Photos....

Bahamas~

Barcelona, Spain~

Naples, Italy~

Rome, Italy~

Dubrovnik, Croatia~

Athens, Greece~

Bosphorus~

Varna, Bulgaria~

Istanbul, Turkey~

Where have I been?????

Last time I wrote I was in Greece... well today I am in Istanbul--Constantinople... TURKEY!

Between then and now I was also in Varna, Bulgaria.

This trip is becoming better each and every day, although I do miss home.

I will post up photos and videos when I am back home because internet is really minimal now a days...

I will write more another day!

For now~ So Long Friends!

The Pearl of the Adriatic.... Dubrovnik, Croatia

"Once upon a time there was a Princess and she lived in a castle guarded by a fortress of walls. The streets within this fortress were smooth because at night little elves came and polished them clean. There were many hiding places for the Princess within as well. On one side of the fortress there was sea and an island which was used as protection, on the other side there were mountains..."
Okay so that is what I think of when I think of Dubrovnik.
It was beautiful and it really looked as though in the middle of the night elves came to clean everything spotless.
There is a big nightlife in Dubrovnik ranging from the pubs and bars to nightclubs on the beach and around old town.
The beach in Dubrovnik is a stone beach and because we were there on the hottest couple days of the summer thus far.
When I was actually at the beach I was tanning more with my sweat than with any kind of tanning oils or lotions because literally 5 minutes of laying down and I was drenched.
So this is Dubrovnik...
I will post up pictures next time because I haven't collected them all on my computer.
Greeting from Piraeus Greece by the way!

The Rest of Rome and Croatia!

So far this trip is amazing!

We arrived in Dubrovnik Croatia yesterday in the morning (July 11, 2011) and the port alone is beautiful!

Rome was the time of my life as well, I didn't think I could see all the monument in the time that I was there, but as the locals say you need 3 years in Rome to see everything. I was able to go to the Vatican, to see the Pantheon, and walk where the Romans have walked.

Me with all of Rome!

Fontana di Trevi

My mad photography skills

Colosseum!

Center of the Vatican

Jan Pawel II

Vatican and Saint Peters Basilica

Pantheon!

Now I am in Dubrovnik, Croatia and the weather is beautiful and so is this city.

I hope that everyone is having a beautiful summer as am I!

Greetings to all!

My Voyage thus far!

Okay so I understand that my posts have not been posting, and I don't know why.
So I was able to get on the ship without any problems. My room is very small it has 2 beds a small Tv that is literally 5 inches by 5 inches a tiny fridge and a descent bathroom for the size of the room. My roommates name is Vicki and I am so excited that she is my roommate because we get along very well.
So the voyage from Nassau, Bahamas to Gibraltar was great we had no extremely sized waves.
Classes on the other hand are hard, I have 10-20 pages of reading everyday per class so I'm taking 3 classes so I have about 60+/- pages of reading depending on the chapter that we have to read. I had classes for the first 12 days and then we got to Barcelona, I already had a test in 2 classes and on class has quizzes every other day.
When we got to Barcelona, Espania I walked out of the boat with 2 other girls that I got to know through class just knowing each other over time (the rest of our friends went on field trips that they previously signed up for). We walk all over La Rambla and went to the Boquaria market (it might be spelled differently, but I don't have much time to write this).
Barcelona is beautiful with historical buildings everywhere you go. I was sure to see Sagrada Familia, Bari Gotic, La Rambla, the Beaches, and of course the night clubs.  On one of the nights me and the girls went to see Kaskade, a famous DJ in Opium night club. We met a lot of people from all around the world in Barcelona and loved each and every moment.
So pretty much we spent our nights in Disco's and our days walking, lets just say I walked so much that if it all added up I could probably cross a State maybe even more.
I am right now in Rome, Italy. I met with my mother today and we are staying together in Rome near the Trevi fountain.
Before coming to Rome I was in Napoli a city south of Rome in the Campania region of Italy. I went on a tour of a winery there, one of the oldest that is also protected by the Italian government as an Archeological site. I also went the Museu de Archeologica in Napoli where artifacts from Pompeii are being exhibited, but due to protests I was unable to see those artifacts. I was also able to take my friends out to Pizza at Pizza Brandi (the restaurant where Pizza was originated in the 18th century)

Thank You to the Key Family for not only telling me about Semester at Sea, but for treating me and my friends to the great Pizza Margherita!

I am very tan and very very happy with what is happening in my life. I feel so proud to be able to do this and I hope that you are all proud of me.
My next stop is Dubrovnik Croatia. I will write again when possible.
If you would like to you can email me at:
pczachowska@semesteratsea.net

Sending you all greetings and Love!!!

