Micah Goes Abroad: January 2009

The Alsa bus website was not working so I needed to go to the bus station to purchase my bus ticket from Granada to Algeciras, the launching off point for "Morocco Exchange." I'll leave Wednesday night, spend the night at a hostel or couchsurf and wake up the next morning to meet the group and go to Morocco.

What has been the most fickle of weather cycles continued as today it was cold and raining. Heiko had wanted to rent bikes and go for a ride, a plan that was quickly ended due to the weather. I caught bus 33 to the bus station running into Blake, who I hadn't seen since Italy. I really haven't taken the buses much here in Granada as I always walk, so it was funny to see how fast I could arrive at the bus station using the public transportation. I bought my ticket and headed back to the centro, stopping at Jon's apartment to give him the scarf I'd bought for him as I'd lost his scarf when we'd been skiing in Poland. Immediately after, I met up with Corinne for coffee before heading back to my apartment to read for Contemporary Social Structure.

That after noon I skyped my family. Video chat is a lot of fun. I seemed to have reverted back to my old ways as I had ran out of food and resorted to plain pasta for dinner.

I had wanted to see another film as I still have one movie left on my ticket to the film festival. I went to pick up tickets for "My Fair Lady" but it was sold out and the line to get in stretched to the street.

Back home, I talked to Heiko and Antonio before doing some super cool Saturday night studying.

I Still Have A Lot To Learn

January 30th

I got up early for a Friday at 9:30, waking up to a beautiful, sunny day. I made some scrambled eggs (my newest addition to the cooking repertoire) and ate them with some precious Tapatio.

Heiko woke up and I told him I was going to the Central Market and fruit stands. Leaving in our apartment not needing more than a sweater, we headed toward Plaza Bim Rambla. At the market, I bought some more chicken breast and Heiko bought some hamburger. I also bought some more fresh tangerines and carrots.

We walked back home and cooked lunch. I had finished my paper for History and had printed it out. Reading over it, I had found a few errors. I asked Antonio if he could read it over, it wouldn't take more than 15 minutes. 2 hours later, he handed it back weighted down with red ink. I guess my grasp of higher levels of Spanish writing are less elevated than I had previously thought. The next two hours were spent correcting my paper. I did learn a lot though and will try to not make the same mistakes in my next paper. Finishing it, I walked over to the poli sci building and turned it into the mailbox of the professor.

Back home I finished leftovers for dinner and then continued studying for Contemporary Social Structure. I had wanted to go out tonight as I hadn't in the last three weeks and had talked to Nathalie earlier saying I'd go to the party being thrown by some of our Italian friends. With my medication I can't partake in many of the festivities, so I was debating of not going. Nathalie would not allow it and after helping me fix my scarf and outfit (its helpful to live with a girl), I went with Nathalie and her friend Julia to the party.

Walking on the street Pedro Antonio de Alárcon we saw just how big the party was. People were pouring out onto the little balcony. Going upstairs we could barely fit in the apartment. We fought our way to the living room and I felt like I was in the eye of the storm. We were only there for half an hour as the neighbors complained and the two Italian hosts, Nicola and Andrea, kicked everyone out. I ran into Anna from France and Federica from Italy outside and walked back with them to my apartment. I was back kind of early, so I read some more for class before going to bed.

Noise In The Morning and Sun Soaked Afternoons

January 29th

I got up at 10:30am and went out on my balcony, enjoying the perfect weather. I must have still have been sleeping a little to not have heard the noise, as I was quite surprised to open the door of my room and find the 2 plumbers tearing up the radiator pipes. The landlord came immediately too and so ensued a noisy morning. What ended up being a 4 hour job, eventually resulted in our heating being fixed. The landlord, a good guy, was watching the plumbers the whole time to make sure they got it right this time. They tore everything apart and came into my room to test it. One of the plumbers saw my California flag and asked if I "knew Tupac." No, never met him.

After a quick breakfast, I went back to my room, put in my earplugs and went about finishing my essay.

Before lunch, I went to return the clothes rack I'd purchased yesterday as it completely broke when I put on the weight of the clothes. I'll just use the clothes line on the roof. I finished up my essay and decided to let it sit.

I went into the kitchen for a break and sprawled out on the couch in the sun talking to Nathalie and Heiko. It was perfect outside and Heiko and I decided to take a walk up to the Mirador of San Nicolas. I brought my camera and took some photos as we walked toward the Albaycín. We took a different route than normal and got a little lost. We passed beautiful houses with interior courtyards and walls decorated with traditional granadino plates. We eventually found the Mirador and were treated to the amazing view of the Alhambra with its backdrop of snow capped mountains and the shining city sprawled out below. Flocks of birds flew in circles in the last bright rays of light. A group of musicians were playing guitar, clapping, and dancing flamenco. The whole wall was occupied with people. We stayed until the sun set, watching the red drop cascade beyond the horizon like a tear. We walked back a different way, passing a park and the street of teterías. I want to make a movie as Granada is so beautiful.

Back home I made my box of tortellinis and drank some granadino, loose-leaf tea. I need a tea strainer. That evening I read for Estructura Social Contemporánea as my final is next Tuesday.

Morocco

January 28th

I got up around 10:30 and after a good breakfast I went on my computer receiving an email from "Morocco Exchange," the program that I have been researching that takes Western students to Morocco for a long weekend. It has been highly recommended to me by my program and other students. There was one space left for a February 5th trip. I decided to take it. Went then proceeded throughout the rest of the day was a lot of back and forth emails in which I secured my spot, paid for my trip and emailed my parents, both of whom are very excited for me to go. I'm a little nervous to go "during finals," but in reality I don't want to let a 9 day break go to waste. I'll still have 5 days to study before Análisis de Políticas and a week before Teoría del Estado.

Before lunch, I stopped at the post office to mail my reimbursement form to the insurance but the line was too long. I stopped by a "Super Tiendas" store and bought my own clothes drying rack as its ridiculous to share one rack with 5 people. Dryers are not common in Spain.

For lunch I cooked chicken and rice and ate it "Mexican Style" as Antonio called it. I'm becoming a better cook, or at least have more confidence.

After lunch I mailed the letter and then worked on my essay about the "Grapes of Wrath."

To be honest, I wasn't as productive as I could have been as at 7:00pm I went to pick up my tickets fro the two films I'd see. "El Precio de un Hombre" +"Viaje Romántico a Granada" and "Wait Until Dark," with Audrey Hepburn. After picking up my tickets and buying tickets for Antonio for "Wait Until Dark" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's," now showing a second screening on Sunday as the one of Thursday was sold out, I went into the old theater. I would first see the two films in Spanish by the director Eugenio Martín, a director from Granada and the founder of the "Cine Club University of Granada."

In the theater, I saw the attendant who I had talked to before "Roman Holiday." I introduced myself, saying I was film student from California. I asked if there would be more film festivals in Granada and if I could help out. I gave him my contact information.

The first film was a western in the style of Sergio Leone and the second, a photo montage, was about the history of Granada. Eugenio Martín, the writer and director, introduced both films. Once these films were done, I ran back home to get Antonio for the second film. At home, I had a package from my Grandma waiting for me. Fresh cookies!

I ate a quick meal in the kitchen while talking to Nathalie before heading back to the theater with Antonio. Heiko came home after 10 days in Germany as we were leaving. We bombarded him in Spanish and then went to screening. With our tickets in hand, we walked straight in and found seats in the back. The film, in English with Spanish subtitles, was really good.

Walking back to our apartment in the center of city, we agreed that we had it pretty good here in Granada.

La Historia de los Estados Unidos or the History of Granada?

