Wesołych Świąt!

           Poland's holidays are a bit more drawn out than in the States, and they actually last after Christmas has passed. It's wonderful! I always get so mad in the States, that the very next day, everything returns to normal. Here? Absolutely not! It's the beginning of the holidays, truly! Many, many Poles, for example, don't even consider buying a tree until the week before Christmas, if not a few days! Ya know where the 12 Days of Christmas actually originates from? It starts on Christmas Day and ends on January 6th, Three Wisemen's/Kings Day, if I remember correctly. That's the true Christmas season. Not beforehand.

           But! I shall finish my rant on Christmas now, and first take a moment to ask all of you to keep a few people in your thoughts during this season. First, five Polish soldiers lost their lives in action while in Afganistan a few days ago. A horrible time of year to lose such young lives, so keep them and their families in mind. Aside from that, I learned that also a few days ago, my uncle in Toruń, the one I visited a few weekends ago, had a second heart attack, and yes, he did live through it. Right now, he's at home, but all I can say is I hope that he's recovering well and that please keep him in mind as well. Now that those most recent events have been mentioned, I'll actually begin to describe my day Saturday.

           Woke up in the morning and mostly relaxed through the day until we left to go visit my grandmother's grave in Gdynia. My mom and aunt bought lots of flowers, decorations, and candles for her grave, and I lit up all of the candles. We spent a bit of time there, and then we drove back home. What did we do the rest of the day? Prepare our Wigilia feast, of course! My aunt had prepared most of the... danie (well, my English is going doooooown the drain) far earlier. We just had some little salads and fish frying to take care of. Oh, and more importantly, the pierogi! That was my dad's and my responsibility. We had actually prepared the cabbage filling the day before, and I think from now on, I'll actually be able to do it on my own! I think this time it stuck to my mind!

           Anyways, I prepared the dough for the pierogi, and we first used a bit of it for some kluski for the mak (poppy seeds) dessert mix. From then on, though, we just used the rest of it for actually pierogi. My uncle would often roll out the dough for us, and then we would stuff the pierogi. This process took a while, mind you, particularly since the first batch of dough was super tough and difficult to roll out. Although, they say it turned out well and yummy, so I guess that's what matters! Eventually, though, we managed to make all of the pierogi from the first batch of dough, cabbage and mushroom pierogi. From there, we moved on to blueberry pierogi! Oh god, absolute joy. My aunt did the most wonderful thing and went out and bought frozen blueberries for me to use. Therefore, I had to make a second batch of dough so that we could actually make the blueberry ones, but hey, this dough came out a lot softer and easier to roll out. Therefore, the dough wasn't as thick. Unfortunately, once we finished most of the pierogi, they had started leaking from the inside because they had not thawed completely beforehand, so some of them were not sticking together as they should. At this point, though, I was out of service. I had stood for at least three hours straight, and the pain in my knee was very sudden whenever I realized that fact. I ended up having difficulty walking to sit down... however, after sitting and laying down for a bit, I came back to the table, watched my family finishing preparing, and then we were ready for Wigilia!

          My aunt started off with a prayer (which.... we have never done at Wigilia at home as far as I can recall, but that tradition does not surprise me), and then we all went around the table and shared our opłatek and best wishes. Part of the Polish tradition is to share opłatek, which is like the church's wafers during communion, and to give your best wishes to everyone at the table. This was the one year I was not allowed to stand up, as my parents told me I was to sit the entire time after that sudden pain with my legs. With that, though, we sat down and ate. And ate. And ate. You see, Wigilia is usually (at least) a 12-course meal. So we had our barszcz, we had our pierogi, and our gołąbki, and lots and lots of fish. You aren't supposed to eat meat on Christmas Eve. This year, since I tried so many unique tastes, I decided to give the fish a try again. The Greek fish was delicious, because it was overloaded with carrots and other veggies, but... the other typical fish fish... not so much. Oh, the carp was good, again! Although, I was too scared to take a bigger piece, because of the bones... Yeah, that's the only reason I didn't eat more of it. My pierogi were a success, to the point where even my niece, Małgosia, loved the blueberry ones!

          Therefore, dinner was very fulfilling and a huge success, with lots of wine and chatting and enjoying of the holidays. It really did feel like Wigilia, and I was truly happy to be with my family in Poland. Best present possible, to be honest. Małgosia, being 11, of course kept on looking at the presents and waiting and begging when we would open the presents; after we were finished eating, of course, but she was impatient. In Poland, since they celebrate Mikołajki on the 6th of December, which is when Saint Nicolas actualy comes to give children presents, on Christmas Eve, the Angel is the one to deliver the presents under the tree. So you open them after dinner! Of course, I kept telling Małgosia that she ought to feel lucky, because in America you wait until the morning to open presents, haha.

          Finally, we did open presents. Everyone seemed very happy with their presents. My parents loved what I got them, hoorah! My dad got a Jagiellonian shot glass, t-shirt, and a handmade mug from Budapest, and my mom received a green amber pendant, a handmade festive tablecloth, and also a handmade mug from Budapest; I got the third one, as I had bought them as a set. In fact, I labeled them as our last names followed by 1, 2, or 3, because I wanted to see what luck thought each one of us should get. My mom got the one with the piano, which was perfect, my dad got the blue one, and I got the yellow one. The blue one was of the Hero's Square in Budapest, and mine was of the fortress around the church, if I remember it correctly. Aside from that, I got lots of chocolate, some nice clothing, and a beautiful Italian leather purse.

          Małgosia was very satisfied with her presents as well, which is always fun to see a kid so happy as she was. Honestly, this year I really didn't care about receiving presents. I just wanted to see how my parents would like what I got them, and well, as I mentioned before, I already got the best present ever, by having my parents fly to Poland so that we could celebrate the holidays with our family, all together. I didn't need anything else. <3 For the rest of the evening, we sat in front of the table and slowly ate more, particularly desserts and cakes. Quite delicious, I must say. But that's all that the rest of the evening consisted. Pleasant, family time. At some point, I went to bed. I know the rest of them stayed up for awhile, but I dunno, I was tired.

          Well, the next morning I slept in, as opposed to most people in the States, because I didn't have the entire OMGANXIETYABOUTPRESENTS thing going on. What did we do for the rest of the day? ... We sat in front ofthe table. And ate. And ate. And ate. We had breakfast. Then lunch. Occasionally we stepped away to... well some of us did to watch TV. I really didn't. Unless I planned on napping. Which was usually the intention. I haven't felt hungry at all since our Christmas Eve dinner. I've just eaten because the food is there. But true hunger? Absolutely not. My aunt keeps on running around and making sure everything is set at the table for us. It was a very enjoyable Christmas, though. Eventually, we went to my mom's best friend's apartment, and yes, we sat at another table and ate more food. We watched lots of home videos and looked at old pictures. Jagoda's mother continuously commented on what a wonderful young girl I am. At least I come across that way, eh? Haha. But really, it was a very enjoyable evening. Ania was even there, but we didn't get to talk too much. We were being proper and staying with everyone, unlike our youngen days when we would go play in her room.

          We determined some logistics for our trip down to Zakopane as well, and eventually, Ania had to drive us home. So that was the end of quite the wonderful Christmas day! <3 But obviously, Christmas was not over, as today was the second day of the holidays! In Poland, you celebrate the second day as well. So yes, it was another day of sitting in front of the table and eating. And eating. And oh god, I think I started to feel uneasy when I saw food on the table. While we were planning on perhaps leaving the house today, well, other things happened, people started looking at pictures instead, haha. Which is fine, because I felt the disappointment when I realized I'd have to go outside of the house today, hahaha. (I know, I'm lame.)

           I'll be honest, lately I've been missing chatting with lots of people lately, as I did through the semester. I understand why, as it's the holiday season, so people are spending time with their family, and so am I, obviously, but... I do miss people back home. In fact, I got quite a few emails today that brightened up my day tremendously! Today, Gabrysia left with her family, and my family ended up packing so that when Jagoda and her family came to chill for the evening, they could easily take our luggage into their car so that we wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning.

           Yes, Jagoda and her family (my mom's best friend) eventually came. Well, her daughter, Ania, the girl I met in Wrocław with her boyfriend, hah. Or well, hung out briefly. Either way, yes, we sat in front of the table and ate and caught up some more. We determined we would stop in two places on the way to Zakopane, my aunt and uncle in Toruń, particularly thanks to the fact he had a heart attack a few days ago, and my aunt and uncle in Łódź, because I did not have a chance to see them this year! Yes, yes, shame on me.

           So this evening passed by enjoyably as well. In fact, my parents even met Michał, Ania's boyfriend, because he came to pick her up. That was the most amusing moments of the evening, though, because well, my aunt lives out in the middle of a field, where people are just starting to build up houses. So she had to describe how to drive here, and every time that we saw a car driving in the middle of the field, they started flipping the lights to alarm the car which way to come. Each time was a failed attempt as well, because it was always not the right car. Eventually, though, he did show up, and we sat around for a short time, and then they all left, as we have to wake up bright and early for our drive down to Zakopane tomorrow! Fortunately, Poland does have high ways now (when I was growing up, it most definitely did not, hahaha).

           I... I do think that is all, though... You see... It was full of food. Lots. And lots. And lots. ... And LOTS of food. And sitting. And thank god, I'm going to learn how to ski! (Marek, Jagoda's husband, determined it'll be far better for me to actually ski; the skis are now short.) Therefore, I'll be active over the next few days! ... Oh gosh, the New Year is around the corner. Where has time gone?! AhhhhH! Good night!

End: Chapter 2. Begin: Chapter 3.

           Well, my last full day in Kraków went quite well. After a while, I managed to get all of my things packed, mostly, and my dad came over to help me out with the remainders of my packing, as... well, I'll be honest, it was difficult to put everything into the one suitcase I had left. All I can say is that I am super grateful for the fact that my parents are now here to help me out. Too. Much. Stuff. xD I scanned the entire apartment to make sure I had taken everything. Good thing, too! My dad helped me move all of my stuff out, and we headed back to their apartment. There, we met up with my mom's cousin, Basia so my ciocia Basia. It was really nice to meet with more family, and she thanked me for taking the initiative to make them meet up and what not, since I'm so curious about my family. We just relaxed in the apartment and my mom and Basia caught up. It was amazing to listen in a bit on some older stories and figure out how they were family, exactly. Plus, I found out that my mom and her brother miiiiight own land in Poland! If that's the case, I might have an actual starting point now! :DDD All I can do is keep my fingers crossed, because I would absolutely adore having that opportunity I did not even know was there before.

