January 17th: our first day in Kraków, Poland! Most of the day was spent sleeping and chatting on the very long 5 hour bus drive to our neighboring country of Poland. Even though it was long and we had to wake up super early to get on the road (5am!!) it was nice to see the sunrise coming up over the broad somewhat foggy landscape of the outskirts of Czech Republic and Poland. On the road we made a few stops at local gas stations and the difference in comparison to American gas stations was striking. US gas stations usually tend to be a bit rundown and scarce but these ones here were surprisingly comfortable; they even had nice little cafes at which you could order fresh coffee and food items like grilled cheese, chicken strips, and soup. It was a big surprise seeing how much something as simple as a gas station could differ so much between countries.
Our first official adventure in Krakow was the salt mines in the town of Wieliczka. After what was said to be around 300 steps down into the ground, we arrived at the first level of the mines given the name “The Bono” at 64m (210ft) deep. Our wonderful guide gave us a little intro about the mines and what we could expect, even throwing in an exciting tidbit that we may be visited by the mines’ infamous ghost. Most of our group (the brave ones at least) placed our hands in the ghost’s hand imprint in one of the walls to open ourselves to its presence; unfortunately, the ghost’s past and demeanor was not shared with us so we all kind of went in blindly trusting. At each level and chamber, getting deeper and deeper into the salt, our guide shared a story associated with a display. The stories ranged from legends connected to the mines to general information about how the miners worked there and the people largely associated with the workings of the mines. Nearly everything was made out of salt and quite a few of us took to tasting the variety of salts available to us on the walls, some individuals choosing to go straight in and lick the walls. Despite the oddity of doing so, it was honestly encouraged and was an experience to say the least. One of the most memorable of the sights was definitely the cathedral at the largest depth of the mines. It contained statues made of salt (of course) commemorating important religious figures and several beautiful chandeliers (also incredibly made out of salt!). After seeing all the important sights, we were given the luxury of being served lunch in the salt mine restaurant . . . 130m (426ft) below the surface!! It was such an incredible opportunity to have been given the chance to eat lunch so far under ground, something I definitely never expected to do but am proud to be able to say I have done, sentiment I’m sure is shared by most of our lovely group as well
PLU/PSY387 Transitions & Trauma 