Bruges, Belgium and Bayeux, France

Bruges was great. The town was one of the smallest and most laid back we have visited, filled with lace and chocolate shops. It is what I picture when I imagine a European town, with narrow cobblestone streets and big churches. We arrived last Thursday from Leiden. On the way we stopped in Ghent to see the Ghent Altarpiece by Van Eyck. The altarpiece was very impressive, painted during the Northern Renaissance. I was struck by the amount of detail on each part of the altarpiece. After viewing the altarpiece we had lunch at Ghent and then headed onto Burges. After arriving to Bruges I walked around the town by myself for a half hour and instantely knew I would enjoy my time there.

On Friday we had all three classes and then two museums to visit in the afternoon. The museums we went to were the Groeningemuseum and the Memlingmuseum. In all honesty, I was not in a museum mood and did not spend much time in either. After the museums I went with Bo to the market in town to get some supplies for sandwich making. At the group dinner on Friday night we had the great pickled onion incident. The first course of this group dinner was a gross looking patte and pickles and pickled onions. I sat at a table with three other friends, and we all picked at our plates. Finally we gathered all the onions on one plate and bet our friend Marley that she couldn't fit all of the onions in her mouth. She accepted and was successful, much to the mortification of the Pointers. After the deed, Dr. Pointer yelled at Marley. We laughed the whole way through. Mayley crammed at least 15 of these little pickled onions into her mouth and was drooling all over the place, and then spit them out on the plate. I did feel bad that she got in trouble because of our bad idea, but in the end it was worth it because it was hilarious. After this group dinner I went with some friends and had a delicious belgium waffle covered with chocolate sauce. The Europeans sure know how to make delicious tastey treats.

On Saturday we had two classes in the morning and the rest of the day was essentially a free day. I did laundry after class. The last time I had anything washed was several weeks earlier in Poland, so it was time. After laundry I went on a chocolate quest with some friends and then went to H & M and bought some more clothes that I didn't have room for. Saturday was Jason Cooper's 21st birthday, so a bunch of us went to a bar to celebrate his birthday. Everyone was laughing and talking and it was good times. The downside is that no smoking legislation hasn't made its way to Belgium yet, so a lof of people in the bar were smoking.

Sunday was more or less a free day as well. I slept in and got some much needed sleep. The highlight of Sunday was a social event that Hayely and I planned. We played games in the park, like steal the bacon and capture the flag. A lot of people came to play and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we all went and got waffles.

Monday brought a trip from Bruges into Brussels. This day started off poorly, and didn't really recover. We had to be ready to go at 7 because we had a 9:30 appointment with someone from the European Commission, which is part of the European Union. Our coach driver was almost an hour late, which stressed out all our professors and especially Barb Pointer. But the coach finally came and we were only twenty minutes late to our appointment. In the morning we had a guest lecture from a guy who is from Missouri who works in the European Commission. He shared on the structure of the European Union and some current issues facing the EU, such as the potential of Turkey joining, which most Eurpeans are against. After this lecture we had several hours to ourselves in Brussels. It rained all day, and people were mostly in a poor mood, probably because of the rain and the early start. After grabbing some lunch we walked around Brussels with really no clue of what to do. After free time we had another guest lecture from a representative from the European Parliament, which is another entity of the EU. Unfortunately this lecture was largely a repeat of the morning. On Monday night I had dinner at Pizza Hut with some friends because we were cravin a taste of home, and food in Bruges is very expensive.

Tuesday was an exciting day, we were headed to France. In the morning we had a quick stop in Ypres to see the Flanders Field Museum. The museum was interesting and very well put together. The museum focused mainly on the Battle of Ypres, or the Battle of Flanders during the First World War. I liked this museum because it had a smaller subject, one battle. Unlike the museums that focus on World War II or the Holocaust, it was much easier to follow the information that was presented, and the amount of information wasn't overwhelming. We grabbed lunch in Ypres and then headed for France. We crossed the boarder into France sometime in the afternoon and drove through some beautiful countryside landscapes. While in Bayeux we are staying in a fairly nice hotel which is slightly outside of Bayeux.

Today has been a busy day, but a good day. We went into Bayeux this morning to see the Bayeux Tapestry and the Bayeux Cathedral. The tapestry was impressive, especially in it size and the fact that it has been around for about a thousand years. The tapestry tells the story of the Norman invasion of England, and was impressive in the amount of detail it packed in. Then we walked to the cathedral. The cathedral was beautiful, but I feel slightly numb to cathedrals after seeing so many beaufitul ones. The rest of our time in Bayeux was spent purchasing items for our halloween party tonight, which was a great success. We had ice cream sundays and played games and had a costume constest and everyone had great costumes.

