Dreams do come true!

A view of only a small portion of the city of Prague

   As children, we find ourselves filled with wonder at the immensity of the world and all it holds.  While childhood has limitations, we discover that these limitations can suddenly disappear, opening up a cornucopia of possibilities just waiting to be had by those that possess the will and desire to simply reach out and grasp them.  Children dream of being princesses, knights in shining armor, cowboys, world travelers.  The list could continue for an eternity, but I, for one, was the child who became irrevocably transfixed when foreign lands filled with new people, new places, and endless adventures were mentioned in conversation.  I never thought that these childhood dreams of mine would one day become an unforgettable reality.
   My journey to Europe is one that will forever be ingrained in my memory.  From the moment I stepped on the plane in Nashville, Tennessee, I knew that what I was about to experience would leave a lasting impression on my life.
   The excitement I felt seemed nearly tangible in the hours before touching down on European soil.  My mind was running wild with anticipation.  What would the landscape look like?  How would the local peoples react to our presence?  In what ways would the society as a whole be different from the fast-paced, American lifestyle we'd abandoned just hours before?  I hoped to find answers to these questions along with all the others that seemed to be endlessly forming in my head when our voyage began.
   Needless to say, this hope of mine was met in a way that was nothing short of outstanding, extraordinary, marvelous, and just about any other word that could be used to describe an event that took any preconceived expectations and completely shattered them.  The people, the places, they left me with memories that will never be forgotten.  This incredible expedition of mine instilled in me an appreciation of home and all that it means; yet, it simultaneously filled me with a hunger to encounter the things unknown and relish in all that can be discovered in this remarkable world we live in.  

Interesting news from Prague....

While wandering the downtown area of Prague, I ran across the only newspaper written in English--the Prague Post!  So I bought a copy, but I also found it online and there were two great articles relating to some of the things we saw and learned about while there!

Remembering Terror

and

Farmers Predict Further Protests

Slevice

We visited a church, significant for a dreadful event. The last shell fired during world war two demolished the bell tower in this sleepy village. The church was built up, and a plaque placed in memory of the battle. This place spoke to me, mostly because it gave a feeling that it had been lost in time, trapped by that fateful day that changed its future forever.
"I see your walls with their
Cracks, born from a
Lifetime of support.
I see your scars from a
Wound that has never
Truly healed.
I see your lovers with
Dark shadows as
Their blankets.
Isee your beauty,
Marred by the persistence
Of ugly blades.
But most of all,
I see your soul,
Laid bare, clinging
To hope for the sun
Yet lost in a deep eternity."
-Kellie

Simply Human



What is American? In the US we are all a mixture of many nationalities so it is difficult to pick out someone who looks distinctly American. I had time to think about this on a recent train ride to Austria.

Train Station in Salzburg, Austria


Unlike other means of mass transport (buses, airplanes), train cabins are a breed of their own. You see, when you ride an airplane or a bus, everyone is facing one direction, generally forward. In a train cabin, you are facing the person sitting in front of you. In route from Prague to Salzburg, I had the opportunity to observe the 4 other people in my cabin. First, to my front right is my girlfriend, Alyson, who like me, is having her first unguided excursion by train. We both are young Americans in a country where speaking English is not exactly the same as speaking ‘American’. Our backpacks are stuffed with every small convenience we could manage for our 4 day trek into Austria and Italy but at the moment the only thing I want is an ice cold Dr. Pepper. To my direct front is a small blond haired woman, who until the latest neck breaking, track changing curve, was sound asleep, head back and mouth wide open. Her eyes are a rich brown, deep and intensely dark reminiscent of my younger sister. She seems sweet, smiling at me when our eyes meet. Her nationality is unknown but interestingly, everyone in my cabin looks ‘American’. This includes the man sitting practically on my left shoulder. A larger man much like me, he has a military like short haircut with a scraggly beard. His vest and pants match this macho outdoorsman theme which adds to his ‘American’ look. With a smile I see the front cover of the book he is reading: “Rambo” only all the other words are in Czech.  This leads me to believe, perhaps this ‘American’ looking man in not so ‘American’ after all.

Finally, to the gruff looking man to my left front. This man, in his mid-50’s has sat with a solemn look of his face, reading a book of unknown title and origin. His face is dark from the sun with a large nose and silver hair. He would look very distinguished if not for his old tennis shoes, faded jeans and stretched V-neck tee. Instead, he looks down right frightening and also very, you’ve got it, ‘American’.  It was not until this man, after a half hour of reading finally found a page that led him to laughter. A smile came across his face and a giggle out of his stomach as if a clown was jumping around in our cabin. It was in this instance that his gruffness was removed and I realized that the question of ‘American-or-not’ was not the thought I should have had. In the end, everyone in my cabin is simply human. A connection we all share; beyond all national boarders, languages or beliefs. Sitting in that train cabin facing a smiling blond woman, being squished by a heavy set Rambo, I realized it’s good to be human.

