The World At Large

I got up early to wander Warsaw before I left, but it started raining so I didn’t make it very far.  Ola came to the hotel and took me to the airport, which was nice, and she got me in the right line to check in and left.  The line to check in at LOT was very  long, and when I finally got up to the desk, my suitcase was overweight.  So I had to repack.  The woman at the desk told me I didn’t have to get back in line, and she had someone else who was free help me when I was finished, and I was still overweight.  So I rearranged things some more.  This time she ignored me, and the other woman walked away from the counter.  She had sent me to an empty line to rearrange my stuff, and people kept trying to line up behind me, and since I was tired of confusing them and being ignored, I just got back in the long line.  Luckily, this time my suitcase was ok and I got checked through.  I had awhile before the plane took off, so I found my gate (stopped to get a candybar along the way) and read.  We were a little late taking off, about 35 minutes, but we landed in Chicago right on time, at 3pm. 

I couldn’t really sleep on the flight, and there were quite a few noisy kids.  I finished my book and watched one of the movies.  In Chicago I was starving (the food on the plane was not good, and for dinner I ate only the Kit Kat type candybar that was our dessert) so I got a Chicago style pizza.  I made it through customs and everything ok, I didn’t have to wait too long in line for anything, it just took awhile to get from one part of the airport to another.  But we left Chicago right on time and it was a short flight to St. Louis.  By now I was really tired, since it was starting to be the middle of the night for me, luckily it was only about a 45 minute layover in St. Louis.  Again we took off right on time and I couldn’t stay awake on the flight to Norfolk.  It was also a short flight, an hour and a half or so, and I dozed most of the trip. 

My luggage made it home and I pulled out most of the stuff I bought to show Jeff when I got home, but I wasn’t up long, since I’d been awake (with the exception of the doze on the St. Louis to Norfolk leg) for almost 24 hours.  On Monday I got Chinese food for lunch and then took a 3 hour nap.  Yesterday was ok, I didn’t nap but I did go to bed pretty early. 

I still have pictures I want to post, that I’ll work on periodically, and now I’ve got to think about putting together my curriculum project for this trip.  Well, when I go back to work on August 3rd I’ll start thinking about it.  I’m going to enjoy the two weeks of summer vacation that I do get.  And when I go back to work, I’ll also start trying to figure out where I’ll go next year.

I got up this morning to say good-bye to everyone.  A couple of people left very early this morning, so we said good-bye last night, but most people left this morning at 9.  I got up to have breakfast with them, and then saw them off.  I was a little jealous that they all get to leave together, it’ll make things much easier at the airport and on the flight.  Not everyone is on the same flight, but I think there were at least two people on each flight.  They should be arriving in the US very soon. 

I got some things together, charged my cell phone, and did 3 steady 10 minute miles on the treadmill.  Then I wandered around a little bit, got snacks and a book for the plane.  I did have a lengthy conversation with one of the guys who works at the bar behind the hotel that we went to.  It was very interesting, first because he drank coffee and vodka, and second because I got to talk to just an average Polish person about some of the things we discussed in our lectures, such as anti-semitism, traveling throughout Europe, etc. 

Then I went to see a movie.  I saw Public Enemies, which opened at home on July 1, and just opened here yesterday.  At the movie theater you have to choose your seat, and you have to sit in your assigned seat.  (Maybe not for a movie that isn’t crowded, but this one was.)  Since it was an American movie, it was in English with Polish subtitles.  There was no THX sound system like I usually enjoy, and the volume fluctuated quite a bit.  I enjoyed it though, and will probably go see it again when I get home.  (The subtitles were a little distracting, I kept trying to read them even though I could understand, but my eyes were drawn to it anyway.) 

After the movie I grabbed a quick dinner at McDonald’s and brought it back to my hotel.  There was a message from the reception desk on my tv when I got in, I’m going to guess it was something about cleaning my room, since I had the “do not disturb” on the door all day because I had my things spread out to finish packing and didn’t want to put them away. 

We sat around talking the past few days about the things we haven’t done since we left.  We’re all in agreement that it will be a sad thing when we have to do these for ourselves again.  The list included:  drive, cook, laundry, clean, buy groceries, cut the grass, send text messages, answer cell phones, eat a light meal, and buy anything with a debit card.  Now we have to do those things again, this kind of trip spoils you. 

I doubt I’ll sleep well tonight for fear of my alarm not going off, and there’s no one here to make sure I’m up on time.  I’m going to leave for the airport around 9, my flight leaves at noon, and it is somewhere between 9 and 10 hours long.  I should be in Chicago around 3:15 tomorrow afternoon, then to St. Louis, and finally arrive in Norfolk at 11pm.  I hope nothing gets broken and everything goes smoothly and that I get home on time!

