A Visit to the Chinese Hospital...

So lately I've been suffering from headaches with blurry vision.  It happened one night while I was on shift, so I decided I should probably tell the nurse at work and ask for her advice.  I climb in and out of vessels a lot, and doing that while you can't really see out of one eye is not the safest thing to do...


The nurse calls our contracted medical service that helps us find decent care in the areas where we are assigned. I go to Central Liaoyang Hospital.  I wait for a translator, because I had a feeling the doctors wouldn't speak english, and then I'm on my way.  You get to the hospital and to see a doctor you have to pay 1 RNB.  You give a paper with a number to a doctor and they ask you preliminary questions.  It's kind of a screening doctor who will eventually tell you where to go.


I sit down, luckily there is no line.  It was too early in the morning I guess.  The doctor asks me if I have any heart problems.  I answer no.  The doctor takes my blood pressure and listens to my heart.  All are ok.  She asks me if I sleep enough.  I tell her I get at least 8 hours of sleep a night.  She asks if I have a stomach ache or stomach pain.  I tell her no.  She tells me it might be a brain tumor so I need a CT scan.  I pay cash because they won't take my insurance.  It cost me 330 RNB (~$49).  Cheap huh??


I go to the hallway where the CT scans are.  My translator helps to figure out where I register.  Then I wait in line.  The woman in front of me can barely stand on her own.  She's much older.  The three people behind me are wrapped like mummies and in bed covered with blankets.  I go in, jump onto the table, lay still for a couple of minutes and then jump off.  


Four hours later we come back for my results.  My brain is healthy.  Yay?  So we go back to the first doctor I saw to give her the results.  We have to wait in line for about 20 minutes.  There are people crowding around the desk and shoving their papers in front of the doctor's face hoping that she'll grab theirs next.  Eventually she takes my scans.  At this point everyone in the room becomes silent.  They all want to hear what's wrong with the white girl.  These two or three women make me sit in the chair next to the doctor's desk.  Then they start poking, like I'm not human or something.  It would've been SUPER annoying if I was actually sick.  The doctor looks at the scans and then tells me that my headaches occur because of nervousness and lack of sleep.  Then she pats me on the back and tells me to sleep more.


Thanks for ruling out a brain tumor.  I really appreciate it... :-/

My Christmas Wish

Alright, so most of you know or at least you should know that I am currently in China.  Personally I consider where I am to be my worst assignment by far.  I would take swamps and Louisiana heat over this crap.  At least the food is delicious down there.  And I bet being in Poland right now would be kinda nice, I mean it isn’t home but it would be better than here.  There I would feel right at home, go to church, celebrate Advent.  Eat my usual Christmas Eve meal (pierogies and other Eastern European goodness)…  I am really hoping that I will be home for Christmas.  I would be ecstatic if I was on a plane by Christmas Eve.  Last Christmas I didn’t get to go home either, and spent my time in Texas helping people out of ditches.  I can’t express how happy I would be to spent time with my whole family.  My entire family hasn’t been together since Easter.  That is the longest we have ever gone I think.


Anyway, my goal is that this project is complete by Christmas.  I sincerely hope that isn't wishful thinking... 

A Quick Trip to Beijing

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog.  I realize that it has been a month since I've updated, but I have been pretty busy with work.  Sadly we are not even half way done with the project, but the pace has picked up some and I'm hoping to make it back for Christmas.  But I won't hold my breath.  I'm thinking more like January...

Last week on my couple days off I went to Beijing for a break from the north.  It was wonderful!  I had a cheeseburger (I miss western food), Starbucks and ice cream!  There were malls every where.  I got to shop for gifts for people.  And best of all I spent all of Thursday doing touristy sight-seeing activities.  I went to Ming Tombs, which is where the emperor's from the Ming Dynasty are buried.  I went to a jade factory and got to watch people make sculptures and jewelry out of jade.  I taught a bunch of foreigners how to use chopsticks at lunch.  That was interesting...  They called me the expert because I knew how to deal with a traditional chinese lunch where you share all of the dishes and take what you want.  The Danish guy sitting next to me was complaining about the quality of the beer... Ha!  I don't know what he expected...

