Blogs from Lesser Poland, Poland, Europe - page 73

Everytime you arrive in a new country its a bit challenging to get oriented. Especially when the language resembles Japanese more than English. A's have curly cues on them and actually sometimes I think they forget to add vowels. hmm. Anyways, after a quick nap from my 530 am arrival, I headed out to see the town. I love it here. Like Germany, everyone is beautiful. And surprisingly, for as little English as any one in the train station spoke (0 words), everyone around town is sooo helpful and really fluent. SO great. After a little self guided tour, I sat in the huge town square (largest in Europe) and just drank wine and had some 10 course meal for like $10. Love it. Then I went to the top of the main castle (yes don't ... read more

Well hi there and I hope that you have all had a good a summer as we have had. We are now in POland after having been through Italy,Greece, Italy,Austria,Slovakia,and through the Tatras into Jos hometown. Sciliy was great. Toaromin and the Aolien islands a highlight. From there we went back to the manland and caught the ferry to Greece. We travelled down the coast where we watched turtles hatch on the beach, Visited Olymipia, Ampitheatres and the Acropolis etc in Athens. From there we borded a Ferry and spent the next 10 days on the greek Islands of Santorini,Ios ( Great PArties !! ) ,PAros and Anti PAros. On our return we where relievd to find the car parked in the same place and caught another ferry to Venice. After 2 days we arrived and ... read more

Here, found on the internet is the poem that most closely reflects how I felt after Birkinau Could Have by Wislawa Szymborska; translated by Stanislaw Baranczak & Clare It could have happened. It had to happen. It happened earlier. Later. Nearer. Farther off. It happened, but not to you. You were saved because you were the first. You were saved because you were the last. Alone. With others. On the right. The left. Because it was raining. Because of the shade. Because the day was sunny. You were in luck - there was a forest. You were in luck - there were no trees. You were in luck - a rake, a hook, a beam, a brake, A jamb, a turn, a quarter-inch, an instant . . . So you're here? Still dizzy from another ... read more

Impressions of the Psychodrama Conference: which is the reason we are here. Eva gave her workshop for 50+ people on 'roles not played.' The Conference theme was 'The Garden of Roles'. In keeping with this, Eva led the group in a inner meditation of two personal 'gardens'. One of reality...your present family and professional role..who you are in it. And a garden of possibility..wherein might be treasures, opportunities. She induced a very satisfactory reverie followed by sharing in groups of four. One amazing challenge for an international conference: the languages are German, English, Romanian, Russian, Polish (of course, the host country). If only one language is used, it is English..but in groups where experiental exercises are done, the language groups each have a translator. Eva walked around the large room giving directions in English and German, ... read more

This becomes an inner travel more than I perhaps expected. In Hamburg, Eva taught a group of supervisors of people giving palliative care...they are often disappointed when the meaningful, neat and peaceful end of their patients is not possible. Eva role-played Death..not as an atagonist, but as a natural ending of life...whose nature was misunderstood and resented (at least this what I understood her to have depicted)..the group got sympathetic to Death, at least less rejecting. In Bremman, we visited Annalie, writer, teacher, social activist and health educator, and again the talk was of palliative care. Although I am only symptomatic in a minor way ( some EKG abnormalities on the stress test and more shortness of breath than a year ago) my latest tests show that heart disease is slowed by bypass surgery but not ... read more