January 27th

With my final starting at 10:00am, I woke up at 8:30 with plenty of time. Arriving at the facultad early, I printed out my essay in the fotocopiadora. I then went up stairs to Aula 17 where I sat next to Constantine from Austria. Profesor Martínez came in (the first day I'd seen him not wearing a suit) and handed out the exam.

The exam was four questions and we had to choose 2, 1 from Universal History and 1 from Spanish History. For the Universal Historia, there was a question about "US interests of expansionism, the Monroe Doctrine, the "Question of Texas," and the War against Mexico." I nailed it. I wrote 6 detailed pages. The essay I wrote about the "Constitution of Cádiz" that I chose for Spanish History was less long and less detailed but I managed to write a fair amount. I felt confident and think I did well overall.

After the final it took me a while to leave the building as I went to look for the mail box where we need to turn in our paper and ended up talking to Peter from England and Constantine about the exam. Leaving the college, my professor was exiting at the same time. We were walking in the same direction and we ended up walking together all the way to Puerta Real. We talked about the United States and Granada. My professor is a native of Granada and he said that it had changed so drastically in the last 30 years after Franco.

Back home, feeling good about the day, I grabbed my book bag and went out to buy more fresh produce. Antonio and I made a random, rice, egg, and sausage combo for lunch that turned out to be pretty good.

After waking up from a quick nap, I found Antonio and asked him if wanted to see another movie. Antonio had downloaded a lot of movies with Audrey Hepburn and had even changed his background to a picture of her. Rather than go to the film festival, we watched "Ariane," or "Love in the Afternoon." It was quite good.

That evening I skyped my mom, brother and my roommate of the last 2 years, Dane. Talking with everyone, I missed home, but at the same time loved being in Spain even more. This year is once in a lifetime and I want to make the most of it. Before going to bed, I played with ticket prices on the Ryanair website and watched videos of San Fermín, Pamplona, the running of the bulls. I'd like to go in July.

I Get Knocked Down But I Get Up Again

January 26th

I woke up at 7:30am giving myself plenty of time before my exam for Relaciones Internacionales. I would be taking this exam a day early and also orally rather than a written as I had a conflict with my history exam on the 27th. I knew I had studied a lot, attended all of the classes, and a good solid background in the subject. I was ready for whatever the exam would be.

Somewhat. I brought my class syllabus and dictionary. On the second floor of the poli sci facultad building, I went into the Aula Seminario where two professors, different than my normal one, let all of the students in. There weren't many desk, but I sat in one near the front. They explained that it would be an oral exam and that they would choose 4 students at a time. The other students would have to come back at 11:30am. Fortunately, I was chosen first and was told to sit in one of the four desks at the front of the room. What was weird was that there were other students in the room while we were being examined. There is no such thing as academic privacy here in Spain.

Once us four selected students had sat down, we were each read two separate questions. I received "Theory and Organization of International Relations" and "Structure and Hierarchy of the United Stations. The professors then stopped talking and I began to write. I thought it was kind of stupid, at least tedious, that this was the "oral exam," just randomized questions. My answer began as a full on essay as I thought we would turn it in when we were done. I couldn't have been more incorrect. About 10 minutes in, they called on the student sitting in the first desk and asked him to explain his answer. They "cross examined" him and he spoke for quite a long time. I was called third and in the few minutes before, I had hastily written out a quick outline for the second questions about the UN.

To put it simply, I did not do too well. After presenting what I thought was good answer, they asked for more. I was at the point where I had begun to stammer and couldn't BS my way out. I told the truth that I didn't know and asked to move onto the next question. Although my analysis of the UN Security Council was quite good, they found my description of the General Assembly weak. I did get her question of "who is the General Secretary," correct though. I left disappointed in myself for not having done as well as I had anticipated.

Catching the "U" public bus up to the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, I decided to check out the "Grapes of Wrath" from the library as I did not feel comfortable referring to Cliffnotes in my essay. Entering the library, it was an epic search to find the book. The library was a labyrinth. I went down two flights of stairs, cut across a long hallway, and through 3 more rooms before arriving at the small room that housed the "American Literature" section. Back upstairs, I found a great book on Spanish History that I would read to review for my History exam.

After lunch, I read for 4 hours for History. I also finished my last trabajo for the class, a piece on the Spanish Revolution of 1868 and the war between the carlistas and Isabell II.

After dinner and some more studying, I crawled into bed, reading the history book before falling to sleep.

I Love Audrey Hepburn

January 25th

I woke up at 9:45 ready to dedicate the day to work and productivity. The weather, wet and cold, was conducive for studying. I studied for Relaciones Internacionales by reviewing my pages of notes and then reading much of the United Nations charter in English and Spanish. I then switched to my other class, Historia Política Social Contemporánea reading over my notes from class.

For lunch I made some great chicken breast fillets, pasta, and fresh sauce. Definitely my best pasta dish yet.

After lunch, I kept studying until about 5 before taking a 1 hour siesta. Getting up at 6 I read until 9 for History.

At 10:00pm the classic film festival, "Retroback" would be showing "Vacaciones en Roma," or "Roman Holiday." I asked Antonio if he wanted to come and we walked the quick 20 meters through the side street to the theater of Isabel la Católica.

I had my pass and Antonio had to purchase a ticket, but we were told by the attendant that the film was sold out and we had needed to come at least 30 minutes early to secure tickets. I was annoyed as I really wanted to see it. I asked the attendant, if we could go in once it started if there were extra seats. He said yes. I found two seats in front, but Antonio explored farther back and found two in the back. Sitting down in the comfy velvet seats of the old theater, I admired the frescoes painted on the ceiling. There was a giant screen and a smaller projection screen where they would show the subtitles. After a great "introductory film festival" short video, which I thought was superb, they started Roman Holiday. I ended up switching seats with Antonio as he was sitting behind a woman with a huge hairdo and couldn't read the subtitles.

The film was fantastic! It was the first time I'd seen Audrey Hepburn or Gregory Peck (some film major I am) and they were both great. It was so cool to have been in all of the places they had been in the film. I have to return to Rome. We left the theater by 12:00pm and came back home. I went to bed, ready for my final tomorrow.

Shop. Local.

January 24th

I got up around 10:30 to a wet, grey, rainy day. I wanted to start working as fast as I could but knew that I should go shopping as I wouldn't be able to tomorrow and wouldn't want to on Monday or Tuesday after finals. Finishing writing a big grocery list, I put on my dirty blue jeans, hiking boots, black sweater, scarf and jacket.

Before stopping at the market, I went to the Teatro Isabel la Católica to ask a few questions about Granada's Classic film festival that will start tomorrow. Finding it closed, I kept to my plan and went to the local fruit stands in Plaza de la Pescadería, purchasing a kilo of locally grown tangerines and strawberies. I then went to the Mercado Central de Granada where after making one pass through the market, I doubled back to a local butcher and bought a filleted chicken breast and fresh eggs. I bought some fresh carrots at a vegetable stand and had most of my groceries. I was glad to support the local businesses.

Dropping the groceries at home, I went back to the theater which had opened at 12:00. The line was long and I was standing next to a lady who I thought was from the US and an older Spanish woman. We chatted a little on and off while I read about "Retroback Festival." The city of Granada would be putting on a film festival of classic films from Spain, Italy, and the US. The festival also included a tribute to Audrey Hepburn. When it was my turn for the ticket office, the older lady thought the other lady and I were couple. The lady laughed, saying she was 37. I said I was 20. She was from Australia. I bought a pass for 5 films. The films will be shown in original form. I'm most excited for "Breakfast and Tiffany's" and "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn.