We also went to the Great Wall.  It wasn't the nicest day out - very smoggy and hazy, but I tried to take some pictures.  I'll have to upload those later - my internet connection is not cooperating.

After the Great Wall we stopped at the Olympic Village from the 2008 Olympic games.  And then we made our way to a Tea House where we got to partake in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony.  It was really neat and everything was a really nice break from work.

Chinese Field Trip!

 One of our translators was nice enough to offer to be a guide to us for a morning the other day.  We went to a nearby reservoir to get away from the city.  I had to give up sleep to go.  Normally I come home from work around 8:45am and then get ready for bed.  Not on Thursday!  The reservoir itself was nice.  It was quiet and I’m sure if there had been less haze it would’ve been beautiful.  I don’t understand how one country can pollute the air so much.  It really is insane.  Anyway, Robert and I hiked up a hill while our translator washed her car.  Then we drove to the other side of the reservoir where there was a park type area. 

At one point we made a bathroom break.  From far away the restroom building looked like a little church chapel.  Sadly as you approached it, it did not smell like a church chapel.  You know it’s bad when the Chinese girl rolls up her pant legs to go in.  I decided not to brave it.  I was informed it was just a hole that led to no where, hence the smell.  Gross…

We ended our field trip with lunch.  A rather interesting lunch.  The first part was a bean paste type dumpling that was wrapped in an oak leaf.  Some of you may not believe me – but yes it was an oak leaf.  I was surrounded by oak trees for a good portion of my life, so I know what the leaves look like.  You had to peel the dumpling-like thing out of the leaf and eat it.  It didn’t taste too bad.  There were also fried shrimp – the whole shrimp.  And you don’t pick it apart.  You eat the whole thing.  Same goes for these fried fish we had.  Those actually were really tasty when dipped in soy sauce and garlic.  There was a plate of vegetables, which looked more like a plate of weeds to me.  There was meat gelatin.  I decided to skip out on that one.  I did like the scrambled eggs with onion and cabbage.  I survived the lunch – that’s what my goal was.  Go me!

Up front and to left - Meat Gelatin.  Front right - scrambled eggs with green onion. Center - whole fried fish

Googley Eyed Shrimp

Sex in the City Parallels

As some of you may know, I like watching Sex in the City.  A few years ago I didn’t understand the draw to the show, but now I get it.  Recently I watched the series finale when Carrie goes to Paris with Aleksander Petrovsky.  At one point she calls Miranda and the conversation she has is exactly how I feel about traveling sometimes.  Those two episodes I can really identify with – she gets homesick and I feel like I’m in a constant state of homesick-ness.  I wonder how I did it when my parents moved.  I guess it helped that I could pick up the phone and call whenever.  Here I have to schedule when I call and then hope that my internet connection will allow me to make the call.  And when I was in Chicago I had most of my friends close by.  Here, I have a few work friends.  But it is not the same. 

I miss my Kankakee friends – especially since I’ve been reminiscing about Purdue’s Homecoming last year… J  I miss my Purdue friends even thought they’re scattered all over the country/world.  I remember our trips to the winery and the crazy times at Devonshire.  Ahhh the good ole days… 

The Good, The Weird, and the Uglier than Ugly

Alright - I've been trying to stay positive during my week in China, but I need to vent.


I'll start with the good...
- I really like the people who do my laundry.  They are the cutest little couple and are trying to learn one word of English every time I go in to drop off or pick up my laundry.  
- I love my hotel bathroom (you'll see why later on..)
- The food is pretty good most of the time.  I found a new favorite restaurant.
- I'm probably going to lose a good amount of weight for Stacy's wedding.
- Right now I'm working nights, so I get cooler weather and don't sweat as much.
- The Korean restaurant owner is pretty cool - she sits and drinks and tries to learn English with us
- I get to see the sunrise when I work nights.