Tomorrow we are spending most of the day looking at sites from World War I and II. It should be another interesting day, and then on Friday it is off to Paris! I have like 35 or so days left, which is sad in some ways and exciting in others. I am a little tired of traveling, but we have some of the best places left, which makes me very excited. I hope you all are doing well.
Love and blessings,
Mikey

Berline, Leiden, and Amsterdam

Tonight is my last night in Leiden, which is a little outside of Amsterdam. It has been a long time since my last post, so I will go over some highlights of Berlin.

First, I had a test on Wednesday in my Contemporary European Issues class, so I spent a lot of Monday and Tuesday preparing for the test. But, the professors don't always recognize that we have tests, so we had excursions these two days as well. The test went well, but it was difficult to study because of all the things we were going and seeing.

Two Monday's ago we had class in the morning, as usual. We had a guest lecturer who spoke on Christians during World War II, and more specifically Christians in Nazi Germany. The lecture was very good and informative. After this we went and saw a church that was constructed while the Nazis controlled Germany. This was an interesting experience. There were no obviously blatant Nazi symbols left in the church, but there was still some remnant of Nazi presence. The most interesting part of the church was the organ. The organ in this church was the same organ that was played at the Nuremburg rallies. Another part of the church that struck me was the altar. Around the altar was a carving of Jesus preaching to a bunch of people, and directly behind Jesus, to the left, was a soldier, a Nazi soldier I am assuming. I spent the rest of Monday studying, except for going out to dinner with our beloved guide, Gabrial. We sat around and ate and laughed and enjoy Berlin and our times with Gabrial.

Two Tuesday's ago we spent time in Berlin at two sites related to the Holocaust. The first site we went to was a new memorial in Berlin for all the Jewish People who suffered because of the Holocaust. The memorial was very interesting and powerful. It takes up a whole city block in Berlin and is essentially a series of concrete blocks. It is hard to describe, so if you are really interested look up a picture on google or wikipedia. Anyway, we spent about a half hour walking through the memorial and reflecting. After this we went to the Jewish Museum in Berlin. This museum was very different from any other museum I have ever been to. It was not so much about the exact experience of the Holocaust, but was more geared at explaining things through symbolism. One room was a 30 or 40 foot tall empty room that only had a small slit to allow light and air from the outside. This room was powerful in its ability to convey feeling alone and empty. Both of these sites were different from all the other World War II and Holocaust museums and memorals we have visited, and it was refreshing to see a different take on a memorial and a museum.

Wednesday was the test, which went well. After the test we went to Potsdam. While in Potsdam we saw the house where Stalin, Churchill, and Truman or Roosevelt (I don't remember exactly who), worked on drawing up the peace treaty after World War II. It was pretty amazing to see the house these men worked at and the desks they did their work from.

I am running out of time, so the rest will be highlights.

Last Friday was our first free day, and it was a good one. In the morning I went with a bunch of people to the Berlin Zoo. At first, I was skeptical to go to the zoo, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. We were like a bunch of kids, running around the zoo, looking at animals and taking pictures. It was very relaxing, a nice change of pace from the rest of the trip. After the zoo we went to a delicious chocolate shop and tried all different types of chocolate. Good chocolate is becoming like wine and there is now chocolate tasting. Good chocolate is made with different percentages of cocoa, with a lower percentage being more of a milk chocolate and a higher being more of a dark chocolate. So we all tried different percentages of cocoa and decided which we liked the most. Next a handful of us went to see the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstage (German Parliament). These are two of the more notable monuments in Germany, so I figured I should see them before we left. After all this fun and site seeing I went and got my hair cut. The woman didn't speak much English, so it was an experience to have her cut my hair. I think she did a pretty good job. Then on Friday night I went out to dinner with a bunch of friends and packed up, because on Satuday we traveled to Leiden, The Netherlands.