I finished my shopping for the day at the supermarket, Mercadona before coming home to make a fantastic soup for lunch. After lunch I began working on my paper about "Las Uvas de la Ira," or the "Grapes of Wrath" for my History class.

Later that afternoon, I skyped my dad and brother to wish Hunter a happy 17th birthday! I also talked to Nathalie and Antonio about going to Carnival for Cadiz. Not sure if I'll be able to go as I'll be in Barcelona the weekend of February 21st visiting Alex and Vanessa.

I finished up the soup for dinner and spent the rest of the night studying and sending messages to family and friends.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Buckling Down For Finals and Personal Recovery

January 23rd,

I woke up at 11:00 and forced myself to get up as I needed to be productive one way or the other as I have my first final exams next week. Today I also wanted to talk to Inma about some of the specifics of the claim form for the insurance company.

The UC study center closes at 2pm so I decided to head straight there before locking myself in my room. Walking over to the study center in the rain probably wasn't the smartest thing to do but I was glad to talk to Inma and get everything clarified.

The rest of the day was not very exciting as I spent it studying for my upcoming exams. I did a comprehensive review for International Relations and outlined for Historia Política Social Contemporánea.

As there are always a lot of things going on when you can't partake in them, I called Christian from Austria and told him I couldn't make it to his going away party as he is returning to Austria tomorrow and another call to Kendra letting her know I couldn't attend the surprise party of another UC student. In on a Friday night in true UCSD fashion, Antonio and I joked that we were only ones who had to study as it seemed that everyone else was out. I've certainly had my fair share of partying here in Spain, and I was glad to get a lot of studying done and will be able to dedicate the day to finishing my history paper tomorrow.

You Say "Say-Clor" and I say "See-Clor"

January 22nd,

I woke up at 10:00am after 10 hours of solid sleep. Outside it was cold and raining. I took my last dose of medicine from the pharmacy and then called the number that I had been given from Inma to the private medical clinic. The earliest I could be seen today was 6:45pm.

For lunch I met up with Danielle and Whitney from my program who I haven't really talked to that much, if at all. They will both be leaving at the semester along with a good portion of the people from my program. Its funny to think about and a little frightening as they will soon be finishing their study abroad experience and mine will be ending "shortly" thereafter. If anything, it just shows how fast time is going.

Despite the fact that they will be leaving, we had a great lunch and filled it with good conversation about our opinions on Obama, the Middle East, study abroad, and future goals. After lunch, we walked back to the bus stop in the rain where I said goodbye and caught a bus back to the facultad.

The additional section for Estructura Social Contemporanea was canceled so I only had Teoria Del Estado. I went upstairs to where the professor's offices are and knocked to see if my professor for Teoría del Estado was there. He was and I came in to tell him that I couldn't attend the last class as I had the doctor's appointment. He said it was fine, told me to drink a lots of liquids, and email him if I had questions about the final. I felt bad for missing his last class, especially since I was feeling pretty good and hadn't been coughing nearly as much as the past few days during any of the conversations that I had had. Still I knew it was important to go to the doctor and see what I had.

It began to rain a lot as I walked over to the doctor's office about 15 minutes from my piso. It took me a little while to find, but I finally did and went inside to check in.

Doctor Noguerras was very nice and professional. It was a little difficult describing the symptoms in Spanish but she seemed to understand me just fine. She prescribed me three medications, an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, and an inhaler as the cold I had the week before became a small infection in my lungs and triggered my normally very, very weak exercise induced asthma. The prescriptions were for 10 days and she told me that if I wasn't better by then I should come back. I paid the visit fee (I'll be reimbursed by the UC insurance) and walked back home.

The one thing I had to be careful for with the prescription I received was that none of the medication was related to "Ceclor" as I am allergic to that medication. When I went to the pharmacy, I asked the pharmacist if the medication was similar to "Ceclor." She didn't know what medication I was talking about. I said it again and then asked if I should write down the name. Once I wrote it down she smiled and said "Oh, SAY-clor." I had been pronouncing it as you would in English and had forgotten to change it to the Spanish pronunciation.

Back home I made dinner and talked to Nathalie and Antonio. Its just us three this weekend as Alberto and Heiko are away.

I skyped my mom and my brother before going to bed.

How Studying In a 16th Century Library Should Be

January 21st,

I woke up at 8:30am giving me a quick 20 minutes to get ready for my last class for the semester of Relaciones Internacionales. The last class was good although I will unfortunately have to take the exam a day earlier and in the form of an oral exam instead of a written one as I have a finals conflict with Historía Política Social Contemporánea. I'm a little worried about an oral exam as I start to cough a lot when I talk.

In the last class of Historia Política Social Contemporánea it was almost an empty class. We first talked about the United States and President Obama's inauguration. After I asked him what he thought of Obama's election, the professor made the point that Nathalie and Antonio would echo later on, in that Obama is the President of the United States and not the world. Because of that, he will work in the interests of the United States. Its obvious, but a good point, and one that I feel sums up many European attitudes about the United States. Bush or Obama, we will do what we want and maintain American hegemony to insure our best interests.

After class, I went home, deciding to not go to the last day of Salsa. I stopped by a newsstand and picked up a copy of "El País" Spanish newspaper and read it in the sun by the large fountain across the street from my apartment building (The weather here has been so fickle. Every other day it has been sunny and warm with the next day bringing the cold and rain). I got a little too cold and came back to the apartment where I finished all of the articles about Obama and the United States.

Rather than studying in my room after lunch, I went with Antonio to the 16th century "Hospital Real" to study in the amazing library. We had to scan our bags through security, and then after walking up a few flights of marble stairs, we entered the 500 year old library with beautiful wood ceilings and racks and racks of old bookshelves with ancient books. It had a great ambiance. We found seats at the long wooden table at the end of the great hall. The sun was pouring in through the window as I began to study for Relaciones Internacionales. I don't know what it was, but reading in a centuries old library helped galvanize my interest to really focus on my notes. I think its the age as time is allowed to be slow and I can take time with my reading. Different than studying in a library surrounded my computers. I left at 4:45 to walk back to the Poli Sci College for my last class of Estructura Social Contemporánea.

Contemporary Social Structure was good although I will have a lot to study for the final. I thanked the Professor at the end of the class and he told me to swing by his office next semester to go for lunch. This was the first sociology class I've ever taken and I enjoyed it a lot.

On the way back home I passed all of the stores with their "REBAJAS," or savings!, signs advertising post Christmas sales. I stopped in the normally expensive store "Cortefiel" and bought two very nice wool scarves for 10 euros. I had lost my one good one in Dublin and its been consistently cold in Granada. I had missed having a scarf in Prague and Poland.

I wasn't home for long as I went back out to meet up with my friend Peter from England from Relaciones Internacionales to discuss the final. It was very difficult for me to talk, almost as if I was having a mini asthma attack whenever I spoke. I kept coughing. My medication from the pharmacy would finish the next day and I decided to call and schedule an appointment to see the doctor the first thing tomorrow.

Inauguration

January 20th,

I woke up still feeling sick but productive at least. After breakfast and taking another dose of the poorly testing medicine from the pharmacy I made some progress on my paper for Historia Política Social Contemporánea.

At 4:00 I went to my last class of Análisis de Políticas Públicas which was good. I'm glad that class is over. Of the 5 classes I took, I probably should have dropped that one. Granted, I did learn quite a bit and my Spanish certainly improved due to the thick Andalucían accent of the professor, but it was the combination of the very high level of Spanish and the fact that I had never taken a class remotely similar to this at home that put in me a position in which I was learning all of the content in a language that I'm still working on at a pace that was a little too fast. Fortunately, I have almost 2 weeks until the final due to the ridiculousness of the final exam schedule so I know I'll have time to study and do well.

