the Blue Dunajec

The river that is the Polish-Slovak border is a thing of beauty.  we went rafting down it yesterday, and my hat, once again, was awsome.   I had Nicole dunk it in the freezing river for me and then wore it.   It was very refreshing.

Today I will get started on writing my final paper and trying to figure out what to do about Polish class tomorrow.  It's supposed to be a bit of a party/potluck, but idk what i'm makingnor bringing.  I might do the lazy thing and get a bunchbof chips and cookies.   but i'm not sure.

Planning Romania is kind of fun, tho I wasn't very actively brainstormingn because I waa distracted by the shows we were watching.  so far beyond Vlad's Castle (which is apparently overrated), we are looking at phamalogical museums, abandoned buildings, and a few other things.  Which is the kindnof stuff I love to do.  I would rather take the beaten path than no path at all, but off the beaten path is my favorite.

Coming here has changed me in small ways.  I will now be that pretentious asshole that pronounces cities like budapest, warsaw, krakow, and qatar in the way that we're not used to hearing them. Before, I would only really do that with ones I knew, like Edinburgh or Hawai'i.  But honestly, if a culture owns something, they know how to pronounce it.   Even if I do look pretentious, I wasn't raised to get somethingnwrong on purpose if I know better.

There's been a little bit of personal drama, with friends i've known for a couple years now choosing to believe the worst of me and cutting me out of their lives and spreading rumors about me back home.  There's also that I don't want to face the goodbyes here.  And that even though it was supposed to be work and school, here, it really has become like a home away from home.  I can now have casual conversations in Polish.  That's not to say that i'm good at it, but I can do it.  I've come to love Krakow, and all its stone and I will be incredibly sad to say goodbye to it.   Especially since I don't know when or if i'll ever be able to come back.

That isn't to say I won't travel again, I refuse to accept any possibility where I don't see more of the world.  But i'm proud of what i've accomplished here.  I'm proud of what I've learned. It feels right to spend my last weekend here checking off one more country with a friend who likes the same kinda of travelling I do.

And I want to thank my mom and Dad for giving me the world.

Dunajec from the raft

dawn from my window.