Photos are coming Soon...

Saving Our Planet and Ourselves!

I have always been a strong believer in philanthropy. 

From buying these heart stickers as a little girl to help raise money for sick children in Poland with 

Wielka Orkiestra Swiatecznej Pomocy 

(click on the link above to donate, google has translator to help with language barriers)

Even when I did move to the United States my best friends whom I would write letters with would send me these stickers.

When I came to college I learned a little bit more on how to be able to help save the world. I started by joining the Make a Wish Foundation at my school where students came together to raise money to grant one wish to a dying child. 

It has been very important for me to give back to the world.

Almost 10 years ago my younger cousin who was at the time 6 years old was diagnosed with lung cancer and because I was so young and did not understand much of what was happening and because I was half way around the world away from him there was nothing I could do, I wished and prayed that he would get better. My prayers were answered after a long time of hearing about all the things happening in the hospital. 

From then I knew that I wanted to somehow be able to help others in the best way that I knew how. 

In 2010 I learned in my sorority about Relay for Life, yes I have heard about it before, but I never really knew what it was exactly. I signed up the moment I knew that this was near and dear to my heart. I stayed at relay for 26 hours in 2010 walking with friends who supported me and the cause. In 2011 I signed up for the second year in a row knowing that I had to help as much as I could together with my school we were able to raise $33,821.96 and I was able to walk 26 hours for the second time.

I have done other things as well such as marches for breast cancer, helping Habitat for Humanity, working with Reading is Fundamental, and participating in many other philanthropic events.

Now I am thinking of other ways to save the world and something that I have always thought was a big way was to

  SAVE THE PLANKTON ! 

Plankton, yes that little one eyed dude that was on the famous cartoon Spongebob.

What many people may not know is that Plankton are very important to our world. And unfortunately they are on the very bottom of the food chain, I am not saying go kill whales.

Plankton absorb over 50% of all the CO2 that we produce by burning fossil fuels and producing about 90% of our air. How does this happen you may ask? Well plankton float on top of water, meaning they float on top of all of the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and any other fresh water watering hole you may find. Plankton are like plants and they survive by taking in sunlight, CO2 and water and creating air out of it, there are other ways that different kinds of plankton do this, but I will not get into detail on those. 

Plankton are killed daily in large numbers by being captured in nets, burning from the ozone layer, and even from the garbage they may come upon that falls into the oceans.

A way you can help save plankton and save our planet in more ways than just SLOWING OR POTENTIALLY STOPING GLOBAL WARMING or even CREATING FRESH AIR TO BREATH WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT TREES, you can drive your car less often, walk or ride your bike to where you want to get because it's also good for your health, you can make sure to recycle, cut up plastic can net things to not hurt animals, or even by buying reusable water bottles instead of buying that 24 pack of waters that you will throw the plastic bottles away into normal trash anyway.

LETS SAVE THE WORLD PEOPLE!

If you would like to donate to any of the organizations click on the name that is attached to a link.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS!

POLSKA!

            

There is a certain enjoyment that I get from being in Poland. It may be because I was born there and most of my closest friends and all my family live there, but I always feel happy when I am there. 

It is both difficult and easy for me to describe the experience I have when I go back home to Poland. 

The first place that I usually go is to my grandmothers house where most of my memories come from. My grandmother has a farm and lives in a not so large tourist town. There is a lot of wild beaches and a lot of forest. I like to walk everywhere I go because I don't exactly have a car, but also because I like to be able to look at everything and how much it has stayed the same over time. I am always able to see the place where I fell into a red ant hill and had my legs covered in bites, the place where I used to run around in the forest because there was a lot of freedom, the tower where hunters can spot wild hogs and other animals they maybe hunting that I used to go up because it was so high up you could see for miles.

I also enjoy seeing my friends because when we get back together after a long time of being apart it always feels like no time has passed at all. 

Or even when I am in my home town, walking the streets and knowing where I am makes me happy, seeing my old elementary school or even seeing the park where I rollerbladed with my mom brings back memories to me that I can't let go of. 

 All these things that I hold dear in my heart I will know that I can at any time return to. 

I know that if I need a place to stay my family will welcome me with open arms, or if I need someone to talk to my friends will crack open a beer and a bag of chips that we will drink and eat while talking about thoughts feelings and so on. 

I know my puppy will always greet me when I come through my grandmothers gate and be excited that I am there.

A feeling of welcome is always something that makes a person want to be somewhere. 

Wroclaw 2011

Miedzyzdroje 2008

Warszawa Palac Kultury

18th Birthday

Grandmothers Garden

Cake

Rode that leads to home

Polska 2010

Rynek, Wroclaw 2010

Train to the sky

Pobierowo 2010