Krakow (Crakow) Airport 6:15 a.m.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Man did 5:00 a.m. come early! I was getting used to sleeping in (at least till 6:30) but Nick Kitto is a slave driver, and also one excellent travel planner. The entire trip was set up and planned by Nick and Suzan and all Susan and I had to do was hang on for the ride! They did inspire me to start searching the web and Friday I booked us for London on our next 4-day holiday in November. Part of our goal as we teach overseas is to travel as much as our time and money allow and so far we’re off to a great start. Our trip to Krakow is a perfect example!!

The only way to describe our drive from school to the apartments (to pick up cabs) to the cabdrive to the airport was close your eyes / duck often / pray constantly. All so that we could find out our flight was delayed over 45 min. Zagreb, Vienna, and Krakow were our destinations that night. Every flight served dinner and drinks of all choices, could most American airlines learn a lesson!!! Five weary travelers (Kitto’s daughter Maxine was with us) were happy to find the Globus hotel.

A trip to the “salt mine” was Thursday’s goal but not before a visit to the town square. For this rookie to Europe, INCREDIBLE!!!!!! Although occupied by Germany during WW2 and part of the Soviet Block for years, Krakow escaped the devastation that Warsaw underwent and the city is a treasure house of architectural gems. A morning of walking led to an afternoon of steps, over 800, straight down as we descended into a salt mine that gave thousands, if not millions, of Polish miners economic employment. Despite the beauty of the Grand Hall, the shadow lake, one of eight dining rooms found on levels two and three, all I could hope for was the timbers holding (they did) and the lift making one more trip (it did, all 900 ft. approximately) so I could reflect on its beauty

as we made the bus ride back to Krakow. This would be a topic of conversation as we decided about dinner and explored the Jewish Quarter.

Friday’s tour of “Auschwitz” was not an uplifting part of this trip but an important one. Prior to World War II, the Jewish populations in most European countries lived in “quarters”, defined portions of a city like Krakow. This made the Nazis’ job of “contain, deport, and cleanse” much easier. Death camps like Auschwitz (located an hours drive from Krakow) sole purpose was to eliminate as much of the Jewish,

Roma (Gypsy), and any others considered “undesirable” to the Nazi master plan of ethnic cleansing. Another group who were targeted for Auschwitz were Polish nationals who participated in the “resistance”. Personally it was staggering to stand on the ground where such atrocities took place over 60 years ago and know I am living in a country where the same acts occurred only 15 yrs. ago. Let us also remember it is going on in parts of Africa as we speak.

After a very somber return to Krakow, it was encouraging to see the beauty and vibrancy of the people and the city itself. Somehow it seemed appropriate to spend the evening in the Jewish Quarter.

Saturday’s goal was to explore more of the city centar, visit our first international IKEA, and recover from the day before. We accomplished the first two, I’m not sure if you should ever recover from Auschwitz. It was a great trip, full of too many experiences to account for, but the food must be noted.

I have dined in many of North America’s major cities, experienced the diversity of Brazil, but for quality dining at a relatively modest price, Krakow is a bargain. We ate traditional Polish & Jewish dinners, lunches were perogies, kebob’s, and some of the best pizza I have eaten anywhere.

Sunday’s return to Sarajevo started off as uneventful as Wednesday’s was crazy. What I didn’t expect was that our flight from Zagreb to Sarajevo would be cancelled. That allowed us a nine-hour time to learn the Kitto’s are Euchre sharks, Cribbage and walking are common pastimes, and that we are blessed with friends (formed over Skype) that we could share this adventure with. We also rolled into Ciglane at 11:30p.m. A full four days!!!

Tunnel of Hope

Tunnel of Hope

9/4/2010

One of the things QSI did for us was to allow us to tour the Sarajevo city and its surrounding countryside. I have included some pictures of the city that shows off its beauty. It is hard to imagine that 26 years ago the 1984 Winter Olympics were held here yet less than 10 years later a Bosnian wrote “welcome to Hell” on a city building.

I do not pretend to be an expert on the Serbian/Croation occupation of Bosnia but I can still see the results of the Sarajevo siege, from the craters in the side of a hospital to the “Sarajevo Roses”, impact damage in the concrete from cannon shells to sniper rifles.

Over a span of almost 4 years,1992-1995, the city of Sarajevo was under siege and bombarded by Serbian forces in the mountains I can look out and see. I don’t even pretend to understand what these people went through.

The Tunnel of Hope, dug 800 m in length directly under the Serbian controlled airport in Sarajevo, was a conduit for thousands of its citizens to escape the madness. We were able to visit this site, stoop in the tunnel, and hear of experiences from some who had used the tunnel under wartime conditions. I pray the pictures give you a sense of the terror, yet the hope these people experienced.

I am currently reading a novel appropriately titled “Sarajevo Roses”, written by Anne Marie Du Preez Bezdrob. As a member of the UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE, she paints an alternative view to the conflict than the western press chose to report. It is worth the read!