Teoría del Estado was good. This final will be difficult as we have covered so much. My notes are good and I'm hoping the professor finishes putting all of the powerpoints up online. This will be my last final exam on February 14th.

I came back home had dinner, and worked on my paper a little more. At 9:00pm, I met for a cafe with my old monitor from the ILP summer program, Mónica. We talked for an hour before I came back home. During the day I had been feeling pretty good but by the time I came home and was getting ready for bed, I felt pretty weak and sick once again.

Before going to bed I made sure to watch online the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States. I thought he did a great job on his speech, especially since he recited the whole thing from memory. I think he is the first politician I've ever seen who doesn't need to read from the paper speech. I also admire how he is going to great efforts to reach out to John McCain and include people from different backgrounds and political ideologies to be a part of his team. I think he knows how high expectations are for him and will do his best. I think he will be a good President.

The Start Of What Would Be a Week of Limited Productivity and Becoming Sick

January 19th,

Today was hard. I suffered through my first two classes as I was feeling quite sick. A runny nose, sore throat and a loud, violent cough that I couldn't control. Despite how I was feeling, I wanted to go to class as it was the last week of the first semester and I didn't want to miss any last minute things.

I was debating whether or not I should go to Salsa after leaving Historia Política Social Contemporánea. I went and should not have gone. Although I practiced a few last new moves, I was really pretty sick and had to sit the second half out (I also probably shouldn't have gone just in respect to the girls who I dance with as I don't want them to catch whatever I now have). Nelson ended class early as it wasn't just me who was feeling ill. There is something going around Granada and as a lot of people have the same symptoms.

Walking back toward my piso, I stopped at the UC study center and asked Inma for the doctor's form for the UC insurance. I put it in my folder and hoped that I wouldn't need to go.

Back home I made some pasta. Our neighbor from downstairs brought up a traditional Spanish dish that was quite good. I guess we made a new friend when we brought her some of the paella.

In my last two classes, I suffered. In Análsis de Políticas Públicas we had a very difficult, ultimate trabajo that I really didn't understand completely. I wasn't able to help my group as much as I wanted.

Estructura Social Contemporánea was interesting as we had a presentation on Germany from the three German students in the class.

The nice weather had gone away and it started to rain. Walking back home in the rain I was feeling pretty terrible.

I had had enough. Dropping my stuff off in my room, I went immediately back out to the pharmacy and then to the grocery store to buy chicken soup and more tea. After eating and taking the over the counter medicine for the symptoms I had, I felt much better. Antonio and I had some good conversations about politics and my level of Spanish.

I read a little for my classes before going to bed early.

A 13 Hour Siesta

January 18th,

I woke up at 10:30am after 13 hours of sleep. I felt good, but I knew something was wrong if I was able to sleep that much that easily.

It was a gorgeous Sunday and I got up and started working on the last trabajo for Historia Política Social Contemporánea. About the war in Spain between the conservative Carlista forces and the liberal forces of Isabel II, the subject was one in that I've had no previous exposure. I read all of the texts and began writing the trabajo.

Heiko had left this morning to return to Germany where he will be working on his Honor's Thesis at his German university. He's somehow balancing finals at both universities.

For my other large project in Historia Política Social Contemporánea I'll be writing it on the "Grapes of Wrath" by Jon Steinbeck and tying it into the current financial crisis. Its part of a larger project on a historical novel from any country and covering any subject.

At 5:45, I decided to take a walk as I had been inside all day and wanted to see if I could catch the sunset up at the Mirador of St. Nicolas. Its a longer walk than I think and I arrived at the top of the look out just after the sun had set. It was quite beautiful as the early nautical twilight held the Alhambra and the sparking city in a last glow. I ran into my friends Anna and Federica from France and Italy and they invited me to for a cafe. We found a small "teteria," tea house in one of the cobblestone streets of the Albaycín and I asked the shop owner for something that would be good for a cold. She made me a special blend that was quite good. We talked for about an hour before heading back down to the centro.

Back home, I organized what I would need for the week and went to bed early.

The rest of the day I did laundry and organized what I would need for the next week.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Home Made Paella

January 17th,

I woke up at 11:00am, looked at my watch and fell back asleep until 1:00pm. Waking up for real, I looked out the window and was greeted with a beautiful day. The weather was absolutely perfect, bright and sunny.

I went out on the balcony to talk to Antonio and Heiko who were also enjoying the sun. I ate "breakfast" at the little table on my balcony.

Heiko had been talking about making a paella all week so after getting ready, I walked with him to the store and we bought all of the necessary ingredients, sea food, rice, vegetables, saffron, for the traditional Spanish dish.

Back home we laid out all of the ingredients and realized that we needed a bigger pan. Antonio and I went down a floor in the apartment building and rang the doorbell of one of our older neighbors. The old Spanish lady answered the door and we asked her if she had a traditional paella dish. She did and after thanking her graciously we told her we return it as soon as were done.

Making the paella was a lot of fun as we semi-followed the recipe of Antonio's mother and tried our own ideas. It turned out be quite good (if nothing else it looked how it was supposed to!) and we ate almost all of it. We made sure to save some for our neighbor, who we gave a plate to along with her cleanly washed paella pan.

I was feeling pretty sick and wanted to go asleep although I knew I should wait until it was later so I would sleep a whole night.

The rest afternoon and early evening I skpyed my family and continued studying for the upcoming final exams. I went to bed at 9:00pm.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Personal Work Friday

January 16th

I woke up at 10:00 and forced myself to get out of bed and go talk to my Relaciones Internacionales professor about the final exam conflict and things to study for on the final.

It took me a long time to find her office, but I eventually did and we ended up having a great conversation. I was always under the impression that she didn't really like me, but she emphasized many times how happy she was to have me in her class and glad that we had different opinions.

Back home, I more or less sat on the computer all day, catching up on my personal tasks that I've fallen behind on. I finished and submitted my RA application and wrote emails and facebook messages to different people that I haven't seen in a while. I booked a flight to Barcelona in February to visit Alex and Vanessa again. I paid the grand round trip total price of 58.50 euros or about 75 dollars. My Mom and Dad both want to visit Barcelona so it will be good for me to go back and have a better feeling of the city.

I than spent most of the afternoon and evening working on this blog. That normally wouldn't merit being put in the blog itself, but considering that I hadn't written anything for all of January it was necessary for me to dedicate the many hours to completing it.

I was feeling pretty sick and turned down invitations to go out. I have to study tomorrow and need to sleep more than anything else.

Un Poco Enfermo

January 15th

My month of travel, the tough week of school, and my lack of sleep caught up to as I woke up Thursday morning with a loud cough.

From 10:30 to 3:30pm I worked on and finished my trabajo for Teoría del Estado. The text covered the theories of Machiavelli, Kant, Montesquie, Rawls, and Rousseau.

In class, we went over the trabajo but I was feeling quite sick. Estructura Social Contemporanea was interesting and once it was over, I was happy it was the weekend.

All throughout the week, I had seen signs advertising an anti-Israel protest. There had been propaganda movie screenings about the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. I decided to see if the protest was still going on, so I swung by the cathedral. I could hear lots of shouting and as I turned onto Gran Via de Colón, I saw a protest of several hundred people with Palestinian flags and signs with the swastika and Star of David together. Having seen Auschwitz-Birkenau and now this in the course of the same week was quite a juxtaposition. In no way am I mocking the deaths of the dead Palestinian civilians, and I still have restrained myself from engaging in more vocal debate through facebook or letters to the editor, but 1000 deaths, in what is a appropriate and if anything, limited response, to persistent terrorist actions is not a genocide and in no way should ever be linked to the Holocaust. I feel that Israel has lost the media war and protests like these are responses to emotions, rather than rational dialogue and action. True peace and progress comes from taking a step back, considering all of the available options, and with compromise on BOTH sides, creating an effective plan of action. I also find it ironic, and if not further emphasizing the double standard within the international community, that there are not such protests and fervent calls for international intervention in places like Darfur.

