Krakow: The Journey to Poland

Well, getting back from camp, we spent the first night at a group feedback session. We were literally so exhausted we were falling asleep at the dinner table Saturday night after arriving in Prague. The next day, we woke up in our apartment, having to pack again and be at the AIESEC offices in time to say goodbye to Jolin, who was leaving for other European cities Sunday afternoon. The first goodbye…it was crazy. After the whirlwind experience, it was all coming to an end but this time with the people I've gotten to know so well. I'm going to miss cute Jolin. Always so sweet and nice and always able to give the best advice and the greatest words of wisdom, she could always bring a smile to your face, even when you were feeling really bad. She couldn't pronounce my name, so she called me "Reg-errrr" and everyone laughed when she called me that, just like she called Oskar, "Oskale." Jolin's dancing and funny sounds she made when she got scared or happy, mad or sad. She always had little squeaks of excitement whenever she was happy.

After saying goodbye to Jolin, I began to write my final goodbyes to the other facis. I was only halfway through when it was time to go to the Reunion Party at a tearoom in Prague. It was here that we all got to meet some students from the first and second camp and say our last goodbye. It was really good to catch up with everyone, see the familiar faces, and laugh about all the times we had in crazy MBM camp. It was going really well, until it was time for me, Tete, Ana and Ekta to go to Poland. We had to leave the reunion party a little early, but we were able to say goodbye to the students for (hopefully not) the last time. We made our way to the train station, accompanied by Lessya and Martin, and when we arrived, it was already time for us to board the train and head out. It was very sad saying goodbye to Lessya, after all she was the first faci who I skyped with when I was in New York.

On the train, we found our 6 person sleeper to be even closer than the cabins in camp. But, the funniest things happen to us. First, it was Ekta and I in one sleeper and Ana and Tete in another. Ana found Brazilians in her sleeper and Tete found a classmate from her university in the sleeper next door. Small world right? I was so surprised to see Tete talking with someone she had had classes with and studied with, especially since they had just graduated in June and are now all going their own ways. The even funnier part were the Americans that were in my cabin. The Americans from Denver, Colorado! Who could imagine that there would be a couple from the best city in the United States on my train to Poland, but not only that, in my exact sleeper. Yea, small world. It was a terrible night's sleep overall because I was too big for the bed and there was a metal bar right at my shoulder that I had to sleep on, the pillow wouldn't cover it.

I woke up the next morning at 6:15 AM just to find that our train was delayed 45 minutes in the middle of the night so we would be arriving late. As I was hanging out on the top bunk, my nose started to bleed, but this wasn't an ordinary nosebleed, it was one of those gushers with blood flowing everywhere. Luckily, one of the Germans in our sleeper had a little package of tissues to give to me, and I eventually made my way down to the bathroom, where it continued to bleed even to the point where I was getting nervous and light headed. Everything worked itself out and I stopped the nosebleed, just in time to arrive in Krakow Glowny.