About three years ago, I took a class on Eastern Europe. I remember writing a paper about how this corner of the world was becoming more and more attractive to foreign investors. Skilled laborers and resources come relatively cheap compared to the US and Western Europe, and people are eager to take advantage of the new technologies offered by the west.

Yesterday, I stumbled upon a blog written by an American expat in Poland that I thought really validated some of the predictions i remember making in my paper. He made the comment that just 5 years ago he was easily the richest man on the tram. However, today he wasn’t sure he could say the same. in 2009, Poland is far from the poor, drab country Americans tend to think of it as, especially in the urban areas. Instead, cities like Krakow are lively, flourishing and promise a bright future.

As I mentioned in a much earlier post, I was really surprised the first time I stepped into the sparkly new Galeria Krakowska, the mall in the city center. It is huge, bigger than any mall I’ve been to in the US. With three floors packed with over 200 shops, it is a testament to the fact that, despite many of their relatively modest lifestyles, Krakowians are getting much richer than they might have you believe.

There are (that I know of) five malls in Krakow. There’s one in Kazimierz, one in the town center, and two located on the outskirts of town. Now, there’s a brand new one just opened in the past month, transformed from an abandoned chemical plant in Podgórze. This mall complex, grossing 234 thousand square meters-and still growing, it won’t be completed until 2012-is the biggest mall in Poland, and comparable with some of the biggest and best malls in the US and UK (according to Wikipedia, the Mall of America has 230 thousand square meters available as retail space when you leave out the theme parks and aquariums and whatnot).

all of these malls have opened in the last 10 years. Krakowska in 2006, Kazimierz in 2005…the other two I don’t remember but certainly not before 2000.

Clearly, the Poles are becoming the world’s nouveau riche. They have money to spend, and businesses are embracing the opportunity to invest and open franchises in Poland. Everything is sparkly and fresh….and yes, supersized. Such consumerism and luxury is no longer limited to the Americas and the West…and those communist days of walking into a store and being greeted with empty shelves are long gone.

Eastern Europe has a bright future and a lot of potential. It’ll be especially interesting to see how things change in the next years and with the introduction of the Euro.

Kudos to you for making things happen, Poland

I almost never pay any attention to statistics, either for this blog or for the others I’ve had. I just don’t really care about that kind of thing; I blog for my own enjoyment, not because I’m trying to attract a maximum amount of attention. But I’ve been doing a little blog clean-up and reorganizing behind-the-scenes this past week, and while I was shuffling things around, I decided to take a peek just for fun. I’m honestly astonished that this blog gets as many hits as it does. While it doesn’t average half as many visitors as my music blog does, it is way more than I would have thought. The exact number I won’t tell you, but it was really a pleasant surprise to me. I suppose I anticipated that it would get a few hits here and there, but it was mainly meant to be a personal journal for me to jot down memories, and also for keeping up with my friends and family while I was gone. I didn’t really think that anyone else would be that interested in it. I also don’t think it’s very well written; I rarely pay attention to grammar nor did I edit anything I write on here. Knowing that people actually read this blog makes me really embarrassed, actually. Had I known, I would have at least made sure everything was a complete sentence. I PROMISE I actually can write more coherently than is exemplified in this blog. Considering the very little amount of time I spend maintaining this blog, its amazing that it keeps up the way it does.

Here’s a little detail of my stats:

The post on Ukraine is by far the most popular, followed by the post on Amsterdam. Least popular are any posts that are actually about Poland.

The day my blog got the most hits was actually Tuesday, November 18th. 5 months after I left Poland, the blog is still getting hits and has a steady stream of visitors!

Just last week, someone even translated my blog into Italian. Ciao! (I would say more, but that’s all I know in Italian.)

I’ve been added to Stumbleupon…hi stumblers! I appreciate the thumbs up!

and I’m regularly crawled by most of the major search engines.

speaking of, I love looking to see what people searched for to find my blog! My favorite search term was “can I find brown sugar in Poland?!” It brought back fond memories of my own desperate brown sugar search. (For the record, in case I never mentioned it and someone else wants to know, brown sugar CAN be found in Krakow. The only place I can find that has it is a really cool grocery store in Galeria Kazimierz called Alma Delikatesy. It’s a fabulous place, I spent a good hour wandering around in there. Yeah, its quite a walk from old town, but on a pretty day it isn’t too unpleasant and if I’m not mistaken, there are actually free busses that shuttle back and forth between Galeria Kazimierz and Galeria Krakowia.)