The weird...
- I saw a guy riding a banana cart around town today.  
- I get stared at all of the time.
- There was a flock of sheep being herded down the highway the other day
- It's so loud here! I didn't think it was possible for a city to be louder than Chicago, but it is.
- I can't get used to brushing my teeth with bottled water.  I always go for the sink first.


The really really really ugly...
- The eastern toilet at work is so gross.  I think an outhouse looks better at the moment.  There are no doors on the stalls.  The only positive point is that it is winter = cold and the odor of the remaining excrement probably would smell worse in warm weather.  Oh and I guess the other "positive" part is that I'm on nights so there are less people and I have more privacy. 

Liaoyang China

Well I made it.  However, if you read my blog regularly you may not know where I am because I've been pretty bad about updating.  I am now in Liaoyang China.  I made it here on Thursday October 7.  It took a few days to get here.  I left from Chicago on October 5th at 8:40am, landed in San Francisco around 10:40 or so - still on October 5th.  Took off for Beijing around 11:50am (San Francisco time) and landed at 3:00pm on October 6th.  Somewhere I skipped a half a day.  Spent the night in Beijing, took another plane the next day to get to Shenyang and then someone from the company we are working with took us to Liaoyang.

China is.... well... interesting.  The first thing you notice is how overcast/smoggy it is.  In Liaoyang you can normally see the sun, which is nice.  But it is smoggy.  You can't see the hills just outside of town.  I didn't even know they were there until we drove by them on the way home from work yesterday.

Liaoyang is a "small" town in China, only a population of 1.7 million.  A lot of the stores close around 6pm and the streets are empty by 11pm.  There are hardly any quiet moments during the day.  There is constant honking.  The driving here is absolutely insane.  Any chance that you have to get ahead of someone else, you take.  I think that pretty much sums up how people drive.  Oh - and lanes mean nothing here.  It is scary.

Going to do a little sight-seeing today.  I'll take lots of pictures.

So about the new assignment...

Alright - life in FOS can be really up in the air.  And here's a perfect example.  I found out Monday morning that I am no longer going to Panipat India.  I found out today that I might be going to China at the beginning of October.  But even that assignment is not necessarily going to happen.  It could be delayed, or because I'm already in the office and convenient for short assignments, they might send me somewhere else.  So who really knows?  No one.

I'll keep you posted...

The one about food and the enormous spider

There are moments when I really love my family.  Ok, for the most part I love my family.  This weekend we celebrated my grandma's 89th birthday!  Today is actually her birthday - so happy birthday Grandma!  She didn't give my aunts and uncles any ideas for dinner and what she wanted to eat, so I told them what I wanted.  I asked for fruit, corn, and beef.  And what did I get?? Shrimp, corn, beef, fruit, veggies, more corn, and of course there was birthday cake.  I asked for corn on the cob, and there was a ton leftover.  It tasted so good!  Over Labor Day weekend I visited my immediate family in Missouri, and my dad grilled hamburgers and bbq chicken and it was sooooooooooooooooooooooo good.  The sad part was that they left the extra chicken in the microwave (it didn't finish grilling when my dad ran out of gas) and Lillie didn't like the alarm reminding us that something was done cooking.  So she turned it off.  And because she did that we forgot to get the chicken out of the microwave and put it in the fridge.  My leftovers were ruined. :-(

The other totally unrelated note is regarding this HUGE spider I saw in my hotel room this morning.  And no, I am not in India yet.  The spider's body was freaking ginormous.  And with it's legs it had to be about 2 inches long (if it were a circle, it would have a 2 inch diameter).  Just thinking about it gives me the creeps!  Seriously - I could've died this morning.  I just hope he doesn't scare the cleaning lady as much as he scared me.  I didn't kill it with a shoe because I was scared he would take the shoe out of my hand and start beating me with it.

