The Week of the Americans

Tuesday after class, I was leaving when a man stopped and asked me to take  his photograph. Of course, I was friendly and nice and took his photo. Then he asked me where I'm from. So, we start talking about America. Because he's from America too! He's been teaching at my school all year, and no one sought fit to introduce us. JM is this adorable old man. We ended up chatting for quite a while before we made plans to get lunch the next day after my class.

The next morning, I taught. Then JM and I headed to the 49th biggest tourist attraction in Warsaw. It's this large market with lots of little mom & pop stores. Through that, we found Asia Tasty - which JM loves because it has Vietnamese food he can't find anywhere else. Asia Tasty was decent food, and I enjoyed chatting with someone from back home. JM has since started sending me all sorts of news articles from NPR and the like. It's very enjoyable.

After that, I went to Charlotte where I loitered, waiting for the moment I would meet a new American friend. This girl is a friend of two other Fulbrighters here. All three of these people went to the same university. I agreed to meet with her because the other friends know and like her. New girl was in Warsaw for a couple weeks. So, she didn't have a telephone that works here. Nor was she familiar with public transport. But she assured me that she could meet me. So... I waited. I waited. And I waited. And when she was 30 minutes late, I thought... Golly. She's probably lost in Warsaw. So I waited some more. I've never felt so idiotic in my life. Because this girl was not going to show. Embarrassing.

The next day, I met a former Fulbrighter from Morocco who is currently working in Warsaw. She showed up. And was really cool. It was fun comparing experiences both as a Fulbrighter in a new country and as a teacher in Warsaw.

Anyway, I figure it was just like life to have me encounter all sorts of new people... at the end of my year in Poland.

Zakopane! Or the Weekend I Ate Oscypek

I arrived at Zakopane late on Thursday night. I was giving myself a full day there on Friday and Saturday, then returning Sunday morning. Since it was so late, I decided to take a cab to my hostel. Big mistake. They speak a different dialect of Polish in the mountains. With my foreigner accent, the cab driver couldn't understand me when I said the street and address of the hostel. Eventually he took the paper from me. Then he proceeded to drive in circles before stopping and taking the paper from me again. He turned on the light in the cab and put on his glasses so he could actually see. At this point he says, "Oh! Stara Polona" Like I was deliberately hiding something from him. Then he goes and drops me off at this apartment complex that is not my hostel and proceeds to force me out of the cab. I'm trying to explain that it isn't right, and he insists that it is. So, I pay the 15 zl, begrudgingly. Very very begrudgingly. Then I proceed to walk down the street, roaming the wilds of Zakopane in the dark, until I reach my hostel.

At this point, I'm very frustrated and thinking that my vacation was going to go this way. Luckily, the person at the hostel was super friendly and nice when I checked in. My room was small but adorable. I settled in for the night, knowing I could get up early and explore.

Explore I did. I had a map of the city, but I tucked it away and just followed my instinct (or rather, all the other people) until I found the main street. It's a pedestrian street with all sorts of shopping and restaurants. The whole town reminds me so much of a resort town in the US. Though, being Polish, it was a bit different. For one, there were fewer oxygen bars than in Breckenridge!

I explored the town then stopped at a Tourist Information desk to get some information about must-dos for the next day.

The next day, I arose bright and early to go explore the mountains. It was the first day that the funicular was open to top the green mountain so that I could look out at the valley and the white mountain. I'm sure these mountains have much better names, but I was satisfied with my distinction between trees and snow.

Afterwards, I wandered back into town. I did some souvenir shopping, picking up a few things for myself that I had really wanted, including a very nifty set of jewelry and a shirt that says "Jestem Hardcorem." I love little anglicisms in Polish like that.

Next, I went to the Museum of the Tatras. It was OK. There were a few neat exhibits like the inside of traditional mountain people's homes. Otherwise it was just an average little museum.

After the Museum of the Tatras, I headed for the oldest street in town to see some of the traditional wooden architecture. Zakopane is very proud of its wooden architecture. I guess it's pretty cool. I stumbled into the oldest church in the city, which is dedicated to Our Lady of Czestachowa. So you'll notice that the image behind the altar is a copy of the Black Madonna. Of course, after sitting down to take a break and enjoy the peace of the little church, a tour group comes in, surrounding me, and proceeds to start praying the rosary in Polish. There was no way to get out without majorly disrupting someone's prayer moment. So I awkwardly sat until they finished. I may have finally memorized the Hail Mary in Polish, though!

