Czesc! (Hi),

There is so much to talk about of my trip, but I suppose this is the time where I should condense a lot of it.  My actual arrival into Poland was a nightmare but exciting because I had to find means of riding the bus to the train station in Warsaw without knowing any Polish. Luckily, there were many high school aged people around who could see that I was clearly lost and were of great help.  I had awkward run-ins with homeless (tried to take my bags and make me pay for them to get them back) and locals (just feared trying their English), but once I arrived in Lublin things were looking brighter. I was escorted to my dormitory, Babilon, where I live in a double (luckily we have our own bathroom) with a Polish girl. More than anything we eat stir-fry, fried rice, pasta anything, and Filipino food. I've put my cooking skills to test and I'm proud to say that I can whip up some decent meals.... not bad for me!

My Polish friends are all wonderful and help me out as much as they can. Their English is shaky but all I have to do is talk slower and use simple words; in exchange, they teach me Polish, so it all works out. They all love to expose me to Polish food, language, traditions, sites, and whatever else they can think of. I do have to say, Poland is very different than I thought it would be, but never in a bad way. I met many of the Erasmus/Socrates students (the international program that I am a part of) and times spent with them are the best yet. I now have friends from France, Spain, Slovakia, England, Finland, Germany, and of course the USA. The most interesting aspect of it is when we all compare our countries traditions and government. There are a lot of stereotypes out there of different countries and it’s amusing sharing them amongst each other, especially if the stereotypes are wrong. It comes as quite a shock to me when everyone (including Polish friends) asks me where I stand in the US Presidential Election. It also seems that they know more about each candidate than the average American by comparison. Even with their mild hesitance with anyone or anything from the US, they still hold a sense of awe to it all. I suppose it is the same with my feelings towards other countries. 

The best part of such a melting pot group of friends is that we all help each other out with languages and exposure to each others culture.. Everyone makes each other traditional dishes and deserts, while teaching us their language along the way. In fact, the French and I have made a deal; they will teach me as much French as I want, and I will speak slowly for them in English and correct them no matter what if they use the wrong word or usage.  When they get frustrated with their English, I just reassure them that their English is much better than my French and they laugh it off. With all of our differences and culture shocks, it’s nice to see that we all are in the same mindset of anyone in their 20s. We have all had similar problems, feelings, enjoyments, and I don’t know why I thought it may be different (waaaaaay in the back of my head).

The food here is awesome!  It’s really heavy and has no color to it (but we all know how the Swedish and Norwegian dishes are all yellow or white ha-ha). I actually did not have an appetite until 2 nights ago (Julian from France made us this awesome potato dish and I forced myself to eat it because it looked and smelled so good), and went shopping for food yesterday with some Polish friends. I buy things by the familiarity of its looks, especially if it has a picture of its flavor on the wrapping. I thought I bought apple juice and quickly found out that it was mint apple juice (VERY popular here) and I traded it with my neighbors because I couldn’t stomach it. Of course there are a million different kinds of vodka here, and it really is their ‘water’. Not coming from this tradition, I have just learned when to say ‘no more’. It’s not that people around here party a lot, but it’s almost like how the French drink wine with almost every meal, it’s common and culture I suppose.

Speaking of water. It is soooooo weird not to be able to drink out of the tap or get free water in restaurants. Apparently you can get quite sick from it, so I have been going out and buying bottles of water instead. The styles are very different here. I hardly ever see any sort of sneaker… everyone wears leather shoes, esp the women whom all wear big boots all the time. Everywhere they go they look dressed up because of all the layers, leather, fur, and colors (brown, black, and gray). Everyone is fair skinned (unless fake baking) and usually of lighter colored hair. So my ‘accent’, style, and appearance make it impossible for me to blend in. Which isn’t always a horrible thing, but I do hate getting stared at in the streets. 