Another search term that was used in google was “Polish Bathroom Symbols.” And to that person-the men’s room is the one with the triangle on the door, ladies room is the one with the circle on the door. Why Polish people have to make things complicated, rather than simply use the universal man and woman stick figures, I’ll never know.

And I love reading the comments people leave me on posts! some of you have been very kind and very helpful, and I’ve enjoyed interacting with Polish citizens, expatriates, and clueless Americans alike…along with whoever else might join in the fun. It kind of blows my mind that people out there actually read what I have to say.

I know i didn’t make it happen, as I haven’t done anything to promote this blog. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by and referred me along, I appreciate it.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for being with me along the way, and for checking out JennyGoesToPoland!

Love, Jenny

ps–to those of you who are/were subscribed, I have inactivated email updates. I was previously using a feedburner subscription service, but because wordpress is now offering its own subscription service (which will be more convenient for me) so I’m going to switch over some time in the near future. more on that later

I recently came across a documentary about one subject that rather fascinated me while I was in Poland, and which I have often wanted to write about but never felt I knew enough about.

Yes, Football Hooligans.

I suppose this is one aspect of Poland that would be easy for tourists to miss. It even took me a while to catch on to exactly why “Wisla” was written on the side of half the buildings in town. After a while though, I started to pick up bits and pieces.

Long story short–

Krakow has two main Football (soccer) teams, Wisla and Cracovia. Both have existed for something like 100 years and are well established in the city. Each team has gangs of rabid hooligan fans who support them and who spend ridiculous amounts of time spray-painting their team’s logos on various buildings–along with whatever else they do. The graffiti serves to mark territory–a gang’s symbol on a street claims that street as “theirs.” Wisla hooligans don’t go on Cracovian territory, Cracovia Hooligans don’t go on Wisla territory. At first I was puzzled at some of the anti-semitic symbols that often accompany Wisla graffiti, turns out it is in response to Cracovia historically being the Jewish football team. It is not uncommon to encounter swastikas on the side of buildings, a detail I found mildly disturbing for most of my stay in Poland.

There is a fair amount of violence between the two sides. Cracovia fans have been known to murder Wisla fans, and vice versa. the rivalry has been nicknamed the “Holy War.” Matches between the two teams are INTENSE. The two stadiums are only about a five minute walk apart, and in between them is a large field–perfect for brawls. Most conveniently, I lived right across the street from the Wisla Stadium. Whenever there was a game, I knew about it because i could hear it from my window. I really wish I’d gone to a game while I was there. It would have been most interesting. I’ve heard that games aren’t particularly safe, and they tend to get pretty rowdy. But it would have all been part of the Krakow experience, right??!

now, about the aforementioned documentary. Its called “The Real Football Factories International” and is a special segment concentrating on Polish Football. It is available on youtube in its entirety. I watched it hoping to get a glimpse into what all this football hooliganism is really about. After watching it, I really get the feeling its leaning towards sensationalism rather than pure fact. I especially found the beginning bit about where they linked the Solidarity movement to Football clubs rather far-fetched. I also think that they made too big a deal about the violence at the game they filmed. But still, interesting.

here’s the segment where the interviewer met with the Cracovia firm:

and here’s the bit on Wisla, as well as some of the big game between the two teams. It actually looked like a pretty fun atmosphere to me

and the brawl during the game:

Overall, Krakow is a beautiful, safe city. But just like any other place in the world, its got its nastier side. But really, the majority of football fans are not violent, and these gangs don’t target just anyone, they target other gangs. So unless you’re affiliated with the other side, you have nothing to fear.