On Saturday we arrived in Leiden much earlier than planned, which was nice because we had another test on Monday. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday studying. Monday morning brought the test and two hours of class. The test went okay, but I am taking the class pass fail so all I really had to get was a C on the test. Monday afternoon we went in to Amsterdam to two museums, the Rijkmuseum and the Van Gough Museum. At the Rijkmuseum we saw some wonderful Dutch art. However, I liked the Van Gough Museum much more. The Van Gough Museum has the largest collection of works by Van Gough, and they were impressive. The museum essentially lays out Van Gough's progression as an artist, which was interesting to see. I really like Van Gough's works. On Monday evening we had a guest lecture on current problems in the Netherlands and Amsterdam. The biggest issues are prostitution, which is legal, soft drugs (ie maraijuana, and here it is legal to possess 5 grams), and more recently immigration and Islam. The guest lecture was very good, very informative. Learning about contemporary issues from people who are living in these places has been once of my favorite parts of the semester.

Yesterday was a long day, maybe one of the longest of my life, or at least it felt that way. I could tell from the get-go that it was going to be a tough day. I woke up and already felt like I needed to go back to sleep. We had two hours of difficult class in the morning, difficult because it wasn't that interesting and I kept falling asleep. After class I grabbed lunch and we headed into Amsterdam. When we got to Amsterdam we met up with Brother Luke to walk through the Red Light District to his ministry. This was difficult for me. We walked through the district to a Christian community, the name of which escapes me, which was located next to one of the biggest sex theaters in Amsterdam. Then we broke up into groups of guys and girls to discuss what we had seen. Our discussion was fruitful, but for the most part I think the guys were afraid or uncomfortable to speak up, or maybe needed some more time to digest what they had just experienced, I know I certainly did. After our discussion we headed to the Dutch Resistance Museum. At the museum we split into four different groups and had a guided tour from the museum. To be honest I was drained and did not get much out of the museum. It was kind of a weird museum, and the majority of the writing was in Dutch, but the guide explained everything in English. One thing that really stuck with me was that less than one percent of the population was part of the resistance movement. After the museum we headed back to the train station and came back to Leiden. Last night was a lot of fun. First the Zoradi's took me, Newty, Ryan, Charley, Bo, and Nick out to dinner at a delicious Dutch pancake place. Nick and I split a dinner pancake with ham, cheese, onions, and mushrooms and it was fantastic. Then for dessert we split a pancake with apple, cinnamon, powder sugar, ice cream, and whipped cream. It was heavenly. One of the most fun parts of dinner was that while we were waiting for our dinner we had a double elimination rock, paper, scissors tournament. The Zoradi's are so funny, both Ryan and his dad are so competitive and love games. So anyway, I made it all the way to the championship game without losing a match, but then lost to Newty.

This morning I slept in a little, until 9 or so, got up, took a shower, and immediately headed downstairs to meet people to go into Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam and headed to the Anne Frank House. I was surprised with how little was actual in the house, but in a way it seemed appropriate. I viewed it as a place to reflect on several things, for one the tragic story of Anne Frank's life and even bigger than that, the tragedy that there are millions other untold stories of Jewish people who suffered during World War II, and also a place to reflect on the bravery and decency of those people who helped the Frank's and others who helped Jews during this terrible period in history.

After that I went out to lunch with everyone who went to the Anne Frank house and Steve Zoradi bought me lunch, which was nice. Then I walked around Amsterdam with Becca, Brandon, and Madison. We mostly did some window shopping because we didn't really know what to see in Amsterdam. We also had a delicious raspberry torte in some little cafe. Then we headed back to Leiden and I have just been hanging out, went out to dinner with some friends, and am about to go back to the hotel and pack up because tomorrow we head to Brugge, Belgium

I am doing great. I can't believe I only have 6 weeks abroad left. I am looking forward to them, but also looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone I know and love again. I miss you all.
Love and Blessings,
Mikey

Auschwitz, Warsaw, and Berlin

Today is Sunday and we have nothing scheduled, which is nice. I slept in until 11:30 after a crazy day of traveling and sight seeing, but I will get into that soon. Sometimes I feel guilty sleeping in while I am Europe, but today it was necessary.

