Poland

Poland was a very emotional weekend!

We went to -- are you ready -- Czestochowa first. Here there is a picture of Our Lady of Czestochowa through which many miracles have happened. It is very dark, almost black, is supposed to have been painted by St. Luke on the table top that was in Jesus' home. We had Mass there and then left for Auschwitz.

Beforehand, saw a museum with drawings by a survivor of the camp. He couldn't talk about being a prisoner in Auschwitz, so eventually he used art as an outlet. It was the most emotionally intense museum I have ever been in.

As we were on our way to the museum, I noticed how odd it was that all these houses in Poland looked very new and were just rebuilt on this ground that had been bombed and attacked so many times. I was just trying to wrap my mind around the reality of Poland's history as we drove through it. As I pondered this while looking at a small neighborhood, a concentration camp suddenly appeared on the right-hand side of the bus. Everyone immediately fell silent because we all knew what it was, and for a good solid minute we drove by rows and rows of barracks and barbed wire fence. Then I REALLY couldn't figure out how these houses were literally across the street from the camp, where thousands upon thousands of their ancestors were exterminated. We got to the museum, had lunch, and then finally left for the actual Auschwitz camp. It was so eerie when we got there, and the whole place had been made into a museum. We entered the front gate of the camp, with a sign overhead that read "Arbeitet macht frei," meaning, roughly, "Work makes you free." Creepy, huh? We saw rooms full of shoes, hairbrushes, suitcases, hair...anything and everything that was left of these people from decades ago. We saw the cell where St. Maximilian Kolbe was starved and died, the wall where they shot prisoners (which is still stained), and the crematoria and gas chambers. We walked through them and looked into the ovens. Overall, it was just a very difficult experience.

The next day we visited John Paul II's hometown of Wadowice. We saw his house, his home parish, and ate "Pope cakes." Then we left for the Divine Mercy Shrine!

I got to play and sing at Mass in the Divine Mercy Shrine, which was an awesome experience. We had prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3pm in the chapel and then listened to a talk given by one of the sisters from the Shrine. She spoke about the history and meaning of Jesus and his Divine Mercy. If you want a great prayer tool, PRAY THE DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET. It is amazing, and Jesus said that whoever prays this faithfully, nothing will be denied him if he asks. Sounds like a pretty sweet promise to me...

As I was practicing for Mass outside of the shrine, I hear "Hey Emma." I turn around to find one of my friends from HOME, sitting on the steps behind me! We started freaking out, along with everyone else who was completely perplexed by the situation. Everyone kept asking, "Wait, you know each other??" It was by far the most random event ever. What are the chances of finding someone you know in the Divine Mercy Shrine in Poland?! Apparently she is studying in Florence, Italy. She was even at Auschwitz the night we were, but we probably didn't see each other because it was too dark haha. Crazy. We always find each other in the most random places. The last time we ran into each other was this summer in Tuscon, Arizona!

Month in a Nutshell

So we have a bit of catching up to do...

Midterms were CRAZY. The weekend before I went to Wiesbaden, Germany, to visit our friend Judy who works on the U.S. Army base. It was gorgeous and she showed me all the important things, like where they have the champagne-fest every year! Good news - she found Cholula hot sauce in the commissary so now I have hot sauce!

Right after midterms, we had our 10-day break. I went to Spain and Italy, and it was amazing. My friend Chris and I took trains to Paris, which involved overnight traveling, and as expected, everything related to the French was awful. They were supposed to have this awesome, high-speed train, but getting a reservation was absolutely impossible over the internet, by phone, or at the train station. How then do you get a reservation? We have no clue. We ended up having to buy an actual 63 euro ticket in order to make our flight out of Paris to Madrid that night. Oh well, I don't plan on going back...

