Homeish

That was the most uneventful border crossing of all time. "Jolene, what do you do?" "I'm a dance teacher." "Great. Enjoy your holiday." That was it, I got bus fair and headed out.
I stayed over the weekend with a friend here and then Monday, I got to Lauren and Alex's place.
I am really happy to be settled again. I do really love it here.
I have been drinking heaps of tea and buying heaps of clothes, because, well the shopping is just better here. They have rain boots with horses.
The fringe festival starts here in about a week and runs the whole month of august bringing in people from everywhere. It's the largest arts festival in Europe and has fireworks, a military tattoo, free comedy, dance and theatre...i'm pumped.

Oh, Edinburgh

Well here I am again. Heading back to Scotland. In preperation this time I have a ticket out, that was something they didn't like last time...the one way ticket. I have a bank statement, all sorts of things. But, I am still really scared they aren't going to let me back in. But, yes with any luck, the next post will be from Edinburgh again.
I will be there for festival taking over Lauren and Alex's place while they are back in the good ole U.S. of A. Stay until September when my mother--she has her ticket so it is def happening--is coming to Edinburgh and together we are going to Paris and Rome.
I am looking into trips to Egypt, found some pretty cheap just need to make sure I can get immunized over here and that will take me through mid October.
I don't know why I publish these plans. They are sure to change. But today...
Anyway, wish me luck getting back in to the UK.

Australians

When I got off the train in Bratislava, I was walking with no particular sense of where I was going. I heard some Australian guys talking and asked them to which hostel they were headed. I myself, had yet to book one figuring I would just get one when I arrived. So they told me to go to their hostel and see if it had an openings first. When we got there, it didn't though. The guys suggested an extra bed in their room, like a cot, which was really nice so I didn't have to wonder around town.
The first night in Bratislava we wondered all over town playing new drinking games at each pub. They ate every possible combo of late night/drunk food. Kebab. Pizza. Hot Dogs. You name it, at least one of them had it.
The next night they said they wanted to go to a place that hadn't been open the night before, a club with a slide. But, it was still closed so we smoked shisha and drank mojitos, all night.
Today we went to a pool and a movie and walked all over town together.
These guys were so polite, always looking out for me. Made sure that I walked through door ways first and holding the door open for me. They were very generous, buying rounds and not keeping track and just being lovely. They made Bratislava so fun for me.

Fuck Ukraine

I was on a train, heading for Ukraine and I started talking to some girls on the train with me, telling them what I was doing and where I was going next. One of the girls asked me who I was going to see my boyfriend or family and when I told here that I was just traveling by myself the look on her was as if I had just slapped her. She and three other people in the train cabin spent the next twenty minutes telling me how I would be robbed, raped and then brutally murdered if I went to Ukraine by myself. I was sufficiently scared. Enough that I got off the train and spent the next two days in Poland's equivalent of Richwood, Ohio.
Anywho, I am back in Krakow now. I have a private room for some regrouping time and with any luck will be heading to Bratislava, Slovakia tomorrow.

Auchwitz

I went to Auschwitz today. Death place of over 1 million Poles, Jews, Gypsies, Gays and Children.
I don't even know what to say about it except that it was a completely sobering and very profound visit.
I was worried about some sort of exploitation of the victims but was told that the camp was opened and even completely maintained at first by the victims. I imagine that they don't ever want people to forget what happened to them.
The most personal thing on display was hair. Both on arrival and after being executed, the prisoners hair was cut and sold to make textile products. After the camp was liberated 7 tons (14,000 lbs) were discovered and 2 tons were on display.

Poland=The New America

Poland is more like America than any other country I have been to in Europe.
There is more farm ground here than the rest of the EU.
The people only speak one language.
Potatoes are a main ingredient in everything.
The malls here have Sephora, which I have yet to see anywhere else in the EU. Actually, I went to the mall today here and it looks exactly like a brand new mall back home. They also have a lot of American products here not carried anywhere else.

I am in Krakow now. So far it looks nice. The couchsurfer I am staying with left a key for me and is coming in sometime tomorrow. It's nice to have a little free time. My last host bought me some chocolate and I discovered that all chocolate in Poland tastes mildly of coffee but is also extremely wonderful.
I have also learned how to buy salami here, which makes me very happy.

And finally, I think they tried to kick me off the train today. The contoller kept shaking his head at me and made me go talk to someone else, who also didn't speak english. I just kept shaking my head back saying, "I'm sorry. English?" Someone in Wraclow told me I could get through all of Eastern Europe for free by crying, showing an empty wallet and pretending like I have no idea what's going on...haha, no in the end they just let me sit down again. I think I bought a ticket for a fast train and got on a slow one.

