Thursday, July 24, 2003

Towers upon towers of cement housing units. That is how you describe the cities in Central Europe. The "dorms" we are staying in are a pretty good example, but you do not get a feel for the amount of them till you see a city from a distance. All the same, all around, 15 to 20 stories, all bland, and all of them the homes of people that are living in an ever changing environment. It has only been 14 years since they were freed. For them the complexes must seem as everyday as the towers of Chicago are to those who live there, but to me it would seem to be a reminder of the pain and strife suffered for so long.

Three hours in and it has been all interstate, or whatever they call them, so I think it would have been ok to drive, so far. Looking around outside makes you realize why they call it the Great Plains. There seems to be no large flat area anywhere in Europe, at least from what I have seen. There are fields here and there, and some are quite large, but nothing like you could find in Illinois, let alone Kansas or the rest of the plains.

The farther east I go the farther away from home I am. This trip will be the farthest east I will go. I keep thinking of Sam. Every step so far has been the farthest away from home I have ever been. When I leave Auschwitz, not only will I have just over 2 weeks left, but every step will be heading towards home. It will be my journey back. That being said, this leads me to believe that this is the climax of the trip. Feeling down, by myself, heading for a concentration camp. All roads have led to this moment. I assume now that I have hyped it up, nothing phenomenal will happen, but who knows.

I just thought of an argument if I ever see father Chris and he mentions Wal-Mart being bad (which it is), but that is besides the point. 4 numbers: (Not accurate, but guesses) Population of the U.S. =600 million, Percentage of unemployed=2.5 percent, Number of employees at average Wal-Mart=300, Number of Wal-Marts=100,000. If we closed Wal-Mart, 30 million unemployed. We now have just over 8 million. Can you justify that increase. Those numbers are high, but the argument will still hold value with real figures, I think