I just thought it was interesting.

some more enlightening reading here:

http://fansmagazine.livejournal.com/54816.html

http://www.footballderbies.com/reports/report.php?id=248

edit 12/5/09-the Krakow Post just published a good article about this very topic of Football Hooliganism. I encourage you to read it! http://www.krakowpost.com/article/1730

unintentionally stumbled across a website the other day, and i’m glad I did! It was about my Polish paper cuttings I didn’t copy the article itself the other day, it was pretty boring—essentially it was just about a Polish Papercutting exhibit at some museum in London. But it did have some lovely pictures, so I decided to do a quick post about it—if nothing else, just so I can remember how to spell “wycinanki.” if I had to take a guess, that is pronounced vee-chi-nanki. not exactly how it looks in English, but not too bad for a polish word, either

here’s a few other examples to show the variety of subjects and styles:

Many of these are made from a silhouette cut from black paper, and then other color papers cut and layered over it for a beautiful multicolored effect, as is exemplified by the rooster in the cutting above. some of them are astonishingly intricate and detailed. I know I could never cut such thin, delicate lines with my scissors!

by the way, that last paper cutting, the round flower one above, is/was for sale for $35 on the site where I found the picture.

I bought four beautiful paper cuttings while in Poland, and I bet I didn’t spend that much for all of them. I got a deal!

type Wycinanki into google and you can find out a lot more

anyway, all I have to say, xoxo!

so, I arrived home from Poland two months ago, and I’m sorry I haven’t written anything on my final thoughts. Overall, of course, I had a wonderful experience, and cheesy as it sounds, in the past two months my appreciation and affection toward the country has only grown. after all, absence really does make the heart grow fonder. In fact, I’m quite homesick for Krakow now, especially since the reality that my long vacation is over has set in, and I have to return  my “real life” as a student in Chapel Hill. It’s harder than I anticipated to return. Harder than it was to leave…I suppose because when I went to Poland I went with the knowledge that it wasn’t going to last forever, and after four months I would come back to North Carolina, and chances are things would be just how I left them. However, with Poland…..I don’t know when I’ll be back. but I do know that whenever it is, the people I was with won’t be there, I wont have my daily routine of going to class, going to my favorite Piekarna for strawberry cake and a cup of tea, or walking aimlessly around the Ryneck for hours on end.  and I wont be going back to my little room in Nawojka, with my shaky little table and my rock-hard mattress and short square sheets and lumpy feather pillow. Funny the things that turn out to be pleasant memories—despite the fact that while I had them I would have traded everything I owned for a night in a decent bed.

I’m horrified at the amount of Polish I’ve already forgotten—even though I never really learned it in the first place, I did collect enough vocabulary to get around fairly well. Now I find myself struggling to remember even simple words. I even considered signing up for beginning Polish again this semester, even though I know that taking it again it will probably make me miserable.

Found out where the Polish Restaurant in Raleigh is, as well. If all goes as planned, I’m thinking about dragging a friend there next weekend Speaking of food, I should post a picture of the polish meal I tried to make over the summer:

Don’t know why I couldn’t have straightened the silverware before taking that picture…oh well. Doesn’t look too bad, though, eh? I was pretty proud of myself. It took me all day to make those pierogi….8 hours or so. Polish grandmas must have more energy than I do, to be making these things all the time. So here we have pierogi (which frankly I wasn’t too impressed with. they look adorable, but didn’t taste polish at all) golumpki (cabbage with a meat/rice filling and tomato sauce) and then a carrot salad and sliced cucumbers (in lieu of pickles, I suppose).

Come to find out, there’s also actually a Polish Deli on Atlantic Avenue. I can’t wait to go. It looks like fun, and I can go there and get all excited about polish cookies or something,  http://www.polonezdeli.com/

what else…….I don’t know. just feeling especially nostalgic this week, I think. Got a message from my friend Eduardo (the mexican guy who was there with me, and who is staying through the fall semester as well. He has a scholarship and doesn’t get to go back to Mexico until January). He’s spent the summer writing articles for the Krakow Post, which is an english newspaper….so I’ve still kept up with Krakow by reading that regularly, and looking out for Eddie’s articles. He also says that the new Fall semester kids arrived this past week, and they all seem cool. not as cool as my group was, though, I’m sure!