           Eventually, though, I had to head on out so that I could go through the Targi and grab some presents for friends and what not. Fortunately, once I know what I want, I get it, so it went by quickly. Then I went and met up in front of Teatr Bagatela with the waiting Monika and Piotrek. It was to meet for the farewell dinner. The others joined us once their tram arrived, and we headed to Mamma Mia. It really didn't feel like it was going to be our last dinner together. It felt like another dinner, ya know? All of us, enjoying our time together. The restaurant's service was unbelievably slow, but fortunately, the food was quite delicious! We all shared some cheese and cold cut plates, as well as foccacias for appetizers, and then I ordered a pasta with curry sauce, almonds, and pear. Yes, yes it was delicious, but again, the service was ridiculous. Fortunately, that gave us more time to spend together! We just chatted about everything and anything. Piotrek also gave us little gifts; on desk month calendars of Krakow. They were quite gorgeous, and I'm really happy I'll be able to put a calendar on my desk so easily as opposed to trying to hang it on a wall. During dinner, I handed Piotrek my key to the apartment... I think at that moment, a bit of reality hit me, but not completely. It was still quite heart-breaking... Eventually, we left, and as we split off, we all said our farewells to Piotrek. I mean, Kasia didn't, but the rest of us did; yes, some tears were shed. It really had been an amazing semester. In fact, Piotrek told us we had been his least-troublesome group ever. Hoorah! I had personally been wondering how we compared to previous groups; obviously awesome.

           However! That was not the end of our night together. We headed on to E. Wedel. Of course we were going to spend our last night at the best dessert area we knew! Unfortunately, Monika and I had to wait 20 minutes in front of E. Wedel for my parents. In fact, we watched my parents' lights be turned off, and we still had to wait for a long time. Eventually they met up with us, and at that point, Nate came up to us asking for 1 zloty. We all thought he was just jokng around, but he actually needed it! Priceless, haha. We headed inside, though, and we all sat together and kept chatting about whatever. One thing I remember was talking about the difference of travel in America and Europe, and how much easier it is to do here. We all ordered; I got truskawkowe pole and a drinking chocolate with coconut mixed in. Sadly, though, I was stuffed and could not finish the drinking chocolate. Michelle had to leave early as well, so we said our farewells with her.

           Once we were all finished, we paid and left for our apartment, one last time. I wanted to double check and truly make sure I grabbed everything. It's a good thing I went back, too! For two reasons. Remember how I mentioned handing over my key? Well, I was the one in charge of mail. At dinner, I had asked Nate if I should give him the key, just in case so we could check the mail on our way back. He laughed and said it was impossible that we would have mail. So I handed over the keys. Out of curiosity, as we walked back into our apartment, I glanced into our mail box... Lo-and-behold, there was a latter! Better yet? It was for me. So there we all were, standing around the mailbox, staring, trying to figure out how the heck to pull it out. Kasia kept trying to slide her hand in so that she could pull the letter out. We stared and pondered as to what we should do, all of us suggesting ideas. My mom said we needed a large knife, so Nate went upstairs and grabbed the knife. Hoorah for it worked out! Kasia managed to pull it out, and I had the biggest surprise of my time here. It was a birthday card for me, from Meggo's parents!!! While I had known to expect some sort of letter, I had not thought that Megan's parents would send me an actual birthday card; I honestly thought they were going to send something from Megan. It truly made my day. One of the sweetest cards I have gotten, and completely unexpected.

           With that adventure out of the way, we headed upstairs, and I did one last final sweep of the apartment. Yes, I washed some plates, and finally, fortunately, I realized I still had not taken my aunt's radio. Yeah, that was the second wonderful reason I came back to check. That was all that had been left, though, as far as I'm concerned. I threw out some last bits of food, I left the flowers my parents gave me, as there was no purpose dragging them around with us when we already had so much to deal with. At this point, well... this was the real tough part. The actual good byes. We all gave each other hugs, and I promised all of them its highly likely we'll see each other again, because I'm crazy and travel everywhere, and if I am in their state, I will likely call them up. They all had no problem with that, which was awesome. I left my apartment, knocked on Monika's since she was over there, and we determined that hopefully, we might just see each other in Poland again! It would depend on her parents. If not, then I know we'll see each other next time I'm in Orlando, as she could easily make the trip to visit me. Besides, she's as Polish as Sam in Florida, so hoorah for more Polish community!

           Through all of this, my parents waited downstairs. We returned together to their hostel, and in their hostel, well, we honestly didn't do too much. After a while, we packed things up, and I went to sleep so that we could wake up for the next morning. The next morning, we had our breakfast delivered. We got ready for the day, I headed back out to the Sukiennica with my dad to get the last of the gifts I needed; I did not have enough time nor the advice the day before to make sure I got the right presents. We went back to the hostel, I ordered a taxi, and we all checked out. We waited for our taxi, and I just looked at the snow-covered Rynek, super grateful for the fact that it had indeed snowed before my departure. You see, it had started snowing Wednesday afternoon, and there was a gorgeous layer of snow! The city looked absolutely magnificent, particularly with the targi all covered in snow. It felt truly in the season.

           I honestly could not believe that was my last time to really see Krakow like that. Like a student living in the city. Like a native, who knew more or less a lot of the city. Time has truly flown by. I find it absolutely unbelievable that my second chapter has been completed. That I said good bye to these wonderful people I met and bonded with over the past three months. That I no longer will be attending courses at Jagiellonian for the semester, because I have to go back to Vanderbilt. This has been an absolutely wonderful semester, and I have absolutely no regrets. While yes, walking back we talked about all of the things we did not do, it really did not bother me. Why? Because I had indeed seen so much. I had done so much. I lived in my favorite country, and its most historical city. I met so many wonderful people and have so many memories and new connections. Why must time go by so quickly? Thinking about the last three months is absolutely overwhelming, and that does not even include my two months before that in Wroclaw! All of it is amazing. My plans to live in Poland were successfully fulfilled, and now I cannot wait until I return. Already, I am planning my hardest to come back in the summer. I have a ton of back up plans and opportunities open, thanks to this wonderful time here. I adored every moment, and I don't want to leave besides the fact that I want to see all of my dear friends back in the states. <3

           But now the beginning of chapter 3 of this journey began. My parents and I arrived to the train station quite early for safety's sake, and we waited on the platform for the train. Whenever the train arrived, it unfortunately had our wagon at the opposite end. I knew that ours would be on one end or the other, but I guessed the wrong end. Therefore, I dashed after the train to get to our wagon, and my parents followed in confusion. We got to the wagon and climbed on board with our tons of baggage. One man was sitting in our cabin, but that was it. In fact, there were also only 4 newspapers sitting in the cabin, which I concluded meant that we would be the only cabin's residents for the ride. The trip flew by; in Warsaw, our fellow passenger got off the train, and the cabin was all ours. We sprawled out, moved our stuff all around the cabin, and just got comfortable. For a good part of the trip, we all napped comfortably by laying down. When awake, we played some card games together on a makeshift table from our suitcases. We talked about plans, I listened to music and wrote some overdue postcards. Truly, the time flew by, and we were all overjoyed with our situation. The express train, while yes, it was significantly more expensive, well, that upgrade was quite worth the very comfortable setting. Haha, originally I had planned on working on my family tree, but I had managed to get a lot of information from my mom the night before, plus I was working on other logistics instead.

           As we drove into the station, we saw my uncle and aunt waiting for us, and we all headed to the car together, barely managing to put all of our stuff into the back. We did nothing significant for the evening besides enjoy my aunt's magnificent cooking (yummy veggie soup!) and just catch up over all. We really hadn't all been together like this since 2007, I think, particularly since my uncle is out on the ship a lot, and my parents aren't in Poland together often, either. My dad laughed that I already knew my way around their house, considering the amount of times I've been here since they built their house: more than either of my parents. Then again, went to sleep, and now, it's today, Friday, the 23rd, just a day before Wigilia, two days before Christmas day... It's... absolutely unbelievable!

           My uncle's and aunt's house is wonderfully lit up from the outside. They have a menorah on the inside, that my aunt just bought because she thought it was pretty. She actually didn't recognize the fact it was a menorah, and the first thing I did when I came into their house last night was ask: Why do you hae a menorah? XD I mean, I certainly don't have an issue with it, but I was far from expecting it! They have a very pretty Christmas tree put up as well. And it's real! My aunt was going to let me finish decorating it, but she was tired of seeing it so naked, so she finished it herself. My mom laughed that she should've waited.

           Basically, I love the fact that I'm with my family for the holidays, here in Poland. Tomorrow's Wigilia will be phenomenal, and I'm going to see my niece and my cousin and her husband. We'll have a huge feast all together. Heh, and if it weren't for me, then we really would't be here. What a wonderful opportunity! Yeah, today absolutely nothing significant happened. Woke up, ate breakfast, worked on post cards, ate obiad, my mom went to the hair salon (and she's still there), and that's about it. Here I am, working on this... relaxing at my family's house, determining what I should do now. I might help out in the kitchen in preparations for the humongous feast tomorrow night, or I might go draw for the first time in a long time. That's all for now, though, folks!

Wow, it's been another week? Wait... I'm leaving Kraków?

           Hrmm... ah, yes, let us start with Thursday! Is that right? I do believe so! (I sort of have to wonder who has been reading my blog posts now that I am in Poland and mis padres are here and busy. xD) But yes! Well, I tried to wake up early Thursday morning again in order to study, but it seemed to fail. After some successful studying, though, such as starting my study guide for Polish, I headed out to the train station to buy a ton of train tickets, such as to Gdynia annnnnd Wrocław. ;D Hehehe. After that, headed into the square, grabbed a phone card (because goodness gracious, I can't believe I actually ran out of minutes! It was thanks to Budapest, primarily), and then met up with Nate to head to a self-service restaurant for lunch!

