Friday morning, with only 15 minutes worth of sleep, Hunter, my mom, and I set out to catch a train to southwestern Poland. We were headed off to a retreat for the weekend and then an English camp the following week. I had the idea that since I was having a hard time getting use to the 7 hour time difference that I would stay up most of the night and then be so exhausted by the time the evening came that I would just crash at around 9 and up for breakfast the next morning. This would get the jet lag over with and get me finally on the right time schedule. I was praying that this idea would work.

The train left Krakow at 6:45 and we were all aboard with our 10 various bags with clothes, food, retreat supplies, and English camp supplies. We traveled through the southwestern part of Poland for about 8 hours until we reached our destination – Jelena Gora, Poland. The youth pastor, Andrzej (English – Andrew), arrived to pick us up. This was not the true end of our traveling. It drove through many different cities and stopped to pick up people, drop of luggage, and switch cars. Andrzej was our driver and he had just received his license (he is in his 30s). For some this is very expensive to get and the older generation do not want their license and most don’t get one. Plus there are busses and trains all over so a car is not that necessary. However, the younger generation has become more reliant on cars for transportation and therefore the train system has had to cut down on the number of trains that are traveling because there aren’t enough people traveling on them anymore. Anyway, just a little bit of useless information for you all to know!!!

Do you know how it feels to ride with someone who is new at driving a stick shift? Well, let me tell you it teaches you how to really really pray!! Andrzej was not the worst driver I have ever ridden with, but I will say that there were times when I wasn’t sure that we would stay on the road. Those times I learned how to really pray! He is a great guy. He would be extremely serious on the road and then he would be able to joke around and laugh at himself. After getting lost a few times because the lead drive would drive off to fast for us to keep up, we finally made it to the border and went into Germany for the retreat. The retreat was right across the border. We were starving and ready for some dinner. By this time I am exhausted, and ready to eat and crash. However, it was still early and mom had to speak. This retreat included about 25 people from all over southwestern Poland, with ages ranging from 10 to 30. My mom spoke about what a missionary really is and about being sent out by God. She did a great job! Once over I was ready for the bed!!!!! My head hit the pillow and I was out until morning. Praise GOD!!!