Last Monday we took a trip to Auschwitz, which is located about an hour and a half outside of Krakow. I slept for most of the ride out there, until right before we pulled up to the camp. Pulling up to the camp gave me chills, the image of all the empty barracks and and train tracks was a haunting one that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Auschwitz consists of three separate camps, Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II or Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III. In the morning we toured Auschwitz-Birkenau. This was the biggest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. Over a million people were killed here, with 90% if them being Jews. Our tour guide was a German history teacher who spoke only German. Luckily Gabrial, our guide for our time in Poland, spoke German and was able to translate. I cannot convey to you the size of the camp, it was massive. Part of it has been reclaimed by the people who lived on the land before they were kicked off by the Nazis, so the area I saw wasn't even the full size of the camp. One thing that I noticed instantly was the train tracks. The tracks were laid right through the main gate into the center of the camp, where people were brought in, unloaded, and sent to the concentration camp or immediately to the gas chambers. With every train load of new people, the Nazi doctors would sort out the people, sending the young and strong into forced labor, and the old, the weak, the children, and the pregnant into certain death. The second thing I noticed was the conditions. We visited on a day in early October and it was pretty chilly. I was wearing my warmest jacket and a thermal underneath and I was still a little cold. These weather conditions must be mild compared to what it is like in the dead of winter. And the people forced to live in this camp had little more than a few rags for clothing, and most did not have shoes. On top of this they were forced to work, usually outdoors, for the majority of the day. Between the conditions and gas chambers, death was lurking around every corner. We saw the inside of one of the sleeping barracks, absolutely dismal. These barracks were standard German army horse stables that had been converted by the Nazis to hold people. Next to the sleeping quarters was the bathrooms, about 40 makeshift toilets for something like 4000 people, and the only time you were allowed to us the toilet was either in the morning before work started or at night after work was done for the day. From the living area we walked around to where the gas chambers and crematoriums. All that remains here now are the shells of the crematoriums which the Nazis blew up before leaving the camp. We walked along a path from the concentration camp and through a gate into the death camp. Our guide shared a story which I will pass on to you. There was a Jewish jazz musician who was fairly famous in Berlin before the war. Once the war started this man found himself being shipped to Auschwitz. One of the SS guards recognized him and assigned him, with a few other musicians, to play in a band at the gate that we walked through. One day this man reported to his job of playing music for those on their way to their death. Only on this day the man watched his wife and children walk past him into the gas chambers. Tragic. This is just one of the millions of tragedies that occurred during World War II. Auschwitz-Birkenau is separated into several areas. There is the main part, where all the slave laborers were housed. Adjacent to this was the part of the camp referred to as Mexico, which was called this because it was absolute chaos. It was like the main part of the camp, only a lot worse. There was the area where the gas chambers and crematoriums were, and next to this was the part of the camp called Canada. Canada was the part of the camp where the Nazis kept the valuables of the people who entered the camp, particularly Jews from the west. Before being brought to Auschwitz-Birkenau, people were instructed to bring a suitcase full of their personal possessions, especially valuables. The Nazis took these suitcases, telling the people they were putting them where they would be safe during the people´s stay in the camp. In reality the Nazis had no intention of ever returning these items, and knew that the people would not survive the camp to ask for their valuables back. This is just another example of the lies perpetuated by the Nazi machine during this time. In the afternoon we toured Auschwitz I with our German guide. This camp was more of a concentration camp for political prisoners, people the Nazis considered dangerous, communists, but no Jews. The conditions here were slightly better than those at Auschwitz-Birkenau. This camp is notorious as being the place where Zykoln-B, the gas used in the gas chambers, was first tested. This camp was filled this shocking images and parts of the things that occurred in the concentration camps. One example is what the Nazis did with the hair shaved off people entering the camps. When entering a concentration camp, the Nazis shaved any body hair longer than 2 cm. After collecting this hair, it was sold to companies who would then use it to sow the collars of shirts.

My time at Auschwitz was thought provoking. Since then I have spent a lot of time in prayer and reflection, especially about World War II. This tragic history has already been written and the best I can do is remember and honor all those who lost their lives to the Nazis during this period, the Jews, the Roma, those who the Nazis did not see a place for in their new society, and the brave men who fought against the Nazis, the soldiers and those who resisted in Europe. All these people must not be forgotten, and this must not be allowed to ever happen again. One thing that I have been struggling with recently is that acts of genocide have occurred since the end of World War II, in Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, Cambodia, and other places. How can the world turn a blind eye in light of one of the biggest acts of genocide in the world? How do the world leaders tolerate ethnic cleansing? In light of the evils of this world I have become more and more convinced of the brokenness of the world we live in, where people are still exterminated because of their religion or ethnicity, where people can still be bought and sold, where nothing seems to be stopping gross injustices. This world is in desperate need of Christ and the salvation He brings. As a Christian I am committed being the hands and feet for Christ until the day He returns to make things right. I believe this is one of our charges as Christians. Seeing these places where injustice has occurred has only deepened my conviction to serve as a peacekeeper, to be a voice for the oppressed, the widow, the orphan, and those in need. The world is in need of people who are committed to action, and I pray that I would have the courage to be one of these people.