Next Assignment

For those of you who do not know yet - I am going to Panipat India next.  I'm not sure when I leave yet and I'm not sure how excited I am about the assignment.  I am excited to see India.  I've wanted to go there for quite some time.  I hope to make it to the Taj Mahal and spend a few days shopping and wandering around New Delhi.  I've heard really good things about some of the markets in New Delhi.  I plan on buying lots of beautiful fabric!  Hopefully I get the chance to explore things.  Panipat isn't really that close on Indian roads.  The roads are supposed to be pretty terrible... :-/

I will be sure to take lots of pictures when I'm not at work and to write blogs when I can.  I can't promise a blog every week or anything.  I was told that the power cuts out 6-10 times a day unless I'm staying in the refinery guest houses.  It will definitely be an interesting few months...

How about the zoo?

So my last full day in Płock, Meagan, Kathy, Ellen and I went to the zoo.  It costs 6 PLN to get in - so like $2 and I didn't have high expectations.  I was pleasantly surprised!  There were all sorts of animals - even 4 giraffes.    We believe the elephant may have passed.  There was a place for it, but on the sign there was a date.  If I would've learned more Polish while I was there it may have been useful... Oh well.

I told Kathy she should try to climb into the kangaroo they had at the playground - and of course she did.  She may or may not have had a tough time getting out of the kangaroo... Oops...

And when you go to see the penguins there was this cute Madagascar thing - so Meagan and I insisted that Kathy and Ellen go for pictures.

Our favorite stop was the red-butt monkeys.  We stopped to watch them play for a little while, or at least long enough to watch people feed them cheetos.  Then security finally made their way over and stopped the people from feeding the monkeys.  The cheetos caused quite a stir in the monkey cage - they were a few fights.

This blog would not be complete without a callout to the donkey who loves Boris.  When Boris and Atif went to the zoo, the donkey sprinted while "hee-hawing" over to Boris.  So we had to stop and meet the donkey who really liked Boris.  He was, by far, the loudest animal in the zoo.  You could hear him anywhere.

Single and Traveling

For those of you who might be wondering what it's like to be single and traveling all of the time, I have my answer for you.  No one has prompted me to answer this question, but I thought I'd share my answer after I read this article about reasons to appreciate being single.  


DISCLAIMER: These are my opinions, and in no way am I discriminating against those who travel and are not single.


First of all, I haven't dated anyone in a while because at the time it seemed pointless, and to be honest it still seems pointless to me.  I know it could be worthwhile to try different types of people on. But I detest small talk and I don't want to waste my time getting to know someone when I have to leave the country the next week for a few months at a time.  Why start to like someone and kind of get attached to them so I can miss them while I'm in India or Thailand or Malaysia for the next 3-6 months?  That, and I hate rejection.  But really, who likes being rejected??


This experience of traveling "by myself" (I'm not really by myself, I have other crew members) has allowed me to really get to know myself.  I have been able to push myself out of my comfort zone and discover parts of me that I didn't really know existed.  For instance, if I arrived in Spain one day for an assignment and someone handed me keys and said "get to the refinery".  I wouldn't hesitate.  I am now comfortable driving by myself in another country where I don't speak the language.


I could keep going, but eventually I'd just end up repeating myself.  That always happens when I rant and rave.  I'm finally learning to stop myself before it happens... :-)  (Example B of me learning something new about myself)

Charlie Came to Visit

So this week, my little brother Charlie was in Europe to visit me.  He had a great time with his flights, and when I say great I really mean terrible.  His first flight was cancelled out of St. Louis.  He had a connecting flight in Chicago to Germany and barely made it.  And then his flight from Germany to Warsaw was delayed in landing because of bad thunderstorms we were having here.  So he circled Warsaw for a couple of hours.  But he finally made it, a little tired, but he made it.

We went to Auschwitz so that Charlie could say he'd been there.  When we were at Birkenau, which is the last 1/3 of the tour, it started to pour!  Unfortunately we didn't get to finish the tour.  But Charlie did get to see the bunks, just not the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoriums.  On our way to Krakow, we got caught in a hail storm.  The hail and rain were so dense I had to pull over for a while because I couldn't see.

