I'll just go ahead and apologize now for not posting updates earlier. I lost my login credentials and it has taken me a bit of time to get them back.
Exactly three weeks ago I hopped on a plane from RDU in Raleigh, NC and flew to Heathrow in London. After a few days aboard the MV Explorer docked in Southampton our ship left for St. Petersburg, Russia, where we spent three days before leaving again. Sailing back down the Baltic coastline past Estonia and Latvia, eventually we made our way to Gdansk, Poland. After two days in Gdansk I took a bus to Berlin with friends where we spent a few days enjoying the city before traveling north to a little fishing village near Rostock, Germany called Warnemünde. It has been a long few weeks.
I haven't quite figured out how I want to format these posts, so today I am going to try to just to a quick top-10 list from the past three weeks.
10. My roommate is not lame (woo!)
I had no idea how the rooming situation was going to go because I got a random roommate. I was a little nervous about living with someone I didn't know, but my roommate turned out to be really neat. We share a lot of the same interests and friends, so we spend a lot of time together. We even traveled across Germany together last weekend.
9. Classes are very interesting.
I am taking classes on International Relations, Democracy Around the World, World Architecture, and Public Health. My professors are very knowledgeable and have spent a good deal of time working in their respective fields. All four of my professors are very helpful and I have really enjoyed working with them so far.
8. Foreign Food
On the ship we eat ship food, which won't kill you. Off of the ship I have had the opportunity to try a lot of different local foods and drinks. In Russia I had several traditional meals, and the same was true in Poland. In Berlin I had a different experience because many of our meals were rushed, but we still managed to find interesting meals (Greek, Bavarian, etc).
7. Making New Friends
The first few days on the ship felt like freshman year all over again. Everyone wanted to meet everyone else and make as many new friends as they possibly could. That is still the case, actually-I meet new people every day that I haven't had the chance to interact with before. I made new friends at breakfast today. It is great.
6. St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg
The first port we stopped in was St. Petersburg, Russia. I spent two days in the city seeing the sights, and I have to say that the most beautiful building I saw the entire time was St. Isaac's Cathedral in the center of the city. Sure, the Winter Palace is pretty, sure the Church of Spilt Blood is neat and made me want ice cream, but the truth is that the enormity of St. Isaac's was astounding and it left me filled with awe. Google the building if you get a chance. It is magnificent.
5. Traveling from Berlin to the MV Explorer
My roommate and I had to get back to the ship a day earlier than the folks we were traveling with, so we left Berlin on Monday afternoon headed north through Rostock to Warnemönde. Once we were out of Berlin the country opened up and we were amazed by the beautiful farmland and wooded regions we got to pass through. After spending two days in East Berlin it was a real joy to get to see a more natural aspect of Germany.
4. The Last Night in Germany
On the bus from Berlin we met three other SAS students who were also headed back to the ship. We all made it to the ship and decided to grab dinner in the little town nearby. After dinner we took a walk down the riverfront all the way to the edge of town where we put our feet in the Baltic one last time. I spent some good time there on the white sand, in the dark in reflection as the rest of the group headed back to the ship. There was nothing particularly special about that night, but it was a reminder that simply being the places we are and have been is an experience that will have an impact on us for the rest of our lives.
3. Seeing the Berlin Wall
I'll do a post on a few eye-opening moments a little later, but suffice it to say that putting my hands on the Berlin Wall and seeing how it divided the city was an incredible experience and I learned a lot from it. Just within my lifetime, Berlin has changed drastically and I got a chance to see the city it is now.
2. Visiting Gdansk
After the Second World War, Gdansk, Poland was destroyed. 90% of the infrastructure had been demolished by various air raids and bombing runs. Despite that, the town that it is today is incredible. Full of art, architecture, music, commerce, shipping, and everything else a good city should have, the two days I spent in Gdansk were probably my favorite two days of the trip so far. On our first morning in town I had Polish food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. After a quick stop in a local market we visited St. Mary's Cathedral, a massive brick structure with a long stairway to the top of the bell tower. I could go on and on about Gdansk, and I probably will later, but for now I need to move on.
1. Visiting Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
There aren't really words I can use to adequately describe what happened at Sachsenhausen during WWII, and the truth is that even if I could describe it adequately I wouldn't. I spent most of the day thinking about the world that we live in and human nature. I know that is vague and I am sorry. The truth is that every single person who visits a place like that cannot leave without confronting his or her own image of what the world looks like. I left feeling a mixture of sadness and frustration. The toughest part of the whole experience was remembering that the same crimes are being committed elsewhere on the globe today. Not only that-but knowing that those crimes are and were committed by people. The exact same species of people I belong to. I don't understand how people could do that to one another, but to know and really understand that it is possible is appalling.
So that is a quick recap of my time in Russia, Poland, and Germany. It feels like a year since I first climbed the gangway up to the MV Explorer, and at the same time I know it will be over in a flash. God is good and he has provided me with a really neat chance to see the world and grow at the same time. I am always up for an adventure, and while I may have been apprehensive when I first flew away from home, I can say with confidence that this experience is and will change me forever. I am so thankful for this opportunity, and I can't wait to see what Belgium has in store (besides waffles, naturally).
-Cam
P.S. I promise to do a better job of publishing updates now that I have my posting information figured out.
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