Monday, September 12, 2011

9/11 Across the World


           ‘Ey guys! Sorry about that super short entry yesterday. Although, I guess there really wasn’t much else to say. Antek did, however, show me he has Angry Birds on the family iPad. So we played that together some yesterday, and today. Except today he was far better about sharing, switching back and forth after trying once. It was a lot of fun. However, his mother is rightfully worried about the fact he might be playing the iPad too much… I don’t blame her. Hey, if he’s lucky, staring at screens all day will end up with glasses, a bad back, and the inability to really move around too much without running out of breath! :D Awesome, right? Haha, I constantly tried to use myself as the “bad example” of relying on technology. I say this as I type on my computer… Which, the neighbor’s mom noted how fast I type, actually. Well, you get that when you sort of have an addiction to the internet for part of your life. Yup.
           Anyways, today I woke up around 9:30 after going to bed around 2:30; I found out Agata and Michał came back around 3:30. We relaxed at home, had a nice breakfast, still relaxed at home, Agata’s dad eventually left, and yeah. Agata noted how I look pretty without bangs or that I should do something different with my bangs to show more of my forehead. Huge compliment, considering bangs ended up becoming a means of hiding what feels like an enormous forehead. We might go to the hair salon together at the end of this week, but that’ll depend on if Michał has work or not.
           While we were relaxing through the morning, the TV was on, and there was a lot of news about 9/11… There were moments I really wanted to cry. Thousands of innocent lives were lost that day, and thousands more lives were ruined as people lost their loved ones: mothers, brothers, fathers, daughters, sons, uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, friends… We will never forget. The world will never forget. Even here in Poland, news channels and radio stations recalled that fatal day and looked at how it changed the world. The babysitter Agata told me last night that she remembered that very moment when she found out. Halfway across the world. So I repeat. May those who lost their lives rest in peace, may those who helped on that day in any which way be remembered and honored, and may those who lost loved ones be assured no one will ever forget.
           I do not deny I often complain about America. I do not deny that this blog has been my absolute exhilaration of living in Poland and the expression of my absolute desire to move here for the rest of my life. I do not deny I want to leave America for another country. Despite all of this, I am still proud to be an American. I am proud of our history, of all we have done for the world, and of who we can be. I don’t want America to go down the drain; I want to see it thrive. Although, I will not turn a blind eye to its faults, and those are the faults that scare me and drive me away. Perhaps those of you who are braver than me will stick around and see that those faults are fixed; I’ll go find the country with faults I’m willing to stick through and fix. Regardless, the point of this is, I am proud. It’s very difficult to explain, considering especially how often I complain, but I am. I remember talking to Chip about this, actually, and he understood what I was saying. I hope you understand too.
           Basically, for the morning, whenever there was any news about 9/11, I was very solemn… Eventually, though, we left the house for Magnolia… Where the kids got some toys, and we all went to see… The Lion King!!!! Bahahah! I have seen it twice before it even shows up in America! It was really funny; Michał asked me if I decided what movie I wanted to see, and I sort of stared at him blankly before saying a bit matter-of-factly, “The Lion King with you guys?” He was shocked. xD Oh gosh, I’m such a kid. After I came home, both Lisa and my dad asked me what movie we saw and I said, “The Lion King.” They both said, “Again?” … Yup. I am not ashamed and very happy with that. :D Really. I was so happy getting a second chance to see it on the big screen, not being so emotional especially, and watching it in Polish especially. Kiełbasa still cracks me up… And I need to find a screenshot of meditating Rafiki to screenshot and put on my wall. Hania didn’t make it through the whole movie as she got very restless. There were also more kids this time around, but the theatre wasn’t a full house. Though it’s at the end of its run here, I think.
I’m still going to say this. Disney knows how to make money. Re-releasing such a successful and loved movie in theatres around the time most kids have grown up and are experiencing nostalgia. Genius. For goodness sake, whenever I ask people what their favorite Disney movie is, I always put in the disclaimer: Besides the Lion King, because that’s just an obvious answer. I sort of feel like that’s an unwritten understanding amongst most people as well…