Back home I made my last box of fresh pasta and then spent 3 hours working on my RA application for next year. Being an RA next year would give me the opportunity to come full circle with my undergraduate college experience.

I was so glad it was the weekend. I have a lot of work to do and my health is not 100% but I'll do my best!

The Gauntlet Continues

January 14th

The week would not let up, especially today.

I got up at 6:30am to finish my trabajo for Relaciones Internacionales. I then skyped my Mom to coordinate flight times as she will be coming out to visit me at the end of March.

In Relaciones Internacionales, my powerpoint ended up being used by the entire class, as I had done too much work on it and went beyond the section I was supposed to talk about it. As luck would have it, the trabajo that I had spent the morning working on was postponed. I will also end up taking the final exam even earlier than schedule as I have a conflict with another class. Instead of a written essay, my "make up" final will be an oral exam, questioning me about International law, Peace and Security, and the Economy. I hope I can articulate everything.

In Historia Política Social Contemporania, we received our pre-final grades. I have a high B, low A going into the final.

In Salsa, our teacher wasn't there. Rather than not have class the 6 girls and me decided to dance on our own. It was really enjoyable as I had the opportunity to talk with all of the them and they helped me perfect some of the more difficult moves.

Back home, I finished the chicken and rice leftovers from my dinner the night before and then took a much needed two hour siesta. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the second set of classes.

After Estructura Social Contemporanea, I came back to go on a run in the Parque de Federico Garcia Lorca. It was nice to be running again.

Before going to bed, I loaded up the photos from the trip on facebook. I'll have them up here on the blog soon.

Grade Changes

January 13th

I got up at 8:00am and did a quick workout before going to talk to Inma about seeing if I could change my grade in Análisis de Políticas Públicas to "Pass/No Pass." The meeting with Ramon and Inma went quite well and I was able to change the grade I'll receive. Granted, it won't count toward my major, but I'll still receive credit and it won't negatively affect my GPA.

I came back and made some more pasta with my own, home made tomato sauce.

Before Análisis de Políticas Públicas, I talked to Profesora Sanchez about what I needed to do to improve in the class. She realized that I was struggling and gave me some study advice. I was glad that I had been able to change my grade though as she will not give any foreign students a break.

Teoría del Estado was interesting. We are beginning a section on Machiavelli.

Leaving class, I ran into Peter from England, who is in my International Relations class and told me that we had a trabajo due tomorrow, that the professor had assigned last week and had not reminded us about yesterday. I thanked him, and went to the fotocopidora to pick it up.

Back home, I began to read but was too tired. I decided it would be better to go to bed early and get up early as I was reaching negative returns in regards to productivity.

Reality Sets In

January 12th

The tiredness that comes from one full month of traveling and the grim fact of upcoming final exams was my wake up call to reality as I got up at 7:45am to prepare for class.

In Relaciones Internacionales, I volunteered to do an additional project about the United Nations. I argued quite a bit with my professor as we had different opinions about the importance of the international organization.

In Historia Política Social Contemporanea we received another trabajo due the day of the final. I also have a huge essay that I need to complete for the same class.

I had to talk to Inma about my classes, especially Análisis de Políticas Públicas which despite studying for quite a bit I have received lower than expected grades. I ran into one of the girls from my salsa dancing class and she told me that we still had class. I had thought that salsa had finished in December but I guess the course goes until February. I went with her to salsa and would talk to Inma tomorrow.

In salsa, I was once again the only boy. It was fun to be back and I enjoyed refining some of the old moves.

For lunch, I met up with Heiko, Federica from Italy, and Anna from France at the comedores. It was great to see them and they had all had good vacations. Federica had brought me a present of a traditional Italian holiday pastry cake.

Back home, I had an hour and a half before my next class and used it to wash my heap of dirty clothes from the trip and go to the grocery store as I had no food. I bought too much stuff and struggled under the weight as I walked the 400 meters back to my house.

The gauntlet of class continued as I went to Análisis de Políticas Públicas and then Estructura Social Contemporanea. I really enjoy the latter class quite a bit and actually have one of the highest grades in the class!

I made some fresh pasta for dinner and went on facebook to see the myriad of friend requests from people we had met on our trip. It had really been the most social trip ever!

Back Home to Granada

January 11th

I woke up at 7:00am and used the light of my cell phone to organize everything without waking up the other 8 people in the room. We took quick showers and then went downstairs for the free breakfast and to check out of the hostel.

We made great timing on the Metro and bus to the airport, arriving with plenty of time before our flight. Checking in to Ryanair, we went through and waited at our gate. The flight to Dublin was good, although the last 30 minutes were a little sketchy as there was a ton of turbulence. So much that I tightened my seat belt and prepared for the worst. The pilot did a good job landing thought as it wasn't nearly as rocky as I had expected.

It was very windy in Dublin as we walked across the tarmac to the airport. We then had to do the ridiculous thing of having to get an Ireland stamp in our passport so we could then immediately leave the country in four hours. I was questioned quite a bit as it appeared strange that I had two separate flights. Blame it on Ireland's unofficial national airline, Ryanair. We got through and decided to step outside of the airport to breathe some "fresh Irish air," before coming right back in to sit in the upstairs cafe and talk before heading back down through security.

We didn't really have to wait that long as the flight boarded early. We stopped in a book store and I read the newest issue of Time about Israel. Israel is in a catch-22 and is held to a double standard by the international community.

Our flight was 30 minutes late taking off as there was a long line of planes on the runway. Despite the delay, we still arrived 10 minutes early in Malaga. It was a full moon and on the flight back the glowing orb illuminated the whole sky and clouds below our plane.

Back in Malaga, we quickly caught the bus to the central station. Much faster than the tram. Arriving at the station, Jon bought his bus ticket back to Granada for the 10pm bus and then we went to the mall next door for dinner at my favorite Spanish fast-food restaurant, "100 Monteditos."

On the bus back to Granada, I fell quickly to sleep.

Instead of taking a taxi, Jon and I decided to walk back from the bus station. I said goodbye to Jon at his piso by Plaza del Toros and then walked the last 30 minutes back to my apartment in the center of Granada.

Back home at last after a month of non-stop travel, I skyped my parents and fell asleep by 3:00am.

One Last Crazy Night in the Czech Republic's Capital City

January 10th

Our train arrived much earlier than expected at 7:30am. We gathered up our belongings and groggily stepped into the station. The day before we had received a couchsurifing request saying we could stay with an older guy named Howe. We thought it would be cool to save money on our last day. It was much too early to call him so we instead found a bench and ate a make shift breakfast of dry cereal and apples. We left a message on his phone at 8:30am.

Rather than keep waiting at the train station, we decided to leave and look for a cafe in the area to stay warm. It was very cold and my fingers and toes went immediately numb as we stepped outside. We found a cafe and ordered some hot chocolate while looking at the guidebook to see what we had missed the weekend before. The "last" thing we wanted to see in Prague was t the Vysherad Castle at the southern end of the city. We decided to check it out and call the couchsurfing guy later. Using our last bit of Czech coins, we bought metro tickets and took the C line to Vysherad. Exiting, we could not see the castle. Freezing, tired, and weighted down with our heavy backpacks we trudged across the huge bridge, covered in snow seeing the buildings and train tracks spread out below.

