Open Your Eyes

2006-10-01T01:43:00.000-05:00

I miss you...

Almost a month has passed already?!

2005-11-23T06:30:00.000-06:00

Time really is a frightening thing, you blink and your life has passed you by. Ok maybe I'm way too dramatic but it sure feels like that sometimes.

Two more weeks of school and I still haven't really found my groove. I am doing very well though but then again, who wouldn't if they had as much time as me to dedicate to school. Actually, I should be researching/writing my part for a project that's due soon right now but somehow I convinced myself that blogging is more important at the moment. Then I think I'll wash some dishes, play the piano, watch some TV, wash my hair and dust the top shelf in my room before dragging myself back to the computer to attempt it again.

A cool chic named Sally came to my class yesterday and told us about some great volunteering opportunities abroad http://www.isvonline.com/. I was VERY interested until I saw the price tag. Why can't I find a place where I don't have to pay to help people? Isn't my committment, dedication and passion for the cause enough?! I guess not. But speaking of helping people...

I wrote my first CV this past weekend and sent it in to World Relief! Very exciting news indeed. To summarize, World Relief provides aid to immigrants and refugees in the US and abroad. Hopefully I can intern there this summer and get my foot in the door.

I was also thinking about GreenPeace. Sounds interesing but also intimidating: 2 years committment, assigned location (you can't choose where you go) BUT you don't need to pay them, they provide you with transportation, accomodations, and give you some $ when you're done with your service.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, we're celebrating at my uncle's new house. His wife is cooking her first turkey so that should be VERY interesting...

Today I chopped off my hair

2005-10-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't gotten a proper hair cut in the longest time and my hair really needed it so I cut more than half of it off. I love getting hair cuts, it always feels like a fresh beginning.

The Sox are playing today and I am proud to say that I am not watching. Why jump on the bandwagon? I don't like baseball and I'm not ashamed of that fact.

I am graduating with a degree yet I'm still unqualified, go figure. There is just so much bullshit bureaucracy no wonder this world is going to shit.

Plans for next year are underway and involve Europe, possibly Asia.

Right now I'm thinking about black holes, light, time, the unifying theory. Anyone care to chat?

ani difranco said it best...

2005-10-21T19:05:00.000-05:00

lying on the floor four stories high in the corridor between the asphalt and the sky i am caught like bottled water the light daughter i wonder what you look like under your t-shirt i wonder what you sound like when you're not wearing words i wonder what we have when we're not pretending it's never-ending, haven't you heard? i don't need to tell you what this is about you just start on the inside and work your way out

time flies!

2005-10-20T16:23:00.000-05:00

October is nearly done and I still don't have a Halloween costume. Maybe I'll be the same thing as last year...a man.

My little sister turned 15 last week, I still can't believe it. She's growing up which means I'm growing old. But I am a firm believer in "you're as old as you feel" and I feel like I'm still a kid.

School is more than half way done, unbelievable! I'm trying to work out some kinks dealing with graduation, my school is the most bureaucratic place I've encountered thus far and I hate it. Music classes are MUCH harder than I anticipated and not as fun either.

On a more positive note, I'm going to Poland for the holidays. My sister and cousin are coming also so it will be a lot of fun. I am thinking about bringing my snowboard but I don't know if I want the extra baggage. I was hoping that we go to Amsterdam as well but my sister is not the traveling type (yeah I know, gasp!) so I don't know if that will go through, I mean I don't want to leave her behind.

A friend I met in Greece sent me pictures so I'm excited. My albums are finished but the extra pictures that I receive from friends are great additions! I've been thinking about my trip a lot lately. I don't know, it might be the weather (I tend to get a little down in the winter) but it makes me sad. I miss everyone I met and I wonder what they're going, if they're safe...I think this is the only downside of travel, you meet cool people and then they/you leave.