Once we got to Madrid, I was so relieved to know the language! I'm tired of German, and French was awful. So we found a hotel that night and then took a train to Sevilla the next morning. It was absolutely beautiful, but raining. It is one of my favorite cities that we've been to! We stayed for two days and then tried to go to Granada for a day, but the bus that morning just didn't show up...we stood in the rain at 6am and watched what seemed to be some type of undercover drug deal or other such crime happen across the street...we're not really sure, but two vans with painted over windows showed up at the exact same as two people on a motorcycle for a total of 30 seconds, and then everyone left at once...oh well. We missed our train to Granada because of the bus, so we waited another hour or so and finally got to the train station. We got on the next train back to Madrid and explored the city a bit. The next day, our friends Grace and Tierney met up with us and we went out and relaxed in a huge, over-sized park/garden. After two days, we left for Barcelona, but that was by far the sketchiest city we had been in. Chris almost got pick-pocketed and a man literally barked at Grace...that was interesting. We were very glad to leave Barcelona...

Our last stop was Cinque Terre, Italy. Oh it was amazing and gorgeous!! The weather was perfect in the 70's, and the beaches were so beautiful. Our "hostel" that we thought we booked turned out to be our own mini apartment with two rooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen! Chris cooked us girls dinner that night and the next day we went to the beach, ate gelato, went to Mass, and then ate out for Grace's 20th birthday. It was a glorious 10-day break, but we got back to school at 7:15am on Monday morning, with classes starting at 8:40am....

I didn't sleep except on the train, so immediately after getting into school from the train station, I took a shower which just so happened to be ICE COLD. I was so incredibly disappointed, considering I had just walked 45 min from the train station in 30 degree weather and couldn't sleep...it turns out no one had hot water, so that made it a little better :). Only 5 hours later, my parents and Pete and Teri arrived on a bus outside the window of my German class, and thus began Parent's Week!! It was so much fun and I loved seeing them and spending time with them. Classes were crazy during this time and we got lectured by every single teacher about how we're the worst class that any of them can remember (remember we had just taken midterms). The good news is that I got A's on all of mine, but I didn't know that until after the parents left. I think the teachers spared most of us the punishment we might have received by not revealing our grades until the parentals were gone...

On the weekend, we met the parents in Salzburg and Vienna. It was great staying in a hotel and having meals paid for by either the university or my parents :D. As the students were leaving on the bus, waving goodbye to the parents, I realized I left my winter coat in my parents' hotel room! My dad had to run back to the hotel (yes, run) and run it back to the bus. Let's just say that our German bus drivers and the students weren't exactly excited over having to wait another 5 minutes haha. Probably because one week with the parents was enough and we were sooo close to leaving....haha just kidding! When my parents left and I returned to school, classes were crazy again and I had a test, two quizzes, and a skit. It felt like I hadn't had a rest since 10-day! Well, that's because I didn't...

And then that next weekend, we went to Poland!

Medjugorje

This weekend, I traveled to Medjugorje in Bosnia. We left on Thursday evening at 6pm and rode on a bus for 14 hrs, getting to Medjugorje at 8am Friday morning.

For those that don't know, Mary the Mother of God has been appearing to 6 people in Medjugorje for over 25 years. The first time was on June 24, 1981. She has been giving messages to them ever since and it has become a place of pilgrimage for millions. Of course, the Church can make no official saying on the apparitions since they are still going on. Once they end, the Church can investigate their credibility. However, Pope John Paul II said, "If I weren't pope, I would be in Medjugorje already!" and "Medjugorje is a great center of spirituality."

I couldn't agree with him more.

I wasn't sure what I wanted out of this weekend. Friday morning around 6, I woke up and watched the sunrise as we approached Medjugorje. I started to reflect on why I was even going on this pilgrimage. What reasons did I have for believing that Our Lady was appearing to Bosnian kids (who are now adults) and that people see the sun spin? If anything, I most likely would not even be one of the people who get to see the sun spin.

When we arrived at our hotel, I could immediately feel something different. Medjugorje is by far the most reverent, holy place that I have ever been in. The silence was beautiful, and though there were many people and busy shops, I haven't met nicer people in Europe. Everyone was a stranger but all were respectful, not just of each other but of the city itself. It's almost indescribable. It felt like everyone was in a constant state of prayer, and most people were. Most of us students have talked about it and we all felt as if we were walking around in a sort of stupor where we were just overcome by the holiness of this place.