After a short stay in Krakow, we moved onto Warsaw, Poland last Wednesday. The highlight of our time in Warsaw came on Thursday. Here a little bit of background is in order. During World War II, Warsaw became occupied by Nazi Germany. On August 1, 1944 the Polish Home Army intiated an uprising against the occupying Nazi forces in an effort to reclaim Warsaw. This struggle, called the Warsaw Uprising, was intended to last only a few days until the Russians arrived in the city from the east. Instead the struggle lasted for 63 days. The Soviet army reached the Vistula River on September 16, 1944, which was onlz a few hundred meters from the city, but did not advance any further. It is claimed that Stalin did not move his army into the city because he wanted the insurrection to be crushed and so that he could claim Warsaw for the Soviet Union. Over the 63 days of the struggle, 18,000 Polish soldiers were killed with another 25,000 wounded, and 120,000 to 200,000 civilians were killed. The Nazis lost 17,000 men, with another 9,000 wounded. During the course of the fighting, 25% of urban buildings were destroyed. Following the Polish surrender on October 2, 1944, the Nazis systematically destroyed the city, block by block. Coupled with an earlier uprising in the Jewish ghetto in 1939, between 85 and 90% Warsaw had been destroyed. When the Soviet army finally entered the town, Warsaw had essentially ceased to exist. Since then, and under communist rule, Warsaw has been rebuilt, largely in the communist style of huge, ugly buildings. On Thursday we walked throughout Warsaw, seeing the few places where the original buildings still stand. Our guide Gabrial gave us a book of photos taken immediately after the city had been destroyed. there were only a handful of original building still standing, and like Sarajevo, there is still evidence of fighting on these buildings. One buildings is almost entirely intact, except for the upper left hand corner, which was completely blown off. The communists simply patched up the building with new bricks, and it is obvious that this building had been around during the fighting. The old town of Warsaw has been completely rebuilt since, with no help from the state because it was rebuilt during the time of communist rule. Walking around the old town, I would have never guessed that it had been destroyed a little over 60 years ago. Thursday was a testament to the will of the Polish people. They are an incredibly strong and prideful people, and despite being held down many times in their past, they refuse to give up.

Friday night we all borded an overnight train to Berlin. This was quiet the experience. I have only rode a train a few other times in my life, and I can only think of one other time I rode one for an extended period of time. Riding an overnight train is a new experience in being uncomfortable. Each sleeping car is designed to sleep six people. If you cram six guys into an 8´by 8´by 6´cube, there is going to be problems. Not only did we all have to sleep in this car, but it had to fit all of our luggage. Then once we were all situated, we had to get some sleep. I was woken up about every two hours by the noise or the movement of the train. Then at 6 AM we crossed the border from Poland into Germany and there were boarder agents who demanded to see our passports, not a pleasant way to wake up. We arrived in Berlin at 8AM and we all felt miserable. By 9AM we were checked into our hotel, and by 10:30AM we were off on a walking tour of Berlin.

I really like Berlin. It is a young city and a lot is being built or rebuilt, especially in East Berlin after the fall of communism and the Berlin wall. Yesterday I saw parts of the Berlin wall and stood on the line that separeted east and west Germany, it was pretty amazing. Last night we went and saw, or rather listened to, the Berlin Philaharmonic, which was incredible. Today is the first day we have had off in a while, and I am going to spend the rest of the day studying for a test on Wednesday.

I am doing really well. I really enjoyed the time I spent in Poland, it was very interesting. I am not looking forward to studying for another test, but it will be fine. I hope you all are doing well. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for me. I mentioned I thought I might be getting sick, but have managed to avoid it for the most part, other than a stuffy nose. Please keep praying for my health and the safety of our group. You are all missed.
Love and Blessings,
Mikey

Krakow, Poland

This is going to be shorter because I am at the hostel and there is only one computer and people are waiting to use it, and part of the post is taken from an email I wrote to a special someone about what I did today, so enjoy:

This week has been a mixture of good and bad. Krakow is beautiful, a very unique city and I have enjoyed spending time here. Sunday was a good day. We didn't have anything until the afternoon, so I spent the morning sleeping in and reading. In the afternoon we went on a tour of the Jewish Quarter. We saw where many Jews lived before World War II, and then the ghetto they were forced into during World War II. Krakow's Jewish population was essentially eliminated during World War II, and all that remains are these areas where Jewish people once lived.