anyway. I guess thats enough ranting and rambling for now. I suppose I may still write now and then, when I’m feeling especially nostalgic. I don’t really know where else to pour out to, as no one else around here shared my experiences, and probably don’t care about them as much as I do. Sometimes I think about things I wish I did differently, or things I had done that I didn’t do, or what I might want to do in the future…things I wish I’d savored a little more while I had the chance. oh well. only one thing to do I suppose, and thats to go back!!

xoxo

I was going to tell you about my bathroom drama! hah. I’m sure you need to know…

so, last Tuesday was the fateful day I actually failed a test. I told you about it the other day—it was the one-question oral exam that i didn’t know the answer to. So, as you can imagine, I was pretty upset after that…….well, actually I think upset is an understatement. I’d been up all night studying and trying to prepare for the exam (and finish up the paper I needed to write), and I was tired, and all I wanted was to come home and take a shower and collapse in my bed. However, God apparently decided that was not to be.

I walk down the hall and I immediately sensed something funny going on. Why is there a pile of wood outside my door? anyway, i get to my suite,  unlock the door, walk in, switch on the light and—–

to my horror, I find this:

Building maintenence apparently decided that this would be a good week to remodel our bathroom—-without telling us

I might have cried. too much for one day.

so, now we have no shower, no toilet, no running water…plus the maintenence guys like to do all their hammering in there bright and early at 6am. they actually knocked a hole all the way through the floor, for a day or two we could look down into the room under us. They also like to tell really crude jokes (according to my roommate, I dunno I can’t understand them but I take her word for it) and then they all laugh like hyenas, as loud as they possibly can. it’s been kind of miserable, actually. I think seeing that little fiasco was the first time I really felt like “ man, I wish I could go back to north carolina…this kind of thing doesn’t happen at home.” And it made me even more glad to be going to Sweden. If I had to stay in Krakow this weekend I wouldn’t have made it, i would have had to check into a hotel for the last few days.

Well, whatever. 2 more days, grin and bear it…makes for an interesting memory, yeah?

I think there was another story I was going to tack on to this one, but I don’t really remember now…so I’ll leave you with that.

XOXOXO

thats Sweden….in Swedish

so, I’m coming toward the end of my stay in Europe, but I just had to take one last trip before I board my flight to America on Wednesday.  It didn’t take me long to figure out where I wanted to go……..I have a little bit of a Sweden obsession, even though I’ve never been there before now. Its kind of funny, but when I think of Scandinavia, I think of things like fairy tales with trolls, Pippi Longstocking, and my Swedish American Girl doll, Kirsten. its a child-like place, a happy place.

yeah, so Sweden might be a little out of the way for most travellers, but I just had to check it out and see what it is about.

Even though I know better, I’m still a little disappointed in the lack of trolls and Vikings and rockstars  I’ve seen on the street (ok, so maybe I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up about running  into ABBA or Crashdiet or Europe or whoever while here…), but overall this has been a nice trip. Stockholm probably isn’t a place for everyone though, and I can imagine that for some tourists, it seems a little boring. Although to be fair, its also a holiday weekend so a lot of things were closed, and apparently all the Swedes went to denmark because the drinking is cheaper there.  But regardless, I’m pretty low-key and quiet myself, so it is an alright place for me

Yesterday I went to 3 museums and took a boat tour around the island. My favorite was the Vasa museum. It was absolutely incredible. A must-see world wonder for anyone. So, basically, all the Vasa is is a boat…but its a special boat. It was built some 330 years ago or something, but was sunk in the harbor of stockholm on its maiden voyage. Somehow, due to the brackish water not being suitable for whatever waterworms that eat wooden boats to live in, the ship was preserved until today. It was discovered again about 50 years ago, they were able to bring it to the surface, and it was made watertight enough to float to the drydock. Kind of amazing, huh, that a ship that spent 300 years on the bottom of the ocean could still be able to sail. They brought it into the harbor and built a state-of-the-art museum around it….All I have to say is that it was really, really, really cool. they’ve managed to piece it all together again, its got over 90% of its original parts, lots of statues of mermaids and things on it, they’ve even got the original sails…plus its ENORMOUS…probably 4 stories tall from the bottom up to the deck…and they’ve built these viewing platforms all around so you can walk up and see it up close, from top to bottom.