I can't believe I wrote so much, I think I'm sleep deprived, it's WAY past my bedtime.

some random jibber jabber

2005-09-15T11:50:00.000-05:00

I can't help but tilt my head when you're speaking
maybe to see you from a different angle
maybe to keep your words from leaking out

I really don't need to hear this
it's like your trying to convince me
that this is bliss or better

I've traveled on too many roads
to believe the stories you tell me
don't ask me to kiss toads to see what happens

back to school

2005-08-31T12:22:00.000-05:00

I've began my second week of school and already have my hands full! Group projects, papers, readings...don't teachers know we have a life? There are so many things I could be doing right now but nooo, I have to study. It's really quite sad. I'm even neglecting my television, which I love oh so much, in order to finish all my work. Well, if anyone really knows their music theory please be my tutor, I think I might go crazy in that class before the semester is over! Peace out, g/g be a geek, it's what I do best =)

everything comes to an end eventually

2005-08-09T23:29:00.000-05:00

So it ends...6 months on the road puts a whole new perspective on things. I've been back for about a week now and, for the first time in 6 months, am suffering from jet leg, STILL. Well, it's not jet leg but rather my body rejecting the idea of being home. My last flight was fairly uneventful. Apart from a little girl sleeping on my arm and a little boy kicking my chair all the time the ride was great!

I haven't written much about Poland, not because there wasn't much to write about but because I knew this was the last few weeks/days I had left of my big trip and I wanted to enjoy them to the fullest. I learned how to ride a dirt bike(!)...visited our neighbor, slovenia, a couple of times...redecorated two of my rooms in our house in Poland, painted walls AND layed out plans for the furniture...tried my hand at cooking...the rest I mentioned in previous posts.

My friend turned 21 this weekend, I was on a little vacation with my family so I missed it. She said that everyone got trashed and had a good time, I saw pictures today and she wasn't lying about anything! Ah, to be 21 again...actually, to be 18 again.

My room is a complete mess, I have so much appointments to make, flowers to water, people to talk to...coming back home is way too much work!

you will never believe

2005-07-09T11:05:00.000-05:00

Just a quick brag... I went on a bike ride two days ago that my butt is still recovering from. It was suppose to be a nice short ride but 5.5 hours, 70km later, I got home. I was surprised that I lasted that long! It was fun though, an off-the-road, muddy adventure. The views were beautiful.

You need to experience the silence of nature at least once in your life, it makes you think.

I hope all you guys in London are safe. Another tragedy to add to the history of our world.... What happaned to love, peace and understanding?

2005-07-01T11:23:00.000-05:00

I'm still on vacation, still exploring, still taking pictures, still eating too much, still analyzing, still dreaming, still planning, still wishing, still missing everyone, still confused, still reading books, still being lazy...

I am finally getting myself together and thinking about purchasing my final flight of the trip...home. All of you have been asking when I'm coming, the exact date is not set yet but you will see me home by the end of this month. Can't say I am eager to come back but I am excited to see everyone!

Poland is very pretty. I haven't been here during the summer in a few years and have forgotten how green it is! I will post picture(s) soon.

this is it

2005-06-16T07:45:00.000-05:00

annkat
Originally uploaded by annwon.

Kasia,

It's been a bumpy road but it all worked out in the end. I'm still amazed at how we couldn't find each other in Athens if our life depended on it. Next time I'll draw you a map with landmarks, maybe that will help. I turned you into a tomato lover! Think of me next time you TRY to make a pizza. (Don't worry, my garlic bread wasn't too impressive either, and who messes up garlic bread?!)

thanks for the laughs
thanks for the memories

szerokiej drogi

Anna

2005-06-15T18:15:00.000-05:00

Anna
Originally uploaded by annwon.

Engaging in typical Viennese behavior. Captured by Kasia.

Border control in Macedonia

2005-06-15T13:07:00.000-05:00

Macedonian police station
Originally uploaded by annwon.

When will you ever have the opportunity to be detained in a Macedonian police station? You gotta enjoy this privilege.

Happy New Year 2549!

2005-04-16T12:42:00.000-05:00

The festivities began around April 13th and will last about a week. In Bangkok people spray each other with perfume or at least it is suppose to be done like that. I read in the newspaper that this year high power hoses were used on innocent pedestriants. Crazy Bangkok.