Sarajevo - weeks 1/2

Blog entry: Sarajevo!

8/22/2010

I’m nor sure I have ever seen a week go by so quickly as the one that just occurred since we arrived in Sarajevo. One of the benefits of working for a company such as QSI (Quality Schools International) is the way your travel arrangements, shipping allowances, pick up at the airport, transportation to our apartment, and living quarters stocked with food is respective of our commitment to work for them.

We spent the week getting to know our fellow new employee, touring our new place of work, setting up our apartment, and learning that Sarajevo is an incredible town to walk in no matter what time of the day it is. People here love to walk and talk!!!

Our area of town is called Ciglane, one of many ridges that make up the town. We can access “Centar” , “Old town”, and roughly 5,000 outdoor café’s, via 255 vertical steps. We do get our exercise!!!! Our Opel can get us to school in roughly 15 min. (Susan has really white knuckles) and as I become more of a local driver that time should decrease.

We are setup with Wireless Internet (although we were out for a week due to router issues), we are trying to reserve Sunday evening our time to call or Skype

8/28/2010 We completed our first two days of school and it couldn’t have gone much better! Small class sizes, huge support from the national staff, excellent leadership, and one fine schedule made for an encouraging start. I won’t mention air conditioning in my room!!!!

We are enjoying our first “lazy” Saturday which will include a visit to the green market, Susan’s going clothes shopping (it has been really hot here), and I may have to visit a Café for a coffee or Pivo (the first Bosnian word I learned). I will try to go back and give you snapshots of places we visited in the past weeks so this blog may be a bit jumbled to begin, bear with! Dovidjena (Goodbye)

Blog entry 4: Bees, Boulder, & BeyondSat. 8/7: A late night was cause for a late start today. There was time for the boys to spend with Wella (short for Abuella) and Grandpa Charlie whom they hadn’t seen for a couple (2) of years. It was even longer since they had seen Tia Kathleen and Uncle Mark.



A lot of catching up led to the conversation of honey, honeybees, beehives, & touring the bee hives in Mark & Kathleen’s backyard. Before the afternoon was over both Josh & Seth had worn the beekeeper “uniform” and inspected the two hives for honey production.


Sun. 8/8: The road along the foothills from Golden to Boulder is panoramic and contains entries to beautiful canyons, such as Elderado Canyon. This was, and is, a “laid back” climbing mecca that I frequented 35 years ago. It does not appear that much has changed!!!!! Memories of climbs in the canyon and the “Flatirons” made for a lot of conversation. The rest of the day was spent wandering the Pearl St. mall in Boulder.







Mon. 8/9: The “light rail” to downtown Denver dropped us off in the city-center on the 16th St. mall. Much looking, little buying, a few games of pool, and a lot of walking got us to the largest REI store I have ever shopped at and some of the coolest river and housing development I have seen in a large city. We finished the day off eating Mexican at the Morrison Inn and climbing into the Red Rocks Amphitheater with Mark and Kathleen. Unfortunately a concert wasn’t on that night but just to be up in the foothills and look out from this incredible rock formation to view Denver in the alpenglow was worth it.

Tues. 8/10: More goodbyes as we dropped off Josh and Seth at DIA but these were easier as they were really “see you soon”. Christmas will be the next time we see them but as we reflect on it, we recognized that Muskegon is not the boy’s home. Whether it is Kalamazoo or Salt Lake, Josh and Seth have created “homes” for themselves, regardless of where we may be. What we all have agreed is that “true home” is not dictated by location. That is why it was so important to have four days together with them. This time we were “ home” in Denver, next time will be in Sarajevo. The full support by both Josh and Seth was critical in this adventure we are less than a day from beginning.

Wed. 8/11: Packing, weighing, repacking; the cycle seems to never stop!! Nine bags, 450 lbs., Charlie’s van is full, amen for “stow and go” seats. It is finally time!! As much as we have enjoyed the past two weeks, l AM READY and so is Susan. We received a “bon voyage” call from Nick Kitto, a friend from Sarajevo, and man did that cause me to ponder I AM GOING TO BE FLYING TO BOSNIA TOMORROW.

Thurs. 8/12: Don’t ever let anyone convince you that getting to the airport early is a bad thing, especially flying overseas with nine bags!! Fran and Charlie dropped us off at 9:15 for a 12:40 flight. LAST GOODBYE, now it is all HELLOS!! A busy United counter with a very professional agent and TSA (Josh has a name for them, which I won’t repeat!) and it was 11 before we got to the gate.

Much more enjoyable than the people who showed up 10 min. after they closed the cabin doors of the flight just before us; DOOMED TO STANDBY!!! We got out on time and it looks like we’ll get to Chicago early. We’re on a 777 at 36000 ft. going 596 mph and we just covered the state of Iowa as I wrote this entry. Time to land!!!

