Dr. Vincent Comes to Visit March 12th-13th

On Monday March 12th, Dr. Vincent, one of my professor's from Keene State College came to visit Krakow and the Center for European Studies. He sat in on our Polish language course, where we all attempt (and struggle) to learn this difficult language. My classmates are a pretty impressive bunch of students. Megan and I are the only Americans, everyone else is from all over Europe. And most have a thorough knowledge in other languages with English being their second language. 

In the afternoon, Dr. Vincent sat in on my Jews in Central Europe course as well. It is interesting learning about the Holocaust in a country where these atrocities occurred and are being taught by a professor who has her own experience, perspective, and point-of-view. My classes at the Center for European Studies are very small (4-9 students) and then the one other class that I am taking is through the School of Humanities and has 54 students. It is nice having such small courses though, it reminds me of my seminars and classes at the Cohen Center. 

The Center for European Studies at Jagiellonian University

At night, Megan and I met Dr. Vincent at one of our favorite restaurants, Mama Mia at 7:45pm. We sat in the classier section and had a wonderful conversation over a delicious meal of pizza and calzones (bon appetit). It was great expressing all of the highs and lows of our experiences in Krakow thus far. We have a lot of great stories. Of course all of our intense experiences have only made us stronger. I was telling Dr. Vincent how we get tested and challenged everyday. I am constantly embarrassed at my attempts of speaking Polish, and being made fun of from my pronunciations. I enjoy being tested and being constantly pulled out of my comfort zone. It is a great growing experience. I hope we didn't portray our experience as a bad one. It is the complete opposite. 

Dr. Vincent, Megan and I finishing up our delicious meal at Mama Mia

It was great seeing Dr. Vincent and getting a chance to show him that we are getting along quite well here. Krakow is a wonderful place, full of surprises. It was great connecting Keene to Krakow. I will do my very best to bring back all that I experience in Krakow to Keene and to convince others to study in Krakow. GO TO KRAKOW!