New City, New Experience...and So Much More.

I'm finally doing it...blogging, that is!  I meant to do so while living in Hungary last semester, but it just didn't come together (I'll blame it on too many distractions of living in the dorms with crazy--yet very fun--international students). And as many of you know, during my semester in Italy, I sent out updates of my adventures through emails and got so much positive feedback about those that I wanted to do something similar to keep my friends and family at home updated about my life abroad.  And now it's a new semester, new experience, and new opportunity to blog throughout my time in Poland.

For those of you that don't know, I'm residing in Cracow this semester.  I couldn't have chosen a better city to come to (outside of Italy, of course) and partake in the culture, learn the history, and experience all this place has to offer.  It's a wonderful city with so much to do and see.  And the people have been wonderful so far.

People often ask me which city I prefer; Krakow or Debrecen, Hungary (where I studied last semester).  Both cities have a uniqueness to them, a wealth of experiences I couldn't have gained anywhere else but that place, and people who made my experience so much more than I could have hoped for.  But aesthetically and culturally (so far at least), I do like Krakow better.  There's so much history here, not unlike other places in Europe, that it is mind-blowing.  I'm currently reading "Schindler's List" (some of you may know the movie) and it is eerie to read about the man that saved more Jews from certain death that any other single person during WWII and yet recognize the street names and areas of town referred to throughout the book (since Schindler lived and worked in Krakow).  I always enjoy learning as much about new places I'm living in as I can, but this time it's much sadder and heart wrenching.  But it's part of the experience.

On a happier note, I'm very happy with the start to my semester here.  I live in an apartment within a five minute walk to the university and 15-20 walk from the city center or Market Square.  I have two great roommates so far, one girl from Bulgaria and another girl from Croatia, with a third roommate from Croatia set to move in sometime next week.  Our apartment is a good size; nice kitchen, big bathroom, and I have my own room!

My classes started this week and there has been a little bit more frustration there.  I'll be taking 9 courses this semester while writing my Bachelor's thesis.  I'm part of the STAIR (Studies in Trans-Atlantic International Relations) program here and it is a dual-degree program.  This means that at the end of my time in Europe, I will have a second Bachelor's degree in International Economics from Cracow University of Economics.  But to do so, I had to take a number of required courses and write a thesis on a topic of my choosing, preferably related to economics in some way, shape, or form.  Call me crazy, but I'm actually, kind of looking forward to doing it...

Other than that, I've been to two other cities besides Cracow since being in Poland.  The first was Warsaw, the capital of Poland, where I stayed with friends I met in Hungary for a long weekend.  Warsaw is a really nice city, perhaps with an even more devastating history than Cracow.  But they have rebuilt and the city is beautiful.  I'm looking forward to visiting again and learning and seeing even more.  The second city I visited was Orawka, near the Slovakian boarder in the mountains.  We went there for an "integration" weekend with most of the other international students attending my university.  It was a really fun weekend and I met some amazing people!  There is such a greater amount of diversity in my program here in Cracow than there was in Debrecen, something I really appreciate.

Well for now, that's it for me.  By the way, if you're looking for pictures, you can find most of my pictures up on my Facebook page.

Do zobaczenia!