The time has come to official say my goodbyes to this beautiful land on the other side of the world. It has been such an incredible experience. I do not even know where to begin. It was hard saying goodbye to all the people who have been blessing us and serving us these past few weeks. From drivers to home owners, we have been
well taken care of.
As I type this blog I sit in a beautiful hotel on an extremely comfortable green leather sofa. I am still shocked that two weeks has passed me by. It is about 6:21am here (9:21pm back home). We had a 3 hour train ride which was interesting. Lots of police guards with huge rifles because of fans going to a soccer match. That was fun to witness. We shared a really small coach room on the train with a three-layer bunk bed which was fun. I actually passed out shortly after my head rested on the slightly uncomfortable pillow.
Before the train ride we played our last concert at a really cool church. It was a good last show. We all had so much fun and we all did well. Funny story. I went to the bathroom quickly after our first set. Remember in my previous blog where I mentioned "10 things I've learned about Poland" - one of them being the fact that in Poland they love doors. Well you see, all bathrooms have three to four doors.
Door One - Sinks and mirrors
Door Two - Urnals (for the men)
Door Three - Toilets
Door Four - Into a Toilet stall.
So I walked all the way into the fourth door to get some toilet paper to blow my nose. I closed my door and locked it. Grabbed some toilet paper. Began to blow my nose. And then. All of a sudden.
Lights Out! This particular church's WC (wash closet) had one light switch outside the bathroom door that controlled the lights in the entire bathroom. So someone assumed they were alone in the bathroom and shut the lights off when they left. Which is good for the enviorment. Bad for me at that particular moment.
I didn't remember how the bathroom looked like. I could hear Peter preaching in Polish. I knew that after he was done I was suppose to go up to sing one of my songs before the second set started. I began to panic. I couldn't see
anything. It was absolutely pitch black. I didn't even know how to start moving forward because there are so many doors. And since I didn't remember what the bathroom looked like, I couldn't feel my way out. Fears started to overwhelm my thoughts. What if no one uses the bathroom for awhile and I am stuck here. What if I cannot feel my way out and Peter calls me to come up to start the second set. What if I am left here in Poland. What if I was left here to die. Maybe my thought process wasn't that extreme.
I began thinking of the prisoners who struggled to survive in Auschwitz. Everytime I think of the standing stalls, the torture chambers, the starvation rooms and the wall of death, my issues seem diminutive. Thank God I was only stuck in a church bathroom with no lights.
*BATHROOM BREAK*
I actually just used the bathroom right now in this hotel. It was very nice. I thought I would just quickly share that with you while I wrap up this entry. I've been using many different bathrooms on this trip due to my lack of tolerance for lactose... due to my lack of self control... due to my love of cheese.
Well it is lights out for me in Poland. My journey here is done. I look forward to return here one day. That would be fun. This is unquestionably not my last time here. Maybe this particular hotel. But not this beautiful Country.
I look forward to coming home. I miss my family. I miss my church. I miss my friends. I am excited to dive into life again and get back into the groove. I look forward to a 1.5 hour flight to Amsterdam and then a 9 hour flight to Vancouver. Hmm now that I think about it. That is a lot of flying. It will be nice to catch up on some sleep when I return to my bed.
Goodbye from Poland one last time.
Andrewm.