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| The Poland 2K16 Squad was excited and ready to fly into the sunset en-route to Poland early Friday evening! (JFK Airport, New York, United States) |
The Anticipation:
Before this week, I had never been out of the country. Knowing that this would be the first time I would be out of the country made me feel nervous, but, admittedly, I was more nervous because of the fact that I had never been away from my family (or The Bronx and Westchester with or without my family) for more than four days, let alone for eight days and seven nights. I didn't know what to expect when it came to missing home, my family and my loved ones, or what it would feel like to be in a country half-way across the world without them. So far, so good! I do miss home quite a bit; I miss my bed and the home cooked meals, and I'm sad because I couldn't be with my dad on his birthday, but we celebrated his birthday on Thursday and I called him this morning so that makes me feel a little bit better.
Practically all my life, for as long as I can remember at least, I've had a deep interest in wartime history. As I grew older and learned about WWII and The Holocaust, my interest only grew more and more. I really became interested in traveling to Poland to see the different sights that were linked to the Holocaust after a friend of mine had told me about her trip when I was in the eighth/ninth grade. From that moment I knew I wanted to go. Throughout high school, I still had interest in the topic, but I didn't think about traveling to Poland too much, the thought slipped to the back of my mind to a place that I didn't frequently think back to.
It wasn't until this past summer (summer 2015) that I knew I had to come to Poland; not just that I wanted to come, but that I had to come. I was working my first orientation at Iona in June, and was talking with my roommates (Corrine and Marina) when Corrine told Marina and I about the Poland Abroad program. That was the moment when I knew I had to come. It was all too ironic that Corrine was telling us about a study abroad program that was exactly perfect for me and my interests, and one that would flow with a vacation I would be taking not long after the orientation. A few weeks after the orientation I had gone to Washington, D.C.; it was a previously planned trip that was booked about a week or so prior to the orientation; when my mom had told me that she was planning the trip, I made it known that we had to stop at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
The first moment I stepped foot in the museum, I knew why I wanted and had to come to Poland; something inside me was calling me and telling me I had to come. My parents knew about my intentions of signing up for the trip, but I think them seeing me be so interested in museum exhibits was when they knew how badly I wanted to come. While at the museum, my parents had to practically drag me through the museum; I took as much time as I needed to read through just about all of the captions and to thoroughly look at the photos on the walls.
Next came the info session with Dr. Procario-Foley. I immediately told my parents that I needed to go if I were to be accepted. During my interview with Dr. Procario-Foley, I stated my feelings about having to come to Poland and that I felt like something was calling me to come here, that I needed to come here. I told her about how I felt that I needed to listen to that calling and that I didn't want to ignore it. Luckily for me, I was one of the few selected for this trip and I cannot be any more thankful than I am for being here. It truly is a great feeling to have been chosen, and to be crossing one thing off of my bucket list.
As the time came closer to the first day of class I became more and more eager for the trip to come. But as the time cam closer, it didn't feel real that the time was approaching more and more rapidly. I was so anxious to come to Poland that for the two weeks leading up to the trip (in addition to the huge amount of homework I had to do for my other classes) my chest constantly felt tight and I felt that I was going to have an anxiety attack at any moment (luckily I didn't actually have any, although I came close two times). The moment I got on the plane it still didn't feel real that I was actually going to Poland; it felt like a dream. It still hasn't really struck me that I'm here, but I know that it will tomorrow when we take our first visit to Auschwitz I.
The Arrival:
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| The land of Poland is totally different than the land I am used to seeing back home. It is much more spacious and the homes are much more spread out than those in the areas I am familiar with in New York. (Czernichów, Lesser Poland, Poland) |
Gaels, we are not in New Rochelle anymore...
Getting here wasn't too bad. Our flights arrived safely to their destinations and the drive to the Centre for Dialogue and Prayer was easy and problem-free. I think the photo I've added is a clear example of how life is much different here in Poland from life in the United States. The city life is vastly different in the two countries; in the U.S. the cities are jam-packed with people and stores and everything is directly on top of each other, but here in Poland the buildings in the cities, although close and on top of each other, they still feel more spaced out and open.
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| Me and the man himself. JPII was a great man! I felt like such a tourist while taking this photo but, you know what, it was totally worth it! Please excuse the transition lenses of my glasses...gotta protect the eyes, ya know? (Wadowice, Poland) |
The Alpha:
Although exhausted after not sleeping for more than a collective twenty minutes on the planes (not due to nerves, I just couldn't fall asleep), I was very eager to get right to work. The first day was pretty good! We took a tour of the town of Oświęcim, the town in which we are staying and the town that the Auschwitz camps were located in. What a beautiful town! Looking at the buildings you could tell that the town has been in existence for a number of years, but that doesn't mean that the town is rundown. It is rich in history and each building has its own story. The cobblestone side roads and walkways were very cool yet somewhat difficult to walk on.
The first full day (today) we took a tour of Wadowice, the town where Pope John Paul II grew up in. The fact that I can now say that I walked the same roads that JPII did is pretty amazing. Today we got to walk through the museum dedicated to JPII and his life. I learned quite a bit about him! He was a man of many interests, he didn't have the easiest childhood, and someone tried to assassinate him in St. Peter's Square.
We saw the apartment in which he grew up in (which is the museum) and the high school he attended. We even got to attend a Palm Sunday mass in the Church right next door to his house! Although I did not understand a single word of the service, it was still beautiful and I'm glad I got to experience it; not many people can say they attended a mass in Poland.
I'll check in soon with some more updates for all of yous. Pogadamy wkrótce!
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