Polish Adventures

 Last weekend, William and his wife, Marta, had a gathering at their apartment. They have just moved to Kraków from Minnesota, where William is from. Marta is from Katowice and so now they get to spend a few years close to her family. William is in the language program with me trying to wrap his tongue around the Polish language, like the rest of us.  

They have a stunningly beautiful apartment, right by the Rynek which they got for a song due to the fact that they knew the realtor. Even by U.S. standards it's a luxurious place and the location is perfect. We had a wonderful evening together. Piotr made some Hungarian food and brought some Palinka for everyone to try. And we played some theater games, which were absolutely hilarious. It was a fun way to practice our polish. We ended the night on the Rynek where we danced the night away. 

Anastasia with our Tea Assortment

The other day, Anastasia invited me over for tea. Her parents had sent her a care package from Ukraine with lots of sweets, so we had some treats with our tea. She insisted that I try one of everything. They were all very delicious and not very sweet at all. 

The New Display at the Chocolate Cafe

   

 On Saturday I was invited to a cowboys and indians event at one of the student dorms, so I busted out my plaid and headed out. When I arrived, the hallway outside my friends room was packed with people in costume. They were sitting on the floor, or standing in groups. I had to climb over them all to get to my friends room.

 

When I finally did get there, my friends were nowhere to be found. But the group of people in their room acted like they knew me when I walked in. They were thrilled that I was there, and told me to join the party and that my friends would probably be back any minute.













I decided to roll with it. On my way back out to the corridor, I ran into a guy who introduced himself and when I told him my name he lit up like a Christmas tree. 'You're Madeline!!?' He knew all about me and proceeded to tell me my family history. I was completely speechless.










He showed me where I could leave my stuff and then I headed out to the masses and started socializing with random people in the corridor. It was actually a lot of fun not knowing anyone, but then my friends did re-surface and we headed downstairs to the bar for some dancing.

There I met Dalsza, who is currently studying theater here in Kraków. Despite the language barrier, we hit it off, splendidly. She is just as much a wackadoodle as I am and we had a blast taking pictures and doing various caricatures with parts of people's costumes as props.

Last week I also had several new Polish adventures. I went to get my haircut, which was pretty interesting. She just trimmed the ends, but it was interesting because I had to have her repeat  almost everything she said because I am no expert on salon vocabulary. The haircut was ok, but I'm glad I only chopped my nasty ends. I'll do something more extravagant in the future when I can articulate a little more clearly. 

I also have been actively looking for an apartment in Kraków so that I have a place to stay when the dorm closes this summer.  My friend Marek helped me locate a few places of interest and he also went with me to see them. Here, real estate agents work off of commission which is paid by the tenant when a contract is signed. Because of this, owners can use agents free of cost and find tenants more quickly. Because of this, agents can be very aggressive. The first place I saw was a great location, but was very run down, dark and dirty. 

Vegan Curry that Marek Whipped Up

After seeing that place we had some time to kill so we wandered around the neighborhood a little and every 'for rent' sign we saw, Marek made me call and enquire about what was available. He also took me to a real estate agency that his friend owns and had me talk to one of the agents there and look for apartments. On the way to view the second apartment, I stopped at another agency and spoke with a man who has newly renovated places that will be available soon. We chatted with him for a bit and exchanged numbers. However, he has not called like he originally indicated. I wasn't surprised. 

Me & 'Old' William

The second place was great, recently renovated, great location, but VERY small and a little more expensive than I would have liked. The day after I saw the place, the agent called me to tell me that someone else was interested and if I wanted the apartment I needed to commit or they were going to give it to someone else. She said I had an hour to make my decision. I completely panicked, and after an emergency call to the Dad hotline, I told her I would take the place and then spent the next 24 hours freaking out about what whether that was the right decision and collecting opinions from anyone that would listen to me babble. Something didn't feel right. Then, sitting in class, it occurred to me that she was probably lying to make the deal. I spoke with my friend who is a lawyer and he said that that frequently happens in Poland and that she should send me the contract in English at least 24 hours ahead of the signing for review, which she had not done. After hearing this, I called and informed her that I needed more time. She didn't even balk. She asked if I was still interested in looking at other places and I said yes. She has called me every day since and has sent me additional emails. High maintenance. In the meantime, I have continued to look with LOTS of help from Marek, who has the ability to find great offers when it looks like there's nothing.

Marta, Piotr & 'Old' William

All in all, the experience has been exhausting and nerve wrecking, but great for my Polish. It is very intimidating to function in the real world in Polish, and especially making phone calls and negotiations. Everything is much easier in person when I can see their reactions and read their lips. But overall, everyone was very patient with me regarding my language skills, and no one tried to switch to English. 

