Czech anyone?

As we prepared to head to Prague this weekend, I decided I should look up a few phrases in Czech.  After learning Polish, Czech looks kind of familiar!  I remember last time I was there 8 years ago that it looked so foreign to me (unlike French, German or English!)
Counting in English, Czech and Polish:

one     jeden     jeden
two     dvě     dwa
three   tři     trzy
four    čtyři     cztery
five    pět     pięć
six     šest    sześć
seven  sedm     siedem
eight    osm      osiem
nine    devět     dziewięć
ten     deset     dziesięć


  

Taxi drivers

We've found the taxi riding experience in Lublin to be quite pleasant.  No one has tried to rip us off.  To the contrary, this is the only place I've ever been where the cabbie actually asks your permission to deviate from the straightest point to point route.  On two occasions we've run into a traffic jam and they've asked if its ok for them to go around...

Street cleaning crew

I heard a strange noise in front of the apartment the other day, looked out and saw a work crew shoveling dirt out of the gutters and into a truck.  Seemed pretty labor intensive, but probably a pretty good idea considering how full the gutters were (you can tell my how much dirt is in the truck)

2nd Birthday Celebration

Delaney attended another birthday party this weekend.  David got to accompany her this time.  Instead of wishing someone Happy Birthda, you say "Sto Lat" - One hundred years.  In other words - may you live 100 years!  I still didn't get a recording of the song they sing, but I'm hoping to for Delaney's birthday in a few weeks!

Google translate

If you haven't ever tried out Google Translate - it is really amazing.  It has a speaking function (mechanical voice, but still helpful), alternative words, etc.  Type in what you want to translate and it immediately gives you the translation in at least 25 different languages.  Someone here was telling me they have a friend (Polish) in Turkey who has just started a job there.  She is working on her Turkish, but in the meantime she has her co-workers send her messages via email so she can use Google translate, then she replies and they do the same.  She laughed and said the workplace doesn't have a many verbal conversations, but at least the work gets done with a minimum of confusion!

Erasmus program

A Polish proverb says "The more I travel, the more I learn".  The belief in this proverb was evident as I interviewed 15 students who want to participate in the Erasmus student exchange program this year.  This is a popular European program where students can study at another school for a semester or a full year and receive full credit from their home institution.  They have to pass a language interview to make sure that they can study in the language at the other university.  Many of the classes are offered in English, so I got visit with students who applied to programs in Belfast, Denmark, Portugal, Turkey, Iceland, the Czech Republic, and France.  It was fun (and refreshing) to hear their reasons for wanting to study abroad.  They all hoped to improve their language skills.  They were eager to meet people from other cultures and get to understand different perspectives of the world.  They all recognized that the chance to study abroad would be an incredible growth experience for them.  Wish I could convince all of my students at home to adopt a similar attitude : )

The students did very well with their English and most of them were also studying at least a third if not a fourth language.  Very impressive.  One was even studying Japanese! (very unusual in Poland).

Skiing on the streets?

I've seen quite a few people walking briskly with "ski poles" on the streets lately.  I think they are diligent hikers who are in spring training for the summer hiking weather. Funny to watch - they are totally unselfconscious.

I decided to get adventuresome again regarding the beer choices here. I tried another offering from Amber Browar (a micro brew near Gdansk) called Koźlak (the other beer from this brewery that I tried was Źywe). I didn't like Koźlak as much as Źywe. It was not much different than many of the micro brews available in the U.S. Sweet with a hint of bitterness, the initial flavors are nice but fade quickly.

On the other side (soft drinks) I saw this package pairing at the grocery store. Pepsi and "Indian Tonic Water". Not sure why they were together, or what makes "Indian Tonic Water" different from tonic water. As mixers maybe?

My old Samsung, only 1 1/2 years old, decided to fade out. The touch screen only works occasionally (mostly not at all) making it almost impossible to use. Fortunately, they sell a large number of new unlocked phones here. After looking at a dozen models that were all priced under $150, and wanting one that would work in the States and was 3G, the choice narrowed down to one, this Nokia (the only one that I could find that was 3G). For around $105 I got a simpler, easier to use phone, has all the options that I want including a 3.2 mega pixel camera and an FM radio with standard headset jack (ear buds included). It is very user friendly, easy to customize and enter in all info. The Nokia that I used to remember.

Polish computing

How well do you know the pull down menus in Microsoft Word?  Considering that I use Word for Mac, I don't have the menus for PCs memorized at all.  This makes it a particular challenge to use my office computer.  I briefly tried to find a way to get the default language changed to English, but with all the Options/Preference menus in Polish, I couldn't even find the right place to start looking.  I'm managing ok, but its kind of annoying when every word I type is flagged as being misspelled because it is using a Polish dictionary as a reference!

Unexpectedly pleasant day

Adam got his first social invitation this week.  A friend from school invited him over to their house on the weekend.  I called the mom and confirmed the invitation (issued via Facebook) and let her know we'd be over at the appointed time via bus.  His friend met us at the bus stop and walked us over to their house.  I was introduced to the mom and intended to return home after delivering him safely, but the mom invited me in and clearly expected me stay.  She had laid out tea and cake, and had invited a friend of the family over who spoke good English to serve as an interpreter.  Adam and his friend disappeared upstairs to listen to music, while the adults visited over tea.  I used a few of the polite Polish phrases that I know and they were pleasantly surprised.  They said my accent was very good (what  a nice thing to hear!)

