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