I wish I had some pictures of it, but they keep the museum very dark and cool to help preserve the boat, so my camera wasn’t able to pick up enough light to take a pic. And besides, I forgot to bring my camera cable so i can’t upload anyway…argh, I meant to do that!! But anyway, if you’re interested, here is a link that tells about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

Today not much happened, I went to the old part of town and piddled around until lunch. Its very nice…quiet, shady, lots of cobblestone streets…it kind of reminded me of Savannah, actually. Stockholm is actually built across a series of islands, so there is water everywhere, everyone in town has a sailboat that they’re riding around in, people fishing or laying out by the water, even swimming in the water, its apparently really clean…I liked it. Swedes are a very chilled-out, relaxed, close-to-nature kind of people, I think. After lunch I went to the Nobel museum, which is about the Nobel Prize (Alfred Nobel was a Swede) and it had displays on people who had won it, etc etc…it was more interesting than anticipated. After that I didn’t really know what to do, so I decided to get on a tour boat and see where it took me…ended up going to some little island a ways out of town, not much there, but it was kind of relaxing…I got some icecream and sat on a rock and watched sailboats until my boat came back to pick us up. It was nice.

thats about it. I really haven’t done anything at all, but I enjoyed Sweden. I don’t really feel like I’ve gotten to know it though, there wasn’t enough time. I really want to take a week or two and cover all of scandinavia…from norway to sweden to finland, take the viking tour, see the countryside, buy some of those painted wooden horses…One day I will. This was a nice taste though

oh, and I ate swedish meatballs, for real. SO much better than the Stouffer’s variety

Will be home soon!!! XOXOXO

Just finished my exams today. Well, that was an experience.

so, I have to say something about polish exams. Polish exams are horrific, come to find out. let me give you the example of my EU class. first of all,  it was an oral test. I think oral exams are some sort of holdover from the communist system; I don’t know how common it is these days but it obviously still happens. For an oral exam, you walk into the room, sit down, he asks you one question, and it could be absolutely anything, spanning the entire course….4 months of material….could be something that he talked about 5 times a day all semester or could be something he mentioned once in passing the first week of class. It was really kind of unfair because not everyone had the same question, some people got really easy questions, some people got really hard questions. Regardless, whatever we got, we had to be able to answer it and discuss it.

so, one question…………………………………40% of my final grade for the class.

I show up (feeling pretty nervous) at 8am for this, right…I walk in, sit down, and he immediately poses some question about naming in order the countries that became democratic after 1989, and their capitals…what?? really?? capitals too? no….I about had a panic attack. its only lucky I didn’t pass out. I was expecting him to ask me something about negotiation processes or future EU enlargements or the institutions of the EU and their roles…I could have even discussed EU agricultural policies if he wanted, and in great depth. merely listing off countries and capitals? didn’t see that one coming. maybe that should have been an easy question, I’m not sure. Or maybe it was because i was so nervous I couldnt think…but somehow my mind went blank on that. Needless to say, I forgot half of them and he failed me. that was a fun feeling.

I guess I can’t deny that I wasn’t prepared for that one question so maybe I did deserve to fail, but I did study, really…and I think even if I had studied more I wouldn’t have focused on memorizing countries and capitals, I would have tried to gain a better grasp on the process of transforming a socialist state into a democratic, market economy or something like that…oh well, sometimes you just can’t predict things. Luckily, Poland also has a policy where people are kind of expected to fail, i think, so you’re allowed to retake the test until you pass. The system is kind of dumb, actually…but whatever, works for them I guess. I went back today (along with the other kids who failed) and he asked me another question, this time about something I know, and I was able to talk about it and he passed me this time. yay!

still, what a nightmare!!! I hope I never have to do that again.

