"Ka-razy" in Katowice

So I get to Katowice, say goodbye to Cainna and Linda, and trek out into the city to see what I can see in my two hour layover there before attempting to get to Zilnia. Immediately after leaving the train station, there is a sign for a McDonalds (weird!), and I figure that it’s probably a good indicator for where there may be some activity (even though I have NO intention of eating there…ever… again, Polish or otherwise! :- ): After a good hundred yards or so, I was right, and there was a bustling little town business district with many modern little shops. I also noticed a group of people huddled around a write-board, handing out literature of some kind, and talking with people in little groups. If you’ve ever done “open air evangelism”, you know it immediately when you see it, so as one of the young ladies walked up to me and spilled a string of Polish, I smiled, as usual, and told her that I either spoke English, or (in Russian) Russian. “Oh!”, she said with an American accent, “where are you from?” I told her Indiana and she laughed. “No WAY! I’m from Indiana! What part?” “South Bend/Granger area”. “WHAT?!!! I grew up in Knollwood and went to Prairie Vista! How crazy is that!” We debated whether or not to start singing “It’s a Small World After All”, and I gathered that she is in Katowice on an 18 month missionary gig with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). She introduced herself as “Sister Festbeder”, and we discovered that we had some mutual friends in Elkhart who are Mormons as well and with whom I used to work. She moved to Utah a few years ago, and now is doing her standard stint here in Poland. She was pleasant, as were the three guys and other girl with her, and they even escorted me to the closest Internet Café, where I posted my first few blog posts. They weren’t there when I left, so must have moved on, but how funny to run into a Grangerite all the way here in Katowice. Ka-razy!