Went for a trip...

...across the border to Poland. I'm in Krakow (or Krakov as it's pronounced here and in Ukraine) right now to get some visa stuff taken care of. Poland is a great country for sightseeing. My first impressions of it were dark and foggy. But now that it's later in the day, things have cleared up considerably. For those Americans who want to travel to Europe but want to be somewhere familiar, Krakow is great. I had a quesadilla from KFC for lunch in the biggest mall I've ever been to. Lots of people speak English too. If it weren't for the language, I'd think I'm in Anytown, USA. Of course, much of the architecture is old-world style. Trams still run on rails embedded in cobblestone streets. And there is a massive number of French cars everywhere. But for being the second country I've been to on my own, I can say I'm really enjoying it. For now. That all might change tomorrow and Wednesday.
     The visa stuff (which is the purpose of this trip) is a massive pain. Ukraine's rules for visas say that an American can't be in the country for more than 90 days in a 180-day period. By my count, I had three or four days left. But it was time well-spent. So I'm here cooling my heels in a neighboring, friendly country until Ukraine approves my application for a longer stay. They allow long-term stays for religious reasons (like what I'm doing). Missionaries with the various groups serving in Ukraine deal with this sort of thing all the time. But it requires invitations, approvals, and (usually) leaving the country to get it worked out.
     Speaking of leaving the country, that could be a post all to itself. But since I'm on a roll, it gets to grace the electrons of this post. Originally I had planned and been advised to fly into Katowice and then take a shuttle over to Krakow (where the Ukrainian consulate is). But that thought was put out to pasture. Maybe another time. The team that is helping me has more experience in this than I do. I deffered to their judgement and, so far, it's worked out well. Other than the bus ride, that is.
     I was expecting (HA! that'll teach me) a ride like the one I had in August to and from camp. Nope. I could have done without the SEVENTEEN hours on a bus in a cramped seat. I could have used more than the two or three hours of sleep I barely got. And I definitely could have done without the Ukrainian border guard choosing me out of everyone to take off the bus.
     I knew something was up when he looked at my passport and decided to start questioning the woman who had been sitting next to me for the previous nine hours. They had a little back and forth (of which I only understood конечно) before he finally moved on to get the remaining passenger's passports. On his way back to the front of the bus, he tapped my shoulder and motioned for me to follow. At this point, I started doing two things; asking what he could possibly want and praying. "God, please make this work out with no problems."
     He asked me a question something like this while we walked inside, "понимаете русский (you understand Russian)?"
     I immediately replied with "нет (no)," but amended that to "немного (a little)." That's mostly accurate. I do speak a little Russian but my comprehension of spoken Russian is very low. He had me stand in an office waiting (I presume) for a translator but one never came. I stood there for about 10 minutes contemplating the walls, printers, desks, and the quite conspicuous holding-cells not two meters from where he parked me. Another border guard sitting at the desk inside tried asking me another question but I didn't recognize until later what she had asked.
     The whole time, I wasn't really scared, just a little nervous. I probably should have been scared. I think I was just too tired to be scared.
     By comparison, the Polish border guards were friendly and welcoming. The said "good morning" to the people while they collected passports. This time, probably fifteen people had to get off the bus to go and talk with the guards inside. But no one was detained and we were on our way about an hour after getting to the border. The rest of the ride was uneventful but extremely boring. I managed to get some sleep. It didn't really do anything though. We stopped off at a rest stop for a few minutes. That's where I took these two pictures.

     Finally, after seventeen hours on the road, we made it to Krakow. I later realized it was only an hour behind schedule. But since my phone was still on Ukraine time, I thought it was two hours late. The rest of the day was very good.
     I dropped one of my bags at my hotel and went for some lunch. There is a huge (three floors) mall a block away from my hotel. They have a respectable foodcourt with three American choices (McDonald's, Subway, and KFC). There was even a Starbucks. Like I said earlier, if it wasn't for the different languages most people were speaking, I could have imagined this as being in any state of the USA. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of people in Krakow are Americaphiles. The mall had it's own English bookstore.

     After a surprisingly tasty lunch (chicken quesadilla with BBQ sauce and fries on the side), I went for a loop of some of the other floors. Half-way though the second floor, I got distracted by the view out one of the doors and went to investigate. This was my best choice of the day. Outside, I got to see something I've never seen in America. Old-world architecture. Massive churches, city walls, Renaissance-era facades, and central squares large enough to hold military drills. I'll put the rest of the good pictures in the Ukraine pics folder. There are just too many to put here. Plus I'll be taking more over the next two or three days. The whole time I was out in the old city, I kept thinking this would be better if I could share it with someone. By that I mean having someone with me. It's great seeing all these sights but talking to someone about it would make it much more fun.

     I was actually an hour early for my check-in but the lady behind the counter, Klaudia, was very accommodating. I'll spare you the picture of the bathroom (quite nice actually) but the interesting part is the room itself. I could actually take a portrait picture and give a better sense of it's size that with a landscape picture. I'd call it cozy. But the bed on the left is very comfortable and I look forward to trying it out after trying out the shower.

     Well, that's all for now. I hear that Pastor Max is back in the US. Don't let him tell any crazy stories about me. :) And please pray that this visa process goes smoothly. I don't like dealing with bureaucracy so I'm hoping and praying that I won't get frustrated by all of it. I have the forms mostly completed. So all I need to do is get a good breakfast (free with the room!) tomorrow and be at the consulate before they open to get a good place in line. I'll let you know how it goes.
     Have a good week.