Saturday, February 26, 2011

Auschwitz.... (warning: depressing post)

I'm sitting here trying to write about my visit to Auschwitz, but the words are hard to find. I'll start by saying that it was depressing. I want to say that it was interesting, but I'm not sure that's the right word to use... after all we all learned about WWII in school and about the concentration camps, so I didn't necessarily learn anything about what went on at these camps... instead it was eye opening and heart breaking- those are probably better words to use. As I said, we all learn about the atrocities of the Holocaust, but to actually visit a concentration camp is an experience. To be honest I'm not sure I can entirely put it into words, but I'll do my best...

I started depressing adventure with Corey, Taylor, and Gabrielle. We barely caught the train in time and then had a 2 hour train ride to Oswiecim (the town where Auschwitz is located). The ride wasn't bad at first. We even made friends with a fellow American who was going to see Auschwitz as well. She has been living in Prague for the last 2 months just traveling around Europe on her own 'avoiding the real world'. She was really nice and helped us find our way to the camp once we arrived in the town. But otherwise the train ride began setting the mood for the visit to Auschwitz. Once we got 30 or so minutes outside of the city the landscape became barren. And with the snow on the ground it was almost as if I was traveling back in time. I began picturing a war taking place outside my window... soldiers advancing through the wooded areas, tanks moving across the cold, open fields and planes dotting the sky above...


From the moment I walk up to the gate a sort of eerie stillness took over. I hardly said a word as I walked around despite wandering around with Taylor. When we did speak it was quiet and something to do with how we couldn't believe something we saw or read. Once I had passed through the gate into the camp I hadn't gone more than 30ft before there was a sign telling how the SS would hang the bodies of attempted escapees along the wall of the first building you passed as you moved into the camp as a warning to other prisoners. Opposite of that was another sign describing how the camp orchestra would play marches to help keep the prisoners in step as they were sent off to do a full day of grueling work. It was insane. All I could think was yeah, lets have an orchestra play music to keep people in step while on the wall of the opposite building dead bodies just hang out... that sounds lovely.... not. The whole thing was just stick and twisted and I hadn't made it more than 50 feet.

Needless to say that it didn't get much better. They had many of the barracks where prisoners stayed open to walk through with exhibits to look at. We went in the first one we found and it was the most depressing thing ever. First off, when you walked inside it was cold, colder than being outside. Second, it was even creepier than walking through the front gate. Especially thinking about how many men, women, and children lived in this one building and the conditions in which they lived in and then realizing how many of them were probably killed. Last of all, the exhibit itself within this one building was an incredible downer. There were pictures of the destruction in Warsaw and small towns which had been bombed or burned to the ground. And there were pictures of children suffering from starvation- you could see every bone they were so skinny. Then there were the quotes of Hitler and other Nazi leaders. One of Hitler's quotes said "I will provide a cause for the war whether true or not is irrelevant for propaganda purposes." It was insane to think how he managed to brainwash so many people into believing the things he said.

The worst part of the exhibit was when I walked into a room that had what I would describe as 50 or more scarecrow resembling things that were dressed in the clothes of actual prisoners. And I would hardly call them clothes, they looked more like striped pajamas. On the wall behind it were the photos of hundreds of prisoners. It was, by far, the most depressing and hard-hitting moment the entire time there.


After that I just wanted out of the building so I quickly finished the exhibit and headed back outside not wanting to go inside another building like that again. So Taylor and I continued walking around the camp. We saw where the area where prisoners were hung and another place where they were shot against a firing wall. We did venture into another building. It wasn't quiet as depressing, but still not much better. In this building we saw where prisoners where stripped and washed before being marched out to the firing wall. In the basement we saw where some of the more troublesome prisoners were held- the rooms were small concrete boxes with a small window with metal bars and a toilet in it (the toilet looked like nothing more than a wood box with a hole cut out of it)(Ameila- I'm glad you weren't here as I can only imagine the things you may have 'seen'). We also got to stand in what was called the 'standing' room. It was literally a room, well more like a closet that was maybe 3'x3', and prisoners would have to crawl through a tiny door to get in and they would force four people in at a time. They were so crammed that they couldn't lie down, hence the name. The two of us stood in one and it was pretty crammed so there is no way I could imagine having four people in there. Once we made our way out of there we silently wandered around some more.