Monday we went to Auschwitz. This was very difficult and I still have not finished dealing with it an processing it on my own, so I will not say much. It was very surreal to tour a site where so much senseless death and violence and hardship occurred. Walking around Auschwitz III, the major death camp, was an experience that will stay with me the rest of my life.

I had a crazy day, we went on a crazy communist tour and it was madness.

This morning we left the hotel, not really sure what we were getting ourselves into, but our tour guide said it would not disappoint. So we walked out to meet the coach, which turned out to be a redish bus that looked like the Oscar Myer Weiner mobile. We all crammed in, except for six people who rode in two cars, which were designed under communism in Eastern Germany. The bus was old and loud. We rode for about 20 minutes to our first destination, which was a restaurant in an older part of town. We all shuffled into the restaurant, still a little sleepy, only to be greeted by blaring Eastern European techno music, at 10 o'clock in the morning, mind you. This was quiet the surprise, and a little annoying because I had a nagging sinus headache. We all sat down inside and were served some "delicious" beat soup, which smelled like ketchup and tasted even worse. Then the next course was looked like an oversized egg roll, but turned out to be some sort of delicious meat filled deep fried treat. Then the best part of this meal, shots of vodka for all, at 10:30 AM! Dr. Pointer did not look amused, but we all toasted and put down our traditional Polish communist meal. Then one of the guides got up and gave a thirty minute talk about Poland under communism, but was interrupted, not once, not twice, not even three times, but four times by some random Polish man trying to peddle goods to our group. First he brought in flowers, which the tour guide actually bought and these were later distributed to all the girls in the group. Then he brought in some pears, to which our guide told him, in Polish, that we were all allergic to pears. Then he brought in some more veggies, which he couldn't sell to us either. His last attempt was to sell us some sort of coin. The best part was that all four times our guide did not tell him to leave and was extremely nice to him. We are all dying with laughter. Then after this we proceeded to walk outside to the center of the communist planned portion of the city and heard some more on communism in Poland. I had a hard time paying attention because there was a film crew tagging along filming us and our guide, all day, which was a complete surprise. So I spent a good portion of the day avoiding the film crew because I didn't want to appear in whatever film they were making. In the center, which was a circular area surrounded by streets, there was a street named Ronald Regan Street. During the communist times it had been named Lenin Street, but was renamed Ronald Regan Street when Poland joined NATO. Then most of the group got back into the communist bus, while I piled into one of the cars with Ryan Zoradi and Ryan Newton. This car was a box of death on wheels. If we would have gotten in an accident we would have been done, luckily we did not get in an accident. Then we saw a foundry that was built which employed 40,000 workers, and 100,000 people lived in the town at this time, crazy. For those of you keeping score at home, that's 40% of the towns population. Anyway, from here we went to go see the apartments that the communists built. These things were tiny, essentially two rooms: a living room and a kitchen. The living room also served as the bedroom for the whole family, and there was also a tiny bathroom as well. One of the guys employed by the company actually lived in the apartment we saw, and lived and worked here in Krakow when it was communist. He only spoke Polish, but we had a translator, and he had some interesting things to say. The most interesting part was that he liked things under the communist times because everything was free, but now he likes it because he can buy what he wants to; an interesting dichotomy there. After the apartment we saw a Catholic church, which was built during communist times. The church was hideous, extremely industrial looking. Inside there were a series of paintings of Christ's life, but adapted to take place in Poland. Then our communist tour was done. Like I said, crazy, but very interesting and unlike any tour I have ever been on before.

This afternoon I went to the mall with Zoradi and our friend Madison, who goes to APU. I bought a new t-shirt from H&M because all my t-shirts are dirty and smell bad and I don't have means to do laundry right now. Then this evening we had a lecture by someone, I don't remember who he is or what he does, on the history of Catholicism in Poland. Catholicism and Poland have a very complex and detailed history, and he tried to give us most of it in an hour and a half lecture, which didn't work. I gave up taking notes about 20 minutes into the lecture, but it was still informative. To give you a basic idea, 90% of people in Poland are baptized Roman Catholic, and 93% of people self-identify as being Roman Catholic. So being Polish and Roman Catholic are intimately linked in many ways. This played out in very interesting ways under communism because communism is very anti-religion. Throughout the communist time in Poland, the communist government and the RC (Roman Catholic) Church both clashed and coexisted. The RC church played a significant role in the fall of communism in the late 70s, early 80s, especially through the Solidarity movement, which had a strong Roman Catholic backing. These is much, much more, but too much to really get into. After the lecture I went out to dinner with Zoradi, Newty, Haley Smith, Brandon Woods, and Marley (don't know her last name). We had fun laughing and talking.

