Tuesday May 18, 2010

Today we all met at the church at 8:30 and said goodbye to our German hosts (who later added everyone on facebook). We had a long day of driving ahead of us, but first had a stop at Bergen - Belsen, the prisoner of war and Nazi death camp from World War II. Walking through the museum with it's simple architecture, and also through the grounds with the mass graves where all the memorials stood was truly a moving experience, and everyon was affected or touched in some way or another. After this life changing experience, we headed back on the bus to reflect and journal on what we had just seen and felt. However, we still had quite a long drive to Leipzig, so after about 2 hours, many people grew resless, (mainly those who weren't sleeping) and decided to have some fun with sprinkles. A game was invented called, "How many sprinkles can we fit in Alex's and Clayton's mouths before they wake up?". This was very entertaining and involved a lot of photos, laughter, and Alex spewing the amassed sprinkles of 20 minutes of this game. Finally, though, we made it to the city of Leipzig, crossing over into East Germany. Leipzig is a town famous because it was the home of Back for many years. Upon arriving at our resevatioin for the night, we gound out we didn't actually have one, but forunately, the youth hostel had plenty of room for us. After unloading our stuff, we set off to explore the older part of Leipzid, which included two churches where Back worked and wrote music. Supper was on our own, and some opted for traditional food from Saxony, while others ate whatever they gound while wandering around. Even though it was kind of a sketchy part of town, everyone made it back to the hostel safely, and the evening consisted of playing cards, foozball, attempting to shower in the showers that only stayed on for about five seconds when pushed, and also waiting in line while everyone used the two available laptops in our group, taking advantage of the free wi - fi, (even though many people stayed on maybe a little bit too long!). Bed came kind of late, but sleep was needed after a long, fun day.

Steph Swartzendruber