We had a late morning today, we didn’t have to be at the Fulbright Office until 10:30.  We had to take a taxi, since we turned in our boxes with our books and papers in them that we’ve collected over the past 4 and a half weeks.  I’m glad they’ll ship them for us, I would definitely be overweight if I had to carry that stuff. 

We started with a wrap up session, where we just discussed the trip in general, what we liked, any suggestion we have, etc.  They gave us an evaluation (the first of several I’m sure) that I need to finish and turn in tomorrow.  Then we went to the house of someone who works in the Embassy, I’m not sure who.  The US Ambassador couldn’t meet us for a reception, so it was moved to this poor woman who had all 16 of us in her house.  We had a light lunch, some small talk with some people from the Embassy, and then we were free until dinner.

I think most of us took this time to rest and start packing.  I did a little shopping, got a couple of shirts and a dress from a store near the hotel that I liked.  (It’s where I bought a couple of shirts before when I was running out of clean clothes.)  I thought about heading towards Old Town to do a last run through for souvenirs, but decided against it.  I figure I have all day tomorrow to do that.  So I came back to the hotel, worked on my evaluation, and took a nap which was nice. 

We went to dinner at Dom Polski, which is a very nice restaurant.  They gave us an option, turkey or veal, and I chose turkey.  I’m glad I didn’t unknowingly have veal again, that would have been terrible.  I couldn’t eat my dessert though, it was lody, and it was already melting when they brought it out, and I don’t eat melty ice cream so I gave it to Shelby.

Dinner was fun.  A few peple got together and did awards for everyone.  My award was “most dedicated to the pursuit of waffles and lody.”  We got gifts for our organizers, very nice gifts that I hope they will use and enjoy.  And then Kim stood up and passed out a piece of paper.  She has written the most awesome poem about our trip, starting with D.C. and hitting all of the highlights.  She read it out loud, it was amazing.  I would never be creative enough to do that.  I’m glad she shared it with us, it’s funny and sad, and reminds us of a lot of the thing we did here. 

After dinner most of us went to the bar right behind the hotel and hung out for quite awhile.  Tomorrow everyone leaves except me.  I’m not sure of everything that I’ll do tomorrow besides packing and having one more waffle and lody.  I am going to get up and have breakfast with everyone and say good-bye.  (Then I’ll probably go back to bed.)  And I have to plan my transportation from the hotel to the airport and make sure all those arrangments are made, and then I leave at noon on Sunday!

This morning we went to Chopin’s house.  It isn’t actually his house, not the one he was born in, it’s a house that was constructed later on, and is symbolic of his life.  There is a room dedicated to his mother, his father, etc.  What we heard from someone who did this trip previously is that the grounds are very pretty, and contain very beautiful gardens. 

The grounds were closed for renovation.  We saw no gardens at all. 

We think this is because next year is the bicentennial of his birth, so they’re preparing for all sorts of events.  The house was very nice, but I’m sorry I won’t get to see the gardens after they’ve been renovated.

We headed back to Warsaw after that, and had lunch at the cafeteria restaurant.  Last time there, some people were happy about that, I didn’t think it was awful, we could have eaten worse I’m sure. 

After lunch we were free until dinner.  There were several things on the agenda.  First, a bankomat, I had no cash left at all.  A couple of people wanted to check out the Warsaw University bookstore for t-shirts.  We also hit a couple of book stores looking for children’s books in English and Polish.  Then came the really important thing.  Dessert at the Hard Rock Cafe.

We took a taxi since it was warm and we didn’t want Shelby to have to walk in the heat.  (Not that Laura and I complained about being driven though.)  We got a table and all of us ordered a hot fudge brownie sundae.  I warned them beforehand that I don’t eat melty ice cream and would eat my dessert very very quickly.  I don’t think they believed me, Laura teased me about it later as she was trying to explain to someone else how I inhaled my entire dessert before she could take two bites.  So now they know what it’s like to eat dessert with me.  I tried to tell them.  But it was very delicious, I was so happy to have one, and since we had now eaten something at Hard Rock, I could go into the shop and buy a shirt.  So, mission accomplished, we got our dessert (which we’d been talking about for about a week) and I got a shirt.

Headed back to Novotel after that to drop Shelby off, and then Laura and I ventured out to do a little shopping.  I did wind up buying a couple of cup and saucer sets, I hope I can transport these home in one piece. 