Yesterday was the last day of the old year, I was in Phnom Penh visiting the genocide museum and the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge. Between 1976-1979, 2 million innocent Cambodians died. Many were tortured, all were accussed of treason, even the children. You'd think after WWII the world would learn this lesson but it happaned again in Cambodia and, most recently in Africa in 1994. I won't talk about it anymore, it's making me depressed and it's the new year so lets get back to that.

When we were driving around Phnom Penh there were road blocks everywhere! It's not what you think, we were never in any danger. Children and young people would stop everyone and sprinkle them with a white powder. They were epecially brutal with the powder if you were a foreighner or didn't give them some money. That was an interesting experience.

There are no ATMs in Cambodia, not even in the capital!!! This is not only strange but also tragic. I have about $100 to my name and it has to last me until May 1st. Laos doesn't have ATMs either.

Cars: some have a steering wheel on the left, some have it on the right. I don't know how that can possibly work but it does.

Siem Reap

2005-04-13T12:39:00.000-05:00

Because it rained for the majority of the day I spend most of it online, very typical, I know. Violet has been reminding me about my fall registation date for about a week now so I figured this would be the perfect time to look at some classes. It is stange to be thinking about school and reality but I know that every day is one day closer to the end of this journey. What a depressing thought. Thanks to Violet's help and guidance (I forgot how to do everything!) I managed to put together a good schedule and I'm quite excited about it actually.

Since last entry I've visted Angkor Wat, the Tomb Raider Wat and 7 others. It was very cool because you could walk into these wats, look at the carvings up close, even climb the stairs into rooms that were higher up. The heat was rediculous so I would recommend coming here in the "cool" season, Nov-Jan I think. I did get scammed into paying a guy $10 for being my "tour guide". Yes, he was informative but people work a week (sometimes a month!) to earn that much here. He was sly becuse I was just walking around, taking pictures, and he kind of leeched onto me, I didn't even know what was going on until the end. There are no official guides at these Wats, most of the "tour guide" are local history students who want to earn some money. If you want a guide you can hire one from a travel agency (or your hotel) for about $25 for the whole day.

I ate at this place called the Blue Pumpkin yesterday. Very modern decor, good and cheap food. Now that I think about it, Siem Reap has a lot of good dining options. I can honetly say that I haven't had one bad dish since I've arrived here. There is something for everyone, taste wise and price wise. The Grand Hotel has the finest dining in town. My cheapest meal was at the Dead Fish Tower. Don't be fooled, there was nothing fishy about this place, the food was great! Tomorrow I leave for the capital, Phnom Phen, where I'll be for the next two day.

Cambodia

2005-04-08T12:36:00.000-05:00

I have only been here for about 12 hours and, wow, where do I begin. The adventure began yesterday, I took a train at 5am (!) to Bangkok then went to the airport to buy my ticket to Siem Reap.

When we were descending all I could see was...nothing acutally, some trees and a lot of dry grass. Kris and I looked at each other thingking "what the hell are we doing here?". We landed at the international airport: one landing strip, two planes, one was ours. Get in line for visas on arrival, we were first, but of course I couldn't find my passport pictures. As soon as I got out of line I found them and had to go to the very BACK of the line, Kris was a little upset. Good times.

Finally get out of the airport and a taxi info guy starts talking to me, mind that this is my first time hearing a Cambodian accent, I just look at him and he goes on for about 5 minutes about who knows what. When he finishes, I look at Kris and say (right in front of the taxi guy) "what did he say?", he doesn't know because he though I was listening.

The taxi guy laughs at us, and summarises what took him 5 minutes to say, "Do you want a car taxi or a motorcycle taxi?", yes it was that easy. I am still wondering what the hell he was blabbing about the first time. But back to the story:...taxis. Since we had bags with us, motorcycle was not an option, plus it was too hot, not sure the actual tem. but if I was hot then it MUST'VE been over 100 deg. The taxi driver speaks pretty good English and tries to make small talk. He asks Kris if he could be "our driver" for the time we're here. I look out the window, the road is paved but narrow, no sidewalks just orange dirt, no street lights, some tuk-tuks (but different from Bangkok), bicycles, and cars, no street lights, VERY French-looking buildings.

