I am currently staying with a man named Birk Ehmer and his family in Frankfurt Oder on the border with Poland. Birk and his wife have three children between the ages of twelve and seven. Since my arrival I have been treated as an honored guest. I had never met Birk before but when he heard that I was coming invited me to stay for a few days. It is incredible to meet people who are willing to open their hearts and lives to me. I have been so blessed to make such connections along the way. In the time that I have been in Germany I have been most impressed by the sincerity and welcoming attitude of the people. I have had to relearn to truly take people at their word and that is a wonderful thing. Though I leave Germany for Poland tomorrow I now have friends here that I will stay in contact with and who have supported me so much along the way.

The other night I went with Birk and family across the border to Poland and it felt strange to go such a short distance but be surrounded by a different culture there. I have never in my life before been within walking distance of another country. I am excited to be going to Poland for a while so that I can experience a place that I have never seen. Poland is a country with much history and many beautiful places from beaches to tall mountains and old cities. I will also have to get used to hearing and attempting to speak a very different language. This is a little annoying because I have just started to learn some German words and have gotten used to the way that it sounds. Oh well, I guess that will be one of the difficulties of being on the road. I have heard that many of the young people of Poland speak English well so I should not have too much trouble there. Hopefully along the way I can give plenty of updates about where I end up and what it is like.