The other funny thing about Poland is that they almost expect students to cheat. It’s really very strange. I guess because in America it’s treated as if the worst thing a student could possibly do is cheat on a test, and everyone knows the consequences are going to be enormous (kicked out of University, perhaps?) so really, with the exception of plagiarism perhaps, I don’t think cheating is all that common. In Poland, the teachers expect it, everyone knows it happens…I even saw it happen. it’s still pretty unsettling, though….

what else? I don’t know. I’m hoping i passed my language class…Polish is pretty impossible. Its not even something you can kind of fudge if you’re on the right track, but not completely sure…you can’t guess at endings. French is the same way, really, only difference is I can formulate sentences in french and I know what it is supposed to sound like so i can kind of hear if it sounds funny and try to come up with something better, whereas in Polish even I don’t know what I’m saying sometimes, its all the same to me…and even if I do know what word I’m trying to say, I can’t pronounce it or spell it…oh well. There was an oral component to that as well. I had to introduce myself to her in polish, read some story out loud with proper pronounciation and answer questions about it, and then “act out” a scenario with my teacher, where she was the waitress and i was a customer…so I had to ask for a menu, order imaginary food, give her imaginary money….went alright until the end when I forgot how to ask for the check…and she about hit me upside the head “JEENYYFURR how you been in my class and not know that?! whyyy??!”

whoops??

well, we’ll see how it goes.

Off to sweden tommorrow! can’t wait! its one of those places I have really been wanting to go so I’m glad I get to go.  Got a little itenerary ready to go, theres some sort of Viking ship there I want to see, and a huge market…I’m excited about going by myself actually, got a little more freedom to do the things I really want to do rather than feel like I need to stick with my group…it seems like I tend to wander off by myself regardless of where I am anyway so it’ll probably be the same difference…

alright, I’m out…gotta start packing and getting things in order I suppose… love y’all!! ttyl will be at home in raleigh this time next week…I can’t believe it….

not much going on here…sorry about the lack of updates. I know, I still need to write about Auschwitz, and quite a few other things…I really keep meaning to!

right now I’m starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the end-of-year schoolwork that is beginning to rain on me. Last week I had a presentation on EU enlargement (went well-I snuck a peek at the grade-sheet and saw he gave me a 5, which is the equivalent of an A ) and I also had a paper due for another class…tomorrow I have a test in my polish class, and my first final exam is coming up on Wednesday!! I can’t believe we’re reaching the end. There are still so many things I want to do…

anyway, not much to say, really…there isn’t anything going on here at all. As usual, I’m out of clothes and groaning and griping around about having to make the trek to the laundromat, I live off of chicken mcnuggets and Gołąbki, and I’ve been fretting endlessly about how in the world I’m going to get all my stuff back to America.

all is well, haha

anyway, I’ll do a real post sometime this week, but for now I just thought I’d take a minute to share this website:

http://jimandeviesadventures.wordpress.com/

Its a blog for two people I know from my church in Chapel Hill, they’re now missionaries in Kiev…check it out, their blog is pretty interesting. They do a much better job updating than I do, haha. Or maybe they’re just more observant of their surroundings. I’ve gotten so used to mine it hardly fazes me anymore…

anyway, it’s 1am, I’m going to sleep so I can wake up in the morning…

will see you soon! whats the count at now, mom? 17 days or something until I come home? UNBELIEVEABLE.

XOXO

oh wait, I had one more thing I was going to share, just for kicks…

as you may expect, I only brought one pair of tennis shoes with me to poland. They were my favorite pair of converse, with a really cool unicorn/flowers/stars/etc print on it.well, seeing how they were my only pair, I’ve worn them EVERYWHERE for 4 straight months. And apparently, they’re far less durable than anticipated.This is what they look like now:

have you ever seen anything more ridiculous in your life??? yes, you really can see the floor through the sole of my shoe, I’ve worn it all the way through. rocks keep coming up and getting in there, its driving me mad. I’ve also worn holes through the heels of every single pair of socks I own.

