Things That Wouldn't Fit in the Last Post.

THE MALLLLL.


Yes, here we can pick wildflowers.



Soviet train meant to take "political" prisoners from Poland to Syberia.

We used to have one of these when I was little. True story.

From today--Ola and Kacper taking a ride down the boulevard.

Just watch this. It's Kacper, as usual.

This is inside the Syberian house--where Stalin sent innumerable amounts of people.

Days in Pictures

So I've come out of hibernation to type up this post, and a lot has happened in a few days. If any of you were wondering why the long absense, it was because if I wrote about all the television programs I watched over the past week, you would all die of boredom. I know I practically did, especially between Tuesday and Wednesday.

But the big highlight of this past weekend was the festival I went to--the Open'er Festival--that went from Thursday till Sunday. Thursday I missed and, very upsettingly, the Arctic Monkeys were performing. HUGE upset, since seeing them would have made my life complete (a little overdramatization doesn't hurt every now and then, right?

I don't know about you, but I'm kind of tired of typing, and you're all probably tired of reading (or at least I am), so I will present to you, the past week or so, IN PICTURES! Yaaaaay pictures! These are a bit out of order, but I captioned them.


The Fountain of Neptune, or Neptune's Fountain?

A window of the upside down house; Ola and me in Gdańsk.

Ola, Kacper, my uncle, Mikołaj, and me in Gdynia; Old street in Gdańsk.

The upside down house; Yup, me, hanging by a wire.

Man, that's one big boat; A Soviet train that took Polish prisoners to Syberia, during and after WWII--not a replica.



Kacpi, enjoying his cotton candy; The field where we had the camp ground.

What my behind looked like after a frightening canoo ride; The lake (and weather) quickly fogged up.

Back in Gdynia, Ola and me at the harbor; A popular game among young boys--"Let's see who can jump through the fire!"

Catching You Up...

Sorry I didn't post yesterday--as I may or may not have mentioned before, my computer time is limited to the amount of time my cousins do not spend playing World of Warcraft (I personally think it's rotting their brains, since neither of the older ones seemed to have any peer interaction in the past three days).

Yesterday, many monumental things happened--well, they're only monumental if you consider that I feel like I've been housed in a strange asylum for the past few days. Anyway, the first thing that happened was that I DROVE IN POLAND. Yeah, that's right. I think it was nearly the distance that it takes to get from Newington to like, Hebron or Glastonbury, but WITHOUT HIGHWAYS. What do we have instead? A long, winding journey filled with natural speed bumps and many potholes. But we made it. I drove there and back, so YAY ME!

But, where were we going, you might ask? Why, we were going to the działka (not sure how to directly translate, but it's means a property, in this case which my aunt and uncle use as a sort of "campground" by a lake).

So, yes, we made it safetly to the campground, where we were going to start a fire and do some serious grilling. Well, we did, and there really isn't much to this part of the story, other than the fact that the younger kids (two of my cousins and two of their cousins) decided that they should try jumping over the fire. Which they did. Then they dared each other to step through the fire. Which the youngest, Kacper did, stepping right on the flames, which got onto his flammable pants and shoes. No one was injured, but he learned his lesson and he has the holes in his pant cuffs to prove it!

Then we (and "we" includes my aunt, my sister, my aunt's brother-in-law, Dino, and me) went on a canoo rigged with an engine, and floated around the lake. It was probably the scariest ride of my life, not counting the drive there. Anywho, moral of the story is that we got wet, especially my rear-end, and my feet, and had to sit by the fire for the rest of the night.

Just as we were nearing the end of our ride, and the shore (and shallow water) was in relatively clear view, the water started to get foggy. In fact, the whole area, on and off shore, became enveloped in such a thick fog, that when we looked out, the other side of the lake was completely closed off by fog. I wish the camera's batteries had lasted me long enough for me to take in the view.

Today, we went to church. I wish I could take pictures inside and outside so you guys could see what it looks like, because I absolutely love it. The procedures are exactly the same as in America, in any other Catholic church, only that there are a few minor tweaks. In Poland, not everyone received communion single file--well, the system is employed, but not everyone goes, only those who feel they can. Confessions are not at a specified time, but rather, during the Mass (which I have to say, makes for the Mass to feel less "meditative" and more "people bustling around"). I think that's all that comes to mind right now, so I'll finish it off here.

Finally, my cousins (yes, all three of them), my sister, and I went to see Transformers 2 (dubbed in Polish). Bartek (the oldest) bought us all popcorn and soda with his mom's money, and he felt the need to buy Ola and me giant tubs of popcorn, and the largest Coke drinks I have ever seen.
I feel ashamed to say that I finished practically the entire tub of popcorn, and half the soda. Sometime soon this'll all hit me, and I will not see it coming. Like maybe tomorrow morning, when I suddenly gain ten kilos.

The movie itself was awesome, but I didn't watch the first Transformers, so I'm not going to rate or anything. Then of course, we had sushi (not half bad, I must say, and made by creepy Polish boys! xDD)

Well, I'm off to bed. Both Ciocia and Wojek are working tomorrow, so it will be boredom to the MAXXX (that's and inside joke; there's a station that spells it's name that way). Dobranoc!

Music: The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated (It was on this morning)
Word of the Day: Kino - Movie Theater

Just Photos.

Since I can't upload these things on Facebook, I will unload some of the better photos here, until I work out the Facebook glitch. Enjoy!