We didn’t shop too long, we both wanted some time to relax and start sorting our stuff.  They are going to ship books and papers home for us, so I sorted all of that out, and packed my carry on and one bag that I’ll check.  I’ll just have to finish packing my suitcase on Saturday, but I think I might be ok.  I hope it isn’t overweight, I tried to spread things out between my bags, but I guess we’ll see.  My hotel room was a horrible mess with stuff on every available surface, but I managed to get most of it under control.

Tomorrow is our latest morning yet, we don’t have to meet until 10:30 at the Fulbright Commission.  We do have to bring our boxes, so I’m thinking we’ll take taxis instead of trying to lug these boxes around.  And we have to be dressed for a reception immediately following our wrap up session, so I really don’t want to lug a box full of books and papers in my dress clothes.

We have some free time after the reception to do any last minute things, then one more group dinner.  I’m sure we’ll go out after dinner to grab a drink and whatnot, but this is the last time we’ll eat together.  Then Saturday morning almost everyone leaves and I’ve got a free day in Warsaw. Still not exactly sure what I’ll do to fill the day, but I’m working on it.

We left Wroclaw this morning at 8, and headed to Czestochowa to go to the Jasna Gora Monastery, where the original Black Madonna is housed.  There were a ton of people here.  Driving to the monastery, we saw columns of people who were on a pilgrimage to this place.  Just this long line of people walking down the road towards the monastery.

When we entered the gate, we could hear people singing almost right away.  There was a mass going on.  We had to wait for our tour guide (who was awesome) and we followed him right into the church, which is huge.  There are several rooms, and from many of them you can’t even see the altar, so you can’t even see the painting.  But each room was packed. 

Our tour guide took us right through these huge crowds of people who were praying and singing.  It was wall to wall people, very crowded, shoulder to shoulder when we followed our tour guide through to the altar.  One kid jumped into our line in front of me, and his grandmother I guess right behind me, and she spent the rest of the time pushing me from behind towards the front.  We got stopped for a few moments, and Jen tried to tell me something (she was a person or two behind me) and was promptly shushed.  We started moving again, and got all the way up to the front.  There were many many priests moving through the altar, closest to the painting and then just this huge crowd of people throughout several rooms behind them. 

After we paused for a minute to see her, we moved into this very narrow hallway behind the altar.  It was hot and crowded.  I’m not sure why we had to wait there, I was too far back in the line.  But we eventually started moving and finished the tour going through the rest of the  monastery.  The place I liked the best was the library.  We got to see some 500 year old books.  And we got to flip through the visitor’s log.  Our tour guide had been there a long time.  He gave John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy a tour.  We saw their signatures in the book, along with Pope John Paul II, and Henrich Himmler.  I took pictures of all of these, hopefully one day I’ll get around to posting them.  (It’s too late now and I need to get to bed ASAP.)  And now all of our signatures are in the visitor’s book.  (Of course not the same one signed by the Kennedy’s the pope and Himmler.  That one was full.) 

After the monastery we were back on the bus to Warsaw.  We got in around 7:15 and took a few minutes to clean up before heading to dinner since it was so hot today and we spent so much time in a crowd of people.  Dinner was quick and cheap, McDonald’s.  Then I went with a couple of folks to the bar next to the hotel and we hung out on the patio for awhile.  We’re all glad to be back in Warsaw, we’re almost finished with our trip, and it’s nice to be back in a city where we kind of know our way around, at least in the small area surrounding the hotel.  This makes me feel better for Saturday, since I’m the only one who had their flight cancelled and has to stay an extra day. 

Tomorrow we head to the birthplace of Chopin, and then I think we have some free time.  That’s the rumor anyway, I hope it’s true.  I do need to buy a couple more souvenirs.  And get a box to ship some things home.  I’m down to my last 3 days in Poland, I better try to get everything done that I wanted to while I was here.

We had our last two lectures today, both on film and theatre and the arts.  The first lecture was bizarre.  He was a very animated passionate guy, and was explaining the importance of a Polish director who died 10 years ago, Grotowski, though that may be spelled incorrectly.  At one point he told us a story, I think it involved the director but I’m not certain.  (I think this was an exercise the director had this actor and several others do.)  His story did involve however, going around the woods at night, then having to dance naked at daybreak so the sun would come up, a UFO, and a 16th century knight in full armor on a large horse in the woods.  I tried to take coherent notes, but it wasn’t happening. 