Our hotel is big and very nice, when we get there there is no other guests in sight (this happens quite often actually) and we get presented with these linen scarfs (this doesn't). Kris wants to walk to the town which is 1 km away but I am a little hesitant, "Dude, we're in Cambodia, is it even safe to walk here?", he convinces me that it is and we head outside. The door man tells us he'll call us a tuk-tuk but we want to WALK. We get to the street, maybe 60 feet, and turn right around. Too hot to walk, now it feels like 120, considering the hour (around 2pm) I wouldn't be suprised if it really WAS 120 degrees. We exchange money so we can get a tuk tuk. This is the first time I get asked if I want my money in Franks or Dollars. As it turns out, everything is listed in dollars here so you don't need to carry local currency.

The tuk tuk driver takes us around town for $6. He drives everywhere...the tourist parts as well as the local neighborhoods. Let me tell you guys, your dog has a better dog house than some of the "homes" of these locals. It is quite sad and very humbling to see this, I will post pictures or show you some when I get home. Lots of the houses are tilting (they're on stilts to prevent flooding), and many have holes in the floorboards. They look so unstable that I think a 300 pound man would take the whole structure down. There is garbage everywhere but not as bad as those TV save-a-thons show.

Later in the evening Kris and I want to go get a few drinks in town. Another tuk tuk guy picks us up and insists on driving us around to differnt places and WAITING AROUND for us while we have a good time for a lousy $10. I feel so wrong about having him wait around but I guess that's how they do it here. At the end of the night he asks us if he could drive us around tomorrow, I give him a $20 and tell him we'll see him tomorrow

Happy Easter!

2005-03-27T11:33:00.000-06:00

No egg painting, no blessing food...it sure doesn't feel like Easter this year. Happy Easter to the Wontos, I love you guys and I'm thinking of you guys, and especially the family dinner. No just kidding.

Full moon came and went. The island is very quiet now since most come here just for the party. I met a couple from England at the full moon and have been spending time with them for the past couple of days. They're are fun to hang out with and we can talk for ages. I am offically tan. It took a while because I haven't been spending too much time laying on the beach because there is so much to see.

For the next couple of days Kris and I are staying at this family owned bungalow place. It's a very relaxed atmopshere, they even have a sigh "feel like this is your own home". We had a BBQ on the beach last night and everyone staying here came out (maybe 20 of us), we connected the tables in the dining room and had dinner. It's was very homey.

Where in the world is Anna?

2005-03-23T12:27:00.000-06:00

Now Playing: Metric

I have neglected to write for the past month or so for a variety of reasons: slow internet connections, no internet connections, too lazy, and most importantly, I'm on vacation!

Since last entry I've been to Bangkok, Chang Mai, back to Bangkok, Bali, Jakarta, Singapore, back to Bangkok, Ko Samui, and finally Ko Pan Hang. I don't even want to attempt to tell you about all the interesting things that I've seen. Once I get home we can grab a coffee and I'll tell you (pictures included!).

Things you need to see/do if you travel here: Women with long necks in Chang Mai, Balinesian dancers in Bali, feeding wild monkeys in Bali, Tuk-tuks in Bangkok. At the moment I am on a little island in Thailand. The people are as warm as the weather, and the sunsets are breathtaking.

To get here was an adventure in itself, it took 3 airplane changes and a boat. I am becoming an expert flyer, I even fell asleep when we were taking off ALL three times. Airplane food was, how can I say this nicely...airplance food quality, so by the 3rd flight I was getting slightly sick just smelling it.

No big plans tonight, just some dinner and drinks. Tomorrow is the full moon party so the island is packed with people. I'm off to expore this paradise...