The fields that are literally EVERYWHERE; Obiad. Kotlety (translation unknown).







More houses and fields; The dirty buda (shed) that the local boys love.

Kacper and Ola getting a rush of blood to the head.

Just a poor, local tree.

The ulica (street); Ola slept longer than I did xDD.


Dino, the family dog. He would be so cute with Maya.

Music: MGMT - Electric Feel

Word of the Day: Aparat - Camera

How Do You Flush This Thing?

I'm here to address the bathroom question that's been on everyone's mind: How the heck do you flush these European toilets, anyway?

Yes, this does have to do with culture. I mean, hygiene is a cultural thing, right? xDDD

So, this post all stems from the encounter I had in the Warsaw airport, when I as waiting in the queue (you like that, huh?) for my turn in the lavatory. And man, was that a tight bathroom. Only three stalls and half a plane full of women who either needed to brush their teeth or wee. Tight squeeze and long line? You bet.

But back to the story, this little girl came out of a stall, and I was next in line, but she told me (in English) that she had no idea how to flush the toilet. Well, good thing I was there to let her know :DD.

You see, Europeans are fond of the button-pushing system (at least Polish people are). There will never be a toilet here that will have our flushing system. So, if you look at the toilet, it looks like only a toilet, with a strange pair of "buttons" on the wall, seemingly disconnected from the bowl itself. How do you flush this thing? Good question. You simply push the larger of the two buttons. I'm pretty sure, but not completely positive, when I write that the smaller button is for when you have a light load, and the larger one for, you know, heavier stuff. But just to be safe, press the larger of the two. Just to be safe.

And there you go, that's how'ya do it. No need to fear.

Oh! I almost forgot two more things:

1. In public lavatories, if you can't open the bathroom stall, don't panic. First, check if you unlocked the stall properly. Then, if you did, and you still can't get out, try pushing the door out, instead of pulling in. I only list this because, yes, it happened to me yesterday at the airport.

2. Sometimes, depending on the "class" of the public restroom, you will find that the toilet paper may be, as one girl called it three years ago on my Polish School trip here, "brown". Don't fret, it's just the kind of paper they sell here. It is difficult to find white t.p. out here, but usually, you won't encounter the rough, "brown" paper. And pray you don't, because it's not pleasant!

There you go, that's all you ever wanted to know about public (and private, I s'pose) restrooms. And now you have the answer to that (age-old) question: How do you flush this thing? I'm putting together a list of come common courtisies that are found here, but since I can only think of one, I will save posting about public transportation, and type up a list of major public and private ettiquete later (in case you wanted to know).

Give me some feedback, or I'll be posting about toilets more often!

Day Two, Guys!

Dino, Kacper, and Ola.

Nasz dom.

Our Home.

Let me just start by saying how shocked I am that Michael Jackson is dead. Apparently the Polaki loved him too, because whatever station you're on, or whatever channel you're watching, there's some sort of tribute to him.

Moving on, then, since that did not necessarily pertain to travel, I will delve into more travel-y stuff. That's right, stuff.

Unfortunetly, I didn't take a camera with me to the market this morning, although you guys didn't miss much; the market in my home town is much more impressive and nostalgic than the one here. It's a simple open-air rinek (market), really little, in fact. It houses little shops that fit up to three people at a time, that specialize in one type of thing, like deli, or sporzywcze (produce/groceries).

I also forgot to take the camera to the mall-type building that is really like a giant super Walmart, with little stores like a mall. And in every store, the little security meters or whatever went off, because my Old Navy jeans still had the anti-theft tag in them. That's right, I forgot to cut it out.

Anyway, then we (my sister, my aunt, and I) came home and while my ciocia (aunt) made obiad (dinner), I watched some Michael Jackson videos. Guess what? Lady Gaga is a hit here, too. Isn't that lovely? Everywhere you go, you can't avoid her large discostick (just kidding, I just wanted to add that in there--for kicks, you know).

Finally, we took a tour of the "neighborhood", but we really call it the ulica (street), because that's kind of what it is; an unpaved, uneven road with houses and lots of open fields. I'll try to get the pictures of today's adventures on here, too.

Music: Michael Jackson (What else?)

Word of the Day: Dom - House

Welcome to Poland!

Hello Polska!

I swear I didn't know she was making this face.

A little better.

Goodbye America!

So, this is my first official post, and I am officially tired. A twelve hour trip awaited us from New Britain, and we have finally made it to the homeland. That's right, I am finally in Poland!
It's three parts nostalgia and two parts homesickness, which means this will probably be five weeks of sitting around the house with cousins who barely come out of the rooms (they are glued to their computer screens and can't seem to look neither me nor my sister in the eyes). I truly hope this blog won't exhibit any EPIC FAILURES because I will be sitting in Gdynia all day, surrounded by gray skys and cold drizzle. And I am NOT here to gain another fifteen pounds. xDD

I will try to make this as interesting as possible, and maybe I'll get around to posting the pictures and videos Ola and I took on the way here. Maybe. I'm am so ridiculously tired, but I suppose that this is what a travel blog is for, right? Showing you what it's all about, right?

Mmmm.... smells like dinner is cooking and I am ready to crash for the rest of the day. I will write as soon as I can, but I s'pose this all depends on my aunt's work schedule. If I haven't mentioned this before, I will write it now: Nothing turns out the way I planned it.

Cheers!