I can’t afford to buy new tennis shoes here, they’re way more expensive than they’d be at home, so I’m just stuck with these…figure I’ll just hang on for the last two weeks and then toss them…one less thing I have to fit in the suitcase…

alright, anyway…I think thats all, now

Alright so, this weekend was an interesting one. As I mentioned before, I’d been sick last week, so I was pretty MIA all of Wednesday and Thursday—I basically stayed home and curled up in my bed, slept, and downed cough drops. Unfortunately, this meant that for a day or two, everyone forgot I was alive. I don’t really know what happened, exactly–I woke up Friday morning and was making a cup of tea when the phone rings and I hear my roommate frantically shouting on the other end. “WHERE ARE YOU??!!” “what do you mean, “where am I?” where am I supposed to be??” “you were supposed to be at the train station! you missed your train to Zakopane!” “oh. What??! I didn’t know I was taking the train…”

evidently everyone bought train tickets and forgot to tell me, since I wasn’t there when they did it…and then about the time they got on the train they realized I wasn’t with them and got worried they’d lost me.

It wasn’t really a problem, I just showed up at the station later that afternoon and caught a bus down and got there just fine…it was about 2 hours by bus, as opposed to 4 hours by train…and cheaper too. so what do I want to take the train for??

Anyway, once we were all reunited, we went to the hotel that Karolina had found…it was really cute, up on a hill and with a beautiful little backyard, complete with a little pond and some building they called the “party hut.”

(BTW–I didn’t take any pictures myself…these are all stolen from Kasha )

Unfortunately though, where we stayed was several kilometers away from the town and, as I soon found out, the bus doesnt run regularly on weekends. Oh well. So we ate some supper and I crashed in my bed, while everyone else tried out the party hut. Chaos ensued…you don’t need any details of the party hut, I’m pretty sure. I don’t even want to know all the details, but from the bits I’ve heard all I have to say is that I’m glad no one killed themselves or did anything too regrettable.

So I woke up feeling refreshed, take a shower, read my book on my little porch for a while, wonder why my roommate never came home from the party hut (turned out she lost the room key and couldn’t get in…great), then go down and check out the breakfast…as I’m eating Matt wanders in looking absolutely pitiful…the long night they’d had was written all over his face. Again, I don’t know why they insist on doing that to themselves. Finish eating, wait around a little longer to see if anyone else is going to wake up and come hang out with me…nope…so I decide to venture down to the town by myself. I mean, why waste a vacation waiting for a bunch of hungover kids to get out of bed…

but like I said, the town was several kilometers away and there was no bus…and I didn’t want to walk because it was kind of far and I didn’t know where I was going…I ended up just standing on the edge of the road until a taxi came by…took a while but finally one passed and I grabbed it. Do what ya gotta do, I say.

Wandered around town, had a nice day. It was exceptionally pretty weather, and the mountains in the background were beautiful. I went to this market and checked out the local crafts. There is a lot of cheese there (smoked sheeps cheese…I tried it at easter, I don’t really like it but it’s pretty popular) and a lot of wool stuff—you can buy a whole sheepskin for 50 zloty, or you can buy a really nice leather jacket for 100…I ended up buying a few things there.

I managed to find my friends again and we ate “mexican” food. Its always kind of fun to see how different cultures interpret the foods we’re so familiar with…in this case, mexican food was NOTHING like mexican food you know from America. Its especially funny because we had Eduardo there, and he’s actually mexican, so I think we were all watching his reaction to see what he would say about his “taco.”

Saturday night was another madhouse in the party hut…again, details not needed, but they seemed to recover a little better Sunday morning. Played a couple games of cards with Kristell and Cornell while waiting for the rest to wake up, then a group of us hiked down the hill to town. I got a blister. Had another nice day.

We missed our train back to krakow though due to a miscommunication about what time it left…well, we caught A train, it just turned out to not be the train we paid for…so we got fined. I really hate trains. Shoulda taken the bus again.

oh well. Despite the craziness, I do love my friends, they’re good people and they make my life very interesting. and I had a good time this weekend, even though I kind of felt like I was traveling alone. It was nice to do my own thing, though.

Next weekend: Vienna. Was planning on going to Gdansk, and I think Cally is still going there, but after talking to some people who’d already been to Gdansk, it seems that the consensus is that there isn’t enough to do there to make it really worth it…so Vienna instead. Should be fun!! I think this is the last trip of the semester for me…after this weekend it’ll be time to start thinking about exams, ugh.

Although, I think the weekend after next I might take another daytrip to Zakopane and go rafting down the river…saw some pictures and it looks really incredible

So I guess I will check in with you again sometime next week—love you!