Wroclaw: Get this, pronounced Broats Claw

There is a place here where you pay based on how much your food weighs. It's half price after 8 pm. I haven't spent more than 4 american dollars on a meal since I have been in Poland. On average, my budget is like $8 a day, getting coffee and beer and food out. It's awesome.
Wraclow is prettier and bigger then Poznan. I have been walking around the city all day and keep finding new and nicer things to look at. It's weird though, there is the huge market square with insanely old looking buildings and then right next to it is a huge mall with an all glass exterior. The whole city is like that, old against new.
I have yet to meet an American in Poland. I heard some Canadians talking about Manatoba, but that's as close as it comes. And instead of asking if I speak English when I shake my head in confusion, they offer Russian first.

Poznan: Pronounced Pots-nan

Poznan:
The city center is gorgeous. Big clock tower, lots of churches around.
I had some polish food: Cabbage, Pork and Boiled Potatoes.

This has to be one of the best stories yet though. Pawel, my host asks if I want to try some Polish beer. After we buy it, it goes in my bag. We pass a guy being questioned by police, he says it's because the guy is drinking and it is illegal on Polish streets.
We get to the river, he says it's ok to drink here, no one comes here, you can see police from miles away.
I put down my empty can and wouldn't you know it...undercover police. My thought process is something like "I'm being deported. No one can speak English here. They are going to detain me."
I don't know if Pawel said it was his or they just couldn't give me a ticket because I wasn't Polish. They did look at my ID though. Anyway, Pawel got a ticket, I got nothing.
Have a place lined up for Wraclow, pretty excited to get to a bigger city.
Oh, and I love and miss you all very much.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

I write to you from Poznan, Poland.
Today, Caroline made me pancakes for breakfast. They were served with macademia nut honey.
I then got my haircut. It's a lot cooler, a little shorter and a little bit more like a mullet again :)
I took a train from Berlin to Poznan where I am staying with a young guy with dred locks and his sister. I am looking forward to days and days of perogies.

Sauerkraut

Today I ate Sauerkraut. I normally hate the stuff, but here it is quite nice.
I was planning on going to Hitler's Bunker, but turns out the Russians turned it into a parking lot.

Happy Fourth

I met some American's in a toy shop today. I wished them a happy fourth. It made my day.

Today's activities included breakfast, open market, toy shop where they had miniature everything--like miniature sewing machines, miniature food trays, toilet paper, instruments, delicious cup cakes with milk, and saute over fries at a dutch restaurant. Ya, so mostly food. But nice food.

I also wanted to briefly comment on how nice Berlin's trains are. I think they are twice as wide as New York Metro and the train stations are quite clean. The chairs are all cushioned and covered in cloth, so the seats are comfortable. They also have a tram and bus system so I am pretty sure you would never need to walk any where, but we still did walk a lot.

Berlin: Round 2

Well, here I am. Back in Germany. I woke up from my 1.5 nap at 3:30 this morning to catch my flight from Edinburgh to Berlin. I met 5 guys from Ohio--they attend Miami--in the airport who were also on my flight. The Ohio love made my day. I caught all the right trains and made it to my destination without getting lost.

Caroline and Max are so great. I am so happy to see them again. When I arrived they gave me some iced mint tea, we went and got bagels, Caroline scheduled me an appointment to get my hair cut and we got the beer I loved the most here last time, raspberry flavored. So treaty.
We rode past the remains of the Berlin wall again and ate some German pasta/potato combo for dinner. Oh, and Caroline baked a cake.

Nice People

These are some of the people I have made friends with whilst I was here.


Ruari...Somehow, Ruari has been to Ada more than I have. He worked there like three summers in a row and by chance was friends with some of my friends. He was the one who took me to Arthur's Seat and introduced me to some fun new spots.




Alison....has a car. And she showed me all of Scotland in it. Alison is Scotland. With her I played highland games, drank irn bru and tea, saw sheep in the road and ate haggis. She has traveled every where and has become completely invaluable.














Lauren...Midwest Love. Lauren is married to Alex who I couchsurfed with last summer. Lauren was my go to girl and pretty much kept me occuppied like 70% of the time I was here.















Rob...kiwi. Fellow couchsurfer. We met while playing frisbee. He lives with three spanish people and introduced me to a plethera of drinking games. He also cooked for me. Which makes him a winner.















And Luis....Luis and I met on one of Alison's adventures. Spanish and more full of life than, like, anyone. He took me salsa dancing and pretty much made my life. He dipped me. Like proper, movie dancing dips.