Rękawka

Tradycja Rękawka or the 'Sleeve Festival' takes place every year just after Easter. It takes place on the Kopiec Krakusa, which is one of the four 'mounds' of Kraków. This mound is in the Southern part of the city and his named after the Polish king Krak. Legend has it that the Poles loved their king so much, that when he died, they built a burial mound for him by carrying dirt in their sleeves and dropping it on the spot where the current mound sits. 

Kopiec Krakusa

Village Folk

The festival once had religious ties, but today it simply demonstrates what life was like in the middle ages. A small medeival village is set up around the kopiec. People dress in traditional clothes, and sell goods such as swords, primitive jewelry, traditional food, etc. There are tents everywhere and little fires set up every few feet in the snow. Goods are sold from makeshift carts and tables. There are axe and sword fights that take place as well as several ceremonies. 

Swords, Shields, Bows & Arrows

I got to see part of the opening ceremony and then another ceremony that took place on the top of the kopiec. All the 'warriors' made their way to the top and some brush was lit on fire, they sang a few chants and then paraded back down again. Usually, everyone is allowed on the kopiec, but it was way too icy this year. It was unusual that it was so cold and snowy. But at least the sun was shining so it took awhile before we were all thoroughly frozen. 

Tents and firewood

I went with my teacher and classmates, even though we were on Easter Break. My teacher gave us a tour of the area and surrounding churches and talked about the history before leading us to the festival. 

Tents and a snowman

The view from the kopiec is striking and very different from that of any other part of the city. From one side you can see the entire city from the SouthWest corner. The view is completely unobstucted. From the other side, you can see what remains of the old factories where the Jews were 'employed' during WWII. It is a desolate and abandoned scene that is overgrown with a few remaining buildings standing alone. The spot is revered in Kraków. While I was standing at the fence, looking out over the Schindler Factory and other buildings, someone was playing the trumpet on the adjacent hill. The melody spread eerily across the little 'valley' and sounded like some type of commemoration. 

Looking Down at the Factories

The Kopiec

In order to reach the kopiec, you need to cross a bridge and of course, climb the hill. Apparently, the bridge was not necessary originally, but the gaping hole resulted from WWII and the bridge and road underneath were built to remedy the break. On the wall along the road are a series of murals depicting important events and figures in Polish history. It's almost a shame that it is along the 'expressway' because it can only be seen by pedestrians from a distance. 

Wall with Murals Depicting Polish History

Wielkanoc

Fußball or Table Football? - that was the argument

Easter is a very big event in Poland. We got four days off of school and the city became a complete ghost town. Even some of the 24h hotspots were closed. Most of the students went home or visited family. 

At a new tea place my friend discovered.

You sit on floor pillows in your own private

area. They give you an enormous menu of tea

and place a bell on the table for you to ring 

when you have finished perusing and are ready

to order.

During class this week we discussed Wielkanoc (Easter), it's significance and how it is traditionally celebrated in Poland. We went to the ethnographic museum, where they had huge exhibits that you could walk through and experience how simple life in Poland used to be. 

Me and William being goofballs

The Easter kick-off is Palm Sunday. On the Saturday following Palm Sunday, families go to the church with their Easter baskets and have them blessed. The baskets contain eggs, bread (body of Christ), kiełbasy, horseradish, salt & pepper (so that your life will be full of flavor), babka and a figurine of a ram (usually made of sugar or plastic). These items symbolize fertility, sustenance, health, strength good fortune. After their baskets have been blessed, families return home and have 'Easter Breakfast' (sniadanie wielkanocne). Each member takes a small portion of the blessed items from the basket and like all Polish occasions, wishes are exchanged. Well wishing is a very important part of Polish culture. 

They tell me this is the 'classic Madeline pose'

The Monday following Easter Sunday is called Śmingus Dyngus or Lany Poniedziałek (wet Monday). On this day you are supposed to throw a cup of water on someone. If you don't, and don't get water splashed on you by someone else, it is bad luck. Traditionally, men would throw water on the women they were interested in as a declaration of their feelings. The splash was a sign of luck and fertility and meant that the girl would find a husband quickly. On the other hand, women would paint eggs and give them to men they found attractive. Upon explaining this, my teacher stated that this was not a very nice or fair practice as girls would give out beautiful eggs and be repaid with a drenching.  

Another night of laughing

Over the years this tradition has changed so that today everyone is in danger of a good splashing (although girls are more often the victims), and the tradition has even become somewhat of a problem. There was an instance in Kraków where groups of boys were standing outside the churches with whole buckets of water, drenching girls as they exited the church. Now there are Policemen stationed outside churches to prevent this from happening. 

Julia and Me

Children especially love this tradition and there is often anxiety in Polish households on wet Monday because the last one up usually gets the worst of it, or is awakened by a light splashing. It is supposed to be only a cup of water, not a deluge, but many individuals get carried away. Sometimes more considerate boys spray perfume, but that isn't much better as girls become a mixture of conflicting fragrances. 

