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So after a two year hiatus, I arrived in Krakow, and about 40 minutes before landing, the pilot came on the intercom and said that it was 20 degrees Celsius (like 68 degrees F) and partly cloudy in Krakow. Well, after getting there, it was raining like a damn tropical storm. I should have known. Anyway, it was cool just being able to walk straight to the train that takes you to the city center, while all the other tourists were trying to figure out where to go. I must admit, that felt good! So while on the train to the city center, I met a lady from Scotland, and also a girl from Italy, who were both really lost and confused and needed to get to a few hotels. Luckily, I still remembered where everything was and all the streets (amazing), so I offered to escort them to their hotels, which I did in the downpour, and they were both very nice and very grateful. I remember when I first arrived in Krakow, at like midnight and all the tourist offices at the airport were closed, the train wasn’t running, so I had to call a taxi and then have the taxi driver use his mobile to call Renia, and then have her give him directions on how to get to her flat. It was really funny, but I was definitely lost at that time and received some help, and now it was my time to return the favor to another stranger. Isn’t that how life works?

Walking down the streets I knew so well, past the Slowackiego Theater and into Market Square, was very surreal. All these memories flooded my mind like a raging river. I am sure that I had a huge smile on my face the whole walk, but I just couldn’t help it. After escorting the ladies to their hotels, I walked back to Market Square, and then tried my first spoken Polish words in almost two years, when I asked for a telephone card so that I could use the public telephone. Luckily, I was able to do this without too much of a problem. After calling two of my friends who offered to let me stay at their place for as long as I needed (really, really nice!), I had a few hours to kill. I was a little hungry, so I went to the little place just across the street from the American Embassy, where I once had some unbelievable soup. So just like old times, I ordered the Zurek, this awesome Polish soup, the perfect remedy for a cold and a rainy day. I sat out on the covered patio, listening to rain drops pound the cobblestones, enjoying Polish food again, watching people walk by, practicing my Polish with the nice, patient waiter, and reminiscing. What a feeling! I love Poland!

I stopped by the Dominican Church and attended a mass there —another huge, important memory of my time in Poland. It was so good to be back. After wandering around a little while longer, I finally met my friends and we went out for a few drinks and caught up. It was incredible seeing these friends that I said goodbye to two years ago, hoping that I would get a chance to see them again, but not exactly sure if that would happen. I am so happy that we did get this second chance to visit.

I stayed at their place for one night, after a long day of travel, and then caught a bus to southern Poland, where I would spend the next week and change working hard on my thesis and revisiting with friends and wolves down there.

It was raining like absolute mad during the bus ride, and I couldn’t help but be a little discouraged. However, when getting closer to Bielsko-Biala, the landscape started looking familiar and I again had a huge smile on my face. As we passed billboards and other signs, I started to recognize some of my old Polish vocabulary words, and it was really exciting! I would never be able to come up with those words on my own, but after reading them, they totally came back to me and almost transformed me back into time.

We got to the bus station, and I was able to catch a really quick minibus to Lipowa, which was cake and I got out and looked at the mountains that were my home for so long. It was an absolutely incredible feeling! I mean, how many times do we go back to someplace and it isn’t quite the same as the first time. Well, I can say that this was just like the first time, and I was immediately filled with adrenaline and my heart rate picked up ever so slightly.