           Lunch was quite enjoyable! Kiełbasa, mmm.. Unfortunately, after lunch began the second day of "shut yourself in a library." Argh. So aggravating. Effective, but meh... I sat in that same library essentially from 13.30 to 20.00. Why? I had to study for my Polish language exam. I won't deny, that I feel like I FINALLY grasped a lot of concepts I didn't grasp through the class, because our teacher never particularly explained each time we learned it. She just explained the endings, but never their uses. I studied all that we had learned through the semester though, and finally my exam time came around as class began. I fortunately had to chance to sit outside of the classroom this time; less distractions, hoorah! And ya know? It was far easier than what I had expected... I got most of the grammar correct, shockingly enough! Although, my writing still had far too many mistakes, but she knew I could listen to any spoken Polish and understand everything well, so that was a break. And, surprisingly enough, my grammar while speaking wasn't too bad as well! So I ended up with a 91.05 on the final! Heck yeah, I was happy with that! Although, at this point, she started adding up all the points (and this entire time, she's adding the points and grading beside me; can you say nerve-wracking?) for the final grade... As she finishes up, she gasps. Then she says, "Coś strasznego... o coś strasznego!" Let me translate: "How horrible, oh how horrible!" Yeah, you're wondering how the hell a teacher can say that, right?

           Well, she was looking at my grade. It was a 93.25... ... That. Was 0.75 points away. From an A. Yeah. 94 is for an A. ... Do you know how much it rips your heart out listening to your teacher speak about how horrible it is that you were so close? Meaning, she wanted me to get the A, obviously, but I was still torn apart, and my only thoughts were: Then give me the damn A! Just adjust the grade! Inflation! For the love of God, don't taunt me about it. To be fair, she did look over my test to see if she had made any mistakes in grading, so she tried, but... well, she was going to be fair, and I knew I wasn't a favorite. Nonetheless, I'd have to say I left class in quite a fabulous, yet also slightly broken mood. So close, yet so far. One of those. I mean, I was soooo proud of myself for at least being that close, but... it could've been an A, not a B+! ARGH! Ah well.. As I left, though, I called my parents and informed them of my grades, as I had also received my grade from Wednesday, my historia etniczna ziem polskich class via email. I received a 4.0, out of 5.0. (Grading here is different than America.) And ya know what? That's exactly what I would've given myself on the exam I took, so I was very happy with myself! Especially considering that well, it was my Polish course, and this was the challenge I wanted to simply learn more about the language and academics! Overall, I'd say I'm happy with my grades.


           But yes! As I was leaving and talking with my parents, they were asking me if I would see them on Saturday in my apartment, and they told me they'd call me on the way to Kraków. All I could do was smile a huge fat smile and make myself keep quiet from giggling. Monika can testify to that, as I ran into her on her way to class, actually! Quite the pleasant run in. But yes, you'll learn why I was giggling in a short bit. First, though, well, you see, I got out early, so I had the chance to go enjoy E. Wedel with Gosia, Kasia, Nate, and Gosia's cousin, Jacek! We all met up in front of the building and went in to order. Per usual, it was delicious. Unfortunately, that was my meal for the evening. A strawberry sorbet to drink. Oh gosh. It was like drinking strawberries, yes, but I later on regretted not grabbing anything more... ya know... filling. Oh wells! Delicious foods!

           I ended up packing all of my things that night. I had to pack them up and get ready for my parents arrival, as our family friend was to take my bags back to Strzelin so we wouldn't have to drag them all over Poland. Particularly since there was a lot of things I just did not need. Unfortunately, that meant being very uncertain in my packing and hoping the entire time I didn't determine to give away too many of my things, ya know... Keep enough for myself... I guess that's a matter of seeing in time, though! This also meant staying up until 4.45ish at least... In the morning. Yeah, not happy about that. But! I finished successfully! Because Friday was going to be a big day!

           Friday morning, I woke up and really didn't do much but make sure everything was as it was meant to be and headed for the train station to catch my train. ;D Ah, the train station has pulled down some of its barriers for the construction they've been doing, which was nice! Although, it was quite unfortunate that none of the signs were showing what platform my train would come in on... With some logic, though, I figured it out and anxiously waited on Platform 3, in hopes that it was the right place. No worries! It was! I hopped on my train (through all of the pushy people; pushiest people I've run into! One of them even ended up turning around and pushing his way out. Super inconvenient and annoying...) and off I went!

           Naturally, as my train was at 9.35, I was exhausted. You do the math on my sleep there. There wasn't much to do but to listen to my iPod (shockingly enough, it wasn't dead), and just think and rest... So I spent the entire train ride, doing so until my iPod died, then read a newspaper, and then just kept on resting... It felt like it took forever, simply because I was so anxious to finally be in Wrocław again! Well, that's not the main reason. I was just super pumped to see my parents. You see... I got in contact with Michał and his family a little before I left for Toruń. I wanted to see them again, and I figured, well I only have one good weekend to do so, and that was the weekend my parents would be there. However, I also figured: Well... as Poland is very easy to travel around, why not also make a surprise out of this? So I told Agata (Michał's wife) to keep this secret whenever she made plans with my parents. Voila. ;D Aren't I awesome? Hahah, but really. Back to the timeline.

           I thought the train would be late, but it ended up being on time. When we pulled in, I was suddenly very grateful my parents were not leaving from the Wrocław train station. Absolute. Disaster zone. I'm not kidding. Hardly any of the platforms were active, and I'm not kidding when I say you could only see dirt on at least two, if not three, of the platforms. Major reconstruction. I would've thought they would've gotten way further ahead, but they're only in the baby stages!!! Ah well... hopefully they finish before the Euro Cup! Haha! But yes, left the train station and tried to meet up with Agata; she was a bit confused as really there were no choices on how to leave the train station, and she thought I'd meet her in the front. I had to wait outside as a storm began to pick up, but that wasn't an issue. At least Agata could pick up Antek without making her poor son anxious. Finally, she picked me up, and we started chatting and catching up! It took us an hour and a half to get across the city and back home, particularly since we had to also pick up little Hania from pre-school. I was so anxious, though, to finally get there. I just... wanted that moment to come. I really really did.

           When we finally got home, I didn't do much except watch Antek put together one of his Lego sets and even help out a bit. It was really fun! Gosh, I forgot how much I love Legos... I'm quite tempted to go out and buy some for myself again, just for the heck of it. We finished the water plane he had, and then he moved on to a Lego model of Mater, from Cars. As we were working on that, the door bell rang and Agata called us down, yelling out, "Guests!" Antek rushes downstairs, and I make my way downstairs as well. My parents are in the doorway, greeting everyone when my mom suddenly sees me standing on the stairs (yeah, really perfect set up), and her jaw drops. I mean, it just drops. And gapes for a good half minute. As did my dad's! Therefore, I WIN! My surprise was epic, and I just flat out won! :D Seriously. We asked them if they had any idea, and they had absolutely none. My dad was impressed because I even managed to surprise him, too! They were absolutely convinced they'd see me the next day, not a day early. Really, they kept on going on and how they could not believe I pulled that off, and then when they found out both Michał and Agata knew! Hahaha, oh my mom was in disbelief. They really really did love it, though. Haha, what's better, though, is that one of my babyhood friends messaged me, wanting to see if I could meet her up while I was in Wrocław, so she ended up learning about my trip to Wrocław as well, and she kept completely silent about it while my parents went and met with her. Now that one rocked their minds even more! I'm super thrilled with how much of a success my plan was! <3

            We all had dinner, finally, as I was hungry, and we all just started catching up. Eventually Michał came home from work as well. I ended up helping Antek out with the rest of his Mater model (like, I built the second half; hoorah!). I also was exhausted, but we all stayed up for a while. It was really sweet watching my dad play with Hania and Antek. Although, I was not happy when they started calling him dziadek. ARGH! He's not a grandpa yet, no no no no! Oh, no worries, I obviously understand why, but it's still just one of those things which just... I dunno. It does bother me. He's not a grandpa, haha. In comparison, they called my mom ciocia. ... Yeah... Haha, oh kids are priceless. Ah, and it was wonderful being called ciocia again. <3 I really did miss seeing them, so I'm glad it all worked out. We stayed up rather late, but finally we headed onto bed, as we had to travel the next morning.

           Saturday was our trip back to Kraków; I had completely prepared myself to buy a train ticket just in case they didn't have the room, but it wasn't an issue, fortunately! We kept my uncle and our family friend in the dark about the fact I was going to be going back to Kraków with them. Or at least for our family friend, who it was; he just knew an additional person had been added. We actually slept in rather late the next morning, especially considering we had to leave whenever they came to pick us up. We had a really nice breakfast with everyone, then we bid fare well to Michał as he headed off to work. (Busy, busy man.) Eventually, our family friend, Janusz arrived with his wife and my uncle. I pop up on the stairs again having just finished getting ready, and they didn't seem too surprised. They just sort of smiled. My uncle particularly just smirked. Oh, and the fact that little Hania is precious as hell, well, she was the center of attention. Can't blame them; she had a beautiful dress my mom got her as well, and she kept on wanting to wear it. Little star. xD

            But yes! When my uncle was asked if he was surprised, he just sort of was like: Meh. Not really. The girl's really mobile. xD I mean, he knew I had been in Toruń the weekend before. In all honesty, too, he's right. I'm surprised myself that my parents had no idea. For goodness sakes, I will never have this kind of mobility in America, ever, so I may as well take advantage of it in my favorite country as well, ya know? He wasn't surprised, but he wasn't necessarily expecting it, though. It's one of those situations that simply made sense. ^^

           We had some tea and coffee before we all had to head off. So we bid our farewells! I told Agata that I do plan on being in Poland again in the summer, and my overall plans. She was a bit impressed and reminded me that things might change, which I know. But I like plans. xD So we got into the van (yes, they made the room for me), my dad squeezed in the back with me for the temporary time before we were going to let my uncle off at a tram stop, and we waved good bye as we drove off. And the beginning of our three hour trip began! Eventually, my dad and Janusz's wife switched seats so that the women could talk with each other, and the men with each other. What did I do? I slept in the back, leaning against one of the suitcases, hahaha.

