Correspondence from Aleks in Poland

April 10, 2010

Hey mom,
I can only assume you are just waking up and won't check this email for a bit, or today at all. I just wanted to point your attention to the headlines of the news when you have a chance. There is a lot more to it, but essentially what has occurred is the Polish president, most of his successionary line, and most of the top government officials perished this morning in an plane crash flying into western Russia. Obviously this is not only a tragedy for the world, but me being in Poland this weekend makes it a particularly interesting situation. The nation is upset, but there is no danger at all presented to the program, and we are in entirely safe hands. It's unclear who will follow up the government, but violence and coups we've been assured will not be in part, and would occur in Warsaw, not Krakow.
Hopes this eases any worries you would have had,
Aleks

Thanks for letting us know, Aleks.  Wow, that is so tragic!  Why would the entire government be put on the same plane?  So sad!  I'll look for you on Skype tonight (Mon AM your time) when we get back from Pullman.

Mom,

I'm still in Poland, I'll be back in Prague in about 18 hours, so the first opportunity after then. I've spent the entire weekend at memorials and mourning: on Saturday for the plane accident and the anniversary of the Katyn massacre, and on Sunday at Auschwitz-Birkenau. I was standing in the middle of the gas chamber at Auschwitz I when the nation had a minute of silence for Lech Kazynski and the other victims of the accident.

It was by far the most humbling/depressing experience of my life. I'll tell you more about the weekend in Poland later but it's been one of intense required maturation...
Aleks