There was an old cemetery behind the church. It was beautiful, and a lot of the graves featured things like this really pensive/depressed looking Jesus. He's known as Jezus Frasobliwy. So, after seeing these, I remembered hearing about it at some point in a tour I've taken somewhere in Poland at some point in my life. Anyway, I went back down to the nearby path toward the mountain. This was lined with tourist stalls. I eventually found the coolest little Jezus Frasobliwy for myself. My only regret is that I didn't have him earlier so that I could send him home with my parents! Now he'll weigh down my giant suitcases instead. C'est la vie!

Readjusting to Life in Warsaw

Once my parents left, happy happy fun times of Europe ended and reality of Warsaw resumed. The daily grind, so to speak.

I had to teach the upcoming weekend. Between preparing for classes and tutoring, I did little else. Other than, of course: catching up on my e-mail correspondence, house hunt for Utah, and read. I do a lot of reading these days...

Class, as always, was an adventure. My weekend students are still showing up, unlike my weekday students. I think they'll be surprised when they realize that my speech about them all being adults means that they will suffer consequences from their actions. I don't have the time or energy to chase down my students when they can't show up to class. It's disrespectful to me and to their own attempts to get a degree.

School was fairly unexciting. I realized I had a free weekend the next weekend. So with some planning, I decided to explore some of Poland. This eventually caused me to book a trip on PolskiBus to see Zakopane. I think I'm pleased with this decision. After all - who doesn't like resort towns. I guess we'll see next week!

Monday I agreed to be part of the International Education Week at Warsaw University. I'm not sure what that all entailed, so I just showed up. Luckily I did because evidently I agreed to be on a panel about education in the US. I tell you this. Being put on a surprise panel is not very enjoyable. I didn't know what was going on or necessarily what I should say about anything. I hadn't had time to think. I didn't know what they were expecting from me. I even managed to fumble on my introductions. Whenever they asked a question, they would pass my the microphone if I had nothing to say, and they kept it away from me if I did have something to add. And trust me - there were times when the advice that the other panelists were giving was just flat out bad advice. Like, yes, state schools can be great. But if you're an international student trying to afford an education in the US, you can probably get more money out of private universities. Even though many of the people there wanted to visit the US for undergrad, the other panelists kept talking about grad school. They also didn't seem to appreciate that location and character of a campus can make just as much of a difference as the professors you have. Obviously you want to go to somewhere with a high academic reputation, but even if you go to the best school in the country,  you could be miserable if you can't adapt to the social life. College in the US is about class - but it's also about more than learning. It's the difference between getting an education and getting a degree. No one else seemed to acknowledge that this was an issue. I could've gone to the exact same classes on a different campus than Notre Dame, and my education would be incredibly different. I needed the traditions and the social life and the opportunities for grant funding and the like that weren't necessarily accessible in other locations. Anyway, I didn't get a chance to talk about any of this, and I was frustrated at the end to see all the Polish students flocking to talk to the one Polish woman who kept saying things I disagreed with. Yet, she once had a Fulbright to Harvard. Therefore she must be the most knowledgeable person ever. Right?

The Parents' Last Days in Poland

Right after arriving back in Poland, we headed to the Warsaw Uprising Museum. It was fun going to see it with my parents because they didn't need to read every single wall text and to watch every single movie unlike certain people I've taken to see the museum in the past. When you've been to a museum four or so times in the past year, it gets a bit much. So I enjoyed my trip there with my parents.

When we left the museum, we waited for the bus that would take us to Nowy Swiat. There was an old woman waiting at the bus stop. She started talking to me. So we had a very interesting conversation in Polish. At least, I think it was interesting. Perhaps she was just insulting me in Polish. Though, I suppose that would make an interesting conversation as well. I don't think she was insulting me, though. She said my Polish was good (ha). I think she also said that my dad looked very cultured. Then the bus came...

Easter Monday is actually a holiday in Poland. So nearly everything was closed. Thus, we went to Nowy Swiat after our museum experience. I took them down the street to see a bit of the shopping. We saw the Copernicus statue (of course). Because we're related to him (I hope that's actually true. How cool would that be?)