Hong Kong

2005-02-28T12:13:00.000-06:00

China is crazy!!! No words can describe this country, you have to see it to belive.

At the moment I'm in Hong Kong but in a couple of hours I'll be flying out to Bangkok. I'm not sure if I'm ready for it, I've just began to get a feel for this strange place. I guess to summarize the last two weeks I would say that we didn't rough it as much as we though we would, we ate some great food and some horrifying bad food ( goose liver, duck hearts, turtbles, fish tails, brains, any imaginable animal part you can think of is considered food here)and walked around a lot.

Hong Kong has been the best place so far, it's very New York but completely different, lots of designer shops and awesome little boutiques. I bought two pairs of shoes from some local designer, they're really cute! If you're not into shopping this is not really your place but you can still find something else to do. Our hotel location couldn't be better, right in the middle of Kowloon, and it's very futuristic. We stayed on the 23rd flood, think lost in translation.

I wouldn't recommend Shanghai but it's a completly biased opinion. It's not that the city is not worth seeing, it's quite interesting actually, I just had a bad day there. Ungly weather, getting lost, being home sick, starving (we couldn't find any normal food to eat so we settled on this very nice/expensive chinese restaurant and came out of it even more starving and sick! I ordered duck which ended up being duck organs or something crazy like that and Kris ordered Beef but pointed to the wrong item on the menu and got duck/fish, I am not kidding you). We did find a Hyatt though and it was smooth sailing from there. I do have to say that I had the best salamon (can't spell) there, just delicious. So I do recommend the Hyatt if you go to Shanghai.

More from Beijing

2005-02-21T12:25:00.000-06:00

Did you know that the Great Wall is the only man made thing that could be seen from space? I "walked" the wall (I'm putting walked in quotes because it was more like climbing) for a couple of hours and now I have a new appreciation for elevators. Don't get me wrong though, the views were well worth the hike and if you ever come to Beijing it would be foolish of you not to experience this.

Speaking of foolish...There are these little donughts that the locals are just crazy about (they look like the munchkin donuts from dunkin donuts). Every day Kris and I pass this bakery with people lined up for these things! I just had to know what all the fuss was about so I bought a box. As soon as I got back to the hotel I ripped the box open and bit into...raw dough. These donuts were not cooked! So now I'm stuck with a box of raw donughts and I'm still dying to find out what all the fuss is about.

My chopstick skills have been getting quite good since none of the local restaurants offer other eating utencils. I do have to admit that I use my fingers sometimes, I mean how can you eat a duck with chopsticks? C'on now. That reminds me, I cooked my first meal yesterday (2/20). We went to a restaurant where you get a pot filled with boiling water, your order arrives raw, you put everything into this pot and cook it to your liking, it's called Hot Pot. I didn't do so bad considering my cooking skills. The trickiest part was getting things out of the pot (using chopsticks of course).

Price wise, everything is cheaper than in the states. I saw puma shoes for Y50, which is roughly about $6 (maybe they weren't real, I didn't check), gasoline is about $.50 a liter and a good meal will cost a couple dollars.

2005-02-19T12:19:00.000-06:00

The blog I set up with Tripod (highly NOT recommended) doesn't work in China for reasons I am not sure of so I was forced to make a new one. It is one thing trying to set up an account in English but it's a whole different story when everything is in Chinese!!! I've been trying to sign up for a blog with different providers for the past half hour and this one is the only one that worked so this is destined to be my blog. You can say "I told you so" Kasia, I should've listened. With this I begin..

