Here I am!

Czesc! Hi!

It's been raining all day. We did a two hour walking tour of the city and it was cold and wet. We were all hungry by the end and wanted to go back to the hostel. We saw the recently deceased president's casket at Wawel (an old old castle here in Krakow) and the remains of a very old cloister which made me want to play Carcassonne. That's going to be the first thing I buy when I get home. Forget about food or the bus fare. I have a bus pass anyway. Netherworld, you best get ready. There is a story about Wawel that revolves around a dragon who lived in the basement of the castle. A shoemaker stuffed a lambskin with sulfur and when the hungry dragon ate it up, his stomach started on fire. He went to the river to drink (the river runs right alongside the castle and is the largest in Poland) and drank so much water that, in the words of the tour guide, he became into little pieces. Then the shoemaker married the princess. Now there is an artistic interpretation of the dragon outside the castle and it breathes out fire every few minutes, but he didn't breathe fire for us today since it's been raining.

Inside Wawel is a large courtyard framed by old building facades including one portion constructed by Nazis during the occupation. In one corner of the courtyard, deep in the earth below the castle, exists one of the seven chakra stones. The corner of the courtyard exudes radiant energy, and people go there to corral the charge by touching the wall and standing over the chakra. It isn't marked at all and I have a hunch that the devout Catholics might not appreciate this pseudo spirituality invading their sacred space. The other chakras are scattered around the Earth in places like Delphi, Rome and Jerusalem.

Tonight we're participating in a pub crawl. I've been to two bars so far and they were both really unique inside. Unique for me, anyway; I'm sure they're common here. One was almost like a dungeon with low ceilings and big rough stones in the walls. There are big wooden doors with forged iron hinges and you have to pay half a zloty to use the bathroom. Modern flat screens invade the low space and the cords for electricity running around the ceiling make the whole room feel disorganized. These old places all survived WWII because Krakow was not bombed at all during that time. When the Germans invaded the area, they moved the capital of the occupied territory from Warsaw back to Krakow where it had originally been. The streets of Krakow are all laid stone with irregular spacing and uneven leveling. Evidence of this city's age is blatant and beautiful.

I took a few pictures but then got pissed at the bland outcome. This city is really gorgeous and the scenes deserve to be captured in an artistic way. We've all seen intricate carving and Gothic architecture and spindly buildings with tall towers. If I see something really special that showcases more than tourist cliches, you'll probably see it here. I'll also be posting the link to my school's website soon, which has lots of photos. More to come.

Yesterday a few of us were crossing the street and forgot to look both ways, and the tram nearly smooshed us. Now we have to hold hands when we cross the street. There are some amazing people in this group and we're having so much fun. I'm so thankful for this program and for the people who made it happen and who helped me make it happen.

Come back soon!

PEM