We waited for Mass to get out so we could sneak in to see the heart of Chopin - since we'd seen the rest of his body (more or less) in the Paris cemetery.

Afterwards I took them to the brewery I like for a delicious dinner out. They have a pretty awesome stout that I convinced my parents to get. Afterwards, we slowly walked towards the bus stop where we returned home. Back at the farm, we did some research about housing in Utah. It's a serious concern, after all. I do need somewhere to live...

The next morning we returned to Old Town for a lazy day of site seeing. We did the rest of the site seeing that we hadn't done when we'd popped by Old Town before. So we went into New Town (which is still very old but is newer than Old Town), saw the Barbican (the old city walls) and the like.

We also went to the Warsaw Uprising Monument that's near New Town. It's a pretty cool monument. I think it's one of my favorites in the world - perhaps behind the ever so awesome FDR monument in DC.

Mom was tickled pink by the benches that show the route of Chopin's life. They also play Chopin music. Because, of course, a bench in Poland should play the music of Chopin. It only makes sense...

We saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Cool fact about the tomb is that it's housed in what used to be an arcade between the two halves of Saxon Palace. This is now where Pilsudski Square exists. We ended up chasing the new guards down Pilsudski Square towards the tomb because we got there almost at the same time as them! It's perhaps one of the most boring and unelaborate changing of the guards ceremonies ever, but since we were there...

Saxon Park (behind the tomb) was looking quite gorgeous, with the fountains turned on finally after such a long winter. When the leaves come back on the trees, it will be a nice place to go relax, perhaps.

Before the day ended, we sat in Old Town and had a drink. We soaked in the ambiance of the rynek. It was a fine, slow way to end a great vacation. Mom said that she much prefers Warsaw to Paris - like Paris is New York City. It's fun to visit, but it's chaotic and stressful. Warsaw, on the other hand, was like Omaha. It's smaller and more manageable. People are friendly, and a good time was had by all.

Our Last Day in Paris

The next day was Easter Sunday. Being the good Catholics that we are, Mom, Dad, and I ventured to Sacre Coeur in the Montmartre area. Sacre Coeur is far newer than most of the churches we'd seen. It does have some pretty cool stories, though. Including one in which something like 13 bombs hit the area and no one was hurt. Evidently this was a miracle. It was also very bad aim on part of the bombers.

Sacre Coeur is on top of this wicked hill, so we figured we'd better enjoy the view since we were all the way up in the top of the city.

Next we did a walking tour of Montmartre. There wasn't much to see. It's mostly studios for artists and writers and whatnot. The coolest thing in the region was... Cafe des 2 Moulins. Straight out of Amelie! Bardzo awesome.

There was also Moulin Rouge, which looks much different than in the Nicole Kidman movie. Kidding. Mostly.

After that, we journeyed across town to see the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysee. Of course, I took a moment to listen to Aux Champs Elysee on the Champs Elysee. Which is the only thing I could afford to do on the Champs Elysee. Other than look at expensive cars.

And miniature cars. I told Dad I wanted him to get me this one for Utah, but I don't think I'll be able to fit everything in it...

Near the end of the Champs Elysee, there was this huge line of people. We tried to figure out which tour attraction was nearby and attracting such a crowd. We wracked our brains and hypothesized that there was a palace or something nearby. Alas, when we drew closer we realized what the real draw was... An Abercrombie and Fitch.

Last, but not least (of course), we headed to the Louvre. Everyone told me this place was huge, but I had no idea how huge it was. Mom and Dad didn't really want to do it all (not that we would've had time anyway!) after seeing every painting (almost) in the Musee d'Orsay. So, we did the highlights through some creative journeying.

The major highlight was the Mona Lisa. I can't say that she's that thrilling. I've never really seen the appeal of the painting. However, it would be weird to go to the Louvre and not see the Mona Lisa. So we saw the Mona Lisa. The crowd in front of her stretched nearly to the opposite wall. They were all facing this Da Vinci piece instead of turning around to look at the glorious, giant painting of the Wedding at Cana. I'm not much for giant history or religious paintings either, but it was super impressive and beautiful.