It was my first time flying westward AND over the North Pole so it was quite exciting. Even with a few naps and a couple of movies the flight still felt like it was never going to end. When I finally arrived in Beijing, I realized that I miscalculated my arrival date and had no place to stay until the following day. No problem!! After a quick glance at the quidebook I chose a hostel on the West side of the city, Kris was ok with it so off we went. Well, actually it wasn't that easy...see in China nothing is easy. The taxi guy spoke no English and, even with my phrase book, I could not pronounce a word of Chinese. After a lot of pointing at different words in the phrase book and a few gestures we were off...for a while. Another thing with taxi drivers is that many don't know where they're going. After driving around for a while, I found the phone number to our place (thank you guidebook!), the driver called there and got directions, and we ended up at...a Stadium (Worker's Stadium International Hostel). Yes we were in the right place, the hostel was located on the forth floor under the bleachers of the stadium. It was suprisingly a nice/cheap place to stay the night. We shared our room with a guy from Moscow. He was very nice and spoke a little English so we chatted for a while. Then Kris and I went to explore our surroundings. The air in Beijing is so terrible I felt like I smoked a pack of cigarettes after being outside for about 5 minutes. Since we weren't used to the air quality we didn't make it too far. Then I went to bed.

The next morning we relocated to our present location (I can't remember the name at the moment). We got into the taxi and right off the bat had problems. I showed the guy the address (written in Chinese) and he had no idea where that was, I pointed to the phone number so he could call them and ask, and he was still confused. So we sat in the taxi just looking at each other, not knowing what to do. (The guide book was no help this time.) Luckily some young guy (who was walking by) spoke English and let us use his phone. When we finally got there, our place was warm, big, and so AWESOME! As soon as we settled in we went in search of the forbidden city becuase it was close to our hotel (about 20 minutes walking). I think we walked for about 2 hours before we finally found the 'city'. I was proud of this accomplishment nonetheless because we managed to do this without a map! On the way home, we got lost again and stopped at some tea house to get warmed up. I can say that I was on a 'walking tour' of the city center after this whole ordeal.

Today we visited the Great Wall. It was -6C without wind chill today so this was a difficult thing to do. After the Wall we went to a tea store and I bought a nice tea set which I will be shipping home. I love tea so China is definitely the place for me! They had a tea tasting table (very impressive, carved with animals) at the store so Kris and I ended up sampling teas for probably an hour. The lady showed us how to brew tea correctly, I'll be practicing so when I get home I can brew you guys some tea Chinese style!

Overall, Beijing is much bigger and busier than I've expected (a lot like NYC). Of course there are the hutongs in the middle of this huge and suprisingly modern city (think little ghettos, or, if you've ever been to Poland, like those old houses from the village put right in the middle of Warsaw), which just further proves how strange this place is. I ate something on a stick yesterday, I don't know what it was but I didn't want to know because I probably wouldn't eat it. It tasted like chicken a little and it was quite good!

You know the expression "Everything is bigger in Texas"? I think that person never came to Beijing. Their malls are 10 stories high and a whole city block long!

So this is good bye

2005-02-13T21:05:00.000-06:00

I can not belive my countdown has descended to less than one day! I am beyond freaking out right about now. I did some last minute shopping today because I realized that I needed another bag (since my stuff wouldn't fit in the backpack!). So now I have a backpack, which I will check in, and a small carry on. It kind of sux but I will have to deal with it. Money, check; backpack, check; passport, check; music, check. I think I'm ready, no, I KNOW I'm ready. Stay tuned, the journey begins...AAAAAHHHHH!!!

Pete and Seb: thank you for filling my ipod with music, it will save me during rough times, I'm sure.

I noticed that I haven't posted a tentative schedule yet. This is where we'll be at for the most part, some things might change...
Feb.15-28th: China
March 1-9th: Thiland
March 9-21st: Bali
March 21st-April 30th: Thailand
May 1-31st: Egypt
June 1st: Greece then other parts of Europe

I will miss all of you, especially you Mom, Daddy, Violet and Nat. See you all during the summer!

2005-02-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

I was stressing about it for quite some time now but 22 doesn't feel that much different...

I've watched the entire 1st season of One Tree Hill in three days, can that be some sort of a record?

Bought Let's Go guidebooks to China and Southeast Asia so that will give me something to do to pass the time at the airports. Katie and I had fun looking things up in the Thai phrasebook and trying to pronounce them. My tongue was sore after five minutes so I don't even want to think about attempting to speak Chinese!

8 days left