Group Hug!

I happened to be traveling on Śmingus Dyngus, so I did not get to witness the events in Kraków. Unfortunately, it snowed so I hope no one got drenched out of doors. I will relate any good stories I hear on another occasion. 

Just having fun

Spring

Thursday was the first day of Spring. This is an event in Poland. Traditionally it is celebrated by drowning Marzanna. Marzanna is goddess of winter and the harvest who is often represented as an old woman dressed in white. The idea is that she becomes a hag when winter arrives and as it progresses, she deteriorates and ultimately dies at the arrival of spring. Poles create replicas of Marzanna and on the first day of spring they head down to the river in groups, set her on fire and throw her into the river in order to banish the cold of winter and welcome the warmth of spring. This symbolizes the sun's rebirth as it returns with greater strength and begins to melt the snow and create green life again. The first day of Spring is also considered to be 'Play Hookey' day. Students in grade school and high school traditionally ditch school on the first day of Spring. Teachers often schedule field trips or activities like the drowning of Marzanna on this day to discourage unsupervised wanderings of the city, but still honor a break from instruction on the first day of Spring.

                       

Our rendition of Marzanna

                    Setting her Alight and Throwing her into the Wisła

On our Way to out to the River

At first I was a little weirded out by this tradition as it sounded super cult-y. Especially when I learned that we were expected to participated. In my folkflore class, we created a Marzanna together and on the first day of Spring we all headed down to the river, set her alight, and tossed her into the Wisła. It ended up being super-chill and not as weird as I thought it would be. Unfortunately, the arrival of Spring has not been evident. It has been the coldest all season over the past week and has snowed almost daily. 

Renata, Kasia & Ania

On Saturday my language partner, Ania, invited me to join her and her friends for Obiad (lunch). We made Naleśniki which are the Polish version of crepes, with a spinach and feta filling. We also made a Polish salad which consisted of a mix of corn, peppers, mushrooms, hardboiled eggs and dill in a mayo/yogurt sauce. We drank cocoa for dessert. They were very upset that I couldn't eat salad due to the fact that it had mushrooms, but they gave me so many crepes there was no way salad would have been able to fit anyway. It was a great afternoon, although quite challenging because they speak Polish very fast and use a lot of slang. They also talk about unconventional topics that I don't encounter in school and the subject would often change quickly without any context. I had to concentrate very hard in order to keep up. But Ania and I have developed a system. If she's talking and I don't understand I frown slightly and she uses a synonym in Polish that I am familiar with. I definitely did a lot more listening than talking as my language skills are limited when it comes to gossip and girly chit-chat.

Naleśniki ze szpinakiem

Today was Palm Sunday, another big celebration in Poland. The school funded a bus trip to Lipnica which is a small, historical town about an hour outside of Kraków. There we saw three very old churches, one of which was completely made of wood. The eves around the church are called 'Saturdays' because way back when, people used to travel large distances to go to church on Sunday. They often would arrive on Saturday night, and wait under the eves until the morning mass. We then walked around the market that was set-up in the main square. Lipnica is known for it's cured meat and of course for the palms. There was a huge variety of palms which are traditionally made completely of natural materials. Seeds, grass, hay, etc. They are enormous. Taller than the surrounding buildings, although small ones are also available. Traditionally, Poles make their own for Easter and have them blessed in the church. Masses were held outside as well as in the churches throughout the day and the square was absolutely packed with people even though it was the coldest it has been all winter (about 6 degrees F).

Inside of the wooden church. Every surface was beautifully painted

Palms

The square in Lipnica

Palms

Eggs and sugar figurines 

There is also an Easter market set-up in the main square in Kraków. After returning from Lipnica, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the main square looking at all the beautiful eggs, palms, candies, sugar figurines and tasting the various cured meats and sweet treats. The variety of eggs was amazing. You can get wooden eggs, blown-out eggs, hard-boiled eggs, porcelain eggs, etc. Some are etched, others are painted or felted, some are painted with added lace. Very different from our Easter eggs in the States. Although just like in the states, chocolate figurines are very popular for Easter. 

Candy

Getting into the Swing of things

It is once again cold and snowy in Kraków. I'm incredibly disappointed. I cannot wait until spring so I can stop wearing forty layers all the time.

