Belated notes on remainder of trip

-I went to a karaoke bar last night in Warsaw. It was nuts. Most songs in Polish, although there was a rendition of "Lovers in the night." I actually went out with two of the students, a first this semester, but left after only a couple and sadly missed joining a rendition of the Beatles' "A Little Help from my friends."

-Krakow was incredibly beautiful and now ranks fairly highly on my Euro cities list. There is a beautiful old town (the city was one of two large cities now destroyed in WWII) and a hip formerly-Jewish quarter. There were a ton of young folks everywhere and not too many tourists. Or at least, city residents outnumbered tourists even in the old town. I recommend this city!

-I had a gigantic room overlooking a beautiful part and beautiful theatre. And I had a patio. It was overwhelming actually.

-Visited Auschwitz. I became numb probably a quarter of the way through. It was a physically and emotionally exhausting experience. Birkenau can only be understood as a factory of death, which is just so frightening...

-We also met with the Judaica Foundation (a centre for jewish culture), had superb guided tours of Kazimierz (above mentioned formerly-jewish quarter) and Nowa Huta (a
Commie built workers utopia), and had a workshop with the All Different/All Equal campaign.

-I had many fine polish meals. I can not believe how much I enjoyed Polish cuisine, and it wasn't just the price. Tasty meats and delicious soups. Yum Yum.

-I was physically drained in Krakow from the continued sickness. I started taking some prescription strength meds and finally picked myself back up. Still, it was disappointing that I spent so much of this trip sick. The program required a level I couldn't always provide, and I missed out on some of the fun I could have had traveling.

-I had a lot of fun hanging out with the students and without any of the problems that arose last semester. This group is comfortable enough with themselves, the program, and me as TA that we can be together as human beings. Yay!

-I finished reading Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" and Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses." They were both a bit heavy for travel reading. Faulkner was mind expanding. McCarthy caused reflection.

-I bought a new skateboard because my old one broke days before leaving. It was made by Habitat Skateboards and proceeds for it go to "educating the marginalized peoples of Guayaquil, Ecuador." That is a direct quote from the deck. I tried to find a photo of it to post, but no success yet. The deck graphic includes a map of South America highlighting Ecuador with a tree growing out of it, a funky bird, and numbers drawn in chalk (like in a a school, y'know?). It is a very HECUA TA skateboard.

These were the things that stand out now. Unfortunately this doesn't provide anything like a travel diary but it gives an idea of my experience. Perhaps that is all you want to read anyway.