Another super awesome thing in the Louvre was the slaves. These are Michelangelo statues that he started making for some Pope. There are six. Four of them - unfinished ones - are in Florence. The other two were in the Louvre. So now I've seen all six. They're absolutely beautiful. I never thought I was much of a sculpture person either. I mostly enjoy sculptures because they're the easiest pieces of art with which one can take funny pictures. However, these totally changed my mind about the awesomeness of sculptures in a non-interactive manner.

The Venus de Milo was pretty too. Seriously - look at that six pack! I figure the thing I have going on her is that I still have arms.

Then there was a series of statues and artwork stolen from Egypt. I wonder if Egypt didn't have their own archaeologists or if it never occurred to Egyptians to dig up their own stuff and put it in museums. Is it a cultural sign of respect for their heritage? Was there no museum culture? The whole thing baffles me in some way, and I'd love to know more about the history of archaeology and museum type things in Egypt. Anyway, the fact is that some European dudes went south, saw some of the very cool things down there (like our friend Ramses, below) and took them back to France to exhibit. There are amazing pieces - huge pieces - full sphinxes!

The absolute BEST THING EVER in the museum was the Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi! Can you imagine! The only thing that gets close to the Code of Hammurabi in awesomeness is perhaps the Rosetta Stone. This thing existed thousands of years before Jesus! I guess I never assumed that it really existed until I ran across it in the Louvre. I remember reading about this is school - probably in Mrs. Gazda's class. So legit.

Guess Where? (Paris Part 3)

The next am, Mom, Dad, and I woke up bright and early to get in line at the Eiffel Tower. This was super smart of us. As soon as the line opened, we were at the front of it. Below is a photograph that Mom took of the lines from our position at the ticket booth at the front.

And this is a photograph I took from the Eiffel Tower looking down at the lines. This is less than half of the line because I was looking down at an angle from the inside of the tower.

Dad and I went up all the way to the top. Dad took this photo of me. In the distance you might be able to make out the miniature Statue of Liberty. As you may remember from history classes, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France. So they have one of their own! Unfortunately, it is facing New York. So, it is not facing the Eiffel Tower.

In this close up, you can see her at the end of the island. This is also the reason I'm a bad tourist. Instead of focusing on the awesomeness of the Eiffel Tower, I am looking for the connections to America. This is the same reason the French lady was a bit snobby in Musee d'Orsay when I asked where Whistler's Mother was located (Surprise - she's on loan. And they have plenty of wonderful masterpieces by French artists that I should consider looking at...).

At the very top of the Eiffel Tower, there's a little bird's nest apartment where Gustav Eiffel used to hang out. This is also the location where he had a tete-a-tete with Thomas Edison. The meeting between those two is the scene enacted below. It's pretty much the coolest apartment forever. Dad and I weren't sure if Eiffel was able to use this as a pick up line or not. Like - it might seem really cool "Let me show you the best view in Paris, baby." However, there's the whole effort of convincing a woman to take the elevator all the way to the top of a steel construction with holes in it...

Dad had to hold me up while I leaned back to take the below picture. It was very intimidating.

Inside they had a graph showing the comparable heights of the tallest buildings in other countries. I think they must've also included the top 20 tallest or something like that because America appears more than once.

After the Eiffel Tower, we booked it to the catacombs. Where we spent another two hours waiting in line. This was frustrating, but totally worth it once we were inside. I don't know that it's the best thing in Paris, but we're very very grateful that we went. It also turned out that first thing that morning the line was already two hours long, so our decision to do the Eiffel Tower first was well founded. By "our" decision, I, of course, am referring to Mom's impeccable planning skills.

This gave me the opportunity to show off my rusty French skills as I tried to read the frequent French plaques that featured often creepy quotes about death and the afterlife.

Because we couldn't get enough of death, we headed straight out of the inner city so we could go to Pere Laichaisse. I'm so grateful that I saw the movie Paris, Je T'aime. Because that is the reason I wanted to go here. It's definitely the coolest cemetery a person could imagine visiting. Plus, it holds the bodies of some real rockstars - literally.

Below is Oscar Wilde's grave. It was the one featured in the short from the film. Unfortunately, Wilde's family (or someone) requested that this awful plastic barrier be placed around the grave. I was very upset about it. I had my lipstick all ready to find a clear part of the stone and leave my mark. After all, it can't be any more unhygienic than the Blarney Stone - and I've kissed that.

I took a moment to hum La Vie En Rose at Edith Piaf's grave.