What we thought was part of the castle was actually an old Czech Police museum and church. At this point I was tired, cranky, and wanting to stop wandering around aimlessly. Jon was feeling the same way and we voiced our mutual opinions at the same time about ditching the couchsurfing request and just heading back to the Prague Square hostel that we knew was good. We both wanted to nap, read, and hang out giving us time to relax before our early flight the next day. We sent Howe a text saying thanks for the invitation and then headed back across the bridge.

What we should have done in the first place, we decided to stop in the ritzy hotel by the metro stop and ask where the Vysehrad castle was. The people were very helpful and told us exactly where we needed to go. We had walked in the wrong direction.

Whereas the Prague Castle was a popular destination for tourist, the Vysherad castle was the destination for locals. We entered the castle walls and saw the beautiful cathedral and frozen statues in the snow covered gardens. Walking along the ramparts we were granted with spectacular views of the city. We walked through the well kept graveyard before heading back to the city center on the metro.

Back at our favorite hostel, we talked to the reception guy and secured two beds in a ten person room. We then went back to the wooden bench in the kitchen and once again took over as we finished our lunch and met everyone who came in.

What would become a day of fantastic conversations with interesting people from all over the world, Jon and I started talking to two Spanish couples in Spanish. At two, we went to check in but first had to go back to the currency exchange to get our last 700 crowns for the hostel. We exchanged our Polish money and a few euros and barely had enough as we didn't want a lot of crowns that would be useless with the exchange rate and taxes once we got back to Spain.

Back in the hostel, we went up to our room and found two bottom bunk beds. A few minutes later, a cute girl, Isabelle, from Australia came in and we introduced ourselves. She was traveling with a group of friends and they were also leaving tomorrow. She left and another Australian came in, a cool guy named Oliver. He was also from Melbourne and traveling with his own group of friends.

Jon went downstairs to work on an essay and I took a 2 hour nap, getting up at 6:30pm to take a shower and put on my last semi-clean set of clothes. Downstairs, I met up with Jon and we went on one last shopping trip to the grocery store.

For dinner we cooked our chicken dish and then began talking to all of the Australian kids who were hanging out in the kitchen. I was very impressed with them and they invited us to join them when they went out later. Jon and I also began talking to two girls from Argentina in Spanish. We had actually had the opportunity to use quite a bit of Spanish on this trip which was important in the maintaining of the language.

What was originally intended as a low key, restful night turned out to be as fun and social as any of the one's we had had on the trip. We went to the "Music Bar" next door to the hostel and spent most of the night hanging out with the Australian kids and dancing salsa with the Argentinean girls. I went to bed at 4:00am to sleep fast before having to get up at 7:00am to arrive at the airport in time for our flight.

From Bunny Slopes to Black Diamonds: $10 Ski Trip to Zakopane, Poland!

January 9th

I woke up at 8:00am excited to get a jump on the day and quickly get on the mountain. The hostel lady was setting up the free breakfast and entering the wood floor living room with the leather couches, small colored lights, and news on the TV was very homey and cozy. I had some nice bread with jam and a lot more black tea with sugar.

Jon got up and came into the living room after taking a shower. Outside, it was so beautiful, with snow covered trees and a view of the mountains.

In regards to ski gear, we had absolutely nothing appropriate. I decided to wear my black hiking pants with long underwear underneath a long with my normal sweater, jacket combo. My new jacket is waterproof at best and in no way intended for ski use. My leather gloves and dress shoes sealed the deal. Jon kept saying how he didn't want to wear his jeans, but he decided to give it a shot anyway, and left the hostel in his ripped up vans and red-sport jacket.

Outside it was cold.

Having come into the hostel the night before, I hadn't truly noticed how beautiful the area was. As we left the hostel we turned around to see the little log cabin covered in snow. There was a river paralleling the road and the driveway up the road was lined with trees and snow.

We had been told by the hostel lady and the few cool Australians we'd met that the nearest ski resort was only 600 meters away. At the end of the driveway, we debated which way to turn and decided to go right. Walking on the icy sidewalk, I got a great view of all of the houses and fields. It reminded me a lot of Tahoe and Mammoth but was a beautiful and special resort all by itself.

I saw the first ski area with its one large black diamond run. Skiing here in Poland is different than the other places Jon and I had been to before (well I've only been skiing once before so I don't have much experience to judge it against). Rather than have one park where all of the runs, lodges, and ski lifts are centrally located, the ski resorts in Zakopane were all separate and independently operated. One would put money on a card and swipe it each time he wanted to use the ski lift. A pay as you go system in which you could get your extra money back at the end of the day.

We walked through the entrance of the resort and stopped in a few places to check prices. Very inexpensive, less than 20 slosky or 5 US DOLLARS to rent equipment for half day. Jon was a snowboard instructor and I hadn't been snowboarding for almost 7 years since Juniorhigh school at Mountain High. Jon decided to ski and I wanted to practice snowboarding. The last shop we stopped in rented complete equipment for 15 slosky for three hours.

It was 10:00am and I was excited to get on the mountain. Jon had been really wanting to change out of his jeans as he was cold now and knew that they would get wet. He wanted to head back to the hostel to put on another pair as we couldn't rent snow gear at all, just boots, bindings and boards.

I really didn't want to walk back as I knew it would be another hour by the time we got on the mountain. I was annoyed but agreed to go back.

We made it back to the hostel very quickly and spent the next 20 minutes asking the hostel lady if they had extra ski gear, and then laughing as Jon tried to squeeze his 6' 1" frame into snow overalls meant for little kids. He somehow managed to get them to fit without castrating himself. His jeans were sticking through and the straps kept snapping apart whenever he sat down. He was happy though as he would be dry.

I was right about it being an hour later as we were back in the office with our rental boards and skis by 11:00am. We would have until 2:00pm which would still give us plenty of time to go back to the hostel, pack up and catch a bus back to Krakow for our night train to Prague.

We went to the lift-ticket window and put 40 slosky on each card. We then headed toward the bunny slope where I caught onto one of the moving pole lifts that towed us up to the small slope. Jon went over what I was supposed to be doing with my bindings, foot placement, and how to stop. My first ride down the hill I was able to stop and turn slightly, although I kept falling. This continued for a while with me attempting 8 or so runs. Most of the time I would crash as I would get nervous of the speed, and not watching my front foot in regards to proper weight placement. There was a small hill that I kept stopping at the bottom of as I didn't have enough speed. Jon was practicing his skiing and would speed by me and then return to give advice. There were many little kids on the hill, all of the them who were very good and who kept speeding down the slope.

We walked up a few times to maximize the the time practicing on the main start. My ridiculous outfit had attracted a ton of stares, and even though my jacket kept getting unzipped, it was actually pretty good at keeping out the moisture. My leather gloves were working well too although they kept filling up with snow and ice.

I had completed a few good runs and was starting to get the hang of it. I like snowboarding and a place like this for cheap prices was exactly what I needed to improve.

We cut form the bunny slope to the midrange slope where I was able to cut back and forth. We when decided to take the full size ski lift to the top of the highest run. Sitting on the ski lift was very peaceful as I floated by tall green pines weighted down by the snow. I boarded off the ski lift using my stomp pad like a skate board.

The view from the top was incredible as I saw the entire valley stretching out below. Neither one of us had the skill to complete this run, but what we lacked in technique we made up in risky behavior and the indestructibility of youth.

The black diamond run was no joke as it began with a steep narrow chute opened into a wider 70 degree angle. Ridiculously fast. I kept crashing and trying my best to brake. I slid on my butt and knees for probably the first quarter of the run, until I was able to get myself back up and full on complete the remaining portion of the run. At the bottom, I looked back at what I had accomplished, and was happy to have had completed my goal of the morning of being able to do the biggest run. I looked like I had gone through some heavy powder as I was covered in snow. Jon took about 20 minutes longer, as he had a couple hard bails on his skis. When he finally came down it was 1:30pm.