The idea of having a conversation while touring the grounds of what I would consider a cemetery just seems weird and insensitive. What is there even to say? Nothing seems like the right thing. Everything whispered death and suffering, so thinking that anything said would really mean something was crazy. I don't know how people were walking around talking like it was no big deal. All I wanted to do was stay silent. And as I said, when Taylor and I did speak it was short.

Taylor and I walked around aimlessly some more when I spotted a visitor restroom. Now I only mention this because it was the strangest bathroom experience ever. Not because it was creepy or anything like that, but because a. who knows what the building the bathrooms were in was originally for. b. I felt weird using a real toilet in such a depressing place, especially after seeing what was considered a toilet for the prisoners. and c. the restroom was located right next to the gas chamber/crematorium.

The crematorium was the last place Taylor and I went in during our visit of Auschwitz. Strangely, it was probably the least depressing place of all. It was certainly creepy but I think the other areas we saw first were far worse. I think it felt this way simply because this was the place where the suffering ended. Yes, it is absolutely horrible that people were killed in such a manner, but after having toured the place I think I would have wanted to die. Everywhere else in the camp wreaked of pain and suffering and humiliation. But in the chamber, all that ended... the people went to a place much better. In some ways, as painful and hard as it is to say, I think the people who died were far luckier than those who survived and had to live with the memory of being there.


I just finished rereading this... probably the most depressing blog post I will have during my 4 months here. And while I feel the need to end this post in some sort of uplifting manner, that doesn't quiet seem fair after everything I saw today. So my apologies for the downer blog post today.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Transportation


Wowel Castle.


Wowel Castle and the river.

After weeks of anticipation, my semester of studies in Krakow officially started this morning with my 10am Urban Theory class. I must admit that I am quiet happy about the start of the semester as winter break has lasted a little too long and I'm ready from some stimulation of the synapses (that was just for you Daddy). Now, I know a 10am class doesn't sound too bad and during any regular semester I really wouldn't mind. However, here a 10am class means getting up at 8am to get dressed and eat a quick breakfast in order to catch the bus in time to make the 40ish min commute to class.

It's actually quite the adventure to get to class- first we have to hop on bus 139 and take it 13 stops to Plac Inwalidow. From there we hop off and get on either trams 4, 8, or 13 and take it 3 stops to the university stop and then its a short walk to the building. Fellow peers have already begun commenting on how they are going to appreciate having a car to go places whenever they want. Frankly, I think they are jumping the gun some. In the few days I have been here I have already grown quite fond of the transportation system. I agree it takes a little longer to get places, but there is definitely a sense of community and a certain buzz, that to me, brings the city alive. We were told a few days ago at orientation the 'Krakow is a city that sustains its people' and the bus/tram system is a great example. Today for instance, I was able to take the tram and bus to school then we took the tram on the way to our site (we began our site analysis today in studio class) then walked the rest of the way to the site. Once we finished we simply headed over to the bus stop, looked up which bus we needed in order to get back to the dorm, and after a short wait the bus we needed came and took us home. There was no need to worry about parking or traffic or really anything except paying attention to where we needed to get off. Otherwise we could sit back and watch as Krakow passed by our window.

The buses also offer the chance to take in some of Krakow's culture as the bus is full of people. Just listening in to conversations of the locals is interesting even though I don't understand a word of it. Although, it is pretty exciting when I do recognize a word or two - words usually limited to yes, no, excuse me, hello, goodbye, and thank you. Anyway you look at it the bus and tram systems within Krakow are a huge part of the city. Without them, the very pedestrian oriented streets and city center would not function. The city would no longer be able to sustain itself, just like NYC would be crippled if the subway system was removed. Its part of the cities identity and without the fun of taking the buses everywhere we go our experience in Krakow would not be complete.