The hail on the hood of the car

When we got to Krakow it was raining, so we hung out in the hotel for a little while and used our free hour of internet.  Then we braved the rain and went to Market Square.  Had dinner, watched a bike race as we ate dinner, and then saw a rainbow over the cathedral in Market Square.  I showed Charlie the Wawel Castle and we did a little shopping for my grandmother.

The next morning we had to wake up early again to get back to Warsaw.  We had a flight to catch to Rome!  We got to Rome, figured out how to buy a train ticket to get from the airport to the city.  After we checked in, we went to find somewhere to eat dinner.  We had the best bruschetta ever!!  The olive oil and tomatoes were so fresh.  The pizza was ok, Charlie had better pizza the next day for dinner.  We saw Ancient Rome the first night - it was surreal.  To see the Colosseo and the Roman Forum ruins, it was incredible.

The next day we took one of the bus tours all over the city.  We saw a lot of the city.  Walked around, did some shopping.  It was really nice to enjoy a new place with someone else.  On Tuesday we went to the Vatican Museums - I highly recommend buying your tickets online before you go!  We only had to wait in line for about 10 minutes and we got to go in before the general public.  The art in the museum was incredible!  The Sistine Chapel was really cool. And to know that Pope's are chosen in that room... It was really cool.  Definitely make the time to go to the Vatican Museums if you ever go.  After Rome, we came back to Poland - I had to work and Charlie just hung out.  Saw Plock.  I think Charlie liked his first trip to Europe.  :-)

The Hard Part

One of the hardest parts of my job is being away from my family.  I'm a family person.  I always have been and I always will be.  They all really mean a lot to me.

Lucky for me, my brother is coming to visit me tomorrow.  He's staying for a week!  It'll be really nice to have family with me.  I'll probably get depressed when he leaves, it's like getting a shot of a drug and then going through withdrawal.  But some is better than none.

I spend some of my time worrying about my family.  I am dreading the day I get a call from a family member telling me that something terrible has happened.  And then I have nightmares about not being able to leave my assignment.  I don't know why I worry myself with these things, but I do.

This is what I get to look forward to this week...

Quick Trip to Germany

Sprechen sie deutsch?  I sure don't.  I hardly know any German, but lucky for me most people in Berlin spoke English.

Berlin was a neat city, it was a mixture of old and new.  Some of Berlin survived WWII, but over 70% did not.  There were 6 of us that went to Berlin.  It was a lot of fun to go with everyone.  We jumped on a bus on Saturday and drove all over the city.  I'm pretty sure we saw every major tourist spot there was to see.

The Parliament building - Reichstag

Me at Berlin Wall

We tried Mexican food for dinner - it is definitely the best I've had since I've been in Europe, but it definitely isn't the same.  When I get back to the US I'm getting Mexican and BBQ.  I could go for some of my dad's barbecued chicken breasts, sweet corn, potato salad, and a big glass of ICED sweet tea.  ICED being the key word there.

Anyways, the Berlin trip was great.  I liked driving on the Autobahn - it was like driving in the US!  Finally good roads!!  Our car didn't get any tickets - the other car was not as lucky.  They got one there and back.  All I'm going to say was that my car was all girls, and their car was not...  Take what you want from that comment.

Paris

I always hope for smooth traveling, especially when it comes to getting from the airport to where I need to be.  Sadly this hardly ever happens, and my trip to Paris was no exception.  I got to the Paris airport after a delayed flight, no big deal.  I had my route mapped out for my trip to the city on the train.  And wouldn’t you know it?  The train station at the airport was closed when I got there, not sure why.  So they bused us somewhere, I had no idea where.  I had to figure out how to get from that station to downtown so I could make my metro transfer.  With the help of a nice metro worker I finally made it to the correct platform.  The rest of the trip went without a hitch and I made it to the hotel.