I really should have done one more run to solidify my improvement but I was so cold, my gloves so icy, and my jacket and pants soaking wet. I knew it would have been stupid. Jon decided to one more run and I sat on the bench in the just emerging sun.

We returned the equipment by 2:00pm and walked over to the ski lift stand to get our money back. Expecting almost nothing, we were surprised to received almost 25 slosky back. We had paid less than 10 US DOLLARS to ski for the day! Incredible! I was freezing and my clothes were damp. We walked back to the hostel, numb, but happy about how the day had turned out.

I wish I could have spent another week at the hostel as we came back to the warm lodge and immediately felt at home. I hung up my clothes over the heater and took a hot shower. In dirty but dry clothes, I finished the rest of our meat, cheese and bread. The owner of the hostel was also there in the living room. We began to talk to him and asked why he started the "Goodbye Lenin Hostels." He had worked for a hostel in Brazil and had also sailed from Poland to South America and back as part of the youngest sailing crew to do it. Talking to him and staying in these awesome hostels made me really think about wanting to open one.

We unfortunately had to leave the best spontaneous discovery ever to catch our bus back to Krakow. We left at 4:30pm in a taxi had us at the bus station by 4:45. We caught the 5:00pm bus back to Krakow and unlike the one coming to Zakopane we made it back in 2 hours and 15 minutes. I would definitely like to return to Zakopane.

We had arrived in Krakow a little earlier than expected so we went to purchase our train ticket for the night train and then went to the large mall to buy more groceries, dinner and breakfast, and then people watched in the mall on one of the benches while enjoying a 1 slotzky ice cream.

At 9:15pm we headed back to the train station to find our train. Unfortunately, it was much more expensive to travel from Poland to Prague and we also had not purchased a sleeper car, hoping that we would be able to have our own carriage and just spread out on the seats.

Once on the train and sure that our carriage was going to Prague, Jon and I did the jerkish thing, but in the end ensuring us a much more enjoyable and restful 8 hour ride, by spreading out all of our stuff on the seats and closing the curtains. It worked; as everyone walked by our carriage and sat cramped together in the other cars. Jon and I ate our best sandwiches yet before setting up our "beds" by laying down on the three seats with the armrests up.

It was actually quite comfortable. We put all of our bags by our heads and slept in our clothes with our wallets and passports in our front pockets.

The 8 hour ride was actually not that bad. Granted, we did wake up whenever someone walked by and were awoken at 3am by the conductor for a ticket check. I was still able to sleep a fair amount and didn't feel too tired when we pulled into Prague the next day.

Hooray for Spontaneity!

January 8th

Another late start, as I woke up at 11:00am. I put on my jeans and went downstairs for the great free breakfast. Robbert and Nikola were going out to explore the Jewish Quarter. I also wanted to go, but needed to get everything organized. We checked out of the hostel by 12:30.

Walking past Wawel Castle, we came upon the Jewish Quarter. I paid the 7 slotsky admission to enter the oldest synagogue in Poland. It had been rebuilt after its destruction in WWII. Some of the descriptions of Jewish Holidays were incorrect, but it was a nice museum.

Back at the hostel, Jon and I decided that we would go to Zakopane, Poland, and stay at the sister "Good Bye Lenin" hostel. Jon had wanted to see the Tatra mountains and this would be a perfect opportunity.

Nikola called a van taxi as we were all heading to the bus station. We left, saying goodbye to another fantastic hostel. The taxi driver ended up overcharging us quite a bit. We walked with our new friends to the station where we said goodbye. It had been two crazy, random days with this group of students and we exchanged contact information to stay in touch.

Jon and I spent the next hour shopping for dinner. With the extra time before our bus back to Zakopane, we decided to check the train times back to Prague. What should have been easy an easy office to find, became a tedious, frustrating endeavor as we kept walking in circles to find the international office. Finally. The train tomorrow to Prague would be more expensive than one coming Poland.

We slept the 3 hour bus ride to Zakopane arriving in the ski resort town around 8:30pm. Getting off the bus, it was definitely the coldest it had been during the whole trip. We tried looking at the map and calling the hostel but to no avail. We stopped in a 4 star hotel and were fortunate enough to talk to a very nice receptionist who called a taxi to pick us up. Good thing, as the walk would have been more than hour and very confusing.

The taxi let us out in the middle of a snow covered road, dark and cold. We walked up a hill toward a bright light, coming upon a very cute and cozy log cabin. This awesome lodge was to be our hostel.

We came inside and checked in. The interior was all wood with comfy leather couches in a the living room. We met another Australian kid (its their summer vacation so they are all in Europe!) and then saw our room. Rustic and comfortable, our window gave us an incredible view of the snow laden pine forest. Looking at the prices and location of the ski resorts, we decided to go skiing the next day. We made another dinner of excellent sandwiches while watching the coverage of the crisis in Gaza and the fuel crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

Going to bed in the amazing hostel, we were excited for the next day and marveled at the fortune we had had with taking a chance on spontaneity.

A Wawel-ful Day

January 7th

We woke up at 11:00am after having slept in from our late night romp. Downstairs I enjoyed the excellent free breakfast. Jon also got up and after debating over where we should stay and not wanting to share a floor with 10 other people at a random couchsurfer's house that we had received a message from, we decided to rebook the hostel and received a double discount for today and yesterday since we mentioned our student ID cards. Always ask if there is a student discount!

I took a cold shower as the water heater wasn't working. I didn't mind though as I just thought of the cold showers the prisoners of Auschwitz took in the snow and the shower was quite warm.

Back downstairs I facebooked and talked to Nikola and Nick, a kid traveling by himself from Hong Kong. We had decided to wait for our impromptu large group and by the time everyone was ready, it was 1:00pm.

Leaving the perfect location of the hostel in the city center, we took a left and headed toward Wawel hill (pronounced "Favel") As we turned the corner, I saw the large Wawel castle on the hill covered in snow. Walking up the castle gate, I saw a large statue of a man mounted on a horse. We walked through the gate and Nikola took my normal job with the guidebook, by reading historical facts of the castle. As we came up to the entrance of the main attraction, the Wawel Cathedral, Nikola read about the history of the huge "dragon bones" that hung above the church entrance. Apparently, the world will end when the bones fall.

We entered the cathedral and did a quick tour around until we came to the bell tower entrance where we needed a ticket. Nikola and I had walked ahead of the group and decided to find the ticket office. We went back outside and bought tickets from the nun working the ticket office. We received another nice student discount (I'd received more here in Poland than all of my time combined in Europe). We also picked up the cool audio guide in the form of an iPod Shuffel with a guide who had an American accent!

We went back to the Cathedral and spent the next hour or more listening to the guide and learning a lot about Polish history and the tombs of the many famous Polish kings laying in their beautifully decorated tombs. Walking around with Nikola was fun as I was glad to had met someone new and she was an interesting person. She is from Germany and studying abroad in the US at the University of New Hampshire.

Presenting our tickets to the guard, we climbed the 70 ancient, wooden steps of the bell tower. At the top we had a nice view of Krakow, blanketed in snow.

Back down in the cathedral we went underground, having a chance to explore the crypts. Some cool tombs, one of them belonging to a Polish general who had helped in the American Revolution.