            Oh! So eventually I woke up, and impressively enough, I recognized Katowice as we were driving by! My mom asked what city we were passing, and I naturally said Katowice. Note: I had only been in Katowice once, at night, with my aunt's brother and his family. I was impressed with myself, yes. And then, when we got to Kraków, I was the one directing Janusz where to drive! Janusz and his wife were like: Wait... You know Kraków this well? My parents reaction? Well, duh. She's lived here for three months. xD We managed to find a parking space, even, so once we parked, we unloaded, and I led my parents and our friends to the hostel. It's really nice, actually. Beautiful! You see, they have a direct view onto the Rynek, and it's gorgeous! Especially at night, whenever the entire market is lit up. Stunning! You could see all the people buzzing around. <3 Super awesome, truly! With my parents settled in, we headed to U Babci Maliny for some obiad, as we needed food. I grabbed some placki ziemniaciane, and it was quite an enjoyable meal, mostly.

           Although, afterwards, we headed back through the market, and I ended up treating everyone to chocolate covered fruit (surprised?)! I got kiwi again, which is helping me slowly but surely figure out my favorites, I think. Maybe I'll finally be determined by the end of my stay here. :P We'll see. We had to go back to the hostel and pick up some bags so that we could go to my apartment and grab my stuff for Janusz and his wife to go back to Wrocław. So we did! Back at the apartment, I introduced everyone to my parents, and we packed my stuff all together, and off it went! We said good bye to Janusz and his wife, and really, for the rest of the evening, relaxed. I meant to get stuff done, I think, but it was just a good moment to chillax, especially considering we had plans for the next day. Nonetheless, though, my flatmates and neighbors and I all gathered to plan out dinner for the next day. And aside from that, we also ended up playing a drinking game called King's Cup. xD It was actually very enjoyable! Particularly since we learned a lot about each other, hahaha. Although, I was the only one without alcohol. Hoorah for disliking alcohol! (I'm not kidding... everyone keeps asking if I am truly my parents' daughter due to this...) So for me, it was just pure game, and no drinking (in the typical alcoholic sense). So that was fun. Although, we stayed up until 2, hahaha. Bad move on our part, but, we enjoyed ourselves, so I'd say all was well!

            The next day was Sunday, the 18th, my birthday. xD Unfortunately, I woke up feeling nauseous... I really don't like how that was the second week in a row my stomach had been giving me issues, but what can one do? Kasia gave me some Amol, and I guess it ended up helping out? I sort of wish I had known what was wrong. Regardless, eventually we all went to meet at Filharmonia in order to go enjoy a concert of the Nutcracker! :D It was performed by the academy of music in Krakow, and I'd say they did quite the stellar job! The conductor was a blast to watch, as well. Incredibly enthusiastic conductors are always the most enjoyable to watch. You could see him trying to quiet down the orchestra or get some person's attention. Oh, it certainly reminded me of my days in band. xD When listening in to sections, I particularly tried to tune in on French horns and flutes, obviously. The flutes did rather well, though at parts they were uneven. At reasonable parts. And the horns did well as well; some times they were out of tune, but... I honestly don't blame them. Hitting the right tone on a French horn is like hitting a bulls-eye from here to the next county. ... Yeaaah. I was very very happy to go to the concert, though, and also quite satisfied that my parents got in for free since two people could not join us, hahaha.

            Afterwards, we headed back to their hostel apartment, due to the fact that we all needed to eat, and they constantly get food for breakfast in the morning that could easily last them the day. Plus, I honestly needed a lighter meal for my stomach to not be upset. So we spent a short time there, where my mom gave me some presents. I got a nice present from Ciocia Monika and Wujek Dzidek, as well as from my ciocia Myszka and Wujek Mirek. The cards were gorgeous and thoughtful. In the morning, the first pair called me to wish me a happy birthday, so I called them again to thank them, and I called the latter to thank them and they wished me a happy birthday as well. Mama i Tata gave me a gorgeous golden ring with sapphires (I think) and diamonds. Delicately sophisticated and gorgeous. I've been wearing it since. I don't really like gold either, but this was too pretty. Oh, and I also got a business card of a Polish genealogy guy here that I can talk to when trying to figure out information about my family tree!!! Super exciting!

            Finally, when we were done, we walked down to Wawel together, particularly since my parents did not have tram passes... My parents went to the Lost Wawel in the morning, since I wanted to sleep in and had been there. This time, though, we went to the State Rooms in Wawel, which I had not seen this time! (I saw them in 2005 for sure. Don't remember them last year.) They were pretty interesting; lots of paintings and wall carpet mural things that I don't remember the correct terminology for. It was mostly bare rooms, considering that many things have likely been lost. The head room was interesting! Heads on the ceiling! Sculpted, obviously, but yeah. It was quite amusing, though, because my dad was just walking around, and the one time he pulled out his glasses? ... To look at the percentage the dehumidifiers were working at. xDD Meanwhile, my mom kept on asking me about the centuries things were made in. We walked through it, and then we went through a special exhibit afterwards on the Sapieha family! Very interesting, actually, because I never heard of that Polish genealogy. xD Although, the kings and royalty in it did an excellent job trying their hardest to have everyone painted and making a tree. The tree was enormous! And difficult to read. And the paintings were apparently not too accurate, as the person commissioning the drawings wanted everyone to look perfect, ya know? The coolest part of the exhibit was the books, though! Eventually, we left.

            We walked back up to Rynek, where we determined we should go eat dinner early at Wierzynek. Wierzynek is the oldest restaurant in Kraków. As in, from 1364. ... Yeah. Thas right. That, my friends, is history! Obviously, this was for my birthday dinner, and so it was a very fancy place to go eat with delicious food. We all sit down, and it's all absolutely gorgeous and the waiters and hostesses are very kind. We try to figure out what to get. My mom ends up getting an entire Christmas meal, which included: carp in gelatin (on the sweet side), majewki (or something like that; French pastry thing with mushrooms on the inside), mushroom soup with pierogi z kapustą (pierogi with cabbage), a lemon-mint sorbet with cinnamon on top, eventually got to the main meal (in which we were all finally included) which was goose (yes, freakin' GOOSE), makownik (I have no clue how to explain this one; it's a dessert), and miodowe grzaniec (warm alcohol!). .... Yes, it was a lot, and yes she let both my dad and I try something every step of the way. ^_^ Meanwhile, my dad and I only ordered an entry, because well... I wasn't certain about my stomach and the prices. xD (Although, thanks to the prices, I made a joke at the perfect time in regards to the poor man's meal vs. the rich man's meal. Ask me about it, bahahah.) Although, I ordered comber z sarny, meaning the freakin' saddle of a deer. With some little pierogi as well on the plate! Oh dear goodness, it was to die for. SUUUUPER juicy, sweet but not to a painful degree, well spiced. Absolutely delicious. And the pierogi were delicious too! Goodness gracious... And my mom's goose was phenomenal as well. The way it was made was with a sweet thing, and the meat itself was wonderful. Plus the sorbet was my favorite, and just everything was good. I even tried the carp, and I liked it! My dad even stated it was a good carp. Oh, and my dad ordered some sort of fish. He admitted he had the worst choice, but it was still all delicious. And my dad ordered a very typical Polish dessert for wigilia. I tried that as well, but neither of the desserts really struck a vibe for me. The sorbet in the middle of the meal most certainly did, though! Overall, I was incredibly impressed by the experience. <3

            The food was delicious, the atmosphere was nice, minus the fact that... they blared the American pop Christmas songs while you could barely hear the Polish Christmas carols... >( IN A POLISH HISTORICAL RESTAURANT. My dad was not happy and actually called the manager over; but we weren't the firsts to complain. I can't blame people; it's a Polish restaurant. I mean, I understand a nice mix, but it was hardly an even mix, and the American songs were literally pumped to their max, while it was difficult to hear the carols. Besides that, we were all very satisfied. In fact, my mom scared the waiter by calling him back in order to order a second cup of grzaniec, because it reminded her of her grandfather's grzaniec she drank as medicine as a kid. (Which I.... was appalled by, as it was not good at all. But I'm weird and don't like alcohol.) Ah! At dinner, my Wujek Bogdan and Ciocia Mariola both called me as well to give me their best wishes, and my mom's godson called and learned it was my birthday, so he certainly gave me his best wishes as well! Overall, it was just really wonderful to be in the same country to make the calls and everything that much easier, and I really did appreciate every single call. <3 So meaningful. Later in the afternoon, my cousin called me as well to wish me a happy birthday, as did my mom's best friend. So nice! So so nice. <3

             Speaking of the evening, though, we did leave the restaurant and headed back to my apartment for a small birthday gathering. We even invited Piotrek and his wife, and they came before I did! I saw my parents on the way back on the tram as well (and unfortunately I had to wait a while for the tram, but it all timed out well). In the apartment, everyone just had some wine in celebration, and we all just chatted about all sorts of stuff. (Nate was unhappy with the fact that I did not have to drink, hahaha. That's another story, though.) It was an absolutely pleasant evening, and that's all I really need for my birthdays at this point. To spend some time with good family and friends in a nice environment, just talking. It was really nice that Piotrek and his wife joined us as well. We actually met his wife for the first time that day cause she had to be with us at the concert. She was impressed by the fact I had played French horn, and of course by the fact that I love Poland so much and want to stay here. Ah, Monika, Nate, and Michelle ended up leaving in the middle to go grab cookies to go with the wine, since the bakeries had been closed that day (eh, it was a Sunday, haha). Unfortunately, Piotrek and his wife had to leave early, but we all sat around and talked for a while longer before my parents left as well. It was all just very very pleasant and nice and I was very very satisfied with the end of my birthday. Ah! My parents arrived with roses for me as well. Absolutely gorgeous!

            I went to bed and woke up the next morning rather early knowing I needed time to do my normal morning message checks as well as get ready for the day. I felt rather well, not too sick, but I was quite surprised. Lo-and-behold, my dear Ani was still online! I knew it was late for her back in the States, yet she's on, waiting for me. Why? She had a friend of hers make me an absolutely stunning piece of art of one of my personal characters with one of her personal characters for my birthday. I was dumbfounded and blown away by its beauty, motion, and colors. What a wonderful day to start the next day! I had some of the bread my parents sponsored me from their hotel for my breakfast, and eventually I headed over to meet up with them at the hostel. Our plans? To Schindler's Factory! This would be my second walk-through, but it was something I had wanted to go see again, as the first time I felt a bit rushed and I felt as though this time I could absorb it even better.