Afterwards, we went through a few stores in the mall; on the way back to the car, Antek ended up dropping his toy from the first floor to floor zero while playing with it along the railing and started crying and panicking someone would steal it. So his dad had to stay up on the first floor and watch over it while we went to go get it. Yes, no one stole it. I knew that would happen, though. As soon as he said, “I dropped my Gormit!” I was like: Yuuuup. Called that one.
We went home and relaxed through the afternoon. Agata made a wonderful lunch. Some sort of pasta with meat, spinach, and cheese. Delicious! Then 5 kids came over and played in the backyard. Antek had gone to invite one of his friends, and five kids came over, hahaha. Agata gave them juice and everything. It was really fun, listening to them playing together and everything. Meanwhile, I Skyped with my parents again! That must be a record for one weekend! Hah! :D It was really nice. We’re still stuck in regards to the Nissan. :( So we’ll see how that goes… Although, it was really funny because my mom told Michał how similar his son looks to him; in fact yesterday while on Skype, she nearly called Antek Michał.
Besides that, they talked about how I’m an awesome child, essentially. (This came up because my parents told Michał that they hoped I wasn’t too much of an issue for them.) My mom admitted that when talking to other parents who are having issues with their kids, she doesn’t quite understand because she can’t imagine having a bad kid. My dad, on the other hand, said he could, because he remembered what he was like. Which my mom also said she remembered how she was like, but that it’s different. I dunno. It was really nice listening to that… though I won’t deny, it was a bit… not necessarily embarrassing, but something along those lines. But enough of that…
Today, I noticed while talking to Agata, she sometimes had difficulties understanding what exactly I was trying to say… Which I understand, but then I remembered how I talked to the taxi driver on Friday night and he said he could understand everything I was saying. My uncle admitted to me a few weeks ago as well that he sometimes had trouble trying to understand what I was trying to say… And my cousin’s husband, Adam, also often has to ask me to repeat what I say… … I don’t get it. Why can a stranger understand me more than family? XD Bahaha, I mean, difference in the amount of time we talk is obviously a factor, but I still find it amusing.
In other news! … I have a week and a half left at work… Insane. Seriously. The hell? I swear! I just came here yesterday. That absolute shock. The awe of my apartment for the next two months. The swelling pride the first few days I had to get around on my own. My uncle and aunt staying here the first night, and leaving me hoping all would go well. Yet, here we are. Week and a half left. Although, this was decided today. I’m going to travel to Gdynia and Bydgoszcz to visit other family for that last week. Which means I have to call a lot of people tomorrow. Family who is here that I have yet to meet up with, my family in both Gdynia and Bydgoszcz, my uncle and aunt here to make sure the days I choose to leave and come back are ok, and my cousins to see if I can meet up with them before I trek up the country . Considering this upcoming weekend I’ve made plans with Michał and Agata again. George Michael concert, yeaaaah! :D
Back to today, though! That’s honestly about all. The kids left, I quit Skyping, and we shared our goodbyes before Michał drove me back to my apartment. Today was an “important” day in one more manner… … Drum roll please… … I started doing my laundry. *gasp* Right now, it’s going through its cycle upstairs. It took me forever and a freakin’ half to find the stupid outlet for the machine. Ok, let me give you an idea of why this is a big deal. … Quite simply, I hate laundry. Give me dishes, give me vacuuming duty, sweeping duty, taking out the trash, anything but freakin’ laundry. I. Hate. It. My roommate can testify to that, considering I tried my absolute hardest to minimalize the necessity of laundry last year. That and every time I travel, I try my absolute hardest to pack enough clothing to last for the entire trip, even if it’s five weeks, without laundry.
Unfortunately, something tells me this will have to last a few days as well, as the laundry machine is on the small side and a cycle takes about 2 hours. However! Agata informed me this laundry machine also has a dryer! SUPER SHOCK! Poland rarely uses dryers. So now it’s up to me to figure out how to use it. If I can’t, I need to figure out where the hell I’m going to hang everything to dry as I don’t have a drying rack… … Hm…
Well, that’s all the excitement of my day! Therefore, I bid thee a wonderful day after your conclusion of reading this, and to keep this historic day, and more importantly, the people directly affected by it, in your thoughts and prayers. Dobranoc! 
Note: Written yesterday.
P.S. I loathe laundry. I ended up drying my clothes for two hours first. Then couldn't figure out to get the washer to work... ... Arrrgh, I don't understand all the stupid signs on the laundry machine! Hopefully I'll manage to do something tonight.  

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