We had been separated from the group for a while, so we wen back outside in the cold. Nikola called them and we met up in the small, historical museum before heading to the impressive State Rooms. Sliding along the ice, we came back to the entrance where we put blue, plastic slipper covers over our shoes and toured the exquisitely decorated rooms with fantastic tapestries and works of aft. One room was very pretty with a large window overlooking the city.

The Castle was closing as it was getting dark at 4. We decided to head back toward the city. Our big group had split up as Jon and I were walking just with Robbert and Nikola. We ended up getting into a large conversation about American, specifically "if America has any culture." Jon and I gave them a litany of rebuttals.

Jon and I still hadn't seen St. Mary's Cathedral nor really explored the square. We told Robbert and Nikola we'd meet back up with them at the hostel. It was freezing and dark as we walked around, talking about the "American Culture" conversation we had just had and also about the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I've been pretty silent on the subject here, considering Europe and Spain are drastically anti-Israel. I gave Jon my thoughts and opinions.

St. Mary's Cathedral was nice, but we were getting really cold and decided to head back to the hostel. We relaxed by drinking some of the great, free, black tea and lazing in the common room.

At 8:00pm or so, Jon, Nikola, Patrick, Nick and I went out to dinner at a Polish restaurant that turned out to be more pricey than we thought. The dumplings were good although it took us for ever to figure out the check.

We decided to go out on the town and ended up paying the 2 slotzky (5o euro cents) cover to enter the very good, underground club called "Frantic." The music was great and everyone was up and dancing. We joked about the scene from "Eurotrip" in which the main characters go to a club in Eastern Europe. This seemed to fit the bill. We left "early" at 3:30am. I had definitely been impressed by the Polish night life.

Memoirs of a Small World and Fun Times in Krakow

January 6th

During our 20 minute break between touring Auschwitz and Birkenau, I saw a group of people come into the museum. One guy I recognized as my "roommate" for the one night I spent at the "Yellow Hostel" in Rome. I went up and introduced myself again. We started talking and he told us about this great hostel he was staying at in the center of Krakow. Jon and I still didn't have a place to stay, so we told him we'd keep it in mind when we got to the city. Also on our tour of Auschwitz were the three Australian guys we had met on our pub crawl in Prague. They were road tripping to Budapest. Small world or at least similar activities and interests.

The two hour bus ride back to Krakow was cold and long with an irritated driver. I fell asleep. In Krakow, it was so cold. We wandered aimlessly for about 30 minutes trying to find the main Rynek Glowney Town Square. We walked through a huge, fancy shopping mall and I said to Jon that "no wonder people are disappointed when they come to the US as they already have all of the same stuff here." We got directions to the main street but were still lost. We asked two Polish girls how to get to the Old Town Square. They told us and then asked where we were from:

"California,"

"Why on earth would you come to Poland in the winter, in January?!"

"We wanted the real experience."

We found the square and then looked for an internet cafe. It was so cold that it hurt to walk. Krakow was very pretty with large churches and old buildings. We finally found an internet cafe. We spent an hour sending couchsurfing requests and emails. I booked the hostel that had been recommended to me by Patrick the kid I had met in Rome and Auschwitz. We then went to look for the hostel, finding it close to the square.

Entering the "Good Bye Lenin-Let's Rock!" hostel, I knew we were going to have a great stay. The decoration was fresh and hip with pop art and cool stencils.

The reception lady was really nice and after checking in, she showed us our rooms. We met the Brazilian kids in our room and then went downstairs to the fun common room and nice kitchen.

Jon and I decided to go shopping for dinner at the market. Deciding to be more gourmet, we bought some chicken, pasta, and paprika seasoning. Back at the hostel, we took over the kitchen and started to cook. The stove didn't work great but we did a great job on the chicken and had a good meal.

Patrick and his friends Robbert from Holland, Nikola from Germany, and Stephanie from New York came downstairs and we talked to them for a while, laughing at the small world factor. The night turned out be quite fun as Robbert, Patrick, Jon and I went for a guys night out to two bars. The first was pretty dead but the second turned into a bouncing night club as the night went on. The Polish girls didn't speak very much if no English at all, so it was pretty funny trying to communicate with them. We got back to the hostel around 4:30am and after hanging out for no real reason downstairs in the common room we went to bed by 5:00am.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

January 6th

I woke up to the tapping pen against the window of the train conductor who was returning our tickets. I had thought they would need to check our passport but apparently didn't.

About 30 minutes later we pulled into Krakow train station. We quickly repacked our bags and stepped into the frigid Polish air. It was much colder than Prague. Our train was an hour late as it was 7:30am. This actually worked in our favor as we had less time to wait at the bus station to catch the bus to Oswiecim, the city outside of the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. From the train station, we walked through the underground tunnel and arrived at the bus station. The next bus to Oswiecim was at 7:50. We bought our tickets and climbed abroad the small, public bus.

It was very cramped and cold, but we were able to see some of the country side and city as the bus picked people up on the way to Oswiecim.

The bus ride was 1 and a half hours with the Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau its last stop. We got out and walked the last two hundred yards in the 3 feet of snow to the museum entrance. Cold. Still. I took some pictures of the buildings and prepared myself.

Entering the visitor's center, Jon and I checked in our bags and bought the all access visitor's tickets to the video, guided tour and Birkenau. We then walked outside and saw the infamous gate with the cynical sign in German, "Work is Liberating."

The live footage documentary video of Auschwitz-Birkenau's liberation in 1945 was terrible and powerful. It lasted for 15 minutes and showed the liberation of the camp and some of the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

We then met up with our tour guide, a small, pretty, Polish women who spoke perfect English in a strong accent but with a soothing tone. Over the next 2 and a half hours we toured Auschwitz, seeing the terrible evidence of tons of human hair, glasses, shoes, and belongings of the murdered victims. We saw the terrible torture rooms and the small house where the head SS officer lived with his family. We saw the room of Joseph Mengele, the Nazi "doctor," who did terrible experiments on women and children. I was very sad, depressed, but above all angry. Auschwitz was unbelievable. One cannot imagine the scale, magnitude, or sheer number of innocent people killed for no reason. I didn't want to believe that there could ever be a hate so strong, so desensitizing that something like the Holocaust would happen. Our last stop was inside one of the gas chambers where thousands of people had been murdered.

We had a 20 minute break before our next stop at the even larger death camp of Birkenau. Everyone was silent and a lot of people were crying. Jon and I sat down trying to warm our feet by the radiator. I was suffering from the cold and had only been outside for a little more than an hour. How the prisoners, how anyone, was able to survive the sheer climate is beyond me. I had a large jacket and was freezing. Imagine thin cotton pajamas. Impossible. I was "glad" to see Auschwitz in the winter and snow, as I was able to "appreciate," understand, the overall suffering and cruelty even more.

The bus over to Birkenau was a quick 3 km ride. We met the tour guide at the front gate and walked into the unbelievably large 400 acre death camp. For as far as I could see there were shoddy wooden buildings, guard towers and barbed wire. We saw the terrible sleeping bunks and toilet facilities. We walked the 15 minute walk a long the lane, covered in snow until we came to a memorial to the victims. Never Forget. Never Repeat. We saw the destroyed gas chambers and crematoriums. From this part of Birkenau, I had a haunting view of the train station and the and the tracks that took the cattle cars of Jews, Gypies, Poles, and others to their deaths. The moon peeked its waning shell and the whole scene froze in time like a scar that will never and should never be forgotten.

Jon and I walked the 15 minutes back, my toes and fingers numb. I stood up straight and thought of the people who had died and no longer felt the cold.

Leaving the gates of Birkenau, I really couldn't describe the emotion.

Powerful. Terrible. Indescribable.

Micah Goes Abroad

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Photos from Italy, Prague and Poland

And The First Month Of 2009 Ends Just Like That