            I was right, too, because I did absorb it far better the second time around. I noticed new things, and I felt a bit more engaged in the museum; it truly is an impressive and moving museum. We even stopped and watched the movie (which unfortunately I slept through the end due to being tired... whoops! I'd love to see it again). As always, it's a very difficult museum to go through. The subject material itself is heavy and depressing, so nothing less should be expected, right? I noticed this time around the swastika patterned tiles in the propaganda room, as well. My dad kept on pointing out things he remembered from his childhood that he saw in the museum, and he explained to me what it was like. Most shockingly, though, there were pictures of one of my distant relatives... Nonetheless, family. It was in the Sonderaktion section, which was dedicated to explaining the arrest of the professors at Jagiellonian University, and my great-grandmother's cousin was one of the men arrested. There were two pictures of him! Two! Very shocking, that's for sure.

             Reading all sorts of stories and personal writings was as moving as ever, and of course, seeing all of the ways things used to be done was fascinating as well... I think my parents enjoyed going through the museum as well, at least learning about the war times in Kraków. Of course, it was super depressing, and by the end of it, you sort of just want to rush through and get through all of the pain and be grateful for the fact that such has not happened to your home, but that's it. The last two rooms were very moving as well; one was a circle with brief quotes in all languages of what it was like to be a Jew during the war, and the very last room was a room of burnt Torah's...

            We left the museum, then and we went home to their hostel to eat some sort of lunch from their leftovers from breakfast. Simple, but effective! We just sat and relaxed while trying to determine certain logistics over the next few days, such as how to get to the train station on Thursday. Once all of that was determined, though, my mom and I headed back downstairs; she was to head to the Underground Rynek Museum, and I was to head back home! But first, we stopped at a souvenir shop, where I got a few things for myself and friends. Although, that's not the last of the shopping I truly need to do. But, I got a nice little hat as a present from my aunt, actually! It says Kraków! :D It looks pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

            When I got back home, all of us started prepping the dinner we had sometime last month, because that had been the original plan for my birthday, and because I honestly did not want to go and eat out again. I don't like eating out so often... Therefore, people went shopping, Kasia and I started getting what we had ready, and ya know what? In good time, everything was done. The folded-over chicken, the delicious cheesy, peppery pasta. We even managed to get the table all set and ready to go for my parents to come over, too, and we were the ones waiting! Hahaha, I found that amusing, but not surprising. I am just really glad everything went really well. Weird to think it was our last homemade dinner together, though... But all of the food turned out excellently, because all of us were quiet little mice hungrily nomming away at the wonder that was dinner. Afterwards, they pulled out the cake they bought earlier in the day as well as the awesome awesome candle that was essentially an enormous sparkler. On the cake. Haha, we actually got a cake with nuts in it, particularly cause Gosia was not around to die from even being in the same room. And yes, the cake was to die for. Apparently, Monika went to the store and asked for the best cake with nuts; I'd say she certainly got it! So, that was birthday celebration part 2. Yeah... my friends are pretty awesome for doing that and going through with the dinner though it wasn't my actual birthday. <3

            Although, once we were done, we had to quickly head out to go catch our tram to go to the ice rink!!! That's right! Plan for the evening? Ice skating!!! (Despite the fact that my legs were sore as heck...) So we got to the ice rink, and neither of my parents ended up ice skating, actually... But! We were there before Piotrek! (Haha! He got there like... 20 minutes late. 8 o'clock sharp... Riiiiiight.) It was our plan to go ice skating together back here in Kraków after he couldn't go with us in Budapest. But we went in, and goodness gracious, was it packed. I got a pair of leather figure skates. Let me tell you. These were the best rental skates I have ever worn. They were super tight and actually fit well and quite comfortable! I was very impressed! But the rink had essentially no room and no rules. Pro skaters were swerving around people here and there, occasionally bumping into people. Yeah, that would not fly in the States. But hey, that's freedom, right? ;) But it was a lot of fun! I couldn't practice my style too well, particularly because of the crowds, but... eh! It was still enjoyable; I had to sit out for a bit, but I was still really glad to be there. Oh, and we ran into one of our classmates there, as well! He wasn't doing so well, poor kid. And we saw some guy wearing a 2014 Salzberg shirt... I only assumed he's somehow involved with those upcoming Olympics, but can't ever be certain...

             Afterwards, we also headed over to Alchemia! It was our last chance to go, and at first, we were quite bummed, because it was very crowded, but eventually, we noticed there was a large table with only two people sitting there, but there was a small table for two with no one... ... Yeaaaah, I ended up having to ask them to move, and they happily did! So we had a nice table, and my mom got me a hot chocolate (as in, melted chocolate, essentially, not cocoa), my dad had a beer, and my mom had a coffee with adwokat in it, no surprise! xD The rest of the group ended up getting Polish martinis: 1 part Krupnik, 1 part Żubrówka, and 1 part apple juice, with some lemon zest. I tried two different cups, actually, and honestly... They had two very different tasting drinks. One of them was waaaay strong, and nasty, and the other was probably the best alcohol I have tasted. ... But I still didn't like it. (Haha, many would call me hopeless.)

            Not only did we have our last night in Alchemia together, but we also stopped at the Zapiekanki place on the little square there in Kazimierz. Kasia and I split an onion zapiekanki, with my half of course having ketchup. I need me ketchup, after all! I am a bit sad I did not manage to get out there a bit more often for more zapiekanki, because they did make truly good and reasonably priced zapiekanki. My parents tried them as well! I actually don't know what they thought of them... but my dad got the Góralska one, and my mom just got plain oscypek. Ick, to both. Because they include this really heavy Polish cheese that I dislike... the smell is far too overwhelming for me. With the end of the night being quite late, Kasia, Michelle, and I grabbed a taxi (as I can't walk too much...), and we all went home! Nate and Monika walked back, and so did my parents, because they were all rather close to the main Rynek. When we got back, we all planned on going to bed, but instead... we all sat in my room and had these heart-to-hearts... And ya know what? That was actually really nice. Just a wonderful moment of bonding between the all of us, sharing personal stories. I do not regret the fact that we stayed up so late to just enjoy eachother's company. Even though the next morning I had to wake up at 6... (I ended up going to bed at like... 2.30, maybe 3)

             Why did I have to wake up the next morning? Because, me being stupid, well, I had not finished my Ghetto paper yet. In my defense, most of it was done! I just wanted to wait to write on Schindler's Factory until after my second visit, because I truly felt it would be more effective and meaningful after going twice and really absorbing everything. I'd say I was right as well. I woke up in the morning and finished up the paper, including all sorts of editing and proofing, and this is again a paper I am proud of. I got my points across clearly and meaningfully. I explained my reactions and thoughts to the best of my ability. I just had to get it printed out, so we all headed to our last Holocaust class ever (well, minus Kasia, as she's staying for the next semester as well). Honestly, it was only a review, and I was dozing at points, but it was very interesting to just go over the review. I'd say it was an effective way to end the class before the holiday break. From class, I went and printed out my paper, and then I headed on to her office hours so that I could hand in my paper and say thank you.

            We had a very enjoyable conversation. We talked about schools in America, such as how the top notch schools aren't necessarily always the top notch, and how you don't typically want to go to a big school for your BA so that you aren't just another number and more money. We also discussed Polish communities in America and how people find their way to said communities, if they are smaller or bigger. How Poles find their way to random tiny towns, such as being doctors and going to underserved communities. I really really do love Professor Orła-Bukowska. She was an excellent professor, and I am going to miss her. She also admitted she is going to miss us Americans, because we were the only ones to really be super interactive and always answer. Typically the Europeans just sit on their hands in the very back of the classroom, uninterested and uninvolved. So that was a wonderful compliment as well. So yeah, I just thanked her for the wonderful semester and all her help, and how I would definitely keep in touch with her as I keep on trying to figure out my summer. She's even writing my a recommendation for a Fellowship program! Hoorah! <3 I just hope I get it! And she gave more more suggestions on places I could try and work at. I am really grateful that I had her as a professor here, because she is opening so many wonderful doors for me, and this semester helped me slowly learn what I want to do as a professor. Nothing is finalized, but I can feel my mind shifting around and slowly determining what I am supposed to do for the rest of my life. Haha, and at the end she said she'd have to come visit Tennessee one day now, thanks to Gina and I both. I really hope she actually holds up to that! When I told my parents, they even told me to go ahead and tell her she is always welcome at our place. No surprise there. :)

            After that meeting, I headed back to the Rynek, and on the way I called up my mom's cousin, Marysia. She was very excited to hear me on the phone! She asked all about my parents and if we wee in town, and what we were doing, and that my mom had to call her and that we were definitely going to see each other. It was really  nice to hear someone so excited once again to be talking to long-lost family, essentially. xD In some other manner than holiday cards, of course. I also managed to get her sister's number so that we can hopefully meet up in Kraków, as she lives here as well! Besides that, I just walked around the Rynek, scoping out potential presents for people. I'd say I succeeded tremendously, as well. I just have to go get them, and I can only hope the people will like them! :D While walking around, I lost a small piece of paper that held my aunt's phone number (the one I just received) as well as some internship information. Go figure, me being the stubborn girl I am, I started retracing my foot steps, and lo-and-behold, I found it again! Yeah, it probably wasn't that big of a deal, and I shouldn't have worried about it, but eh, whatever. I was going to meet with my parents in front of their hostel as well, but my mom had bought out a tour guide for a tour of the Wawel Cathedral... ... Mind you, they ended up going there at 11.00... they left at 14.30... .... and it was only supposed to be an hour. Oi.

            Therefore, I just went and met up with Nate for our last lunch at the pierogi place. I got a typical mixed plate so that I could have all of their pierogi. Then we went to class, and well... our professor came in upset that he had to come in, because he had forgotten to tell us classes were cancelled for this week... YEAH! That's right! He was cancelling classes for this week, and he forgot! Therefore, he cancelled class for Wednesday instead. :D Yeah, everyone was rather happy, particularly since Wednesday it is likely everyone's first class of the day. We talked about free elections in Poland, and well... I'll be honest... I slept most of the class. Like, full on, lean my head on the wall sleep, because I was tired. I wish I had paid attention, but I just couldn't. So after class, we said our farewells as he walked out, I met up with my dad to make plans for the evening, and I went back to the apartment and took a well-deserved nap. It was hardly enough, but I had to wake up eventually so that we could go eat.