Julliet's Balcony, Verona, Italy

We arrived in Salzburg,  Venice, and Verona and enjoyed site seeing and each other’s company. We learned so much about people while being so closely together in our train/ bus rides. For me, I have something from this trip much more than any trinkets or pictures; I have a fresh outlook on people. Some good. Some bad. Always human.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

-Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)

Catching up with a few photos!

Yesterday, Tuesday, May 30, 2012, I finally remembered I could use my iPhone as a camera. This is really critical because the only computer I have with me is the iPad, which means I can't download my regular camera pictures. Since the students are gradually learning how to convert the computers in their dorms from Czech to English, I'll let them do the narrative until we get home and they can add their pictures too.
The first pictures I will post are from a 3,000 hectare farm known as Farm Dublovice. A few key points:
They raise corn, wheat, rye, sugar beats, soybeans and some alfalfa . They maintain herd of about 1500 head of Czech Red Spotted cattle. These are the first true dual purpose breed cattle I have seen being used for both milking and meat. Their entire operation was yet another amazing agricultural operation ending I the production of methane gas! To see more pictures visit the TTU School of Agriculture Facebook page!

Lidice

We visited a small "village" right outside of Prague called Lidice. I call it a "village" because all thats left is a beautiful grassy field with a meandering pathway leading through it. Lidice is a memorial to the town that Hitler's Nazis completely destroyed in 1941, killing all the townspeople, tearing down the buildings, and digging up the dead from the cemetery. He went so far as to plant a crop of potatoes on top, completely disgracing the people. The Lidice chidren currently stand guard over there home, remembering their horrible fate. The Nazis drove them around in trucks with the exhaust re-routed so that it killed them all. There is a beautiful memorial, in tribute to these children. Based on this visit, one can only hope that nothing of this caliber will happen again; unfortunately, however, history has a strong tendency to repeat itself.
                                                                                          -Kellie

"The blades sway, humming
a song to the breeze with
not a care as to what
preceded them.

They mimick voices, not
long heard but never
forgotten, when an innocence
blossomed with the dawn
of a "new day."

If only that innocence
had outshone its foe.
But alas, it must always
always be defeated, allowing
fate to take his
rightful place.

My wonder overtakes me,
imagining why and who. And
what did it look like,
these virgin days?
But as a ray of light
they are long lost,
leaving only dark shadows
behind our eyes."

Pure Evil

Auschwitz I- Auschwitz II-Birkenau

This post is supposed to be my reaction to Auschwitz Concentration camp and Birkenau Extermination Camp. While I will do my best to give my ‘reaction’ it is impossible to describe these places using words.

One of only 4 people to ever exscape Auschwitz, now 93, returning for the first time in 50 years.

Auschwitz is about 45 min- 1 hour outside of the beautiful Polish city Krakow. Our bus was confined to the road by vast fields of green and country side that is so peaceful that it is hard to imagine the life there was some 70 years ago. Arriving at Auschwitz feels like arriving at any American museum; tons of cars fill the parking area and everyone runs to the rest room right after stepping off the bus. It isn’t until you make it passed the entrance building that you realize that this museum is like no other museum on the planet for this museum housed millions of humans for the express purpose of slave labor and murder. To see a half dozen strands of high voltage electrified barbed wire used to keep humans captive is an indescribable sight in itself. Barrack style houses with 1000+ people crammed into a space that seemed suitable for no more than 200. Living conditions at Auschwitz were much better than that at Birkenau, one due to the fact that at least at Auschwitz you had a small amount of hope.  Several rooms were filled with hair (only 2 tons of the 7 tons were on display), eye glasses, combs, prosthetics, and luggage. Pure evil that those in Poland have still not fully forgave the German nation; with good reason to me. Of the millions murdered, the vast majority were Polish Jews. The Nazi’s used Birkenau as their answer to the ‘Jewish Question’; slave labor for some, total extermination for all. Hundreds of chimneys dot the landscape; each one representing where thousands of people where crammed into pole barn like structures designed to house around 50 horses.  One person in our group said they felt they were trampling on someone’s grave and in truth, we were. Nazi’s spread the ashes from the millions of bodies across the land as fertilizer, as paving, and to help gain traction for vehicles in icy weather.

End of the rail at Birkenau.

Seeing these places changes you or at least did me. Something small inside your soul breaks when you realize not only what people can do to others but, with more sadness, what people will stand aside and let others do. Mass murder happens in our world; we live among monsters even today. We must stand up for righteousness or history will again repeat.  

“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”
― Yehuda Bauer H,olocaust Expert, born in Prague