4/16/09: The Wild, Wild East

The passports have been returned and we're now waiting just inside the border. The customs officials need to go over every inch of the bus to make sure no one is smuggling anything into the country. The bus is packed with bug sprayers, laundry detergent and vegetables. There's an interesting mix of people on the bus. A few Polish students, several Ukrainian woman with big hair and black and gold shirts, and lots of alcohol.

One of the women re-sprays her big hair and does some primping in the driver's rear-view mirror. She then digs into her bag, pulls out a scrap of ham, then starts insisting someone try it. The two women in front of me keep trying to politely decline it. Finally, one of them takes the proffered chunk. She holds the pork like it's a used Kleenex and quickly searches for something to wrap it in.

Another woman starts complaining that she lost something. She looks in the air vents on the floor and the holes in the ceiling where the air conditioining and reading lights once were. She never did find what she was looking for.




Some of the passengers go off in search of a toilet. I join them, since I don't know when I'll find a toilet again. We get yelled at for going to an unauthorized area. All of us turn and leave except the pork woman. She argues with the border guard and keeps trying to explain that she just needs to use the bathroom, that she must use the bathroom. It's a funny sight, but I keep walking back to the bus. I do not want to get caught up in the ruckus.

Shortly after, the bus starts up again and I think we are on our way. Unfortunately we only drove about 20 meters before stopping again.

4/16/09: To Ukraine

Warsaw:
It's almost 7:00 a.m. and I'm at Warsaw Central station. I am bloody tired. The woman who runs the Polish school kept me up until well after midnight. My repeated attempts to excuse myself for my long day ahead were useless. I hope I can snag some sleep on the train to Przemysl, I have no idea when I'm going to get to the hostel.

On the train to Przemysl:
My train will arrive at 14:20. This should mean I'll be in Lviv before nightfall. I'm really looking forward to crossing the border. It will be interesting to get out of the EU and Schengen.

I haven't seen much of the Polish countryside, I've mostly been traveling through the woods. The few glimpses I've gotten are anything from picturesque to decrepit.

***
The granny in the compartment with me is looking at me with curious amusement. Kind of like I come from another planet. I definately stick out here.

Przemysl:
Border crossing time soon. I didn't find one of those yellow busses, but that's okay. The bus I'll be taking says "Lviv", so it should get me to my final destination. This is a bit scary, however. No English anywhere. I've gotten used to at least young people speaking English, that doesn't seem to be the case in this part of Poland. It certainly won't be the case in Ukraine. I'm definately not in Kansas anymore!

Poland/Ukraine Border:
The customs official looks like he stepped right out of the Soviet Union, exchanged his red star and red hat band for green. I so want to take a picture of him, but I don't dare. He's already been eyeballing me. He doesn't seem to like my passport very much. I don't know if it's because it's an American passport or because I have blond hair in my passport photo. With everyone else, he gave their passports only brief glance befor collecting them. He took a long, hard look at me and my passport then asked me my birthday. I think my disticntly American English convinced him more than my answer.

He dissappeared with all the passports. It's pretty unnerving to be without my passport so far from home.

Illness Strikes

I've just gotten over a nasty bout of food poisoning. I think it was salmonella. I have never been so sick. Ironically I think I contracted the bug upon my return to Norway. The only other thing it could have been was the water in Poland. It's unlikely, and I was specifically told that water was safe.

I've been uploading and organizing photos like crazy. Check the sidebars for new links. Stories are soon to follow.