When the American Girl goes to the Dacha.

First, what is a Dacha? The word “дача” translated into English means “summer house”.  While it is true that Russians often visit their dachas in the summertime, I find the English translation is misleading.  Dachas are generally small houses in the countryside on a small plot of land where Russians grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and sometimes keep small animals. However, my friend Polina has a very unique dacha.  Some might even call it a dacha village since there are a about 5 houses. 

I arrived to the dacha around midnight Friday night but the white nights made it feel like it was only 7 or 8pm.  Once we arrived we set out stuff down in the main house and immediately were told to go to the bonfire.  Friday was summer solstice and in Russia there are quite a few traditions that must be done.  First, jumping over the fire.  While a couple people played the drums everyone took turns jumping over the fire.  I sat this one out since I had no confidence I could actually jump high enough and make it out alive.  Second, girls make верноки which are flower weaths you wear on your head.  After silently making a wish each girl is to place her wreath and a small candle in the river.  Then (still in silence) you watch the wreaths float down the river (or sink). The last wreath that sinks the closest to where they were originally placed is the first girl to get married.  So, if your wreath floats the farthest away you are the last to get married. 

Most dachas also have a banya.  Бани are kind of like saunas but a dry heat.  There are different levels benches are placed at and the higher up you go the hotter it gets.  You stay in the banya for as long as you can take then rinse off with cold water before going back in.  Also, for who knows what reason you hit yourself with dried birch branches.  The banya is loved by most all Russians and is a common practice when celebrating something.  According to the Russians I “banya-ed” well for an American. 

The next started off with blini (similar to crepes) and tea.  It may be over 30 degrees C but you can never have enough tea. The blini were also very good since the ingredients were all very fresh.  After some breakfast we headed out for a swim.  The widest part of the river was a little farther than where we went the night before so we drove instead of walking.  I have no idea how Russians drive their day-to-day cars on these country roads but they did.  Swimming in the river was so refreshing and I probably could have stayed in the water all day (if nothing else to avoid the mosquitoes).  I ended up going swimming twice that day and I think all the Russians were surprised how long I could stay in the water.

After some tanning, resting and pizza eating it was time to go “fishing”.  I don’t know about you but when someone tells me we are going fishing I picture hold a pole and waiting for a fish to bite.  WRONG.  Dacha fishing means guys holding nets held between two poles and everyone else running downstream towards the nets whacking the water with wooden poles.  If this is also a new concept to you, the idea is to scare/wake up the fish and lead them into the nets.  We caught one big fish and the rest they identified as мелочь (the Russian word for coins/change) aka tiny, useless fish.  After hours of fishing and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes I was exhausted. 

Despite my exhaustion the night was just beginning.  Polina’s birthday was Sunday so Saturday was the birthday feast and party.  Earlier in the day we cut up vegetable, potatoes and meat.  Then we cooked all the ingredients on a grill covered in cabbage leaves.  The dinner consisted of about 6 different Russian salads, the meat vegetable combo, wine, and 30 hungry teenagers.  It didn’t take long for all the food to disappear.  After the feast we took turns sweating in the banya.  While we sweated Polina’s mother and babushka cut and set out all the pirogi (Russian pie) they spent all day preparing.  There were two kinds of pie; творог (a special Russian sweet cheese) and berry.  Both were delicious.  At around 3 or 4 in the morning (I have a hard time keeping track of time in the summer nights here) I could no longer stand I was so tired.  All the Russians kept telling me I had to stay awake in order to go swimming but I insisted they at least let me take a quick nap.  Lets just say my nap turned into sleep since I didn’t wake up until about 9 only to find people were still awake from the previous night.  Some of us just need our sleep what can I say. 

Nothing all to exciting happened on Sunday, mostly sleeping and relaxing.  Myself and another girl were the last to leave so we enjoyed teatime with Polina and her family in the evening before taking a walk to the old church.  The abandoned church was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in Russia.  All the green surrounding the church made the red brick look like wet clay in the light.  I’m afraid my pictures don’t quite do it justice.  Our ride (Polina’s aunt and uncle) picked us up from the church since we were cutting it close to making it back to Piter before the metro closed.  I was sure I wasn’t going to make the metro since it took us around 3 hours to get there on Friday and it was was already 10:30.  Going 120 mph and almost throwing up in the nicest car I have ever been in I made it back before the metro closed (I have no idea how).

My first experience at a dacha was a great one but I must admit I was exhausted! Not to mention I came home with more bug bites than I think anyone has ever seen.  

Polska

I have done a lot of traveling compared to some people but until now I had never traveled completely alone.  It’s a frightening concept traveling alone to a country where you don’t speak the language, don’t know the culture, don’t have a working phone, don’t know the people, but perhaps that is what makes it all the more exciting.  I have always been interested in studying the Holocaust and thus began my trip to Poland. 

