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.