The rest of my trip was surreal.  I started my day of on Saturday by eating a crepe with Nutella in the lawn of the Eiffel Tower.  It was amazing.  I just sat there and people watched for a little while.  Then I made my way to Hotel de Invalides.  The garden was beautiful!  I took a few pictures (of course) and was on my way to the Arc de Triomphe.  On the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, I stopped at few stores and did some shopping.  The city workers were starting to set up the grandstands for the final leg of the Tour de France.  It was a bustling street!  After seeing what there was to see, I took the metro to Notre Dame – the cathedral, not the university.  The inside of the cathedral was beautiful.  I also decided to go up to the towers and take pictures of the city with the gargoyles.  The wait was really long, but it was worth it.  The view of the city was amazing.


For dinner I sat down at a random café not too far from Notre Dame.  While I was looking at the menu, some random French guy sat next to me and tried to talk to me.  The problem was that I speak no French and he spoke no English.  We communicated a little, but not very effectively.  He tried to find someone to translate for us, and asked the man sitting behind us.  The man also spoke no French, but I could talk to him!  He turned out to be Tom the physics professor from Duke University.  As I was leaving the café I gave the waiter a tip, and in return he dragged me inside to the bar and gave me a glass of champaign. :-) The professor and I went to a concert outside of Hotel de Ville.  Eventually I had to leave for my photo tour.  The photo tour was worth every penny.  I learned a little and got some great pictures out of it.  Please see my flickr account to see the pictures!  I will try to post them as soon as I can.


Today (Sunday) I slept in because the photo tour went kind late.  I didn’t get back to the hotel until after 1am.  I ate breakfast at a café near the hotel.  It was delicious!  My first stop was the Museum d’Orsay.  I love Impressionism, especially Vincent Van Gogh, and so that was my museum of choice.  Sadly I didn’t have time to go to the others – maybe next time?  After that I wandered through the garden near the Louvre.  There was a lot going on around there – the spectators were waiting for the bikers to go through on their final race leg.  I spent a good amount of the afternoon reading in the Royal Palace Garden.  They have chairs all over the garden, so I pulled one up to the fountain and did a little reading.  I was surrounded by Parisians doing the same.  I could really get used to life in Paris… Unfortunately I had to leave and go back to Poland.  C’est la vie.  I would definitely recommend Paris if you ever have the opportunity.  I know I will definitely try to make it back.  

Poznań Trip

This weekend, Meagan and I ventured to the west side of Poland.  We made the 2.5 hour trip to Poznań.  In the middle of the trip my GPS freaked out because there are new highways not on the map.  So I decided to follow all of these people going the same way.  Sadly I believe they were all part of a wedding party that were on their way to the reception or church or something.  There were tons of people packed into the cars and they were all going to this small town... I should've known better than to follow them!  Oh well, they kind of helped me out.  Meagan and I figured it out from there and were on our way again.

Beer and Peanuts

Our first stop after we checked into our hotel was the hotel restaurant.  Apparently they had tex-mex.  We tried it.  It failed.  The fajitas had a curry flavor.  I burned my finger on the iron plate they give you with the meat and vegetables.  The nachos were lacking.  But at least we got beer and peanuts!

We went to pretty much every church in the town.  The first one we went to was Parish Church - it was so beautiful!  There was also this cathedral that was built between 968-1000.  It was a really old church.  I was kind of confused by the statues of some of the archbishops.  It looks like the bishop is straight-up chillin.  

Supposedly Poznań was the birthplace of Poland.  The royals lived there until a certain time, at which point they decided to move to Krakow.  

Meagan with man and his best friend the cougar

Stary Rynek

Stary Rynek

Love to those in Reggaeland - Ya mon!

Believe it or not, Płock is known for the Reggae Festival they hold every year on the beach of the Wisła River.  I went on Saturday, along with my other UOP crew members, and it was a lot of fun.  Sadly they wouldn't let us bring our beers into the main stage area, but what can you do?  Chug it really fast and then go dance along is the theory I followed.  There were a good number of people there, all with dreadlocks of course.  I didn't really fit in, I was lacking dreads and/or braids.  Next time I'll try harder to fit in.  