             I took my parents to the good, cheap place Gina took me to a few weeks ago. It took us forever to find a place to sit and to determine we were staying and to order, but in the end, the food was quite delicious, and the service was kind as well. I got tomato soup and a chicken kotlet, my dad got pierogi, and my mom got some pork with pineapple. After eating there, we called up Basia (Marysia's sister), and we made plans with her while heading to Piwnica pod Baranami. While in the pub, a guy started talking to us, but someone chased him away, because he was an obvious roamer or just... someone who was not meant to be there. Plus, my dad started talking with some random guy while waiting for our drinks. Eventually, Kasia, Monika, Nate, and Michelle joined as well, and it was yet another pleasant evening of discussion. Yeah, my last evenings in Kraków definitely went well. We talked about everything and anything again, and it was just nice listening to each other's stories and what not. After a while, we all determined we were tired, my mom and Monika took a cup that they had gotten from the bar, and we left, haha. Lots of pictures were taken, courtesy of my mom! I'd say these have been the most group pictures we've had at all, which has been nice. We headed back to the apartment, my parents dropped me off and caught the tram back to the square, and that was it for that evening. At home, we mostly headed on to bed.

            And finally, today, Wednesday, this morning. I woke up naturally around 9-ish, and really I've spent the day in the apartment, cleaning, packing, typing up this ridiculously long blog post, and that's it. I had leftovers from two nights ago for lunch, Gosia came back home, which is nice, and now it's snowing outside! As in, thee is a pretty layer of snow on the ground. Yes, yes I am ecstatic! <333 But that's been my week. Today I'll be moving out, as we determined it'd be easier for all of us to leave from the hostel, and that's it. To Gdynia we go, tomorrow!

Travel weekends result in long blog posts.

                Well, you might be wondering why the hell I did not write for so long. Let’s start with Thursday. What happened Thursday, you ask? I was sick. Oh, that’s right. Nausea and stomach issues. No, it was not fun. What did I do? Lay in bed, check out some messages, go and lay down again. I even missed my Polish lesson in the evening. Oh, no, I was not happy. I already had a mini freak out on Tuesday and then, lo-and-behold, missing Thursday. Great student, right? But who in their right mind would go to class in my not-dying-but-still-not-pleasant condition? Particularly when I do have days to miss. Regardless, it was the day my friends finished the volunteer shopping and started packing the presents. I wish I could’ve joined it. It was also supposed to be my major study and work day. HAH! Whenever you feel ill, the last thing you can do is concentrate on studying. Therefore, my Thursday was mostly wasted away. Although! I did Skype my parents briefly. That was pleasant, of course. Anyways, went to bed early, because oh, I really really wanted to feel better by the next day. Why? Eight-hour train ride was waiting for me. Yeah. No, being sick was unacceptable. Plus, I wanted to focus on the train ride, so a good night’s rest was absolutely necessary. That was my unfortunate Thursday. Oh, and for whatever reason, I remembered that sometime this week, I have a feeling it was Wednesday, I received my parents postcard, which was super wonderful. <3 Any mail is always good mail!

                So let’s move onto Friday! I woke up feeling quite peachy, in all honesty! It was grand! I was better, hoorah! I got my stuff together and eventually headed out for the tram I missed and hoped to catch a bus. Which was also unfortunately timed... Although, I got to the train station on time, and I had no stress cause I really had bought the ticket earlier. I got to my wagon, and it was quite pleasant. You see, it wasn't jampacked, so there were about 2 extra seats in my 8 seat wagon. Yes, that made it far more comfortable. Two older women chatted the entire time, and the people didn't change too much, particularly toward the end of the journey. At that point, people really weren't getting on the train, so that made it that much more comfortable. I just tried to use the time to my advantage and listen to lectures and study for upcoming exams. At the end of the trip, the last old lady in the wagon started chatting with me a bit. It was a pleasant break from lectures, that's for sure, but at the same time, she was just talking at me. But I was not about to be rude! So, 8 hours finally passed, I got off the train and had absolutely noooooo idea who to look for. Just learned about this family. Had no pictures. Nothing. Fortunately, though, a man and woman approached me asking if I am "Nelli." Yeah, Nelli. Which was actually really nice. ^_^ Such a sweet nickname, I think! (Haha, and longer than my real name, I know, I know.) I'm assuming they found me through 2 methods: they were given pictures before hand and I was also very confused and looking for someone yet no one. The look on my face likely gave me away! (And good thing it did!)

                We talked really briefly, because he just had to drop me off at his parents' apartment before returning to work. You see, I went to visit my mom's dad's cousin and his wife... and their entire family, essentially, since I met most of them, actually! It was quite wonderful, to be honest. I got upstairs, and they were all so welcoming and happy to see me, particularly since they never physically saw me except for pictures. Really, though, pictures aren't enough. At this point, we just sat down in their living room, the TV was all ready turned on, and we just started talking while I ate a wonderful wonderful bowl of rosół. Oh goodness, it was delicious! Unfortunately, due to my minimalistic amount of eating for the past two days, let's just say my stomach was not too happy with my choice. So I went to bed early, particularly since there were plans for the next day!

                Next morning, I actually managed to sleep in, once again! Much to my dismay. But it didn't really seem to matter, cause at least I was well rested. Of course, I started off with a traditional Polish sandwich, and we just sat around and chatted for the morning until their granddaughter, Agnieszka, came with her husband. Well, I mean, when they came, we continued chatting. They also brought me a present! <3 So nice of them. It was a lovely bag of Toruń pierniczki!!! :D Essentially ginger snaps. As well as a recipe for pierniki, which are ginger bread cookies, so I think they're not going to be as crunchy. Oh, which came with a cute little magnet bag that smells like them! Eventually, the three of us headed out so that she could show me around Toruń; she was really excited to show me around, honestly. It was really nice, too. I felt incredibly welcomed, between Maciek and his wife being so nice in finding me, and my grand uncle and grand aunt being so happy to see me, and then their granddaughter's excitement to show me around!

                First, we drove to Barbaka, if I remember the name correctly, which is the forest beside Toruń. There are two significant things about this forest. 1) It's a very active recreational park for joggers, bikers, skaters, etc, etc, which has a nice place for a camp fire, a kids' playground, a chapel, and other sorts of things, where they have midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and also a bit like summer camp grounds, where they tell you information about the wild life and greenery of the forest. 2) More importantly, though, it was the site where Nazis took Polish citizens into the forest and shot them. Anywhere between 600 and 1200 people were shot there. This included all sorts of people: students of high school and universities, professors, lawyers, and oddly enough, many many farmers... That was actually the first place we went to. They recently made it a far more clean and effective memorial, where they have provided a lot of information of the lives lost. You can walk through a little path where some graves are marked and taken care of by families. Unfortunately, for a while, it was unknown of what had happened in the forest. It was not noted and forgotten...  And in the mean time, an entire recreational area was developed beside it. Rather chilling, isn't it? Horrible events can truly happen anywhere, and you would not even know. You may never know. It can all be so well hidden, and time still moves on.

                Though, once we left the Barbaka forest, we headed on to their apartment, actually. She wanted to show me their brand new apartment and how they live; oh yeah, it was pretty dang gorgeous. It was one of those moments when I again realized how content I would be living in that style of apartment. How I'd enjoy it and really wouldn't need too much more. After this quick stop, we also drove back into town, and on the way, they pointed out the old Prussian building styles that we passed: bricks with visible wooden support beams. It's quite interesting, actually! Unique, in my opinion. You typically try to make a wall look continuous, not divided, if that makes sense. But yes, we drove back to town so that she could also show me her work place! Her office sits in a nice side building, in what I'm assuming used to be a house or apartment esque set up. It was so pretty! One of those eloquent offices you see in magazines, ya know? Not your typical office building office. So I definitely feel like that must be a comfortable place to work.

                Well, before we headed on with our plans for the day, Agnieszka offered me pierogi... I mean, I was trying to be cautious with eating due to the stomach issues I had been having, but... I can't reject pierogi! Unfortunately, the actual pierogarnia was stuffed, so the wait wasn't worth it for our timeline, and the next place she knew was also full, so we went to another typical Polish restaurant. While the food is really good, it only had one choice for pierogi: ruskie. So, we had ruskie pierogi! And honestly, they were delicious, and I ate way more than I expected! :D But we couldn't spend too much time there, because we had to go see her aunt, who is just 8 years older! (The family dynamics is quite interesting xD) But yes, we went and I met Kasia and her family. They have a little 2-year-old boy called Kubuś who is precious as heck. Kasia was also very excited to meet me. Honestly, I am just super glad that I am meeting more and more of my family that I never had the chance to meet. I understand it was hard to go around and see everyone while we spent short trips in Poland, but now I know every time I'm in Poland I will make the effort to visit everyone possible. (Yeah, big commitment, I know.) Again, we had to rush out of there due to the fact we had limited time; they had planned a dinner thing a little before they found out I was going to be in town. So, they took me to see the nighttime panorama of Toruń across the river. Oh, my goodness, it was quite stunning. The old building highest points in the city, across the river water, the lights illuminating the entire city. Quite the view.

                We drove back into town, and Agnieszka and Dariusz both kept talking to me and telling me about the city at the same time, trying to drown the other out. They would tease fight with one another, and it was really sweet. And super amusing. Agnieszka showed me the prison and law buildings she often goes to, as it's part of her job. The prison is quite amazing as well, considering it's literally an old prisoner. Circular old style prison, ya know? Squatted tower sort of thing. Think about the history in that building! We also walked around the square, which brought back pleasant memories from my trip to Poland last year; we took a short stop in Toruń on our way to Kraków from Tczew, so I greatly remembered the square; I actually remembered one of the streets connecting to the square more than the square, but I do remember it. I even pointed out the delicious gofry place (don't judge me).

                And that was the end of my grand Toruń tour! Toruń at night, stellar, the entire city, beautiful. I love Poland, the end. That's what I came to realize. We drove back to my grand aunt's and uncle's, where I had a wonderful obiad prepared by my aunt. From then on, we just sat around and I just listened to Ciocia Krysia talk. A lot. I learned a lot about my family and what it was like growing up through World War II. A bit mind blowing, when you think about it... For example, Poles were not permitted to have a Christmas Tree; Germans were allowed, of course, but not Poles. You could not speak in Polish. You could get arrested without any reason. You never knew if your family would really be whole. You had to run from both sides, particularly if you were in the military. For example: had my great grandparents not received information from a family friend that the Russians were going to be arresting all soldiers, then it is quite possible that my great grandfather would've been sent to Katyń...

