Oh no, I drifted off again! Where am I?
Quick, pinch myself…I’m awake, I swear. Where’s all my stuff? Oh, I’m laying on it. It’s safe.
PINCH PINCH
Not working. I can feel myself falling again.
PINCH HARDER
Ouch. Maybe bouncing up and down while playing an imaginary beat on my legs and bopping my head around in rhythm…
*Snore* Nope. Did anyone hear that??? How embarrassing. What do I care? Nobody knows me. Back to the beating and bopping.
I NEED to stay awake.
I’m sure I look like an idiot, but it’s necessary…and WHAT WAS THAT?
Oh, the driver shifted gears. How much longer?
What if I miss my stop? Do I even know where my stop is?
Am I going to wind up in the Polish countryside instead of Krakow?
Every time I find myself fighting to stay awake, I remember the time I tried to not fall asleep on a Polish bus.
I found myself in Poland a few years ago and was eager to see Auschwitz and Auschwitz II – Birkenau. What I wasn’t counting on was being exhausted from the start. I flew into Prague the day before and hadn’t slept on the plane at all. I thought I was being smart and not allowing myself to be jet-lagged. Then, I took an overnight train to Auschwitz. Due to some crazy compartment-mates, I maybe got an hour of sleep total.
After my tour of the camps, I set out to find a bus that would take me into Krakow. I read somewhere online that there was a bus service, but had no idea where it picked up, if I had to make a reservation, or where specifically it would take me. Not one of my finer moments in planning. I still shudder about it. What if I didn’t find a way to get to Krakow?
I started wandering around the parking lots surrounding Auschwitz, praying that I would find a bus to take me into Krakow. Call it what you will, I felt a strong impression to head a certain direction to a more dilapidated parking lot with precious few cars surrounding it. As soon as I turned into the fenced area, I saw the most welcoming sight to my weary eyes.
As I approached the bus, I realized that the door was shut and the driver was nowhere to be found: an ominous sign. Fortunately, there were a few other backpackers circling the bus, so I took heart. A few spoke English, and so we chatted about when the driver might show up, hoping that it would be sometime today. We shuddered at what a taxi would cost: it was only about a 70ish minute drive, but we were running low on zloty and figured the bus would be cheaper.
After about 30 minutes, the bus driver arrived and said something about going to Krakow. Sweet. We all jumped on. Since I was afraid of getting carsick, and the fact that I had no idea where we were headed before or after Krakow, I opted to sit in the front seat of the bus. In elementary/middle/high school, it was the seat of death: within arm’s reach of the driver and probably right next to the teacher.
I didn’t care.
As soon as the bus started, I felt myself drifting off to sleep. Uh-oh. But fortunately I was awake enough to notice that the bus was a manual. Lucky me. Needless to say, as soon as I arrived in Krakow, I meandered through the main shopping mall and found a lovely park with a bench situated underneath a tree. I passed out on top of my backpack and slept almost 2 hours: it was the best nap ever.
PIN ME