At 21:40 I took my seat on an overnight bus to Riga (Latvia).  After arriving a little after 06:30 I waited for my next bus in the bus terminal.  The next bus came and after about four hours I was in Lithuania.  Myself and two guys about my age were left dropped off at a bus stop in the middle of a parking lot and told our next bus would pick us up from there.  Confused by my surroundings I asked where the two other guys were going just to make sure I was at the right place.  Luckily, they were on my same bus but going to Berlin.  Abandoned in this parking lot together we soon became friends.  They were from Estonia and were about to embark on a month long trip around Europe playing street music.  When I asked why they were doing this Mikael said he had just finished his military requirement a week ago and wanted freedom.  Kasper said he didn’t really understand the thrill of traveling and wanted to see if this trip would change his mind.  They played me some Estonian songs and I helped them with the song Hey Jude (since according to them you have to play if you want to make any money).  They were two of the nicest people I have ever met and even gave me the contact information for a girl who lived in Warsaw that I could stay with or contact if I had any trouble.  I also gave them a quarter which was their first "profit" and said they would keep it forever.  My three hours stuck in a parking lot ended up one of the highlights on my trip.

After a long bus ride through the polish countryside I arrived in Warsaw.  The darkness of the night, which I had forgotten about living in Saint Petersburg, scared me a little since I didn’t know the city.  Not only that but all the sky scrappers made me a feel small and disoriented.  I put on my brave face and took out my map and found my hostel.  I couldn’t find the door to the hostel but luckily a woman working at the bar nearby saw I was confused and pointed it out to me.  After checking in I sent a quick message to my mom saying I had arrived and went to sleep.  The next morning I was starving so I found the nearest ATM then bought a traditional polish pastry.  After wandering around a bit I found a park/museum where there were a bunch of old planes from WWI and WWII.  I walked a little further and found the Chopin museum.  Luckily, Tuesdays were free museum days in Warsaw so I got in for free.  The museum was really well done and I would recommend it to anyone who visits Warsaw.  I spend the afternoon in the old town and then proceeded to go to all (or almost all) of the WWII monuments and memorials.  Near old town I went to an outdoor photography exhibit that featured recovered color photographs from the ghettos during the holocaust.  After an exhausting walk (or maybe hike is a better word) I went to a restaurant/café which had pho.  I hadn’t had pho in so long so I was extremely excited.  It was the first time I had ate dinner by myself (without my computer/homework) and was (laugh if you must) a very proud moment.  Proceeding my victory dinner I went and bought my train ticket to Krakow. 

I left for Krakow around 6am (treated myself to Starbucks on the way) on the fast train.  The train ride was so pretty and relaxing (about a 4 hour train ride).  Once in Krakow I took a smaller (2 hour journey) to Oswiecim.  You might be wondering what is in Oswiecim? Oswiecim is the original name of the city that Hitler later changed to Auschwitz.  Maybe an odd dream, but I have always wanted to go to Auschwitz.  After a long journey, there I was standing before the sign “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work will make you free”).  There are two parts to the Auschwitz museum; Auschwitz I, which was the first camp at Auschwitz, and Auschwitz II which was built later when there were too many people to only have Auschwitz I.  I could write pages on my visit to Auschwitz but instead I will focus on three things….

You may have been to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. and seen the shoes from all the people imprisoned who died.  There is a similar exhibit in one of the barracks at Auschwitz I that has houses physical property of the prisoners.  One of these “physical evidences” is a huge glass case (about the size of a large classroom) filled with hair the Nazis cut off before tear-gassing them.  When I saw this all I could think was how they (the Nazis) kept what was already dead and killed what was living.  I was disgusted by this thought and the people who committed the crime. 

Also at Auschwitz I is one of the crematoriums.  While this crematorium is smaller than others built later it was still fairly large.  I walked in to find I was the only one in the dark crematorium.  There is a sign when you first enter that says, “You are entering a space where thousands of people were killed” and asks you to be silent in honor of them.  The sign alone made me cringe but my heart dropped when I turned around and saw the burners that disposed of the already dead bodies.  Even being there I couldn’t imagine people standing there thinking they were getting a shower only to die and then have the evidence be burned away.  I would never wish anything so cruel on anyone.

Auschwitz II is mostly made up of barracks and crematoriums.  Auschwitz II mostly housed women and children who were put to work to die.  When people got off the train at Auschwitz II they were divided into two groups; those fit to work and those who were not.  The ones categorized as unable to work were immediately sent on the  “walk of death” where they went straight to the crematorium.  I walked this path and couldn’t imagine walking on the rocks and bad roads in bad or no shoes, hungry and scared.  At the end of the path are the two closest crematoriums.  They are mostly destroyed since the Nazis tried to destroy the evidence at the end of the war but you could still tell they were over twice the size as the one at Auschwitz I.

After touring both camps I decided it was time to head back to Warsaw.  I made it back to Krakow around 7:30pm but the next train I could get back to Warsaw wasn’t until 11:30pm.  There was a mall next to the train station so I spent quite a few hours there utilizing the wifi.  My train going back to Warsaw broke down and I had a moment of panic since my bus back to Warsaw was early in the morning.  At first I freaked out but in the end realized it was out of my control and just had to stay calm.  I finally arrived back to Warsaw around 4am, went to the hostel and showered, checked out and went to wait for my bus at the bus stop so I wouldn’t fall asleep.  I took the same route back to Saint Petersburg as I did going but slept most of the way due to exhaustion.

Travelling by myself to Poland is something I will never forget.  It was different in so many ways than traveling with friends, family or a program.  It was exciting to meet new people but also very frightening not having anyone to lean on.  I felt like there were moments that had I been with someone I would have felt no sense of fear, but by myself felt like a small fish in a big pond.  While what I did and saw in Poland was incredible, it was the moments of fear and accomplishment that I will remember most from this trip.