                 My entire evening was spent listening to them tell me stories and trying to record as much family history down as possible. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I want to write down as much of my family's history as possible. Perhaps even work on some creative non-fiction with it. For one, it's important to me, and for another, it would be an excellent method to practice my writing, if not get some short pieces read by more people than those who already know my characters. Eventually, I went to sleep, and again, I slept in the next morning, not that it mattered. I spent the entire day at home with them, eating a lot of food (because I never seemed to put enough cold cuts on my sandwiches or a thick enough layer of pasztet, or eat enough cake... oh, grandparents), and talking to them. Or after a certain point, just listening to them. Yeah, I definitely said a few things, but... The amount of stories I have recorded is a tiny tiny tiny tiny fragment of the amount of stories I heard through the weekend. I heard all sorts of stories about the family and good laughs and the kids and them growing up and just everything. How Poland is not giving back money to the EU to happily after the EU gave so much money, how Poland really is a tough place to live in and that there is never enough jobs, and all sorts of other things. I... never realized how much a grandparent could talk. Particularly a grandmother, or in my case, grandaunt. Don't get me wrong! I greatly appreciated and enjoyed all the stories. But... there's a certain point where you wonder if there is a stopping point. You start feeling talked at. I still enjoyed it and appreciated it, but... I think the entire "spending all of Sunday with them" thing definitely was a bit too much at once. Although, I watched an incredibly interesting movie that evening as well! It was the second half, actually, about a German man who escaped a Russian prison camp in Siberia to go back to his family and how he traveled across all of the Soviet Union in his attempt to go back. He was trailed the entire time by the commanding officer, and it took him three years. Very... very intense movie, to be honest. Interesting, as well! I'll have to see the full thing, one day. (:

                Regardless! I learned a lot, and I had an absolutely wonderful weekend when it comes down to it. Lots of delicious homemade food, meeting family I haven't met (or really knew of) before, learning so much about my family! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Monday morning, I packed my things up, Ciocia Krysia woke me up an hour early for my train so that I could eat and get ready, we chatted a bit more (without having to fight with the TV, for the first time all weekend; they left it on. The. Entire. Time.), and then Wujek Zbysiek and I called a taxi to go to the train station. We were fortunate in that the traffic across the bridge was none existent, which is why we left a full hour early. At that point, we just sat and waited in the train station until my train came. It was really nice, listening to him share some of his stories, as Ciocia Krysia was the one talking throughout most of the weekend. Honestly, he is precious in how much he cares. I was trying my hardest to carry my own suitcase, but he wouldn't let me. Meanwhile, I knew how heavy it was and how much he should not carry it, but he still took it, anyways. When the time for my train came, we went to my platform, and he helped me get on the train. We talked briefly through the window before the train rolled away, and I was waving good bye. I felt quite heartbroken leaving, yet again. Why do I not have more time to see all of these wonderful people? All of my family? To truly dedicate more time to them? Plus, it was really sweet being called Nelli. It was something different and new. Just, the entire weekend, great.

                 The train ride wasn't too eventful. No, trust me, it wasn't. I was fortunate in that my cabin was never full with more than four people (it's for eight). At one point, I was even all by myself. I spent the entire train ride listening to my lectures and taking down notes, trying to study for my exam. No, really, I did. It got very very old. I was very fortunate that I had the train time to force myself to study, because it's not like I had anything else to do, but 8 hours of lectures and studying with minimal breaks, not too fun. I got home successfully, and I just spent the rest of the evening relaxing. It was really pleasant seeing everyone after the weekend, though, as there are a lot of things planned through the week for us to do together! Yay quality time! I also had the chance to Skype with Bobby, again. Always fun to Skype! Not only that, but I finally managed to grab Sam's (Florida) attention enough so that she got onto Skype and we Skyped as well! Oh, well, I mean, I went to bed way later than I should've, but I was just grateful to finally Skype with my dear friend. <3 She's the one I have most trouble keeping in touch with, but she's busy, so that's good! That was it for my Monday, though! A typical travel day followed up by Skype.

                 Time for Tuesday! Woke up on the groggy side, reasonably so, and I headed out to Holocaust class. We watched a movie called Conspiracy. It depicted the Wannsee Conference, and honestly, it did a wonderful job, because it greatly disturbed me. The actors did a great job portraying their roles, and it really was a chilling movie to watch, full of symbolism as well, surprisingly enough. That was the class for the day, but that reminds me. Upon my return, I checked my emails and received great news about my upcoming summer. I am a step closer to the possibility of participating in the Maymester in Berlin, and my professor from Holocaust is willing to help me out with my desire to work or intern in Poland in a Holocaust memorial! Absolutely wonderful! Things seem to be working out, and I can only hope they continue heading down the right path. :)

                 After class, I stopped by my oh-so-favorite chocolate fruit stand! I ordered a banana, but I also received freshly dipped dried plums. :D Goodness, the lady is absolutely wonderful. So friendly, and she obviously acknowledges the fact that I really really like the fruit stand. xD The fact that the chocolate was fresh made it that much better, too! Scrumptious to no end. Plus, the banana was phenomenal as well! I honestly can't pick a favorite chocolate-covered fruit anymore... I can perhaps group them in what I prefer, but not just one. I spent the rest of my afternoon working on a paper and other school work. I am quite proud of my historical figure essay, actually. The person I chose was absolutely fascinating as well, as I mentioned in a previous blog post. Haha, I also had to catch up on the homework I did not learn about until that morning for my Polish class. Not that it was too difficult. Because of this, though, I... unfortunately did not go to my history class in the afternoon. I used my time to study and work before heading to the Polish class.

                  Polish class was not too bad, as well. It was our first time with our student teacher, and she was very upbeat and chipper. Although, thanks to my stress, the class dragged by for once instead of shockingly flying by. I felt as though I understood her explanations far more clearly than my actual teacher, as well, particularly because she was so thorough in explaining the actual use behind the grammar lesson; i.e., she did not just give us the endings and work through exercises with us. My actual teacher didn't seem too upset by the fact that I missed last Thursday as well. Yeah, I don't know what to think, still, but I guess I am just excited to be done with the class tomorrow. I certainly want to keep learning Polish and improving my understanding of it, but for whatever reason, I did not mesh with my teacher that well. She did have enjoyable lesson plans, creative, but something just did not click. Oh! But that reminded me! Through the class, we heard all sorts of chants and a band playing outside. Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the beginning of martial law in Poland. It was in memory of those who died as a result of martial law. When I left the class, there was a huge crowd out on the square, singing some sort of patriotic song. Absolutely awe-inspiring. I felt uplifted. I tried my hardest to get a video of it, but I ran out of time and needed to catch my tram to go home, eat a leftover sandwich, and study.

                 I woke up super early this morning to study! Well, I set my alarm early and slept an extra hour, being way too tired to wake up, but! Nonetheless. I did eventually get up and start studying for my exam. Oh yeah, I had an exam today for my historia etniczna ziem polskich class, of which I was quite worried, actually. But yes, unfortunately, I needed to go to my history class this morning. We left early so that I could print off my paper as well as grab some pretzel bagles. I spent most of my time in class focusing on looking at notes from my other class (honestly, I felt horrible doing that; I couldn't focus the entire time, though). The class lecture was interesting as well! He discussed rations and the absolute nonsense the Communist system had when you had to buy things. You would get 300 g coupons for laundry powder, but they sold them in half kilos... And no, they would not open it up and pour it out. So you'd have to collect enough coupon/ration things in order to buy 3 bags of the powder... Ridiculous! You could also exchange a lot of things differently. Alcohol for candy instead, or cigarettes. Everything had designated amounts per person. It made me wonder how my parents did it. What was it like. I really need to talk to them about it.

                  Everyone after class headed to Hard Rock Cafe, and unfortunately, I had to go study. I guess that's a good thing, though, as I got to save me monies. Although, that meant my lunch was a chocolate apple. Oh, what, you thought I wouldn't stop by my favorite Christmas stand? Of course I did! :D And I got another discount. Acknowledged by the lady herself. "Dla Pani, tylko pieć złoty," meaning, "For you, only 5 złoty." As opposed to 6. It just makes me feel wonderful, being a regular customer like that, being acknowledged and recognized. I dunno, it's something special! From there, though, I headed to the library in my classroom's building and spent the rest of my afternoon listening to lectures and reviewing my written notes. While I realized I tackled all of this far too late, I still didn't end up being as worried as I was at first. I also figured out a new method for my notes which I can use back at Vanderbilt. I feel like it should be very effective, and a manner of forcing me to really understand each of my lessons more thoroughly through time as opposed to at the very end. I hope. We'll see!

                  When the time for my exam arrived, I tried to find the room, resulted to asking the porter (who was a nice young man, so he wasn't intimidating), and he led me to my professor's office (ironically enough right by the library....). I walked in, completely expecting the full exam he mentioned at the beginning of the year: partially multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and then 2-3 written pages on whatever. Instead, he asks me to come in and sit down, and then he asks, "Would you prefer an oral or written exam?" I swear, when I walked in, I was looking all over for the paper exam he was going to hand me, but that was it. I happily decided oral, and he spent the next 30 minutes asking me questions to determine how much I learned in class. He also explained a few more things for me. I felt like I should receive a solid B on it, on the American scale. There were two or three questions I was completely unable to answer, but there were also questions on which I went off on tangents, and while they weren't related or perhaps correlated with a later time period, it showed I had learned other things as well. However, at the end of the exam, he asked some questions that I nailed right on the head! As well as how he was supposed to record my grade... Oh the logistics. I have no clue. Nonetheless, I was in bliss, because honestly, it went rather well, and I didn't have to take the huge exam I thought I would. I hate exams. I like papers. And now oral exams. Discussion is good. Correct yourself, think it through, discuss.

