"I figure life's a gift, & I don't intend on wasting it..."

It is safe to say I have had one of the most inspiring, eye-opening, and motivational trips of my lifetime. And it all took place in Poland.

Yes, Poland. When I said I was spending my first few days of break in Poland many people asked me why. And to be honest, I was not exactly sure. Myself, and another friend tagged along with a friend of mine who was meeting some of her family in Poland for the first time! All we had really planned was to tour Auschwitz, but beyond that we did not really know what to expect.

Trains run through the middle
of the streets!

When we arrived Saturday night we were met by my friends cousin who happens to be our age! He was incredibly kind and we were also able to meet his girlfriend who ended up spending time with us on our trip as well! We went home to a beautiful home and met my friends grand aunt who was an incredibly sweet old lady who spoke no english. She greeted us warmly with many smiles although we weren't exactly sure what she was saying. That night we stayed up talking about some of the differences between Poland and the U.S and compared things to London as well! We also tried to learn some Polish terms, but it was not as easy as we thought. We also ended up skyping my friends family who still lives in the US. It was so inspiring to see her family be so proud of her for making the trip to Poland to meet her family. You could tell they were so happy for her to be in the country where her grandparents grew up.

The next day we woke up to a beautiful breakfast prepared for us! It was delicious and I believe that is when we started to realize we would be suffering from food comas throughout our entire stay in Poland. The family was extremely hospitable and there was always some sort of polish food around for us to try. After breakfast we headed to a little village called Tylmanowa. It was a wonderful sunny day which made the town itself look like a fake village you would see at Christmas time! All of the houses were colorful, and a beautiful river and mountains created the landscape all around them. We found a place to park and we started walking up a large hill. Once we got to the top, we found ourselves at a cute little house. It turns out that that house was the very house where my friends grandpa had grown up. Because there was no one living in there, we were able to go inside and look around. It was really cool for my friend to see all of that and she was so excited which was really inspring. It really made me want to figure out my family tree and pin points places I could see as well!

Mountain Cheese!

After that, we headed into a tourist village called Zakopane. There were many little shops that lined the streets and many people selling what was called mountain cheese. Of course, we had to try some. The best way I could explain how it tasted, is to compare it to string cheese. It tasted much like that, but smoked. We stopped at some street venders and got some postcards and some other touristy stuff. Then decided it was time to go inside and warm up. It was so cold that when we walked into a restaurant and ordered coffee, they were only able to get us tea, because the pipes were frozen and they couldn't make anything else. After we walked around a bit more we headed into another restaurant to try some traditional polish food. My friends ordered pierogi's and I ordered a different dish which I can not recall the name of. It was all very good and very polish considering we couldn't read the menus and my friends cousin had to order for us.

Polish Pierogi's!

After we ate, we headed to some mountains and a tram that would take us up to the top where another little village of tourist shops were located.

Once we were on top of the mountains the view was spectacular. We spent the time taking pictures and soaking up all the gorgeous scenery around us. After our memory cards were full of images of mountain tops we headed back down the mountain and headed home. On the way back we stopped at a little shop to try out some Polish chocolate. We all got different kinds and tried each others. One of my friends immediately made a face once she tried a creme filled chocolate. We all tried it and immediately regretted it. It had a really strong taste and we kept trying to guess what flavor it could be. Finally after searching the wrapper we found a sentence in English stating 'this chocolate bar contains alcohol'. We laughed about it for a long time and so did my friends family.

trying to create a CMU mountain picture!

That night we hung out at the house and talked more about Poland and the U.S. Although I have been to Paris where there were many people who did not speak English, I felt as though I was having a much harder time understanding people, and finding people that understood me, in Poland. When I was in Paris, I was with a tour group with other study abroad students that knew English. And although I was with my 2 friends who speak English, and my friends cousin who also knew some English, it was a very different experience in Poland. It really made me realize how much I wish I would have learned other languages. It is very interesting how in many places people are required to know English, (such as schools in Poland) but there are many many students in America who don't fully know another language, myself included.