That's all for now. I will try and write something more substantial soon and share about my time at Auschwitz. I am doing great, but may be catching a cold. Please pray I don't get sick.
Love and blessings,
Mikey

From Vienna to Krakow, and all that comes in between

Okay, so I really already posted everything about Vienna, so this is the only reference to Vienna for the whole blog.

Last Monday we all boarded the bus and headed off for beautiful Prague, which is located in the Czech Republic. Prague, or Praha, is amazing. It is one place that I have been this semester that I am definitely planning on coming back to. One of its nicknames is the City of a thousand spires, because, well, there are probably about a thousand spires in the skyline. There are beautiful buildings everywhere and cobblestone streets, and the St. Charles Bridge, which is incredible. So we drove up to Prague on Monday and I slept on the bus and didn't get sick again, which was a great way to start the day. We got to Prague in the mid-afternoon and went to czech (haha, get it?) into our hotel. Because the streets are old and small, the bus dropped us off a couple of blocks away from the hotel and we all had to roll our suitcases across the cobblestones to the hotel. This was quite the spectacle, and I wish I could have been a spectator and not a participant because I bet it would have been funny to watch. There was basically 50 of us rolling our suitcases through the streets of Prague to the hotel, and I am sure you could hear the sound of our suitcases on the cobblestone for a good distance aways. Anyway, our hotel was choice. I stayed with four other guys. Our area consisted of a bed room with a large queen bed, another bed room with two twin beds, and a fold out bed. I slept in one of the twins and the sleep was heavenly. The hotel also had computers with free internet access in the rooms, which was also very nice. So after checking in I walked around town with some friends for a couple of hours to take in some of the sights of Prague and immediately flew in love with the city. Our hotel was literally right next to the St. Charles Bridge, so every time we walked into the main part of the town we got to cross the bridge. On Monday night we had a city report and then I started studying for the art history test I took on Thursday.

On Tuesday we had class in the morning and then we were supposed to have a walking tour in the afternoon, only our guides didn't show up. So our professors conducted the walking tour, and most of us spent the time following them and talking and not really paying attention, so I don't really remember what I saw. I do know I saw the Prague castle and the St. Vitus Cathedral. After the walking tour I went back to the hotel to spend some time studying, which became the theme for my time in Prague. On Tuesday night a couple of us guys made dinner in the hotel, which consisted of nasty tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, a little taste of America. Then the rest of the night was devoted to studying.

