worms after a couple of days (several times I ate quite a lot of them before I noticed all the little white things crawling around ... oops), but mostly they were simply delicious. I bought half a kilo and brought them home. I soaked them in cold water in the refrigerator overnight and when I woke up I was greeted to dozens of worms sticking half out of the cherry that they once called home! (As evidenced by these two characters here ...)I was and am completely grossed out (as I itch and cringe my way through this post)! I have not touched a cherry since. Haha. I just cannot bring myself to buy more knowing what is crawling around inside some of them - and even if I chilled the worms to death, I cannot stop thinking about all the unhatched worms that are still in there! I think cherries are pretty much ruined for me here. Perhaps, when I get back to America I will be able to convince myself that there are no worms in cherries because of all the pesticides and things people use when growing things. A return to ignorance would be awesome - because I really do like cherries.

Auschwitz I.

I have no idea where to start, what to say or how to say it. I do not know how to talk about what I saw without turning it into a monologue of clinical facts and historical details. I do not know how to talk about a place that was lush and green, beautiful in the sunshine and cool breeze; a place that was quiet and calm, but so burdened by remnants of the disregard for human life … a place void of human decency.

Originally, the 16 building site was built to serve as Polish army artillery barracks. Work began in February 1940 to expand the camp which was first suggested as a concentration camp for Polish prisoners.

Block 11 (the prison within a prison) was where those who disobeyed the rules were kept. Methods of torture included dark cells, starvation cells and standing cells. It was the standing cells that really got to me. They are about 16 sq. ft. and up to four men were made to stand in the cells during the night whilst maintaining their heavy work load during the day. I looked into one cell and caught my breath – the cell was the same size as the elevator in my building. I know what it is like to squeeze four people into the elevator and I understood what it feels like to be so close, unable to move and sometimes unable to breathe … I only have to experience this for a few moments … I could not think of the struggle it would have been to be to in that space for twelve hours. It was also from Block 11 that prisoners sentenced to death would be marched through a bathroom, where they were forced to undress, out into the courtyard between Block 10 and Block 11, to stand in front of The Black Wall and face imminent death. The Black Wall was built of wood and cork painted black, it was set up to protect the “beautiful brick wall from bullets.”
There was evidence everywhere that this naturally beautiful place was once somewhere people wished to escape. I stood for a long time looking beyond the wire fence, out over the fields in the distance. It is impossible to comprehend the feelings ... the longing to be free. Towards the end of the tour, we came upon a hill. The hill was covered in lush green grass with huge trees scattered about. The hill was set apart from the camp – separated by a road and a fence. On one side of the fence there was a camp filled with suffering and pain, but also with life and on the other there was a hill; a hill that was death. When I first saw it all I could think was “oh my, I know what that chimney is." The gas chamber and crematorium still stand. My visit to Auschwitz I is a reality I will not soon forget. I am proud to know my grandfathers battled against the forces of Nazi Occupation. I pray we do not forget -though I fear so many already have.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.- George Santayana

До Следующего Раза.

I never know which I prefer … for things to slowly come to an end or to just wake up one day and be done. It doesn't really matter which I prefer because my activities are slowly changing and ending here as the time passes – regardless of how I feel about it.

Today was my last Russian class for the semester. I have enjoyed my teacher, L and the classes. Like I told her today; I really liked her class … most days! Haha. Learning a new language is a struggle and I have struggled but I have also been challenged to be better and reach beyond where I was to achieve something pretty cool. I am still not very good at speaking Russian. But I get by. I hope that the void of time now in my schedule will be filled with practical application of learning Russian – speaking and visiting with friends here and interacting with others every day. At least I know it can only get better!До Следующего Раза (until next time).

On a slightly related note: I am now the proud owner of a key to the front door of my building. I have never had a key but due to some remot we got a new front door. Of course, I completely misread the sign and because of that I had to back track through a lengthy conversation with the building super about getting a key (once I figured out the sign). I suppose it was generally successful and not a bad deal – struggle through one long, difficult conversation about keys with the building super and get a key so I no longer have to have a short conversation with the door person each time I come home and want to go up to my flat!

Krakow Ghetto: Kazimierz.

The main square; large and open, bordered on three sides by rows of homes, on the fourth side you can see across the river across the openness and the road that leads to the city centre of Krakow. It is a simple square. Quiet but for the sounds of passing cars, the darkness of coming rain deepens the grey colours. A cool breeze moves ever so slightly, peacefully in somber sadness. This is the main square of the historical Jewish district of Kazimierz – around which a wall would be built. On 18 May 1940 the lively, vibrant district of Kazimierz would cease in existence and emerge as the Krakow Ghetto.

Today, there is a memorial on this main square. I knew it was a memorial the moment I saw it (it is strikingly similar to another I have seen). Though looking upon it for the first time, I could not understand the significance.

As the war raged on, the ghetto ebbed and flowed with people. Some arrived in the beginning during the cleansing of the city (Krakow) and some arrived later as the Nazi army established themselves and began their cleansing across the continent. What became clear was: those who came never often stayed. In the mass selections held to determine who would stay and who would go, the people were called to stand in this main square. Row after row, family after family and person upon person they gathered to await their fate. The people were told that those who were selected would simply be moving to a new home. They were to bring with them their most valuable possessions. They often waited for days there in the square. It soon became normal to see older people, sick people, pregnant women and small children bringing chairs with them to the selection … to have a respite of sitting allowed them to endure the long wait. As the selections were carried out, the people were put on trains – their chairs left scattered about the square. Those who remained were left to gaze upon the masses of empty chairs.

Many survivors recounted this scene ... over and over was the memory of thousands of empty chairs on the square. And so the memorial was built on the main square of Kazimierz. Strong iron chairs scattered about; to remind those who come of those who were.

Cracow (Krakow).

I was in Krakow, Poland last week for a visa run (that is what we like to call it around here). Thankfully, there was not a whole lot of running necessary to securing my new visa ... but there sure was a lot of walking! The Ukrainian consulate was a 20 minute walk from my hotel (or a 10 minute tram ride - except I could walk and get there looooong before the tram did) and the bank where I had to pay for the visa was a 20 minute walk from the consulate. Let's see if I can remember and count correctly - I walked to the consulate and back to my hotel eight times (in two days) and to the bank and back four times! And that does not count the there and back trip I made immediately upon arrival - because the guy at the bus station gave horrible directions to my hotel.

Once I had the visa, I was free to entertain myself until my flight left on Friday. That is a lot of entertaining to do. I ate. I shopped. I walked. I read books. I slept. I ate. I shopped. I walked. I read books. Yeah - you get the picture. The toughest part of the whole trip is the only day it did not rain was Tuesday (whilst I was making all the trips to get my visa). I am not talking about a little drizzle here and there. No, more like a all out soaking down pour kind of rain! It is a little difficult to wander around attempting to entertain yourself in the pouring rain. I did not get as many pictures as I had hopped for nor did they turn out as well as I would have liked ... I am not very good at taking a picture, holding my umbrella and trying not to get soaked!I did enjoy my time in Krakow. It is a beautiful city and the people who live there are quite friendly. The city certainly had an old world flair mixed with the modern convinces of the west. I saw a lot, learned a lot, thought a lot and came away with a deeper understanding of the world in which I now live.