I found paradise

Have I ever mentioned that there are sometimes I love my job?  Extremely early Friday morning I left Warsaw for Dubrovnik, Croatia.  I had heard good things about Dubrovnik, unfortunately not all of them were completely true.  I'm pretty sure this is what my heaven would be like if I died.  The Adriatic Sea is so blue and clear - it is absolutely amazing.  Old City in Dubrovnik has tons of great picture taking opportunities.  My hotel is the best in the city - at least I'm convinced it is.  I sincerely wish I didn't have to go to work on Monday.  I'd stay here for forever.

One of the pools at the hotel

So my flight to Dubrovnik was interesting.  As I was in line waiting to board the plane, I realized that Gabourey Sidibe - the girl who played Precious in the movie Precious - was standing a few people in front of me.  Sadly I didn't get an autograph or a picture taken with her.  I left her alone, as I'm sure she wanted to be.  However, I did help her get her luggage off of the carousel at the Dubrovnik Airport. 


When I got to Dubrovnik I took a cab to the hotel, and my taxi driver was the nicest guy.  He was pointing things out as we went along, he told me a brief history of the city, and he gave me suggestions of what I should do with my time here.  He said the most important thing was to relax and enjoy every minute.  I took his advice.


I slept a lot - finally.  I laid in the sun and tried to remember to put sunscreen on every 30 minutes.  I was doing ok until I fell asleep by the sea this afternoon... Oops.  I had sushi and Croatian shrimp (which is actually crawfish...)  and both were very fresh and delicious.  I made a few friends out at the pool today.  Overall this has been the best weekend I've had.  I'd say it outranks Prague.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Prague, but it is no Dubrovnik.  I'd love to come back as soon as I can.

Old City of Dubrovnik

Day Trip to Łódź

Yesterday most of the group decided to make a trip to Łódź.  It's about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from Płock.  And for the first time, I didn't have to drive!  Sadly if I would've driven we probably would have gotten there faster, but oh well.  I enjoyed being a backseat driver.  We had a few small detours - like needed to stop and reprogram a GPS, taking the wrong turn, being routed to a grocery store instead of the city.


There was one instance where the driver of my car missed a left hand turn, and only a few minutes after pointed out that there was a girl on the street who was showing a lot of skin.  I found it amazing that he could see her and point her out, but he missed the left hand turn after I told him to turn left twice.  Men...


Łódź was known as the commercial and industrial capital of Eastern/Central Europe.  It is known for the textile factories.  Now there is a huge mall with a textile museum and a fully functional mall.  It was pretty neat.  There was a huge courtyard outside and it had fountains for kids to run through, sand volleyball courts, all sorts of statues, there was a concert.  

Entrance of Mall

We saw a Palace that is now a Museum:

Front of Poznanski Palace

Meagan in Courtyard of Palace

Courtyard of Palace

We also got to see a few other sites in town as we walked around.  It was a fairly large city.  In fact, it was the first city where I didn't see an Old Town.  I'm sure there is one, but we never walked through it (at least to my knowledge).

Happy Father's Day!

There are several reasons why I like Father's Day.  I mean it's in June and there's normally pretty good weather in June.  It's a Sunday - yay weekends!  Oh yeah and cause of my dad!

My family in Chicago a few years ago

Mom and Dad a few years ago at Christmas Eve

Gotta love a dad who dresses like this for Halloween

A Visitor Came to Town/Torun Poland Trip

So last week we had a manager come visit us at site.  In addition to him, we also had four new advisors show up.  Let's just say - I'm tired of socializing.  I'm not the biggest social butterfly to begin with, and this going out every night thing is wearing me out.  Don't get me wrong - I had fun.  But I need a break from drinking!

