Today on the "Oprah Winfrey Show", Oprah walked with Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, through the remnants of the major concentration camp in Poland. Watching this program conjured up all of the feelings that I experienced when I visited it last summer with my fellow WorldTeach volunteers.

Even though it is almost one year that I have visited the camp, the experience profoundly moved me, and I am still affected by it today. I am in awe of Professor Wiesel, as he, a Auschwitz survivor, was able to walk through the area where his family, and so many others, died.

The program was educational, it was good that others got a chance to see what it was like. But, it does not capture what it is like to walk around this camp, knowing that people died horrifically. First of all, the camp is large and vast (about the size of Manhattan). It is also eerily quiet, a place to honor and respect those who have died. However, I felt the souls of those who perished, almost like they were still crying.

I cried throughout my visit. I knew it was going to happen, but I am not ashamed of it. So what, if people looked at me strangely. No one mourned these individuals when they died, why can't I cry in order to honor their death?

I cried when I saw the names of individuals on their suitcases (thinking that they were being relocated to another place), seeing the pictures, seeing their shoes, their hair, and their baby clothes.

Whom have we lost by their senseless deaths? Poets, doctors, artists, lovers, mothers and fathers....Who was inhumane enough to kill these individuals? Worst of all, could I ever commit these crimes of inhumanity? Does everyone have a touch of evil within ourselves?

People should visit Auschwitz in order to remember. However, I am concerned that this is turning into a tourist site, instead of a place of reflection. It becomes another checkpoint on someone's itinerary, a "Disneyland of death"--once you see it, you can return back to your superficial lives.

After we visited Auschwitz, someone pulled me aside and said that since "he grew up reading the history, visiting the place does not affect me", as if I should be ashamed that I cried.

I DO NOT CARE WHAT HE SAYS. I am still affected by the images from the holocaust. To me, that's where the danger lies. Indifference only allows injustice to persist. People must have known what was going on, but they did not do anything about it. Where they afraid, indifferent? Unfortunately, events like the holocaust are still occurring in our world (ex. Sudan) and if we visit torture centers, read histories, and still do not feel anything, then genocide will still exist in our world.

This just makes me more committed to fight against social injustice throughout the world.

To paraphrase the ending of the show:

To those who died, we remember.
To those who survived, we hear your voice.
To the future generations, we will never forget.

Yesterday was voting day in OHIO and also a debut on the beautiful, brand spanking new voting machines!

Unfortunately, in many parts of the state, they didn't work.

I was surprised that they even had these machines where I voted. I only assumed that they were setting them up only in Cleveland. However, even though it was the primary voting season, I did my civic duty and went to vote. Of course (which may reflect the voter apathy of many people) I was the youngest person in the room (and probably the youngest person out there voting yesterday). So, showing me how the machines worked was a breeze to the voting official. He remarked on how quickly i voted, making a general statement on how "people under the age of 60 are computer literate".

However, I am concerned about the quality of these machines. If anyone has problems voting, then the voting official would have to come over and help, noticing what/whom the person is voting for/against. These new machines are creating a lack of privacy.

Plus, while voting on a digital machine is more efficient than poking a pencil through a hole, could it be used to disenfranchise more people from voting? What if you are not computer literate? How would you vote? Those considerations must be kept in mind for voter reform.

It's already bad enough that voting officials have a hard time finding my name on the voter registration list--why should voting, which is a civic duty, be made into an excrutiatingly difficult process?

Today is the first year anniversary of Pope John Paul IInd's death. After visiting and living in Poland, you look at his life differently. He definitely embodied the Polish spirit, of having to fight back against overwhelming odds and even criticism. While I sometimes disagreed with his policies and views, he was deeply intelligent and spiritual....

Humility, that's what I liked the most about him. Especially in a world that really stresses materialism and greed over everything else. He left behind no material possessions and he was able to show his weakness to others, which was(and still is) extremely comforting to those who are ill and elderly.

I sometimes wish I do not have to question faith and religion in general. There are so many people who twist religion out there to their advantage (ex. Ohio Resoration Project, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, to name a few), going against the Christian ideals of loving thy neighbor and being accepting towards others. This doesn't mean that I view all religious people as evil. There are some, like the Sisters i know in Poland, who live the religious lifestyle, who take care of others, and who live humble lives.

Sometimes I wish I could be a nun...I think I would enjoy the lifestyle, but I don't know if I am selfless enough to give up my life for a spiritual being.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Time to eat up today, especially Paczki!

However, just watching the news last night and today of the reverlers in New Orleans, a part of me still feels sad and upset with the current state of New Orleans.

Six months later, homes are still abandoned, people are still displaced, pets are still abandoned, and there's still a lack of cohesive plan for the future of New Orleans.

Individuals are still living in trailers, with no way to support themselves. As one BBC reporter stated last night, it still looks like a hurricane went through New Orleans last night.

When will the cleanup begin? Why is there no plan? Why are we (STILL) treating our citizens this way in America?

A new show on FX entitled Black. White http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/blackwhite/main.html .

A new six-part documentary where individuals take on different racial identities and live lives as an "African-American" or as a "Caucasian". Such an eye-opening look on the way racism is still being played out in America and how we still treat people based on the way they look. For example, a bar scene where a White bartender expresses his opinions on minorities freely in front of an African-American woman. A scene where a white woman calls an African-American woman a "beautiful Black creature". And so on and so on. I can go on and on, but I think it's so important to watch this show that I won't divulge any more scenes. This shouldn't be on cable, but on one of the major networks.

But, would many Americans want to watch this show? Doubtful.

people are not able to destroy these stereotypes because diversity is becoming non-existent in schools and neighborhoods. More and more families are separating from each other, raising their children in homogenous environments where stereotypes are developed and thriving. Growing up in a suburb, I have heard these stereotypes from many people. They start out as little whispers, private jokes shared between close friends. However, they come out in full force during economic downturns and rising job competition. For instance, at the local Polish-American center, the conversation always focuses on immigrants and minorities and how they are not as "hard-working as their grandparents" and they expect everything to be "handed out on a silver platter". I listen to these conversations, without saying a word or voicing my own opinion.

This is where part of the problem arises. I care deeply about social justice and civil rights and I should speak up and not care about what people think. However, it is so difficult when the stereotypes and indifference are so powerful that no one really cares what you think or say. This is what makes the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina so difficult to watch and endure. We send out money and clothes to those who need help, which helps the problem temporarily. But, when we need to work on the problems that need long-term solutions, such as racism, people run away and refuse to do anything about it. Oppressed individuals are powerless and there are not many powerful venues for people to talk openly about race and racism, allowing the problems and inequities to persist for the future generations.

We need an honest discussion about race relations in America!