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!
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