Lviv, Ukraine with the almighty Smigiel and some great friends.

Also, my last day in Warsaw, Poland.

My last Polish lesson, my last meeting with some friends, my last Rotary meeting, and my last Coffee Heaven.

With two Rotarians, Prudence, and Brittany, I went to some northern cities of Poland for a quick four day trip. They were Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot, (those last three known as the "tri-cities,") Jurata, Hel, and a few other obscure towns. Hel is the city Bush was in a while ago to talk about the missiles he's going to put in Poland.

For the 2004-2005 school year in my city there was an exchange student by the name of Sońa. She was/is from Slovakia and over the year we became friends. Two years later I went to Poland on exchange (as you know) and ten months later (one week ago) I went to Slovakia for a week to see this dear friend of mine. I introduce to you... Sońa Golejova and my adventures in Slovakia!

I went for four days with my host parents to the sourthern city of Zakopane (pronounced Zah-koh-pah-neh) which is known for its traditional Polish clothing, food, and especially, the Tatry mountains. I climbed two mountains during this trip!

Brittany, Prudence, and I went to the zoo where I saw some animals I never had before!

My host brother Jędrek likes to compete in sailing competitions so I went with him and my host dad to a northern city of Poland so Jędrek could sail. It was for a weekend and one of the days my host dad (Artur) took me around a bunch of other nearby cities. We stopped by a few on the way home too.

First there are some pretty photos of Britt that I took for her photogenic competition and other random things.

My last Rotary conference. It took place in a city called Mielno and we also visited Kołobrzeg.

Remember Kara from Budapest, Hungary? She came to Warsaw for a week! These are photos from her visit and also my last host family's house (the Jałosińskis.)

More shots of Warsaw and general daily life.

CJ's going away party and other daily life pics.

The Varsovians decided to visit the great city of Lublin for CJ's one last trip in Poland before returning to Bermuda. The Lublinites (exchange students in Lublin) were very welcoming.

Straight from Kraków we made our way to Budapest, Hungary. We stayed the 18th-21st.

From April 15-17 I was in Krakow, Poland's former capital and commonly said to be the most beautiful city in the country. It's one of the only cities that wasn't completely destroyed in WWII.
We also visited nearby Wieliczka but I have no photos of it because you had to pay to take pictures. It's Poland's salt mine, because mining is still popular here. It was really neat to go underground and see all of the interworking of the mines.
We also visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, the most known concentration camps in Poland.

Easter in Poland.

My host sister and I went to a small Easter festival near old town and then with her friend, walked around the city taking photos.

Life on the streets of Warsaw.

Covering a few days, this album's got my adventures in baking cookies for Rotary, my mud mask with Bogna, the local market, and a glimpse of the Free Belarus concert. Enjoy.

On top of the Palace of Culture and Science and also some photos of Bogna's workroom.

The Wrocław kids came back to Warsaw, but this time no Jack. There is a new girl in Wrocław, but she couldn't come. While they were here, we visited Warsaw's Uprising Museum. During WWII, Warsaw was occupied by the Germans for five years. They kept all of the Jews in a tiny ghetto closed in by a wall in a part of Warsaw, occasionally transfering large numbers of them to concentration camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka. Towards the end of the occupation, the remaining Jews and many Poles rose up together to fight despite the German's advanced military equipment. They did not defeat the nazis, but their courage and strength was praised. It's now preserved in this museum. (And every Pole's memory.)

CJ, Brittany, Prudence and I had a movie night! We watched Pulp Fiction, Garden State, Rent, some strange old Australian film, and half of Saw II. The photos towards the end are of my temporary host family's apartment. I'm living with my host counselor and his wife. His wife is an artist, hence all of the artwork.

Rome, Italy

Bowling and then a stroll around the Saxon Gardens.

CJ's birthday was on the 21st, so we celebrated by going ice skating! I have only gone a couple times in my life before so I was learning. It was SO much fun! Though I think my bum is probably black and blue.. a new addition to my photos is the new exchange student from Australia, Prudence! We like her very much and it's nice to have her joining our humble gang. (Is that an oxymoron?)

"It's the first day of the rest of your life."
Jacquie's last day in Warsaw.

We all went to Jeff's Restaurant and ate good American beefsteak and french fries. Then we relaxed at the Monsoon Cafe.

Before opening this album, please note that these are all photos of my friends and I being silly and has little cultural interest. The Warszawians went to visit the Wrocławians from the 1st (immediantly after New Years) to the 4th because we just can't stay apart for long. Jack flew home to Australia on the 5th, thus why there are so many photos of him. We were all spending as much time with him as we could.

New Years party at Hieu's house. In Poland they call New Year "Sylwester" because it's the Name Day for Sylwester.

The rotary kids from Wrocław came to visit and we had three days of pure socializing and enjoyment. They are Laurence from Canada, Rei Yu from Taiwan, and Jack from Australia.

Here are some photos from school, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the second day of Christmas

The Rotary Christmas conference in Wrocław.

The Rotary Club invited us to their Christmas Party which was in a barn somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. It was cold, but quite interesting. A couple days later my friends and I went on the roof of Blue City, (a mall.)

First I had Thanksgiving with Brit's family, and then a little later I had it with my family. Sorry for there being so few pictures.

Roteract had a party and invited the exchange students from Warsaw to come, since it was being held here. We got to meet Rotaract members from all over Poland. The theme was "Cuban."

Thanksgiving with Brittany's family, the exchange students, and a few of Brittany's friends from school. It was one of the best thanksgivings of my life. The three Americans did all of the cooking for everyone else. Then we all sat down, feasted, talked, listened to Spencer on piano or samba on the stereo and had a very nice evening enjoying each other's company.

First are photos from around the city, nothing really special, just me messing around. Then are photos from the performance Brittany was in at her school. (She goes to an art school.) And last are of Brittany, CJ, and I at my apartment.

Same castle as before, but Brittany hadn't seen it so I went again with her.

So on November 12, I turned 18 years old. Here is the party I had.

Just hangin' out.

My friend Beata's party.

On All Saints Day, Poles go to cemeteries in all cities to visit past loved ones. They leave flowers and candles on the graves, and say a few prayers. My family and I only went to one cemetery, but to the biggest and most beautiful in Warsaw. (Powąski Cemetery. Look at past albums to see more of it.) We visited my host grandparents' graves, first in the morning and then again at night.

Brittany's family took us to a nice little town in the country called Kazimierz Dolny.

These are not all Prague. On the trip there we stopped at many different places. I don't know the names of them right now, but I will update later with all of the information and comments on certain pics as well. For now, here are just the photos.

Powąski Cemetery is the oldest cemetary in Warsaw; the only one not destroyed by the Nazis. It has many famous Poles and is full to its ultimate capacity.

I like Brittany. My friends and I like fountains. My family and I went to clean up our grandfather's grave. It looks lovely now. We will be visiting him again on November 1, All Saints Day.

Protest on Nowy Swiat. (The polish aren't happy with their gov't.) They were chanting things like, "Polska wolny! Polska wolny!" (Free Poland! Free Poland!) and others that I didn't know the meanings. Here's also hanging out at Łazienki Park and the Stare Miasto (Old Town) with Jacquie (ES from Australia) and Brittany (ES from USA, WI).
Go here please!: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5416508.stm

Like the title says..

This is the Royal Castle. It's where a king lived in the 18th century named Zygmunt III Waza. He was the one who moved the capital from Kraków to Warsaw. The photos are all blurry because you're not allowed to use flash.

Just a normal day in stare miasto.

At a town called Biskupin where a festival was held. It was supposed to be a recreation of roman times. It's basically a renaissance festival only a different time period.

First Rotary meeting.

My family's summer house in the woods. Poles really love picking mushrooms.

I went bowling with some friends. It was quite an international group; one guy from Brazil, one from Turkey, one from Vietnam, and me from USA. The rest were from Poland. But they're all citizens of Poland except me and Rafael (Brazilian).

This is one of my favorite places in Warsaw. Łazienki Park is so beautiful.

Warszawa

My father flies airplanes as a hobby.

Poland loves Brazil and flowers.

Uniwersytet Warszawskie biblioteka. On the roof.

A club Agnieszka took Brittany (exchange student from WI, USA) and I to.

Skoła