We also saw a panorama today.  It’s in a huge round building and depicts a battle from 1794 or 1795.  I think it is 15 meters high, and total circumference is 102 meters.  What I really liked was that where the painting stopped and the floor started, they turned the floor into an extension of the painting so it blends together, very well in most places. 

A boat ride followed, I thought this was a tour but it was just a boat ride.  We started near St. Elizabeth Church, rode down the river to the zoo, picked up some more passengers, went a little further down the river, then turned around and came back.  There was a nice breeze, but some information about what we were passing would have been helpful.

We had about two hours until dinner after the boat ride.  There is a huge market (I think farmer’s market) with a ton of fresh produce and flowers.  We stopped in there for a couple of people to buy rose jelly (which was in our dessert the other night that smelled like perfume) and I bought a green rose that I want to try to press.  Then we came back to the hotel and I took a short nap before dinner which was nice although I didn’t sleep very well.  Dinner was luckily at the hotel so we didn’t have very far to go. 

We stocked up on snacks for the bus ride tomorrow and since then I’ve been trying to pack my things into as few bags as possible.  I won’t really get to combine things until we get back to Warsaw and I get my duffle and hopefully get my books shipped home.  But as it stands now, I have my suitcase, the duffle I bought in Krakow, my bookbag, two bags of souvenirs, and the shoulder bag I bought in Warsaw that I’ve been using to lug my stuff around in everyday.  Some serious combining has to go on for me to get home. 

Luckily tonight since I spent so much time in the room trying to get ready to leave tomorrow morning, the movie channel decided to play a good movie.  The last good movie I saw was in Krakow, and since we got to Wroclaw I haven’t come across anything (in English) that I wanted to watch.  But tonight they played “In the Valley of Elah” with Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron.  I’d heard about it but had never seen it.  It was a very good movie, I’m glad I got to see it. 

Tomorrow will be a long day, most of it spent on the bus.  We aren’t going straight to Warsaw, we’re stopping to see the original Black Madonna along the way, then we’ll head to Warsaw.  We’ve seen reproductions of this piece ever since D.C., so we’re all excited to finally see the original.  Then back to the Novotel in Warsaw for our last few days in Poland.

Today was another pretty uneventful day.  We had two lectures this morning, one on Polish language which hasn’t gotten any easier, and one on Jews in Eastern Europe.  This on turned into more of a discussion session, as we have a couple people on the trip who have really studied the Holocaust, and one who is Jewish and has family from Poland who was involved in the Holocaust.  So they had several question each that got the lecture a little off track I think, but it was interesting.  He did end with a statement, something to the effect of we (US I guess) has never been occupied like Poland was occupied.  This I realize and agree with.  We do not know what it is like to have our country removed from the map and partitioned, we have never had someone come in and take over.  So for the US that is true, although for the North American continent it is not, since the Europeans occupied it with no regard to the native people here.  We didn’t have time to get into that conversation however, because we went straight to town hall to meet what I believe was the vice-president of Wroclaw.  That of course sounds funny to me, since I think vice-president and think the entire country, and think mayor when I think of a city.  I think the position is roughly equal to mayor.  He didn’t have long to speak to us because he had another engagment, so he just told us a little about the city and then we went to lunch.

After lunch we visited an exhibit called “Europa:  It’s Our History.”  This is an exhibit traveling throughout Europe, picking up with the end of WWII and through the present day, the development of the European Union, etc.  It was a great exhibit, interactive, lots of information.  Plenty of film clips, photos and other primary documents to look at.  We only spent about an hour there, and then we did a little shopping.  A couple of people on the trip are looking for specific wood carvings, a nativity scene I believe.  I just wanted to look around and I found a few things, including some very nice amber earrings.  A couple of people are also buying Polish china, which I hadn’t considered.  I looked at some today and am thinking about picking up a couple of cup and saucer sets for tea although I’m not sure how to get them home.  But Devin plans to buy a cup and saucer set everywhere she travels to use at home, and she’ll eventually have enough for an entire dinner.  It won’t match, but it’ll be interesting to have china from everywhere she has visited.  So I’m thinking about that.  I found some pretty blue and white Polish china that I may pick up.

Dinner followed, and then I went back to the jazz club to see what they had going on tonight.  They were playing a silent movie on the tv, and a pianist accompanied, playing the soundtrack.  It was pretty interesting.  He was awesome, he stared at the tv and played the piano at the same time. 

Tomorrow we have two more lectures, and then a boat tour of the city that I’m looking forward to.  It’s our last day in Wroclaw, we leave Wednesday morning for Warsaw, although we make a stop along the way to see the original Black Madonna.  I’ll miss this cute little hotel.