Polish Menu!

The next day we got up and headed to Auschwitz. There is not much I can say about that day besides I believe my whole view on life has changed because of it, and everyday I am on this earth I will try my hardest to not complain about anything ever again. I know as students, we learn a lot about the holocaust in school, and we maybe even visit a museum, or watch movies and read documentaries. But until you walk where they walked, and hear the stories from that camp, and until you walk through the barracks and see how they lived, and until you walk through one of the gas chambers where women and children were sent, you have no idea what the holocaust meant. It was the most eye-opening, and terrifying experience of my life. Although some people in the tour took pictures, I did not feel comfortable doing so. So you will have to trust my word. I am very glad I went, but nothing will ever be able to erase the images of what I saw as I walked through Auschwitz and Birkenau.

This water was so salty, that if you were
to jump in, you could would only float
and not go below the surface.

To lighten the mood that night we decided to go out for some pizza. We ended up at this little restaurant called I Love Pizza and it was completely American themed. The walls were decorated with license plates from the states (sadly Michigan didn't make the cut) and other funny signs in English. The TV was playing MTV and while we were there we were able to hear some Taylor Swift and other American artists. One thing my friends and I have noticed, is that no matter where you go, American music is playing! Even when people do not speak English there is guaranteed to be a Taylor Swift or Justin Beiber song playing on the radio or television. We ate our pizza (with polish sausage, cucumbers (?)), and some other interesting ingredients, and then headed back to get some rest.

There were even Chandeliers made
completely out of salt!

On our last day we headed to a town called Wieliczka to tour some salt mines. We walked down hundreds of steps and walked through the salt tunnels. We saw many different sculptures made entirely of salt and even tasted some of the saltiest water ever. It was really interesting to learn about what miners did to survive the long days. There were many Chapels built underground in the mines which I also found to be very interesting.

After we were done exploring underground, we headed back to the surface and toured Krakow. We went to Krakow Square which is the largest village square in Europe! It was filled with vendors selling knick-knacks, mountain cheese, souvenirs, polish sausages, and just about everything in between. It was also a little bit chilly that day so we ducked in and out of buildings whenever we could. We went into a beautiful church and came face to face with a language barrier issue. My friend and I were walking around taking pictures when suddenly a worker came over and started speaking to us in Polish. She was pointing to my camera and had a very serious look on her face so I figured that photography was not allowed. But as I looked at my friend I found her standing in front of us still snapping photographs! Because we didn't understand what she was saying we couldn't tell she had been talking to us! I would say she wasn't incredibly happy with us after that incident.

a view of Krakow Square

After we toured the Square some more we went to the Wawel Royal Castle. We were able to walk around it and there was an amazing deck on the back where we had a beautiful view of Krakow and the Vistula river. Again we spent time taking many pictures and being tourists, and of course asking my friends cousin how to say different things in Polish. We again went out and got our fill of Polish food and then headed home to pack, so we could be ready to leave early the next morning.

Polish 'fast food'
(much better than the U.S!)

Overall the trip to Poland was beyond great and we had so much fun! When we were saying our goodbyes we even found out that they are hoping we come back again soon, which is always nice to hear. We had a great time getting to know family and exploring Poland, where we had come with no expectations. The entire trip was eye opening in a way I cannot fully explain. Seeing long lost connections being made, being submerged into completely foreign surroundings, and learning so much about such a world changing event was all incredibly inspiring.

When we were touring the castle, and overlooking the river, I went to a spot on the fence and reenacted the famous titanic scene. My friends laughed and snapped a photo, and some nearby tourists giggled and started singing the song. Although the moment was funny, it was memorable because after thinking of the Titanic I had a quote stuck in my head the whole time. It is a quote that all titanic fans, and especially Leonardo DiCarprio fans, love and as cheesy as it may sound, I believe it sums up a lot about what I learned during this trip. It is always good to have a reminder on how precious life truly is.

"I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. 
You never know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. 
You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count"

-Jack Dawson (The Titanic)