I told you there were rockstars. Meet Jim Morrison's final resting place.

Most important (of course), Chopin's grave lies here. Though his heart is resting inside a church in Warsaw...

Paris (Oo La La La)

The next morning we woke up bright and early to make it to the wondrous place known as ... Versailles. Versailles has always been on my to-do list. It's only a short train ride outside of the city. Then it's only a short(ish) walk from the train station to the HUGE complex that is Versailles.

There were people everywhere, everywhere we turned. It was a bit obnoxious. But, at the same time, the palace can hold something like 20,000 people. So a few tourists wasn't that bad. Especially with Mom's uncanny sense of timing (or force) we've managed to avoid some crazy lines.

The chapel is below.

Of course, exploring the rest of the palace is just biding time until you get to the Hall of Mirrors. This is ... it. You know? Living the dream.

There were some cool things outside of the Hall of Mirrors. For example, there's the door Marie Antoinette used to go hide somewhere when the revolution was occurring outside her door. It's interesting to think about all the opulence and the state of the peasants. There's a serious gap there that's strikingly similar to some of the things we're seeing today in America. Hopefully we're not headed towards a violent, excessively bloody revolution!

After Versailles, Mom, Dad, and I headed north to where the Grande and Petite Trianon were hiding. They're smaller little palaces. It was pretty nifty.

There were two awesome things about the part of Versailles that was not the palace. The first is that Marie Antoinette basically recreated an Austrian village (see below). She would dress up in a simple white dress and walk around "overseeing" the people who worked there. It's a cute little hamlet that is so quaint. I think I must like this idea - of recreating villages, because it was something I adored about Barcelona (the Poble Espanyol). The second WONDERFUL thing about going north was that we got to take a 3 euro tram back to Versailles. You think that sounds expensive? I suppose it is a bit expensive for a short tram ride. Until you consider the fact that the tram drops you off in the gardens of Versailles. The same gardens that they were charging 9 euro for admission to visit. So, Mom, Dad, and I just sauntered right past the ticket booths in order to explore the gardens a bit. It was lovely, and it's definitely something I'm glad we were able to see after all.

After that, we headed back to the city of Paris. This is where we decided to check out the Eiffel Tower. Well, only one of the elevators was running. Of course, the sign says something about technical difficulties. So I ask information when the other elevator will be operational. I was then politely informed that they just don't use it until July! So the line to go up the Eiffel Tower was approximately four hours long. Ha! Yeah right!

Instead of waiting four hours, we decided to go to Les Invalides - a old military hospital where Napoleon's tomb is located. We figured we could go back to the Eiffel Tower and see if the line decreases at all. (Spoiler alert: It didn't).

Napoleon's head is resting closest to the camera in the below picture. I know that's not super important, but luckily Rick Steves included it in his guidebook so that I knew I was looking at Napoleon's head instead of his feet. Everyone knows I hate feet...

The chapel of Les Invalides was pretty cool. Granted, at this point, my father thought we were the holiest family ever. We were probably averaging 1.7 churches/chapels a day at this point in the trip. Very impressive considering we hadn't actually attended a service yet...

Les Invalides had a lot going on. There was also a pretty cool WWI and WWII museum. I walked through it pretty quickly. As could be expected, I focused on information about America joining WWI and anything about Poland. They had some cool military costumes from different countries in different regions. The uniforms from Africa were especially interesting. I was shocked to realize that the British were still wearing bright red military uniforms in WWI. Didn't they realize that was a bad idea when the patriots defeated the loyalists/British in the American Revolution? Seriously, dudes.

After that, we took Rick Steves' advice and wandered down a cute pedestrian street that we never would have explored ever. We sat at an outdoor cafe and enjoyed happy hour. It felt very Parisian. Except, we were drinking beer and not wine. Well, I was having a cocktail - but it was called something like "St. Germain hearts Manhattan" or something equally silly. I imagine cocktails with shorter names probably get ordered way more frequently. Me ordering this cocktail had nothing to do with the fact it had something to do with America. I swear it. It just looked delicious!

Next we went to a little outdoor creperie, and I ordered some sucre crepes for the family. Oddly enough the crepe place used to be... a horse butchery. Gross.

We went back to the Eiffel Tower, but looking at the line, we realized we could do a lot the next day - including avoiding some of the lines. But that's a tale for another blog post...