"It's cold and rainy and we're standing in the middle of the square in Krakow eating gelato."

I just talked to my mom! And my brother, and my grandmother. We call at 5/11--five their time, eleven my time. I have talked to my family six times in the last month since I have come to Europe, four times in Bologna and twice in Cracovia. I love my family and I miss them, and I am always so happy after I talk to them. It is weird to talk to my family and friends back in Indiana. I love where I am and would not trade the people and the experiences for anything, but it is strange to be separated from everyone and everything, that I am not a part of what is going on. The Cubs and Colts are still winning, Notre Dame is still losing miserably (if that's what you call the utter disaster that has ensued the last three weekends), the Monologues workshops are starting, the Certificate people went on the retreat this weekend, Feminists United and the Women's Resource Center are doing amazing things, and everyone is back at SMC, and I am not a part of it. While on one hand it can be difficult at times, being here is a great thing, because I need this time to be on my own and learn more about myself and where I am supposed to go in the world. And I am having the time of my life doing it!!!

And I still haven't posted pictures. I am ashamed. The time that other people spend taking and uploading pictures I usually spend writing. Probably because I have so much to do and I know that if I put pics up, I will waste at least two more hours (as if I don't waste enough time already). You are probably getting really bored with just me rambling on, but seriously, the pictures aren't that great. I have had an ethical problem with taking pictures, because I see all of these great photo ops with people, but I feel wrong taking pictures of them without their permission and then putting them on my blog. Plus I feel that it ruins the moment that a picture is supposed to capture. Or my procrastination inclination kicks in and I think that I'll just take it later. I could keep pondering as to why I don't take more pictures and haven't loaded the ones that I already have taken, but I'll spare you anymore details.

It is so hard to believe that we only have two more days in Cracovia! I thought the time in Bologna went by quickly, but that was nothing compared to Cracovia; it seems like we got here two days ago, but it was actually something like ten days ago. I have to confess, I don't feel the same way about Cracovia that I felt/feel about Bologna. But with each passing day, I have found more things that I like about Cracovia and will always remember. Sitting by the river, hanging out at Massolit, meeting up at the end of a long day at Green Way, listening to the music in Rynek Glowny... The past few days have been absolutely gorgeous, so I have been outside as much as possible, which has helped this creature of the sun enjoy Cracovia even more. Each day I find a new place along the river, and take my little picnic lunch and become a part of the riverside culture. It was in Cracovia that I realized that I love being able to go outside and enjoy the public spaces such as the parks and squares in Europe, and being able to walk (or take public transportation) anywhere I want to go. It is a little sad to get to know a place and culture and then drop everything and leave after only two weeks, but I guess the beauty of the experience is that I will be able to do the same thing in four more places. Four more times to make these discoveries.

This evening we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner (I went a whole day without going to Green Way), and it was amazing! I really have missed Chinese food, and especially Golden Dragon, so on the way to the restaurant Martha and I were reminiscing about how amazing Golden Dragon is and how much we love it. I had the sesame chicken that was served on a hot plate that was in the random shape of a cow. Chinese food is still my one weaknesses when it comes to eating meat, and even though I hadn't eaten meat in a month, it was delicious! I think I might just go back everyday--all of the two more days that we are in Cracovia! As we were finishing up eating, we looked at each other and simultaneously decided that we needed gelato. So like the crazy gelato-addicts we are, we went back out into the cold, rainy evening (the day started out beautiful again but turned gray and rainy again during our siesta this afternoon), and headed up Grodska to the gelato place. They had fraggola, frutto di bosco, menthe, cioccolatte, something that looked like it was similar to inferno, and even blueberry, but I don't know how to say that in Italian. I had my cioccolatto/menthe combination. This stuff was called gelato, but there was no way that it was real gelato. It's saving feature was that the cioccolatto was really chocolatey, so that kind of made the gelato world right. We walked through the square eating our gelato, when it hit us (yet again) that we only have two more days in Cracovia. That's when Ashley pointed out the total irony of the situation by saying, "It's cold and rainy and we're standing in the middle of the square in Krakow eating gelato." What could have been better? Great people, great chocolate, great place. Just then, the bell in the cathedral hit eight, and the trumpeter sounded his horn from atop one of the towers, sounding the call that the Tartars are invading (at least if this was the 13th century, and the trumpeter gets killed by an arrow to the throat after the fifth note). We looked at each other and smiled. Yes, it was cold and rainy and we were crazy fools eating gelato without any sort of jackets or umbrellas, but that was the beauty of our evening in Cracovia.