Yesterday I went on an adventure with four of my friends (Amanda, Tess, Alyssa, and Siegfried). Went to Seegrotte, which is an underground lake, former Gypsum mine. In the late 1800s through 1912 the mines were used to extract gypsum that was used in agriculture products. In 1912 they were attempting to expand that caves, but they blast opened a pocket to an underground water cave and thus the mines were flooded. Between the flooding and my tour yesterday it was once in habited by Nazis. There were remnants of a Heinkel HE 46 aircraft which the Germans built (underground and top secret of course). These planes were very narrow as they must be maneuvered through the tunnels of the mine and out the surface level.
Obviously, much of Austria and Europe was occupied by the Nazis, but this was the first time I had truly felt the affects of their former presence. I think because the mine tunnels were fairly small and the save areas were only the size of a dining hall is what made the difference. The area was tight and I could just picture how the Nazis would have been running around down there. It was eery.
Back to the fun part- We were lead on a German/English guided tour and given historical facts about the mine. As we wound down to the lower levels, about 180 feet below ground, we reached the lake. It was really cool. The walls were covered in mineral deposits, so they had a subtle glow, the water was bright and clear and hyper-calcified. We took a boat tour through the caves and received more information about the area. The water is only about 4 feet deep because they continually pump (about 60,000 gallons a day) water to the surface.
Now to explain the title of the post, which until now is quite irrelevant:
The trip was tons of fun and it was great to see a more suburban area of the country. We took 1 Ubahn, 1 Sbahn, and a bus to get to the caves and the same route to return. As much fun as I had in the caves, the part of the day that impacted me the most was the Sbahn ride to the Seegrotte. The seats are grouped in 4s so I took the 5th seat across the aisle from my friends. It seems I have a knack for meeting interesting people on public transport, and this trip would follow suit. I sat next to a man, maybe in his thirties, but I could not really tell. I asked the woman across from me if she would mind taking a photo of my friends and I. She got off on the next stop. The man next to me asked if I had spoken Russian to the lady. I told him no and that I only speak English. We then had conversations about where we were from, why we were in Austria, etc. He was from Chechnya, a part of Southern Russia. He had worked as a construction Engineer in Turkey and was now working on a Petroleum Engineer degree in Vienna. He spoke Russian, Turkish, decent English, and was working on French and Arabic. He had given Chinese a shot, but did not have much success. He seemed like a nice man but he also seemed very sad. Only a few minutes into our conversation he began to tell me about Russia's multiple invasions of Chechnya and how his people were fighting for their freedom.
At first I thought it was really weird that he was telling me all of this, but I continued to listen. I asked him if he preferred living in Austria or Turkey better. I think his answer was Austria, but it didn't really matter to him, as long as he felt safe. In Russian occupied Chechnya, he said there is a constant fear, and that you must monitor everything you said because yo could be report to the police. I was sort of shocked to hear this. Clearly the secret police existed in previous times but I had no idea that this was still an issue. It was all quite sad really. He had not lived in Chechnya in many years, but this was still clearly effecting his conscious train of thought.
We got off of the Sbahn and parted ways. I didn't really pay much thought to the conversation until I was headed home that evening. This man's entire person was shaken by the current situation in his home country. His family was in a dangerous place that forced them to live in constant fear.
I guess the point of this is to appreciate the freedom that you have. We take it for granted every single day when we wake up and go about our day. Feeding our whims and saying what we please. Not everyone has this luxury, so be grateful, and compassionate to others.
http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/dec-11-1994-russia-invades-chechnya-12334058
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