It's been so long!

NOTE: This is part 1 of 2. Read this one first!

WOW there's so much to talk about! I'm sick (sinus infection, always happens around this time...), so I'm taking the rest of the day off (easy when I don't have any classes). I'm gonna post now about the incredible adventures I had in Krakow (of which there are many), but I'm afraid the Flickr photos might take longer (I have about 200 pictures waiting to go up there).

Allow me to begin with a description of our key characters:

Evan W: My good friend with a fantastic first name, and a fellow Trojan. He's tall and lanky with a huge head of curly hair and a beard (that will be important later). Always dressed well, Evan is the kind of guy who takes great pride in his individuality.

Dave: 6'4" and probably about 250lbs, Dave plays O-line for Williams. Everything about him is huge. Speaks in a low, throaty voice and snores incessantly (even while he's awake). He loves women.

Jon: Also a football player (at Amherst), but not as gigantic as Dave, John kinda declared himself the leader of our rag tag bunch of misfits. He had done some research on the place, had booked our hostel, and generally was in front whenever we were walking.

Danny G: Born and bread New Yorker going to school at Tulane. The kind of person who never ceases to surprise you, he seems really frat-cool when you first meet him, before you find out that A) he's a literature major and LOVES it and B) he can quote Dragonball Z.

Danny: Remember the guy I talked about a while ago who I really didn't like? Yeah, him. The guy's actually really nice, just didn't make the best first impression. But partying is his deal.

And thus, the trip began. We managed to snag an entire compartment to ourselves on the way there, which was really nice to have when we all started to try to sleep. I had some great conversations with Evan and Danny G, about assorted topics, and Dave, all 6'4" of him, slid onto the floor and passed out with all of our legs on top of him.

Not taking the night train on Friday was the best idea anyone has ever had. We arrived in Poland at about 10pm, plenty of time to find our hostel and still hit up the night life. Of course, we got lost on the way there (well not lost, just off our maps), but we finally arrived at the dilapidated parking lot where, in one corner, the back door of our hostel was located. The Stranger (we pronounced 'stranger' like Busta Rhymes pronounces the word 'danger"), our home away from home, was a really nice palce that was basically empty, aside from the group of 20 English guys (more on them later). We got an entire room to ourselves.

That night was still Evan's birthday, and at midnight it would be mine, so we took a recommendation from Martin, the guy working our front desk, and set out with nothing but a name and a list of drinks and shots we should order (Poland, after all, is the land of sweet vodkas...like the 100 proof honey vodka that tastes like candy). The place we ended up at was a tall building with a different club on every level, and was a lot of fun. Especially when, after introducing myself to a nice Polish girl, she informed me it was a gay club.

Despite that, three members of our party managed to do just fine, and I ended the night walking home with Dave, Jon, and Danny (not G. that's gonna get confusing). It was a glorious ending to an evening, complete with me laying down a beat for a professional break dancer in the middle of Krakow's Old Town square. We found some Polish girls who spoke English and they led us to some late night food (but not before Jon managed to kiss one of them. It was impressive), and we headed back to the hostel for the evening.

I'll continue in a new post....we'll be right back after this short break.