Wednesday was a difficult day. We had an excursion out to a town called Terezin, outside of Prague. Terezin served as both a ghetto and transit camp for Jews under the Nazi occupation of this area in World War II. First we went to a small museum about the Nazi's activity in Terezin. The lower floor of the museum was committed to the memory of the children in Terezin and had a lot of art and poetry and excerpts of writing from the kids. It was difficult to read a piece of poetry by one of the kids or see an artwork and then to read that they died soon after in a concentration camp. The upper floor was devoted to some more of the history of Terezin. The death rate of the area was alarming and was due to the terrible living conditions. During World War II, Terezin served as a model for the world as to how the Nazis were treating the Jews. People from the Red Cross came to Terezin to see the conditions the Jews were living in, but before the Red Cross actually arrived, the Nazis fixed up Terezin to hid the monstrosities being committed there and in the rest of the Nazi controlled territories. If I remember correctly, the Red Cross workers were in the town for only four hours, spent two hours of it at a lunch with Nazi officials, and they didn't take the time to interview one of the Jews in the camp. Because of this they gave a fairly positive report of how the Nazis were treating the Jews, contributing to the web of lies and deception created by Hitler and his associates. After the museum we went to the small fortress just outside the town where Jewish prisoners were kept until they were shipped to another camp. I could not believe the conditions the people in this camp were subjected to. One of the first rooms we walked into was a decent sized room, I am not great on estimating so I won't try. The first thing I noticed was a row of three bunks running against one of the walls of the room. The bunks were number one through 30something, so I thought that this room was for thirty or so people to stay in, which would have given each person a fair amount of space. Then our guide told us that 100some people slept in this area, which wasn't even enough space for each person to lie flat on their back to sleep. The next room we walked into was significantly smaller. There was about 50 people in our group, with over half being women, and once we were all inside there wasn't much room left. In this room, 60 men slept. They had to sleep standing in this room. They were in this room for ten days, and if they survived that, then they were shipped off to Auschwitz, which almost guaranteed death. A couple rooms later was a "shaving room." This room was also created for the Red Cross visit to show that the Jews had decent living conditions. The terrible truth is that this room was never used by anyone. The visit to Terezin was a difficult experience, one that I still have not completely processed, especially because once I got on the bus to leave I had to start studying again. The experience there was definitely a sobering one that has left me with some questions. First, I don't understand how the men in the Nazi military carried out such terrible acts against other, defenseless human beings. Over the past couple of weeks we have been reading a book titled War and Genocide, which has shed some light on this question and explained that not every man in the German military complied with their orders. Those that could not handle the senseless death and destruction were simply shipped to easier assignments. But there were still plenty of ready and willing soldiers who wanted to prove their value to the Reich. Another question that has been troubling more is how, in light of the Holocaust, do acts of genocide continue to happen in the world? How did the events in Rwanda and Bosnia, and more recently in Darfur, be allowed to happen? Why does the world turn a blind eye to the senseless elimination of whole people groups? Through wondering these questions I have had some realizations, mainly that we live in a broken world full of sin and evil. Now, more than ever, the world is in need of Christ. As a Christian I am called to be an advocate for peace in the world and to serve as Christ's hands until the day that He comes again. Matthew 5:9 says "Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called sons of God." In claiming to be a Christian, I believe I am called to be a peacemaker as well. One way I feel that I can be a peacemaker on a day to day basis is through prayer. The power of prayer is one thing that should never be underestimated. The world is full of situations that are in dire need of prayer, from the conflict in Northern Ireland to the political situation in Bosnia to the conflict in Iraq to the atrocities occurring in Darfur and everything else in the world that I am uninformed on. I would encourage those of you who are reading to at least commit to praying daily for a situation in the world in need of peace. Look at the news and there will be a wide variety of issues in need of prayer. And don't be afraid to take a step and do something beyond prayer. I will get off my soapbox, but one thing I have been realizing recently is how much the world needs prayer.

After Terezin I came back to the hotel, did some studying, went out to dinner for a friends birthday, talked to Katie on the telephone (I love technology), and then studied some more and went to bed.

Thursday brought a test followed by two lectures. After that on top of the visit to Terezin along with some other things, I was mentally exhausted. We were supposed to go to the Museum of Communism in Prague, but I decided to take a personal day and skip the museum. Instead I walked around Prague with some friends and acted like a tourist, took care of some gift shopping for people dear to me, and bought myself a nice new jacket from H&M. On Thursday night a bunch of people went out for someone's birthday, but I decided to stay in and have a quiet evening at home. My decision turned out to be a great one because I had a really good conversation with a good friend about life.

On Friday morning we wheeled our suitcases to another street and got on a couch and made our way to the town of Olomouc, in the Czech Republic. We stayed there for one night. While there we went on a city tour with a high school kid who read all his information off a piece of paper that was likely printed off of Wikipedia, but regardless he did a great job. Friday night brought a feast of a meal, one of the best meals of the trip. I had a salad and a kabab, but a kabab like it is done in America with grilled meat and veggies, not a European kabab-gyro type creation, and apple strudle with ice cream. I slept well on Friday night after this feast.

Today we drove up to Krakow. Today was a struggle, maybe one of the worst travel days we have had. Luckily no one got sick, but people forgot to get their passports out of the suitcases and left things on the bus when we got to Krakow. Luckily there were no gigantic problems, but it created some unnecessary stress for our leaders. Krakow is a gorgeous town that survived both Nazi and Communist Russia occupation. We had a feast of a lunch in the late afternoon and then went on a long walking tour of part of the city. The rest of the tour continues tomorrow. After the tour I went to a coffee shop with Davis and Newty in a futile effort to do some reading. Instead we had good conversation and delicious desserts.

The last couple of days have been really good, but before that I was really feeling the weight of traveling. Most of my time in Prague was stressful because of the test, and that wore me down even more. But since Thursday I have been feeling great and I have found my excitement to travel again. I am doing great, but I am starting to miss home more with every day that passes. I hope you all are doing well, please continue to keep me and the rest of the group in your prayers. We are heading into another difficult part of the trip as the next couple of weeks we will be dealing with World War II a lot and going on some difficult excursions. Now it is late and I am tired.
Love and blessings,
Mikey