After mentioned event it was time to relax and what else could be more relaxing than having a picnic at a lake enjoying the probably last warm rays of the late autumn sun before rain, wind and coldness take over the rule.  We decided to meet all together in a park which is more or less next to Krakow. From our flat your able to just walk there, thus we did so or at least we tried. Emelyn, Kübra and I started our journey to Zakrzowek, a former quarry and now that it is filled with water one of the most visited places by locals and tourists. The reason for that is not only its perfect location but also the fact, that police won’t control that much over there who is drinking in public and who not, resulting in a gray zone where people gather and have a cold one together.

As we kept on walking, guided by our best friend if it comes to going some place you don’t know , called google maps, we must’ve taken a wrong turn because we ended up in front of a gate which prevented us from going any further. Behind this metallic construction which lacked paint while rust started to creep up it’s irony bars, we discovered a boulevard like street leading to a small settlement with houses which all looked the same. Not doubting that google maps was showing us the right direction, and let me tell you that if it would have said that we had to swim through the Baltic sea and conquer the south and north pole to arrive at the lake, we would have done it. Sometimes those advices make you some kind of blind, maybe out of ignorance or over trust, but also because if you go wrong and somebody is screaming that you should get off his yard or he will fetch his riffle you can say:

“ Ohh I am so, so sorry, I thought that would be the way, I guess Google did not update its maps for some time. Have a nice day.”

Leading to the neighbor complaining about the youth nowadays and that you should open your eyes next time. The fault though is now not directly yours anymore but Googles because they gave you a wrong direction.

As we stood there, wondering what to do, Emelyn decided to let actions speak rather than thoughts by grabbing the bars with her hands, her feet were clenched between the free spaces and she started to  climb up the gate, because it was the right direction. As she proceeded to reach the top of the gate, observed by me and Kübra, thinking if we should return and take another path, we noticed that a car was coming towards our direction. We could not see which kind of or out of which reason it might come this way, because the part of the street we were standing at was surrounded by forest and right after a turn. While warning Emelyn and her panicking jump down from the gate, while she lost her package of cigarettes on the other side, we prepared to confront whoever was coming, practicing our lines, that we are tourists and don’t know where to go blaming google for having us led there. When the car turned around the corner, we were shocked. The blue stripes on the side, in it the word “Policja”, which decorated this sprinter made us swallow hard. It was our friend and helper the police. Of course all by itself we are lucky enough that we don’t have to be afraid of the police but it is still really shocking if you see this kind of transporter, in it for sure at least 6 officers, coming at you, in a small piece of forest. As they stopped the windows turned down and we started to see the face of one of the officers, asking us what we are doing here.

Thank the Lord that we practiced our lines, telling in the most innocent way possible who we were, and where we are from leading to the excuse of being tourists. The officer was really nice though telling us that we turned one turn to soon and gave us some directions. Until now they had no evidence that we even tried to get over that gate thus trespass this small settlement but then Emelyn thought that it would be a good idea to ask them, if they could get her cigarettes which lay on the other side of the gate. I mean the police is supposed to help you isn’t it? Then they might as well fetch your cigarettes.

Surprisingly the officer got out of his car, unfolding his baton to compensate the shortness of his arms. It was not enough though so he started to shout the name Hightower, like the one in the movie Police Academy (pretty sure that I was the only one who understood this reference of the three of us) and the door of the police car opened, revealing four other uniformed officers. One of them responded to the call, unbuckled and a 2-meter guy stood in front of us, making me understand why he was called Hightower by his colleagues. I don’t know what the other cop did with the package of cigarettes, if he pushed it further away by accident or because he was so worried about Emelyns health that he did it on purpose, but neither this huge guy, packed with muscles and wrapped up in his uniform making him an easy target for thoughts which lead to a slippery slope of them into situations which seemed quite inappropriate for the moment.

As he reached for the cigarette, unable to get them too, they decided to give up, announcing that it is better for Emelyns lungs anyway and they got back into the car as we commenced walking back to the street.

In the end we managed to reach the lake and meet the other ones. Everybody prepared something special for this feast, may it have been tuna sandwiches, lasagna or the offer of a beer. It was amazing and looking at the pictures now makes me wish back the time when we were at this lake. Though Theo was missing due to the visit of his family. The attentive spectator will notice that in this picture you can see a new face which belongs to Seyma (Sheyma) from Turkey. She arrived shortly after the senior’s eve and lives together with Rocio and Anthi.

Seyma is a really kind girl with a passion for Germany including its culture but also its language which is something you don’t get a lot as a German. Spanish, French or Italian are the languages everybody thinks of as most beautiful due to their sound and so on but if it comes to German which sounds like starting an engine or the rattling of  marbles which are getting crushed in the washing machine, people usually step away and complain about its harsh sounds. That’s why I felt and still feel flattered, that somebody likes my language that much.

Though enough of the language talk and let’s capture some of our Guapas and Guapos in Emelyns camera, resulting in an extraordinary and funny photo shooting which its result is shown in the bottom of this post.

Text by Sebastian, a volunteer from Germany, participant of the project “reACTogether” but also the support of the project “Mobility for Solidarity”.

The project “reACTogether” is organised within the framework of the European Solidarity Corps and financed by European Commission.