Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

In the past 4 days, I have traveled via airplane, tram, taxi, train, and even in the back of a stranger's van! Yet, through it all, I am safe and having a blast!

After several delays, a missed plane due to delays, and a plane swap back in Frankfurt due to pressurization going out, I finally made it into Krakow on Wednesday! My team had already started The Amazing Race (3 day long team competition put on by JV) but myself and two other girls, Katharina and Jordan, jumped right in with them at the Krakow Mall where we put on a model runway shoot outside in the mall square. If you'd like to know more details than I'm going to give you, hit me up and I'll share but it's way too much for a blog post haha! We spent our first day in Krakow completing various tasks but it was incredible seeing the Main Square! Absolutely beautiful both during the day and possibly even more so at night with all of the lights! Wednesday night we crashed in a hostel in Krakow and I fell asleep within 5 minutes.

Thursday morning we woke up and grabbed breakfast at the hostel. My first polish breakfast consisted of bread, butter, ham, and cheese with warm milk. It's definitely going to take some adjusting to, but I'm down for adaptation :) We spent the majority of Thursday in Krakow and even got to visit Wawel Castel, which has a legend of a dragon that used to terrorize the area. Also, while in Krakow, we visited Oskar Schindler's old factory on which the movie "Schindler's List" was based. The factory has been converted into a Holocaust and WWII museum detailing the influence on Poland. I wish we could have had more time there because it was very powerful. There were pictures from the German occupation that had buildings and locations that we had just spent time in and around. Suddenly it all became so much more real. Most pictures from American history show buildings or sites that either no longer exist or have changed drastically since that time. In Poland, the architecture is the same as it was 100 years ago. We left Krakow and rode a bus to Skoczow, then walked to the H2O Camp in Ochaby. We were exhausted but it was exciting to see the camp that I will be spending several weeks in :)

Friday morning (this morning) we had breakfast at H2O, still the offer of bread, butter, ham, and cheese, but they also offered Nutella! I have a feeling Nutella will be my new friend this summer :) Ashley Hostetter would be proud, I know! We completed a set of tasks at the camp and then walked into the town of Ochaby to catch a bus back into Skoczow. However, the next bus didn't come for a couple of hours. So we got creative and, in the spirits of competition and adventure, we found someone with a van and offered to pay them if they would drive us to Skoczow. Problem: 6 seats, 10 team members plus driver. Solution: 5 of us rode in the back of the van with the tools! What an adventure! Once in Skoczow, we took a bus to a city on the border, then ran across the border into Czech Republic. In Czech Republic, we completed a task and then caught a train followed by a taxi to arrive safely at Malenovice, a hotel owned by JV. We were reunited with our luggage and were checked in to the hotel. The view is overwhelmingly beautiful! I hope to post a picture soon! Tonight, we will start training until next Wednesday.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support through all of the travel! God is already working and it's exciting to see His faithfulness!