Everything is quite cheap here too, especially in comparison to the US.  Jake (from PA), Jamie (from England), and I have to watch ourselves when commenting on how amazingly cheap everything is when we are out shopping. For example, I thought it was amazing that a big cut of cheese was only 3zl ($1.50) and Corbin (Poland) was saying how cheese is getting harder to buy because the price has increased. Kind of makes you step back and realize the luck we have with income in the US (but I suppose that’s why our products are more expensive). I bought a pay as you go phone for about $40 and it’s the smallest and lightest pay as you go phone that I have ever seen. Rates here are amazing too, I don’t have to pay for incoming calls or texts, just outgoing. Calling to the US is insane though, the connection alone cost $3.00....

The old towne centre of Lublin is amazing. Old shops, pubs, a Polish castle, and the churches, wow, amazing! I have gone walking around there at least once everyday since I have been here (not always for too long because it gets really cold).

Speaking of accents, everyone but the British guy thinks that my accent is typical American. This is actually a good thing, because last semester a guy from Texas came and no one could understand him at all. The Brit thinks I say everything funny or that American phrases are insane (as if “Jolly good” isn’t). I’m the only American girl here, so people find all of my stuff interesting… pictures, jewelry, makeup, it’s funny. The French accent is my favorite, and actually the easiest to impersonate.  I’m trying to say everyone’s name in their native accent rather than turning it American. (Example: Julian is actually pronounced Gshu-lee-awn)

I haven’t been able to keep up my running very well.  No one runs outside here, apparently when you do, you get stared at like you are crazy. Gyms aren’t that popular here either, but I’m in the process of checking one out that is right off campus. I do love it here already, and do look forward to discovering more of the town, country, and surrounding countries. A plan is in the making for Emily my best friend to celebrate her graduation by going to England with me after Uni lets out and then to Scotland  J, but that’s a ways off, so for now I take each day as it comes!

Classes are fairly easy, I only really have 2. On Tuesday mornings I take a bus with the Portuguese girls to the Montessori (Elementary for 'rich or advanced') and spend 2.5 hours playing games with 4-5 year olds. It's amazing, they know basic English... colors, words, songs, animals... but the language barrier is a pain in the butt, but since they are so young it's pretty easy to figure out what they need. After that we enjoy lunch at McDonalds (haha of all places) and then go to a 2 hour Pedagogy class... which is in half Polish then translated into English... woooo fun!  I get 17 credit hours.... it's great! 

I have been making a lot of friends, and have been esp enjoying my time with the girls from Portugal (maybe I should finally list names), Rita and Sofia. They are teaching me tidbits of Portuguese (which is actually easy to pick up since I’m around them a lot and can practice). We have been to Krakow and it was beautiful and amazing!   I was walking around the street market area, and this guy had Nazi helmets and iron bar things (the Nazi eagle that went above doors) for sale... it was really awkward and weird to see. The history in Europe in so insane... I feel so out of breath with everything, because it's everything from movies... only real. When we were in Krakow there was this priest we ran into while looking at the garden of a closed church (it was closed for renovation) and he let us in for a private tour... guess how old this church is?  1257 AD.... can you believe that!  I was going to take pictures, but usually you aren't allowed, so I'll look it up online for you.... St. Mark's in Krakow if you are interested. It was tiny, but I mean, for 1257, that's not bad!  That's 500 years older than most of the American buildings I have seen. I was floored, while everyone else (since they are from Europe) was used to such old artifacts and such. It rained for 2 of the days... that was horrible, but it was nice to run around.  I also went to Berlin recently, which is my favorite trip so far. And we have seen smaller towns in Poland which are really really 'straight from the movies'.  We have also been to Majdanek, which is a concentration camp right outside of Lublin. From the camp, the people could literally see the town... how tormenting. Things were dead.... noises, the sky was grey.  I went on a cold and snowy day, which made it worse.  My Dad was talking to me about one he went to in Germany in his 20s and he said the birds outside the camp were loud and eating from the ground, but in the camp there are NO birds... they hardly fly over the camp, let alone land in it.... same at this camp, and my friends went to Auschwitz and said the same for that. Weird how that works. We were allowed to touch the ovens... I can't even explain it.... in words... nope, nothing... you are left sad, yet feeling emotionless. This spring we are going back again to see more and Auschwitz (depressing). 

Take care!

Catherine