On Friday, we drove to Croatia and heard Fr. Jozo Zovko speak on Medjugorje. He was the priest of the main parish in Medjugorje when the apparitions began. This was still during communist rule, so they imprisoned Fr. Jozo and tortured him until he said that the children were lying and that the apparitions weren't true. However, he had never found anything wrong and in fact believed them himself, so he suffered torture every day for 18 months. Psychiatrists and doctors were brought in to test the kids, and they were told to say that the kids were insane or lying. Not one of the doctors ever found anything wrong. Fr. Jozo gave a great talk about the conversions of our hearts and those of the world, calling us to be open to Our Lady's message in our own lives and to witness to family and friends. After his talk, we drove back to Medjugorje and saw a statue of the Risen Christ, shown above. The amazing thing about it is that human tears miraculously run from the knee. This I can actually attest to because I saw it and felt it. I rubbed my hand in it. It was amazing to just see it come out of nowhere.

The next morning, we hiked up Appartion Hill, the hill where Mary appears to them. We prayed a rosary on the way up, offering it for the conversions of our families, and when we got to the apparition site, I looked up at a crucifix with the sun shining behind it and thought about how awesome it would be to see the sun spin. I didn't see it spin of course, and after spending time in prayer we all went back down the mountain for Mass, which was also offered for the conversions of our families. When Mass ended, we ate lunch and met the buses again to go to a castle. It was built by a couple who had a MAJOR conversion because of Our Lady's messages in Medjugorje, and they have a beautiful chapel and statue of Mary holding Jesus after they took him down from the cross. The guy told us his conversion story and afterwards we hiked up Cross Mountain. This is a mountain about three times higher than Apparition Hill with the Stations of the Cross going up. At the top there is a 20 ft. white cross made out of cement that the villagers built. Inside is a piece of the actual cross of Jesus!

When we got to the top, we spent some time in prayer. I was getting ready to go back down the mountain with my sisters, but I wanted to take one last picture. It had turned overcast and windy on our way up, but the sun had just come out again. As I looked up to get a picture of the cross with the sun behind it, I just started staring at the sun. I could just look at it. I tried to call my sisters and ask if they could stare at the sun too, but they were far away. I just kept looking and ran up the rocks closer to the cross again. Finally the clouds covered it again and I never got my picture, but I almost started laughing at the power, awesomeness, and humor of God. I saw the sun spin in Medjugorje, but not until I had already been overcome with everything else I had learned. I had a great spiritual conversion and have grown so much closer to Christ that seeing the sun spin actually did not matter that much. That's why I wanted to laugh. I realized that Medjugorje is not about the miracles, but rather our own individual conversion towards a greater love for Christ.



I GIVE YOU THE WEAPON AGAINST YOUR GOLIATH. HERE ARE YOUR LITTLE STONES:

1. Pray the Rosary
2. Eucharist
3. Holy Bible
4. Fasting
5. Monthly confession

Accomplishments

My current accomplishments in the last 3 1/2 weeks:

- Made it to Austria!
- Hiked to a ruined castle in the Danube River Valley
- Bought a cell phone and actually got money on it
- Read 3 chapters of The Selfhood of the Human Person, and actually understood it
- Made music ministry
- Have gone to Mass almost every day
- Got an A on my first German test
- Successfully received money from my account
- Hiked two mountains (and didn't die)
- Said "My name is Emma" in German, to an Austrian named Herrman
Herrman: " **something indistinguishable in German** "
Me: "My name is Emma."
Herrman: "Herrman."
Me: "No, Emma."
Herrman: "Ja, Herrman!"
Me: "Emma!"
- Got lost in Vienna and still made it back to the buses in time
- Maneuvered Salzburg and Munich much more successfully than Vienna
- Played guitar with Fr. Brad
- Slipped down the hill behind the Kartause and cut my leg
- Ran on railroad tracks
- Figured out Skype
- Correctly translated Prof. Cassidy's Scottish accent into normal english
- Learned 5 new guitar songs in the last week
- Drew a picture of the Kartause for Art Appreciation
- Read an encyclical on Christian marriage
- GOT MISTAKEN FOR EUROPEANS IN SALZBURG

I'm leaving for Medjugorje in 27 minutes!

Salzburg & Munich

Last weekend, we traveled to Salzburg, Austria, and Munich, Germany. We left Friday morning at 8:00am and arrived at our hostel in Salzburg around 11. We took a tour of the city for a couple hours and then ate lunch at the Sternbrau, a cute restaurant that had indoor and outdoor seating. After lunch, we had free time for the rest of the night, so we just walked around the city, looked in the little shops and ate ice cream :). Around 6 or so, we started to make our way to the Augustiner for dinner, "the happenin' place" according to Fr. Brad. It was outside of the actual city, so we took pictures on our way with Salzburg as the background (shown here).

The Augustiner used to be an old monastery (started by St. Augustine I'm assuming), and apparently they brewed beer. Therefore, the Augustiner is still known for it's beer, and there's a whole traditional process that you go through to get it. You have to get a ticket after you choose either .5L or 1L, get your mug, go to the fountain and wash it out, then take it to a guy who checks your ticket and fills it with awesome tasting beer! The best part is that this place is huge, and there are food windows everywhere. You can get almost anything you want, from burgers and pizza, to fish and ribs. The seating is outside, but it is still within the monastery. It's more of a courtyard I guess. We were there for a couple hours, then we headed towards this castle that sits above Salzburg.

We were told that you could hike up there to the castle, so that's what we tried to do...Unfortunately, we got up there but the doors to get closer up to the castle were closed. Instead we just looked out over all of Salzburg at night, enjoying the scenery, quietness, and beauty. Some churches and buildings were lit up from lights on the ground and it was absolutely amazing. The weather was perfect too, and it was a great ending to a great day! We got back to the hostel after stopping by some fountains and cafes, and hung out a little bit, prayed together, then went to sleep.

The next morning, Saturday, the buses left at 9 for Munich, Germany. Munich is definitely bigger than Salzburg, but still great. We had Mass in the cathedral that Pope Benedict XVI used to hold Mass at when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. It's not considered one of the most beautiful cathedrals though because it was apparently destroyed in World War II. However, I still thought it was pretty, there just weren't as many pieces of artwork and decorations. For lunch, we went to the Hofbrauhaus, Munich's equivalent of the Augustiner. This place was known also for it's beer, but unfortunately you couldn't get anything but 1L size, unless you wanted a weiss bier. To solve my problem, I just got the 1L Hofbrau Original anyways and didn't drink it all :). I figured if it was going to my only time in Munich at the Hofbrauhaus which is known for beer, I should get their original. For food we had brotwurst and pretzels mmmmm. Afterwards, we got more ice cream and had hot chocolate at a small coffee shop. My friend Chris and I were on the hunt for aviator sunglasses all day and never found any until evening right before dinner. We both bought a pair, then went to McDonald's for dinner haha. Everyone was craving cheeseburgers, and apparently so was the rest of our school. Inside, we found at least 20 other Franciscan students, and even Fr. Brad! We ate with him then got back on the buses to return to Salzburg.

When we got back to our hostel, it was only about 8:00pm, so we left again and went to a little stand and bought more brotwurst and water. The next morning, we had Mass with the Bishop. Apparently, it was a really big deal because it seemed that the whole city was going to this Mass. They had an actual orchestra playing the music and everything was in German (obviously). Some people didn't even seem to be there for the Mass, but rather for the music. We had a couple hours free time after Mass, so we got hot chocolate and coffee again before leaving.

Salzburg is by far the most beautiful city I've ever been in, and so far it is my favorite place in Austria. I'm really excited for parent's weekend when we get to go back!

Hiking in Gaming

Sunday afternoon, my friend Danny decided he wanted to go on a hike up one of the mountains in Gaming. I didn't really want to read for school and I had time to waste, so I went with him. We were hoping for a nice, quiet (preferably grassy) area at the top of the mountain where we could do our homework and hang out.

After packing our backpacks with water, food, and homework, we started hiking up the mountain directly behind the Kartause. It was absolutely beautiful, especially when we looked over all of Gaming.

As we started hiking, we were slightly confused by the German signs along the trail. We're pretty sure that they were telling us how many meters we had gone up the trail...or maybe it was how much left we had to go...

Either way, we just kept hiking, enjoyed the cool air under all the trees, and met an old German lady who was hiking back down with her dog and cane. Sadly, we never found our grassy area at the top, and we were forced to go back down the mountain on a trail that split into four different directions. It's a good thing there was another German sign telling us where all the trails went. There happened to be the word "Gaming" and an arrow that pointed in the general direction of one particular trail, so we took that one. Considering we had no idea what side of the mountain we were on, or in what general direction Gaming was, we just followed the trail knowing that it at least led us back down the mountain.

The trail led us (literally) straight into train tracks...and not ALL the way down the mountain. We were basically on the hill right above some anonymous buildings with no clear way to get down to the actual road. Once we finally did get down, we realized that we were on the OPPOSITE of the mountain from the Kartause, and within a few minutes realized we weren't even in Gaming. It was about a ten minute walk until we reached the outskirts and from there we were finally in familiar surroundings!

And the best part is that it was still light outside and we made it back in time for dinner :D.

Vienna

Firstly, here are some pictures from St. Polten, the monastery in Gottweig, and the Danube Valley.

This last weekend, our school traveled to Vienna. It was beautiful! We were blessed with a bright, sunny day, warm weather, and Mass to start the day. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the church we were in, but it Franciscan. Apparently, Franciscan churches are very common in Europe.

After Mass, we started our tour of Vienna, making our way to the restaurant where we ate lunch. They gave us a buffet in the downstairs room that was reserved just for our school. I ordered a Radler to go with my meal because the school pays for our first drink, and I remembered that was the beer Kristin ordered when the other Smits family went to Germany haha. It was pretty good and the meal was awesome! I filled my plate with random meats, pastas, breads, and desserts that I had no idea what they were. Yum :).

The tour continued after lunch, but my group decided we didn't want to go on it. Instead, we walked around Vienna by ourselves and mingled with the Austrians, trying to look the least American possible. We went into a few shops and just relaxed. After a few hours, we went to a small coffee shop called Aida - we were told Viennese coffee is one of the best. It was very good and very relaxing. Then we walked around St. Stephen's Cathedral and looked at the amazing art and sculptures inside.

We ran into a group of guys from Franciscan inside, and they told us they were going to "the summer house" and invited us along. We thought they were referring to a place which we quickly visited earlier, so we agreed to go along. It turns out they meant the summer house of the Hapsburgs, former rulers of Austria, which just so happened to be on the other side of Vienna. Fortunately for the group of guys, they were all wearing tennis shoes. Unfortunately for us, we were mostly girls and wearing sandals or flats. It took at least an hour and a half to get there and by then our feet were killing us. The guys barely even talked to us or waited for us to catch up...long story short, we ended up ditching them and just tried to find our way back to the buses. We got lost in the side streets of Vienna, spending the next hour and a half getting back. The upside? We probably saw most of Vienna that way haha and we had some really good conversations during the long period of time. The downside? Once we found the buses, the group of guys that we originally followed to the summer house was sitting there, relaxing and hanging out, as if they hadn't just walked across Vienna and back. We were only slightly bitter.

But in the end, the trip was amazing! My feet were swollen and I didn't squish my feet back into those shoes for two days, but I figure it's always a good experience getting lost in a country you've never been in and knowing only how to say "hello" and "thank you" in their language.