Unlike most Mondays, yesterday was quite productive! I mean, I got to sleep in, and once I was ready, despite my uneasiness of going to study, I actually left the apartment. You see, it was about 13.30 by the time I left, and at that point I was a bit iffy about having to go to the library I needed, because who knew if it was open... I mean, I really really did not want to travel all the way out to the library to find that it was closed. Distance wise, it's not too bad, but only two trams run to the stop, every ten minutes, which is unfortunate. However, I told myself if I didn't go then, then I wouldn't go at all, so I'm quite proud of myself for actually pushing myself to go. Yes, the library was open, and I was there for 2 and a half hours and got down about 3 pages of notes about Scots in Poland. I'd consider that a successful trip. (:
Coming back on the tram was miserable. lD' I had a horrendous driver, who kept THROWING on the damned brake, so it would jerk horribly, and all sorts of unfun things. However, I was quite shocked by the fact that I got checked on the tram for once! So this is now my third time being checked, first on the tram. Far less than Wrocław still, but I find it really funny it's all been within a week or two, as opposed to evenly spread out.
Yesterday evening, Monika and I made dinner for us. Monika made the fried potatoes, and I made the meatballs in a sour cream sauce. They said that they were good, but for whatever reason, I honestly wasn't too satisfied with them. Which is certainly a shame, but what can one do? However, afterwards, we also made szarlotka! That's right! We made it! On our own! I used my aunt's recipe (from Gdynia), and had to call her up for some confirmations. But I'd say it turned out quite well. Delicious, in fact. Half of it was gone by today (partially because we need the cake pan again for tomorrow). So I'm glad that worked out! It was the perfect amount of sugar and everything. The rest of the apples we prepped were turned into apple sauce as well, which should be yummy if we try to make potato pancakes soon.
That was all for yesterday, though. Nothing too exciting, eh? Today, though, the Holocaust class was quite interesting. We finally talked about the rescuers side of the story as opposed to the victims or the perpetrators. We heard many many touching stories, successes and failures. It's absolutely phenomenal what people will do to help others, especially in such a crucial time. Even some anti-Semites were like: Nope. I don't like them, but killing them is not ok. Therefore, when people put aside their dislikes to help the people they would normally discriminate against, well, wow. That says a lot, I'd imagine. Every time I go into that class, it makes me wonder more and more if I really shouldn't just go into Holocaust studies. I know I mentioned it before, so I won't go into too much detail about it this time. Although, I will say this: while looking up the Righteous of the Nations on the Yad Vashem site, I explored the Poland page, curious just in case any of my family might've been a savior of some Jews or something. Oddly enough, I saw the name of my great grandmother: Władysława Piotrowska. Of course, I have a feeling this may be a very very common name, but at the same time, I have a feeling it would be worth looking into. If my mom doesn't know anything, or can't confirm one way or another for sure, I might even just message the center and ask them about it. The likelihoods it is my family, probably slim, but... a curious coincidence, no less!
After class, went straight back to the apartment and finished up a one-page paper for my Polish class successfully. I hope it was all right... I dunno, I've become a bit more conscious of my written Polish lately. Perhaps that's because I'm actually using it far more often, so now it's becoming an actual issue as opposed to me being like: Hopefully this works, as it's a rarity for me anyways! Nate, Monika, and I wanted to go to the main U Babci Maliny restaurant this afternoon for lunch, but we had barely missed the tram. Instead, we went to a very close by cafe we had noticed, Cafe Forma. We had never been there because go figure, it's close, so why would we use it? :P Really now. The food was absolutely delicious and very reasonably priced! Plus, it's still held me over until now, really, with very few snacks. So I'd say that is a very very good and simple restaurant to go to again! Yeah, I think we wanted to try something new. Hahaha, no more pierogi (well, I wouldn't mind... I never mind!).
Poland in Europe in the 20th Century... what can I say about it... ... I was very... very... tired... I actually did end up dozing in class a lot, unfortunately. :( I just couldn't keep awake, so I didn't even try to write down notes, simply because my handwriting goes from bad to abysmal when I am tired. It seemed interesting, particularly since we went through the period of "oh, Western allies and USSR are still friends, but wait for it.. waaaait for it, aaaahhhh there we go, the Cold War has BEGUN!" Haha. So from what I remember, it was good. After class, we asked Professor Basista a few questions in regards to our class, particularly about the final exam questions... Bad news... We won't get them until January 11th. What does that mean for me? ... I'll be completing a final in my first and second week of school back at Vandy. Argh. Laugh it up, now, yeah yeah. Frustrating as heck, let me tell you! But what can I do, really? He said he could make a separate set of questions for us, but really, that'd be asking way too much from him, so I guess there is no choice. Vanderbilt's going to have to deal with getting the transcript in February instead, because I have absolutely no control otherwise.
After class, I had to find a ksero in order to print out my paper for my language class... ... All of the ones I stopped by were closed. So I resorted in hope to go to my language building, where I know there is an expensive ksero, so that I could print it out. I show up, wait in line, and get up there. The guy at the desk points out I had a mistake in my Polish title and that he fixed it for me, and besides that, when it was printed, the woman pointed out another mistake I had made, to which the guy defended me saying: She's just learning after all. Hoorah for understanding! Although... when it came time to pay, I opened my wallet and realized the tiny issue I had. It was 20 grosze (the cent of Poland) for the print. I had 2 grosze total, and my next smallest bill waaaaas... 20 złoty. So the guy sort of laughed and was like: Whatever, don't worry about it. Hoorah!
Polish class was interesting, again. We learned about capitalization rules in Polish, as yes, they are different from English. They've always confused me in writing, so I'm glad I finally got a few more explanations. We also did an audio exercise, listening to married couples and one father and son argue about all sorts of amusing things, like how the neighbor burned something horribly, therefore she's incompetent in everything, and how the husband should wear a navy suit, because the wife really likes a navy suit on her boss, and other such amusing topics. But really, nothing significant besides that, so I'd say the past few days have been lax, minus the fact I've been quite worried about my school work finally. Time is flying, and I'm just starting to realize it... Oh boy, isn't that a great feeling?
The evening was also very relaxed. I just spent it working on some school work, Skyping with my dad and then with Bobby, and now, I really should go to bed, cause I'm quite tired, but I should also finish my school work. Oh, productivity. It seems to have left me, unfortunately. Ah well! That'll be fixed soon enough!
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