Sunset One Evening

The Whole Group Minus Me

Dinner

And within the same weekend the advisors and myself with to Torun, Poland.  It was not affected by World War II so much of the architecture is original.  A lot of the town is medieval.  Torun is also the birthplace of Copernicus, the astronomer.  I got to see the house he was born in, along with every attraction there might have been within the Old Town Area.  It was really nice to be able to go to another place with a group of people.  I think most of us had fun.  There were also several churches in town.  The picture below had to be the worst clock tower I have seen since I have been in Europe.  And go figure - it was the only church that wasn't Catholic...  :-)  All I'm gonna say is that Catholics know how to build a clock tower - other churches take note.

Lamest Clock Tower Ever

Croatia - Dubrovnik

Croatia - Dubrovnik
Originally uploaded by Sandro Mancuso

This is where I'm going in two weeks for my visa trip. Life is rough...

Horoscope

Today I read my horoscope and this is part of what it said - and it is sooooooo me - 


"Perhaps you have your guard up because you don't want to get hurt by thinking that there is something wonderful coming your way when really there is not. Always have faith that you deserve the best, and that the best is on its way to you."


So I'm going to try to follow it because I do deserve the best!

Krakow - Round 2

Before Salley left she really wanted to see Krakow and Auschwitz.  While we were down there we had the chance to visit the salt mines.  These mines are made up of 95% sodium chloride (NaCl).  There are small areas of pure sodium chloride, but they are few and far in between.  Our guide told us we could lick the floors, the walls, and ceilings - just not the sculptures.

The whole experience reminded me of caving in Mammoth Caves in Kentucky with Andrew and Swapnil - but way less exciting.

The salt mine is typically 14 deg C and the tour starts at 63 meters below the ground.  The end of the tour is about 164 meters below the ground if I remember correctly.  You have to walk down over 350 stairs and you get kind of dizzy.  Fortunately you get to ride the elevator up.  Unfortunately it is the scariest elevator ride of your life.  It shakes and it is a double decker elevator.  There is one "elevator" on top of another and they move together.

Mine Shaft

The mine is full of various chapels.  People can even get married in the largest chapel.  There is a full service restaurant that serves Polish food.  And there is a reception/ballroom as well.  All of the chapels are filled with salt sculptures.   The largest chapel has chandeliers that were made with wood and salt crystals.  They're gorgeous!

Road Trip to Prague

Because it was possibly Salley's last weekend in Poland, we decided it would be a fantastic idea to see Prague.  The trip, according to maps.google.com, was only supposed to take about 9 hours from Plock.  However, if you decide to listen to your GPS you may end up going in circles...

Our trip started well.  We got to take one of the toll roads, so the condition was great and the speed was really nice.  On the smaller country roads it is difficult to go faster than 100 km/hr because the conditions of most roads is not the greatest.  Sadly the trip got progressively worse.  It started to rain - no big deal.  Then it got foggy.  And when it got foggy we were off of the highways and onto the small country roads.  From that point on we ended up going in circles several times.  Sometimes the GPS thought there was a road, but there was not.

Eventually we made it - we got there around 1am.  The next day was packed with all sorts of tourist action.  I found a guide to Prague from the Marriot hotel we were staying at and decided to bring it along - best idea ever!!!  It had a map - thank goodness!!  And it gave good restaurant tips!

We saw all sorts of things.  We walked through Old Town Square, across the river, up to the castle, waited in three lines to get the audio tour information we wanted and headed out for our tour of the castle.  St. Vitus Cathedral was absolutely amazing!  Below are a few pictures I took while I was there.

Stairs in the King's Apartment

Small Chapel in St. Peter's Basillica

St. Vitus Cathedral

After the tour of the castle we wandered back to Old Town Square and had a lovely lunch outside on the square.  Drank some Pilsner and enjoyed the wonderful weather.  After that we did a little shopping.  I got a few things for myself and for my sisters.  We saw Wenceslas Square and then stopped at Starbucks (so excited there was one!!) for a break.  Salley and I even figured out the metro - go us!  We used it to get to this Japanese restaurant.  The sushi was pretty good - it was a nice change of pace.

Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

Prague Metro