                  Before leaving, though, I of course thanked him for the wonderful semester and mentioned how I felt that I honestly learned a lot. I also explained my situation in Poland a bit for him, why I wanted to study in Poland, that I worked here, and the entire fact I have to go back to Nashville. I'd say it was a pleasant good-bye, haha. I left the building blissfully, as I mentioned earlier, and just headed back home for the afternoon and evening. I spent most of it destressing, chatting with my wonderful friends, catching up on messages and what not. And there you have it, that was my day. Or the last week, more-or-less. Now I should go to bed. And prepare myself to study for my next exam. No worries, life is good! :D 

I am not addicted to chocolate-covered fruit.

           In case you were wondering what happened to my blog post yesterday: nothing really happened yesterday. I sat around in the apartment and worked on school work, papers primarily. Yes, yes, I was actually productive, and that was super awesome. In fact, I even switched one of my topics, successfully, from Józef Haller to Irena Sendler, which was a great decision because I am enjoying writing the paper far more, and I am using lecture notes in it as well! For a quick bit, Nate and I went to Kefirek for groceries, and then in the evening, I made a spicy chicken, bell pepper, and onion mix to put onto pasta for dinner; I'd say it turned out quite well, except a bit on the spicy side. Aside from that, nothing special happened yesterday. Oh, well, I couldn't sleep last night. At. All. You know those nights you just toss and turn and just don't fall asleep? Yeah, it was one of those, unfortunately.

           So I was not ready to wake up this morning... But I did, and I headed to Holocaust class. It was quite interesting this week as well! We further discussed the Jewish perspective, and how the Shoah has become such an important glue for the Jewish diaspora, and how it is so emphasized. Almost to a negative point, stating that no place is safe but Israel, so move to Israel! And also putting Poland in a bad light, and all of Europe, really, since it happened in Europe. Nonetheless, fascinating lecture. Every week just makes me think I should focus my studies on the Holocaust after all. It would make the most sense in my life... But yes... after class, Nate and I headed to this sport paraphernalia or just general Polish item store, where I finally bought my Polish, double-sided scarf!!! :D Hoorah! Now I just need the warm hat. Oh yeah. People are going to get sick and tired of me sporting Polish stuff. Oh well.

           Now, this part of the day becomes a bit exciting. You see, I went to the train station to buy my train ticket for Toruń this weekend. SUPER excited! From there, though, I headed to the voivodeship's main office close to the square in hopes of getting citizenship information. From there, I was sent a bit out of town. ... I really never went out this far, and this really does get out into the actual city that's not the historical center. The expanded part. I went one tram stop too far and had to return, and both of these stops were rondos. Round-abouts, in English. No, they are not the baby rondos we have in the States. These are humongous, complicated, stop-light included rondos that are at least three times the size of the baby ones we have. The one I actually had to get off at was bigger, although I had to maneuver the mistake one a bit more to get to the right tram stop to take me back. Once I was heading in the right direction, I got to the street I needed and felt my heart crush. I saw the building was 55. I needed 6. So I was expecting an enormous walk. Fortunately, it was only a few 50s, and the rest were single digits.

           Oh yes, all of this traveling took a lot of my time. (So this is the point that I stopped at. Therefore, anything from this point on is written as if I wrote it today, Wednesday.) Nonetheless, I finally got where I needed to go, I waited in the building for a bit, and then I approached and fortunately had a very nice lady at the desk! She was very informative and patient with all of my issues, such as the fact I'm not "zameldowana." ... I should've done that, damnit! Or just done anything else to help through this... But ah well. I mean, it's not like I could've done a lot of this before my parents come here anyways, so win win! I headed back to town from there, though, once I got the paperwork, of course. Unfortunately, I had to wait for a bit of time at Zapiecek before I could eat, but I got to clean up my phone and get some calls out of the way! Had pierogi for lunch. (I'm telling you. Never. Ever. Will I grow tired of pierogi.) From there, we also headed to the Rynek, where we had extra time and stopped at the fruit stand! :D Unfortunately, the really nice lady wasn't there, but oh well! I still got chocolate-covered kiwi. It was quite interesting, and honestly, I enjoyed it. One of these days, though, I need to try it with dark chocolate, just to see. I mean, I don't like dark chocolate, but I have a feeling the sweetness of the fruit will make it better!

           Class was interesting once more. We talked about the next man after Gomułka, who wasn't as much of an idiot, but still an idiot. (Seriously, great professor!) Then, I headed to my language class, where I took an exam to better the grade... ... I panicked on it. I really did, so I felt really dumb, because I felt as if I had no clue what to do and just... meh... I hope my professor will be understanding. I did well on the first one! But, we'll just have to see... I know she'll be very very unhappy with it, too, which is plain old intimidating. We took the test in the classroom as well, while she was leading class, so that was super distracting. I could tell you everything about Santa Claus, but nothing about my test. Therefore, let's go onto a more pleasant topic!

           I got in contact with Gina, the Tennessean, to see if she could meet up! Well, the time was quite limited in choices: last night (Tuesday) or the weekend. Wellllll considering I have plans to travel on the weekend, I said last night, even though I had plans to study instead. But that's ok, because meeting up with her was awesome! We met up after my class and after she got back from teaching in Skawina, and we just headed out to this place for restaurant. Wonderful deal. 14 złoty, soup, a meat, fries or potatoes, and two additional sides. And yes, the food was actually really awesome! And all in Polish style. So we just sat around and talked in the restaurant for two hours about all sorts of things. Vanderbilt football, the bowl, Vandy in general, Poland, living in Poland, internship opportunities, wines. Seriously. Such an enjoyable night! Then, we planned to meet up in Nashville! Since I'm flying out soon, and she'll be coming back to visit the states! Haha, how cool is that? I met her in Poland, and now we're planning to hang out across the sea. And hey, if all works out, maybe we'll plan our next meeting time in Poland again! (Yes, I am insane.) So yeah, we said our good-byes, and she made sure to guide me the right way home after missing my tram. I didn't want to wait for 20 minutes. So now, at the end of my stay in Kraków, I know of a way to get back to my apartment quicker... ... Damn timing.

           Back at home, I was shocked when Nate and Monika told me they hadn't eaten, so I hung out at Monika's place for a bit while they ate, as I wasn't hungry. Although, I joined in on the Adwokat ice cream. Surprisingly enough, I greatly enjoyed it! But that was it for the night, so now let's go to today! I did not want to get up again this morning. Dunno why, but I even slept through an hour of alarms. Fortunately, I did get up, cause yes, I did have class in the morning. My history class, in fact, and we talked about the strikes and Solidarność movement in Poland in the 80s! Really, listening to all of this, I want to walk to my parents so much about their experience growing up in Poland. It was intense. Such a roller coaster. Sometimes you had some stuff to buy, and other times it was hopeless. Honestly! Or at least that's what I'm picking up from class. Although, it never really was completely prosperous. Just prosperous in the sense of Communism...

           Secularization was interesting as well, because we talked about Poland and its Secularization, or well lack of comparatively to the rest of Europe! Super awesome class. We looked at a lot of aspects in Polish life and reactions to unfortunate events, and how they connect to Catholicism, for instance. Seriously, a wonderful class because it really makes you think about today and the difference between secularism and pluralism, if one is truly better than the other, and what you believe should be the actual situation. It's good. A lot of tough questions, though, that you have to decide for yourself. One of the presentations was quite fascinating as well. It was about the Rwanda genocide and the connection to the Church. Which we found that the presenter believed the Church held no responsibilities and couldn't be held responsible for the actions of the members. And I'd have to agree; it's not good to blame a group for the actions of a few.

           At the end of class, I thanked Stan for the wonderful semester; I feel any professor who has made class truly enjoyable and interesting should receive a proper thank you, especially since many of us are leaving so early. He was a bit surprised as he forgot we were leaving, but he seemed to appreciate it and asked us what method we preferred: once a week, extremely long classes, or multiple times a week shorter classes. Ya know what? I think I'm ok with both. Each has its pros and cons, and both are enjoyable, so long as the professor is good.

           After class, I immediately went to the chocolate fruit stand. The nicer lady was there today as well! :D She recognized me and asked what I wanted. Since they actually had the pineapple today, I got that, and through all of this, she asked me which ones I have yet tried and what one was my favorite. Just a very cheerful conversation! Not only that, but she gave me an extra złoty back. So either she miscalculated (which... would be really difficult for the small number I gave her, as well as the fact that 2 zł coins and 1 zł are very different), or she gave me a discreet discount! Hoorah! Long-term customers, haha. Well, long-term for a Christmas fair. I should say frequent. Either way, win! Then I went and got yet another present. For who, you ask? That's my little secret. ;)

           Although, from there, I just went home and relaxed. I mean, I ate a late lunch at Monika's from last night's dinner's leftovers. Plus we tried mixing the Adwokat ice cream with Oranżada, and as amazing as it sounded, it disappointed both of us in taste. They are two glorious tastes that unfortunately must remain divided. Still, interesting experiment! For the rest of the afternoon/evening, some of us met up with Piotrek to  go fulfill our program's volunteer project: sponsor Christmas for a Polish family! We have a family of three, a mother, her teenage son, and her little daughter. Therefore, we bought a ton of school supplies, sweets, and shoes! Yeah, it really did remind me of my senior year... I'm going to have to try and get more involved with such Christmas projects (and projects in general that sponsor families) like that when I get back. Shoe-shopping was a bit difficult, as the boy has enormous feet, and the mom asked for quite specific shoes, but, the little girl was a piece of cake! Tomorrow, we'll finish the shopping, I'll go begging for empty boxes, and we'll be wrapping the presents up all nice and pretty-like for the family! Oh yes, I am super excited for this! (It helps that I don't have class, hoorah!)

           Gosia and Kasia made some lovely tacos and chocolate chip cookies for dinner and dessert tonight, so that was enjoyable. I did a lot more business-y things, like trying to figure out my paperwork for citizenship as well as trying to figure out my summer plans and trying to manipulate it to allow me to come and work/intern in Poland (for pay). Yeah... I really am starting to get super sad about the fact I have to leave (not about seeing people, but just leaving the country). Therefore, I will be trying my hardest to come back as often as possible. We'll see if Maymester in Germany works, first off, and if it does, then I should have two weeks in Poland hands-down. After that, we'll see! A lot of this is in the air. But one can only hope! Ah, we also had a mini dance party tonight in the kitchen. I learned how to Dougie (or however you spell it; I don't even really like the song...)! So, hoorah for enjoyable past few days. We'll see how tomorrow goes, and I just can hope I don't let myself get too far behind!