That went on a little longer than expected, as I had intended on telling more about my day... Honestly the day wasn't exceptionally interesting. We had the Urban Theory class which we got a brief history of Krakow. Then we had 2 and a half hours to kill so a group of us went to this small place called Makaron (I think I spelled it right... I'll double check Wedns.) but it was this really good place that served pasta, pizza and salad. I got a very delicious chicken and broccoli pasta dish and a hot tea to help warm up! It was freezing cold here today, I don't think it got above 25 degrees- I might invest in some long underwear! After a long lunch we headed to studio where we were introduced to our site analysis project, which we will be working on for the next week in preparation for our studio project. The site is located on the other side of the river, opposite of Wawel (pronounced Vavel) Castle. We toured around for a short time before the cold got to us and we headed home. Tomorrow is Architecture History... hopefully it warms up because I am under the impression that the class is conducted by touring around Krakow.


Neat looking hotel next to Wowel Castle.... wink wink nudge nudge


Interesting painting on the side of a building near our site.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Orientation and Exploration

I'm letting the pictures do the talking. Today was orientation and exploration day. We found our studio building and met with our professor for a little then headed to Europe's largest mall - the Galeria- for some lunch and shopping/browsing. Then headed back to the dorms for a nap before heading out after dinner to go explore the city square and get some dessert.





The main building I have classes in - studio, urban theory, drawing, and sculpture.


Europe's largest mall - Galeria Krakowska. Apparently, people from all over Europe fly into Krakow to shop here.


The plaza outside the Galeria.


St. Mary's Church and Clothe Hall in the city square- the heart of Krakow.


Clothe Hall- lit up at night. (the reflection is off a marble bench)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

I made it!

My dorm room... its pretty small!

Taking off from Charlotte at sundown, heading to Munich!


Just a quick post as I am about to head to bed. I made it to Krakow!! When we first arrived we were taken to our dorms and given room assignments. My roommate is Jeslynn, she is an exchange student originally from Malaysia, but she studies in Australia. I also have to suitemates who are from mexico... I am the lucky one who got all random roommates. Everyone else is roomed with other UT students, and the one guy who doesnt have a UT roomie has UT suitemates. Luckily, we are all in the same hall so while I have random room/suite mates I am till with everyone.

Once we got all our rooms figured out yesterday two Polish students showed us how to us the buses to get downtown and to our studios... the dorms are about a 20 minute bus ride from the city square. Along the way we stopped for dinner where I got pierogi ruskie- they are essentially dumplings/ravioli filled with mashed potatoes and cheese. Delicious! After that we all headed back to the dorms to unpack and hit the sack early for us...

Today, I woke up feeling well rested and a couple of us headed over to the mall (about a 15 minute walk or a 3 min bus ride plus 5ish min walk). Inside we found what is easiest described as a super walmart but a little smaller. We got all the essentials plus a few things that we needed, like towels, snacks, and water. After that we came back to the dorm and had a pretty low key afternoon. I finally got my internet setup and reconnected to the world. Around dinner Sonja, Caitlin and I headed back to the mall to find food- KFC (or as we call it, Krakow Fried Chicken) then went back into the store, which we dubbed wal-mall, to get a few things they had forgotten. Caitlin was trying to find a pre-paid phone so trying to communicate this with people working at Poland was rather amusing as there is a clear language barrier. We were able to get what we wanted across once a man who knew a little English came over and we pulled out our phrase book. We actually were able to hold a very short conversation with them, which is a start.

At this point everyone else had gone downtown for dinner and then, for those up to it, drinking. Since we decided to stay in, we decided to get a few small bottles of various Polish beers to try out. So when we got back to the dorms we hung out in Caitlin and Sonja's room and sampled the more popular (according to one of our polish guide books) beers. There weren't too bad. I will admit that one smelled like skunk, no joke, but actually tasted pretty good!

Anyway, now its bedtime as we have and orientation thing in the morning. Then some exploring of downtown. So more later. Dobranoc!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Leaving on a Jet plane... or 3

Well, today is the day! After months of anticipation, planning, learning polish, and last minute packing my adventure is about to start. I have to admit it's all starting to become overwhelming.... 4 months in Poland.... what was I thinking!? But don't worry I am still super excited and cannot wait! It's going to be an incredible 4 months!
Anywho, I must get back to all those last minute things that go along with travelling. Then off to the airport! If all goes well I will travel to the future and arrive in Poland around 12.30 tomorrow (6.30 eastern time)!

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." ~Susan Heller

Saturday, February 5, 2011

This is for all you blog followers!

After a little convincing, my polish adventures are officially being documented for you to enjoy! ...10 days till take off!!!

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese