And now I'm in Prague. Yesterday I went to Auschwitz. I took the overnight train from Budapest to Krakow, then transfered trains and went to Oswiecim. I was going to spend a little bit of time in Krakow, because the train was getting in at 6 something and I figured I didn't need all day for Auschwitz, but I got barely any sleep on the train the night before, so I was very tired and didn'tp feel like dealing with all the checking my luggage and figuring stuff out crap in Krakow, so I just got on the train to Oswiecim. And fell asleep. A nice lady woke me up before we got to Oswiecim, though, which was very sweet. I tried to communicate with the people at the train station and it was very difficult and they were extremely rude to me. So, I checked my luggage and then started walking. I figured that there would be signs for Auschwitz everywhere...but there weren't. So I walked and walked and walked. It worked out well, because I ended up seeing the village of Oswiecim itself, which was interesting for several reasons. I was thinking about it on the train and I was thinking, what will the village be like? What will the people be like? Is the site of Auschwitz some kind of profitable tourist industry and how is the town affected by it? Who lives there? Why would you live there? What is the effect of the camp on the town and is it reflected in the daily living styles? What about the collective memory of the town? So, with these things in mind I walked. It is a very green town, set on a river, with several small parks and whatnot. Bike paths. Children playing. Nice gardens. Churches. The only thing in the village that was different was the Jewish cultural center, but that is prevalent in most of the eastern european towns, so if you didn't realize that this was where Auschwitz was, it wouldn't seem out of the ordinary either. There was a town square and some wild dogs running about. And still throughout all of this, there were no signs for the camp. So, I stopped at a bookstore and got a map and it was actually on the other side of the train station from where I had been walking. Then I saw that there was a Auschwitz museum, so I thought I would wander there first and build up to the site itself. I wandered about trying to find it and then went in the wrong entrance. I found an open building and went in and of course I wandered straight into the remains of a crematorium. The thing they save for the end of the tour because it is the most horrific. There was a sign that said, please maintain silence, thousands of people were killed here. Of course, that just started me crying right off the bat. Then, I found the actual entrance to the museum and got a joined and english tour. I guess the rest of the experience and tour and everything can be described as simply unreal. I mean you're standing in this historic place, places actually, and you can mentally know that all these horrific things happened, but to actually realize this is very difficult. It is difficult to conceptualize the sadness and, well, everything that happened there. There were rooms upon rooms of shoes and suitcases and hair. That was one that really got me. They had loads upon loads of hair. Apparently, the Germans used the hair that was shaved off of peoples' bodies to make textiles. So there were just piles of human hair. It was so disturbing. So many thoughts...so much to say. There are people waiting for the internet though and I shouldn't be wasting this beautiful day. But the rest of the non-emotional side of the visit was just pissy. After I left the museum, I got a bite to eat, then played on the internet, then waited for a bus to the station, because my feet were killing me. The bus never came. I walked to the station, asked to buy a ticket to Prague, the lady was really rude with me, then I asked her if she took credit card and she snorted at me. So I walked and got money, then to the grocery store and got provisions for the 6 hour wait I had ahead of me. I wasn't about to go back into the town of Oswiecim, because there is simply nothing there and I knew I could either sit there or at the train station. So...I sat in the train station for 6 hours or so, reading, writing, drinking caffeinated beverages because I had gotten no sleep, sewing, and futzing around in general. Of course, I had to pee at this point. I went to use the (paid) bathroom and it was closed so I asked the cashier lady for the bathroom and she looked at me like I had asked her to give me the moon and said, uh, huhhuh, no. I was so angry I almost pulled the waste basket over in front of her booth and peed in front of her, but I held back. Then I peed in a bush. Then the mosquitos descended. It was just not a fun time in general is my whole point. And then I was in a car with 5 and then 4 other people for the night train, so sleeping was not fun.

I arrived this morning in Prague, checked my stuff, got coffee (3 actually), and found a hostel. They let me shower even though I couldn't check in till 1, which was fantastic. It was truly a beautiful showering experience. The layer of grime is mostly gone now. Mostly. Then I walked to the botanical gardens and took a nap, which was also lovely. I walked to a couple of parks and read and ate some food. I'm still very tired. I really don't feel like doing anything today, but I think I will take the public transportation (which will be a trip, cause I haven't been doing any public transportation, except with Emrah in Vienna, so we'll see what happens. Ok, I really need to end this. Perhaps more later.