Well, we just flew over Newfoundland, it is 4:41 am in Sarajevo and I should be sleeping. I have had a great time talking with Marija, my seat neighbor. She is going to visit her family in Serbia and she was of great help as I take baby steps to learn the
Serbo-Croation language.



8/13: Woke up 39,000 ft above London, England and in no time we were descending into Munich. It was rainy and cool and we had to run for our flight but when we landed in Sarjaevo it was warm and clear. As I write this, I can see our QSI greeting party, time to see our new home!!!!!!

Week two: Denver to Portland and Back

Tues. 8/3: Started with an early morning to DIA where we caught a flight to Portland, Oregon. I have to say that “Southwest Airlines” has a remarkable ability to depart on time, arrive early, and treat you with respect (no this is not a paid announcement.

Met up with my brother Tim and began 2 days of good eating, exploring new places (including a Buddhist temple) in Portland, and spending quality time with my sister-in-law Val, nephew Trevor and his wife Heather. It was a great time of catching up with what is happening today and reflecting on memorable past times together. I think Heather has a new perspective of her husband after today. What a couple!!! We were also able to get our “Golden fix” as we celebrated Shasta’s 14^th birthday.

Thursday 8/5: Caught an afternoon flight to Denver and had the pleasure of riding in on some massive thundercells. Yahoo!!!!!

This week has moved as fast as last week was long! Susan mentioned that we will be on the plane for Sarajevo a week from today. Hard to believe that two and a half years of planning is about to happen!!!!

Friday 8/6: It is clear in Denver this morning and the front range of the Rockies is beautiful. It is another day of traveling to Denver International Airport to pick up Seth and Josh. I was able to get them in at the exact same time. It will be great to see them both but even better to see Susan’s face as she doesn’t know Josh is coming. Surprises, you gotta love em!!!!

Evening: It worked!!!!!! I have never seen a look of surprise and joy when she turned from greeting Seth and saw Josh standing there. It will be a blast to spend the next 4 days together before we leave.

The longest Week

Well, we’re on the road to St. Louis and praise God this week is over!! For all of the excitement, anticipation, and planning of our journey, the last week is where you pay the price!!!!
Long hours sorting, debating what to throw out, and packing is nothing compared to the emotional toil of saying “GOOD BYE” ( I hate those words!) to family, friends, and our pets. You would think “ see you soon” would help but it doesn’t!!!
We would like to thank all of you we didn’t have a chance to say good—bye to for understanding. We just didn’t have time and I wouldn’t have survived it!!!

Now we’re heading out to visit more family, and more good byes (do we ever learn?) but we are stoked to see our most recent addition to the family, David Ma and spend time with his parents Paige and Daniel.
Sat. a.m.: I’m sitting in the guest condo on the 13th floor of my nieces apt. building looking out at St. Louis cityscape thinking we are very much like gypsies for a short time. We had a great time with the Ma’s (especially David) and I will try to insert some video here. It was a blessing that we started our road trip off with such a bundle of joy.
We will be off to see the Ciccone’s this afternoon with an “evening surprise”, knowing Tim this could be interesting!!

Sat. p.m.: We were entertained by two incredible young men, who we have known since birth, when we arrived at the Ciccone's. Caleb and Josiah are a riot !! Tim and Maria treated us to seats and dinner at a Kansas City Wizards (MLS) soccer game where we had a great time of conversation and fellowship. What a family!!!!
More practice at saying good-bye.

Sun. a.m.: Left the Ciccone's early and had an uneventful trip through Kansas and Colorado and arrived at the Polly’s (Susan’s parents) for a short stint before heading to Oregon on Tuesday.

Trial post

Well this is my first attempt at blogging all by myself. Setting up links, copying and pasting URL's, dragging photos from IPhoto to your desktop to your blog browser, yahoo! As my friends Kevin and Drew know, if anyone can make it difficult, I'm all over it!!! My attempt at writing it in Facebook was disjointed (because I didn't look for help) so here''s a less disjointed version of it:

13 days and counting (very slowly) Susan and I would like to thank Julie and Kris Thorsen and Jean Snowden for hosting parties(back to back) where we were able to see, talk with, and say goodbye to a lot of our friends. I made it through with minimal tears (unheard of!) and really had a good time but man am I tired!! More packing, some golf and play time next week and then our final push before we leave on the 30th.
Looking forward to seeing my niece Paige, her husband Daniel, and baby boy David in St. Louis, our friends the Ciccones in Kansas City, home base in Denver with Susan's parents, sister & brother in-law (Kathleen &Mark), before flying oout to Portland to see Tim & Val (brother/sister in-law) and nephew Trevor and his wife Heather. We fly back to Denver after 3 days, Seth flies in for 4 days, then we're on the plane the 12th and in Sarajevo the 13th. That is a wrap up of our next 3 weeks, so much for a "quiet summer" Well, that's a wrap, here's where we are heading: