De visita en Polska...
Since the first time I was studying in Germany, I got to meet students from Eastern and Central Europe (majority from Poland, Czech Republic, Rumania, etc). Now I could go to Poland!!! Somehow, the more I travel, the less excited I feel in regard to first impressions… but coming to this beautiful part of Europe just drove me crazy… somehow, I have had the feeling that I could come very well along with people from these countries, we share in some way the same problems, jokes, styles and… development issues hehe
Once again, thanks to the 'blue organization', I was accepted as facilitator (let's say, trainer) to the International Conference in Warsaw, so after working hard (and having some cool parties, very exhausting though…), I took 7 days holidays and went through a small adventure in Polish territories (I could not go to other countries, thanks to visa regulations…) This first picture is with my cool africano friends Habib and Betty. We work together for Africa and the experience its being just unique… obviously it is not easy to understand it while living the day-to-day work, it is just when I start talking to friends (or writing this weblog), that I realize how far is it possible to go… we just need to want it (and to be verrrryyyyyy open minded for sure). The conference was just amazing, at the beginning it was not that obvious to see the big impact that we were having on 550 people from +91 countries (evenmore, there were some people from Palestine as well!!!), but after coming back home and receiving emails just saying hi! Or thank you!, it is sooo nice. I was also very happy, because during the conference, AIESEC Cameroon received an award as best country performance in Africa for the last year. Oh my god!!! My team was awesome and it is so exciting to feel the results of this in such a big event… parties were of course the best…! I wish I could attend all the AIESEC conferences in the world!
After the conference, after making promises, after feeling that we are not dreaming but having a blast, after wanting so much a couple of hours of rest, after all I could remember… time was ready for holidays!
Europe is the place of the cute old towns… no doubt about it. And Wroclaw (I hope it is well spelled) was not an exception. Just by having a coffee (with a kebab) and looking for sitting where the sun shines, thousands of memories just come to my mind… a walk there was more than worthy. And the most exciting part, in these tourist places, polish people speak either English or German. I felt so happy for not having communication problems! Going further to the picture, I don't remember anymore the name of that Cathedral (plop!), I just remember that this square was very beautiful… so many old colorful buildings, people having a drink in sits outside the restaurants, people with backpacks looking for cheap hostels, couples dressed totally on black and using piercing (they looked very romantic though by holding their hands while walking!). In Wraslaw, the old town is surrounded by water canals, so it is really nice to look for a park and rest for a while. During this part of the trip, I was touring together with some friends from the conference. I still remember our talk about fruits and vegetables in Latin America during the first evening, guys! By the second day, we had to split us, so I decided to continue my way (by train, of course) to Krakow.
I considered Wroclaw as a very nice city… Krakow was amazing!!!! This old city was the capital of Poland for many centuries, and fortunately it maintains lots of the architecture heritage (as contrary in Warsaw, a lot was destroyed during the 2. World War). The picture is from a small hill, where a small 'Zitadelle' was constructed. By the way, I met more people from AIESEC (this time, the Russian delegation), so we had a nice time walking in the city and having some fast food (kebab for me again) and sitting in a park. We were also making fun of some stereotypes about Latin telenovelas (soap operas) and Russian women with short skirts and large boots. Vodka was not a stereotype, but a reality during my whole stay in Poland, by the way, hehe…
Well in Krakow, I was staying in a youth hostel, so there I met another guy from The Netherlands, with whom I had a cold tasty Polish beer in the Jewish quarter. I was happy not going to the (full of tourists) main quarter… I definitely prefer small bars with good drinks and bohemia environment. There we met a friend of him, who was coming to the bar with her DOG! (just for taking it out for a walk).
A day after I decided to go to Auschwitz… a concentration camp. Actually, the biggest one, which was home of the most impacting scenes that Nazis made to Jewish 'prisoners'. I spent the whole day there, and it was not enough… I felt so ignorant about history, nowadays I feel more comfortable by being more informed about the whole process. Lots of questions still surround my mind… humanity??? Where are we going??? Are we still facing this episodes, but in different context??? (neee, ich bin zu keinem Schluss gekommen…) One of the most impacting parts of this concentration camp is the entrance, where is written 'Arbeit macht frei' (work brings freedom). Remember the question: are we still facing this, but in different context?
Afterwards, instead of going to the North (where I wanted to see some beautiful lakes), I decided to go to the mountains on the South. Actually, I heard about Zakopane thanks to a woman that I met in a train, she could hardly speak English, but managed to show me in the map that Zakopane (border with Slovakia) was the perfect place for enjoying nature and hiking…
Zakopane was beautiful!!! This is a commitment, by the time I come back to Peru I will definitely create such a place for hiking… we just need to put some signals about where to go, some information about risk zones and flora/fauna, and finally just charge 1 EUR to people getting inside. The Andes are the perfect place for doing that! Well, despite of my bad conditions on sport, I managed to arrive to more than 2000 m. above sea level. I was especially excited for being in the border to Slovakia (I could touch Slovakian territory, even I did not have a visa for entering to the country hehe). And the landscape was beautiful (and the weather the nicest in Europe). At the end of the day, I was dead, my legs too, and I just took a night bus back to Warsaw.
The last 2 days of this trip were more relaxing. I still traveled to a small town, and had a sun bath at the river, while hearing 2 people fishing… I went back to Warsaw and met 2 Venezuelans, with whom I shared the accommodation (the woman renting the place was sooo nice, he offered us polish tea and polish soup, and she had so many interesting stories about other people traveling and staying in her place)… by the time I was leaving to the airport, a polish member of AIESEC recognized my T-shirt and accompanied me to the airport. A last chat about traveling and a cold milk shake were my last experiences
Did I learn something out of this travel??? Well, now I feel more comfortable to travel alone (it is always possible to meet people to talk on the way), I definitively want to come back to Central Eastern Europe and go hiking and taking trains… I learn that world is becoming just too small, and it makes no sense, no looking for ways to meet people everywhere… and of course I got new ideas for my future tourism projects in Peru ;)
I am back in Cairo and now I am tired and wanna go home. In the evening I plan to make a walk on the Nile… but Egypt is another long story, so I will just take more time to get cool pictures.
Abrazos desde la zona mas seca del planeta.
Since the first time I was studying in Germany, I got to meet students from Eastern and Central Europe (majority from Poland, Czech Republic, Rumania, etc). Now I could go to Poland!!! Somehow, the more I travel, the less excited I feel in regard to first impressions… but coming to this beautiful part of Europe just drove me crazy… somehow, I have had the feeling that I could come very well along with people from these countries, we share in some way the same problems, jokes, styles and… development issues hehe
Once again, thanks to the 'blue organization', I was accepted as facilitator (let's say, trainer) to the International Conference in Warsaw, so after working hard (and having some cool parties, very exhausting though…), I took 7 days holidays and went through a small adventure in Polish territories (I could not go to other countries, thanks to visa regulations…) This first picture is with my cool africano friends Habib and Betty. We work together for Africa and the experience its being just unique… obviously it is not easy to understand it while living the day-to-day work, it is just when I start talking to friends (or writing this weblog), that I realize how far is it possible to go… we just need to want it (and to be verrrryyyyyy open minded for sure). The conference was just amazing, at the beginning it was not that obvious to see the big impact that we were having on 550 people from +91 countries (evenmore, there were some people from Palestine as well!!!), but after coming back home and receiving emails just saying hi! Or thank you!, it is sooo nice. I was also very happy, because during the conference, AIESEC Cameroon received an award as best country performance in Africa for the last year. Oh my god!!! My team was awesome and it is so exciting to feel the results of this in such a big event… parties were of course the best…! I wish I could attend all the AIESEC conferences in the world!After the conference, after making promises, after feeling that we are not dreaming but having a blast, after wanting so much a couple of hours of rest, after all I could remember… time was ready for holidays!
Europe is the place of the cute old towns… no doubt about it. And Wroclaw (I hope it is well spelled) was not an exception. Just by having a coffee (with a kebab) and looking for sitting where the sun shines, thousands of memories just come to my mind… a walk there was more than worthy. And the most exciting part, in these tourist places, polish people speak either English or German. I felt so happy for not having communication problems! Going further to the picture, I don't remember anymore the name of that Cathedral (plop!), I just remember that this square was very beautiful… so many old colorful buildings, people having a drink in sits outside the restaurants, people with backpacks looking for cheap hostels, couples dressed totally on black and using piercing (they looked very romantic though by holding their hands while walking!). In Wraslaw, the old town is surrounded by water canals, so it is really nice to look for a park and rest for a while. During this part of the trip, I was touring together with some friends from the conference. I still remember our talk about fruits and vegetables in Latin America during the first evening, guys! By the second day, we had to split us, so I decided to continue my way (by train, of course) to Krakow.I considered Wroclaw as a very nice city… Krakow was amazing!!!! This old city was the capital of Poland for many centuries, and fortunately it maintains lots of the architecture heritage (as contrary in Warsaw, a lot was destroyed during the 2. World War). The picture is from a small hill, where a small 'Zitadelle' was constructed. By the way, I met more people from AIESEC (this time, the Russian delegation), so we had a nice time walking in the city and having some fast food (kebab for me again) and sitting in a park. We were also making fun of some stereotypes about Latin telenovelas (soap operas) and Russian women with short skirts and large boots. Vodka was not a stereotype, but a reality during my whole stay in Poland, by the way, hehe…Well in Krakow, I was staying in a youth hostel, so there I met another guy from The Netherlands, with whom I had a cold tasty Polish beer in the Jewish quarter. I was happy not going to the (full of tourists) main quarter… I definitely prefer small bars with good drinks and bohemia environment. There we met a friend of him, who was coming to the bar with her DOG! (just for taking it out for a walk).
A day after I decided to go to Auschwitz… a concentration camp. Actually, the biggest one, which was home of the most impacting scenes that Nazis made to Jewish 'prisoners'. I spent the whole day there, and it was not enough… I felt so ignorant about history, nowadays I feel more comfortable by being more informed about the whole process. Lots of questions still surround my mind… humanity??? Where are we going??? Are we still facing this episodes, but in different context??? (neee, ich bin zu keinem Schluss gekommen…) One of the most impacting parts of this concentration camp is the entrance, where is written 'Arbeit macht frei' (work brings freedom). Remember the question: are we still facing this, but in different context?Afterwards, instead of going to the North (where I wanted to see some beautiful lakes), I decided to go to the mountains on the South. Actually, I heard about Zakopane thanks to a woman that I met in a train, she could hardly speak English, but managed to show me in the map that Zakopane (border with Slovakia) was the perfect place for enjoying nature and hiking…
Zakopane was beautiful!!! This is a commitment, by the time I come back to Peru I will definitely create such a place for hiking… we just need to put some signals about where to go, some information about risk zones and flora/fauna, and finally just charge 1 EUR to people getting inside. The Andes are the perfect place for doing that! Well, despite of my bad conditions on sport, I managed to arrive to more than 2000 m. above sea level. I was especially excited for being in the border to Slovakia (I could touch Slovakian territory, even I did not have a visa for entering to the country hehe). And the landscape was beautiful (and the weather the nicest in Europe). At the end of the day, I was dead, my legs too, and I just took a night bus back to Warsaw.The last 2 days of this trip were more relaxing. I still traveled to a small town, and had a sun bath at the river, while hearing 2 people fishing… I went back to Warsaw and met 2 Venezuelans, with whom I shared the accommodation (the woman renting the place was sooo nice, he offered us polish tea and polish soup, and she had so many interesting stories about other people traveling and staying in her place)… by the time I was leaving to the airport, a polish member of AIESEC recognized my T-shirt and accompanied me to the airport. A last chat about traveling and a cold milk shake were my last experiencesDid I learn something out of this travel??? Well, now I feel more comfortable to travel alone (it is always possible to meet people to talk on the way), I definitively want to come back to Central Eastern Europe and go hiking and taking trains… I learn that world is becoming just too small, and it makes no sense, no looking for ways to meet people everywhere… and of course I got new ideas for my future tourism projects in Peru ;)
I am back in Cairo and now I am tired and wanna go home. In the evening I plan to make a walk on the Nile… but Egypt is another long story, so I will just take more time to get cool pictures.
Abrazos desde la zona mas seca del planeta.
