The American election is taking place in that far away land I call home. Rumor has it that there is a record turn out for voters this year. It's hard to comprehend that Obama has made it this far. Who would have thought that a man with African blood could possibly be a presidential candidate?! I can honesty say now I am proud to be American.
Tonight we had our first movie night and were given the opportunity to view the film Katyn, directed by Andrzej Wajda.
In 1943, while fighting against the Soviet Union, German troops came across mass graves in the forest of Katyn in present-day Belarus. The Soviets denied accountability for this crime and instead blamed it on the Nazis. This incident remained taboo in Poland for decades, until 1990, when the Soviets finally admitted that they were guilty of the massacre.
Since I have been in Poland I have seen some good films (including others by the talented Wajda), but hands down this is my favorite so far.
On a lighter note we had a little surprise party for Emily, who turns 21 tomorrow! Wszystkiego Najlepszego!
It's amazing how a single mineral can produce such a multitude of artwork. This working mine has many chambers with various statues and monuments all constructed out of sodium chloride. There was even a large underground church where they hold classical music concerts occasionally. And I though salt was just for seasoning...
Today we went to Auschwitz. I think Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel says it best in his acceptance speech:
"As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs."
Please, if you are ever nearby, take the time to go to Auschwitz and educate yourself about this unfathomable moment in history.
Today we took a step back with the tour company Crazy Guides, into the not so distant past and revisited Nowa Huta (New Steelworks). This town was created by the Communists near Krakow, in hopes of injecting industrialization into Polish society. Of course the dream never fully materialized and only resulted in labor strikes and creating poor health conditions due to the terrible pollution.
Crazy Guides specializes in giving tours of communist Poland and go all out on making sure that we got to experience Communism at its finest. We rode in a beat-up bus from that era that had definitely seen better days.
Later on we rode in an "authentic," Communist car. The whole experience felt like being in a cartoon, especially since the driver drove like a maniac.
For dinner we had a meal fit for a King (or Queen) of Poland at Pod Wawelem.
