I haven't been doing much the past few days. It's the weekend before all my major travelling will happen, so it's a little like sitting and waiting for the bus. You know it's not going to be there for a while, but you're impatient to get started. Honestly I feel a little guilty about any weekend at all that i don't spend travelling, because it feels like a waste of time. Which it shouldn't. Honestly, travelling is complicated and expensive and stressful. But it's just that i don't know when i'm ever going to travel outside of the US again.
I will never understand "why are you here." Ever. I mean, i know it's a small-talk question, and it's easy to say "Jestem studentka universitet jagiellonska" and then people can dip right into "oh what are you studying" and i will know they are saying this only because of the word "interessant" (which i think is similar to German, actually?) and i can tell them "Sociology, i Psychology" and then i think finish that up with "a ty?" but that's probably wrong. So i get the purpose a la social scripting.
But honestly. It's fucking travelling. Why wouldn't i be here?
This is the sunset from the road away from Piastowska street, where the student dorms are. Everyone shortens it to Piast, tho. There's a really awesome wall with a ton of art on it, which i will make a specific trip to take pictures of. There's one picture that has a skull on a stack of books and it said "Let me be gone and live or stay and die." from Romeo and Juliet. VERY COOL.
I was there because a polish boy asked me to help him. He's organized a company that teaches people english in order to help their careers (like with being lawyers or whatever) and wants to work with people to help them sounds as naturally fluent as possible. He asked me specifically to send him a list of 40 words/phrases used in public speaking, and asked me to speak a little 7-minute speech about anything. Especially with regards to being a military daughter.
Luckily it was an informal speech, so most of it was ad-libbed. One of the things he said was that sometimes polish people complain about how many wars america starts.
"Well i don't know how many we actually start, we just sort of end up with our dick in everything."
"Why didn't you send this in your list of phrases to use?"
"because you wanted PUBLIC speaking. Otherwise i could've also sent you 'i did not have sex with that woman' 'i am not a crook' and 'where would this country be, without this land of ours?'"
But he offered me 20pln for each hour i worked, and instead of just paying me for one hour, he paid me for two. and when i was like "oh but i thought it was jut one hour?" he insisted "no, you earned this. and if you ever come back and want a job, you will always have a place in this company." So that was really super awesome. :3
The presidential elections for Poland are in May, but that's not what this army of portapotties is here for. Apparently there's also a Cracov-Marathon happpening.
incidentally, that tower there has a restaurant in its basement. all of the stonework looks original and the doors are super short and medieval. I mean i can't tell masonwork from dugouts or adobe but if i had to guess i would at least guess a century or two, if it isn't original.
The food was a little expensive, but good. It was nice to go to the Krakow equivalent of an applebees, as opposed to a cheap diner. :)
I was hanging out with a couple of cool greek girls and they offered me some chocolate. it's dark chocolate, and it's got the prettiest wrapper (i save a piece for you, mom! i asked specially!) One of them, Aretina, got super-excited when i told her that i was going to greece/athens, and she insisted that she would show me around! She also told me that i will NEED to buy some shorts and a bathing suit and summer clothes. She also told me she might be able to show me WHERE i could purchase such things.
While we talked, i asked a little about the greece economic crises and asked about what happens if greece has to declare bankruptcy, and how it affects them. I also asked if it was insensitive to be curious, but they kind of insisted that they have been pelting me with questions about america, so it was fine to field some, too. (i'm paraphrasing). they said they don't think that the rest of the EU will let greece fall, because there is no plan written in for if one country goes bankrupt. which means that if greece falls, the entire EU falls. Which i knew abstractly, but it somehow meant more coming from someone FROM greece.
Now if only it didn't feel like China was just building up and building and building up like collecting 500 years' worth of 7 extra men at the beginning of every turn.
Beautiful lighting and the left southern of the portapotty regiment
wall paper at the pub i went to last night
selfie with one of my favorite people here
curly hair!
more nice lighting. soft, rather than bright.
Today i have homework to do. And a roommate that's... working through some issues? And so i'm staying in. I need to do my polish homework, read a couple of essays, and write an outline for a research paper for my holocaust class. the paper i'm writing is called "Laughing in the face of: How satire and comedy help heal societies". I'm going to talk a lot about the producers, a movie called Life is Beautiful, and if i can find it, a movie called "Train of Life."
I have to find it, first.
My dad wants to read it when i'm done writing it. <3
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