This week was the kick-off of a Polish Exchange night that the students studying Polish studies will be hosting at a bar on the Rynek every week. This particular bar has a private room in the back which is set up like a lounge and has a piano. The idea is that every week students from all levels can convene and practice Polish by participating in various activities. The theme of the evening will change every week. This week it was sherades. It was a hilarious experience. We were split into three groups that represented a mix of levels and rules were explained. The categories were nouns, film, and idioms. Nouns were pretty straight forward and not worth many points. Film was a little more difficult because there were Polish and American films and the American film titles were translated into Polish, so I didn't always recognize them. You were allowed to guess the title in English if it was an American film, but then you only received a fraction of the points. Idioms were very difficult. We actually studied some common Polish idioms in class this week and they were quite amusing because they are so different in English. Here are some we learned:

Cheap as barszcz

Dumb as a left boot

Healthy as a fish

Ugly as night

Pale as a wall

Old as the world

It's like he has a snake in his pockets (someone who is miserly and never wants to reach for their money)

No one did very well with the idiom category. Only the advanced kids know the longer idioms and even they had trouble guessing. My team was really good at guessing quickly. We got second place. I got to act out 'Titanic' and 'Bambi.' I thought Bambi was going to be a challenge, but I tam guess it in under 30 seconds. 

Afterwards we all hungout for awhile and the various pianists in the group played some tunes. There are some really talented musicians at the school. After that, Karaoke started in the main bar so we all headed over and did some singing. After Karaoke we stopped by a club on the way home and danced a little before catching the night tram.

On Thursday, my classmate, Nati, arranged for our class to all have lunch together at an authentic Mexican restaurant. I was super psyched because I have been missing Mexican food like you wouldn't believe and the Mexican restaurants in Kraków are unpalatable. It was delicious. I walked into the restaurant and it smelled like the Garcia's kitchen. There was music playing and the waiters spoke very little Polish, and they had all the food I've been missing. It was so hard to decide what to order on the menu. I will definitely be back for more. 

2nd Semester

I'm back in Kraków and the second semester has started! The first week of school we had placement tests. There was some confusion about where the students from the first semester would be placed so my friends and I re-took the placement test. My teacher from last semester was NOT happy about this. As soon as she saw my exam she ambushed me - in the bathroom. After reprimanding me loudly, she informed me that I did really well on the placement exam and that instead of going from A1 to A2, I was going to be placed in B1. 

View of the Wisła from under the Overpass not far 
from Wawel Castle

Walking along the Wisła

At first I was nervous about being placed in B1, but now I really like it. B1 focuses heavily on communication skills since at that point you have learned all the fundamental grammar. Improving your ability to speak, listening comprehension and expands your vocabulary bank. My class has 11 students, which is pretty big, but no one ever speaks English either in class or socially, so it's great practice. Most of my classmates are more advanced than I as well, which I really like. Last week we talked about fairytales in class. Next week we will take turns telling legends from our country to the class and the teacher will correct our mistakes as we speak. It's definitely like being in the hot seat, but it's incredibly helpful and we have such a supportive environment that everyone enjoys it. 

Lovelocks on the bridge to Podgorze

Me, Diana and Sunshine

My class is a nice mix. There are students from the U.S., Germany, France, Mexico, Ukraine and Japan. I also have several of my friends in class with me for the first time, which is nice because we can help each other with homework and since for the most part we all have the same schedule, it makes socializing easy. In addition to my normal classes, I'm taking several extra classes: Communication and speaking, Theater, Polish Grammar, Polish Film, and Polish Folklore. I also have a meetings with a language partner twice a week - once in Polish and once in Spanish. So things are a little busy and there's lots of Polish going on. I actually have days now where I don't speak English. It's strange to think that now my life takes place in Polish and five months ago I couldn't put a sentence together in the language. Listening to people converse on the tram used to be exhausting and now I find it highly entertaining.

The Gang on the Rynek

Sunny Sukiennice

Last week we had several days of.....SUNSHINE! It was a complete miracle. We have not had sun in Kraków since winter started. Not only was it sunny, but so much so that I had to bust out my shades. It was also really warm. We went for walks along the Wisła (the river that flows through Kraków and in front of Wawel Castle), and sat outside on the square with nice cold beer between classes. It was divine. Of course now it's cold again and has been snowing, but we definitely got a nice little taste of spring for a few days. 

Bein goofballs

'The Head' on the Rynek

Manda came to Kraków for a quick visit. Unfortunately she wasn't feeling well, but we did get some good cousin time in and she brought me my christmas presents! A little late, I know, but Warsaw isn't that close and she has been very busy. We also found her a dress for the wedding! Unfortunately, i'm still on the hunt....

My Women's Day Tulip

March 8th, was dzień kobiet (women's day) here in Poland. This is a European holiday on which men honor the women in their lives. Traditionally tulips are given to women as they are the first flowers of spring, but roses and other flowers are also given. My teachers informed us that every woman should receive a flower on Women's Day. It was very touching to experience. Most of the women I saw were carrying flowers. Some of my classmates received flowers from complete strangers and one of my friends bought a bunch of flowers and gave one to every woman he walked by on his way to school, which is not unusual. Traditionally men say something like, 'on the occasion of women's day, I would like to present you this flower.' I received a beautiful pink and yellow tulip that has brightened up my tiny dorm-room significantly.