We talked about a lot of different topics.  They are restaurant owners, and their friend designs wedding dresses.  They described Poland as a country with very different regions (even though it is small).  The way people live in the West of the country is very different from Lublin (in the East).  They said that if young people go away to school in Warsaw or Krakow, they don't ever return to Lublin. (I said that is true of small towns in Kansas as well).   They had recently traveled to Egypt (and were there as the uprising started).  It was their second trip and they said they really enjoyed it.  The friend had also traveled to Athens and Istanbul.  We compared Polish and American school systems.  They talked about being forced to learn Russian as children, but few people study Russian any more.  Their children were learning English and German.  We compared costs of a variety of items (plane tickets, gasoline, etc) and they pointed out several times that the cost of items in Poland is very similar to the rest of Europe, but their salaries are much lower, so they don't have as much disposable income.  They asked why more Americans don't visit Poland.  I didn't have a real good answer for that one other than "its expensive".

Overall it was quite a pleasant afternoon, and doubly so because it was so unexpected!

Flowers of spring

I feel like I've been saying this for weeks now, but spring is really just around the corner, and the proof is finally in the flowers:

Crocus seen blooming on campus

I've also seen many irises poking up through the dirt in the green spaces along the side of the street near our apartment.  When they are all in full bloom, it will be beautiful!

Enjoyable dinner with Colleague

David and I were invited out to dinner with one of my colleagues last week.  He and his wife took us out to another new restaurant (also in the Old Town).  It was probably my favorite meal that I've eaten out so far.  I had a pepper steak with potatoes and vegetables.  David had pierogies (they looked way better than the frozen ones we've prepared at home!)  We spent the evening visiting with them and learned so many fun things about Lublin and Poland.  Both of them had spent time in the US, so it was fun to compare travel notes.  They unexpectedly treated us to dinner, so we must be sure to return the favor!  I'm looking forward to it : )

Cool new product?

Found this on sale at the store the other day and just had to buy it because it was so cute.  Can't say that many products succeed in tempting me the way this box of kleenex did.  Are these on sale in the US too?

Planting our own flowers!

We had such a fun time planting flowers at home today!  Since we don't have any garden space, I bought two window boxes and some seeds.

Delaney had wanted to plant a bean from the frozen green beans we had from dinner the other night - so I promised to get her some seeds to plant.  The boxes came with special condensed soil/peat moss disks - just add water, then plant the seeds inside each mound of soil.  Rather ingenious...We couldn't believe how big the disks grew as they sucked up the water we added.

When the weather warms, you lift out each separate mound with the seedings and put them in the ground.  We'll just keep them in our window boxes.  (I expect to give them to our neighbor who has a green thumb when we move out.  She keeps lots of plants in the stair well.)  Can you believe it only took 3 days for the first seeds to sprout?

Older structures around Lublin

I already posted photos of the larger apartment complexes, and smaller dwellings, so now its time to post some of the beautiful older buildings in town...

Lublin Grand Hotel on Place  Litewski 

Lublin Castle

Square in front of Lublin Castle (lots of ice cream and bike rental shops)

How the week flew by. Seems like yesterday I was meeting Jenna and Kelly at the airport. Now they are on their way home. We miss them already. Our last day with them was in Warsaw. Carolyn and Adam stayed in Lublin while the rest of us went by train to Warsaw on Tuesday. We spent the afternoon walking around Stare Miasto and Nowe Miasto (Old and New Town. New Town isn't new but it is newer than Old Town). We then cabbed it over to Folk Gospoda where we had dinner reservations. The restaurant serves up traditional Polish recipes. Th description of the restaurant on www.warsaw-life.com/eat/restaurants_details/148-Folk_Gospoda describes it best:
"If you like your beer in big mugs and your meals 90% meat, served in a traditional Polish inn where all the furniture is wooden and heavy and everything reminds you of the good old days of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Folk Gospoda is the place for you. The meals are hearty and the beer is always flowing, and to help create the atmosphere of Polish country life, folk music from around the world plays constantly. So if you think you can handle it, order up a "Tyskie for strong men" (that's five litres of Polish ale!) and a pig's knuckle from the stove or a "rustic rollup" and enjoy the folk life!"
Needless to say (but I will say it anyway) I did not order the five litres of Polish ale (comes in a big glass pipe with a spigot at the bottom - quite the sight). Kelly stated that the schnitzel was some of the best that he has had, quite the compliment considering his travels. Delaney, our overly picky eater, tried a chicken schnitzel with French mustard and honey. I thought the mustard and honey would be on the side but the chicken was coated with it. She bravely scraped off as much as she could and ate about 1/4 of it without complaint. Jenna devoured a salad bar and ignored the veggie soup that she ordered (more of a broth than a soup). I had a potato pancake stuffed with meat (yes, about 90%) and veggies, and .5 litre of Zywiec beer.
After a good nights sleep for Delaney and I (Jenna being the night owl made their room more active) we headed over to the Centrum Nauki Kopernik (Copernicus Science Center - see pics above). We first visited the museum the day after we arrived in Warsaw back in January. On that day, we stood in line for 2 1/2 hours before we got in. Yesterday, we were first in line after arriving about 45 minutes after the doors opened and paid 57 PLN ($20) for a family ticket for the four of us. We were greeted by about 200 elementary school kids on field trips (later on in the day they were replaced by a smaller number of high school kids). I think Jenna went into overload for the first couple of hours, but she settled in nicely and got serious about exploring the exhibits. After eating lunch in the cafeteria there (four nice lunches for a total of 75 PLN, about $25) the girls got back to work and Kelly took a hike to the Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego (Warsaw Rising Museum, www.1944.pl/en) and after a couple of hours, hiked back to the science center. The high quality of the museum and the low cost (from an American's viewpoint) of visiting make it the best bargain that I can remember ever seeing. I believe that Poland may be one of the best kept secrets of Europe, which is a shame as the country has so much to offer. A note on the amenities of the museums here in Poland - they all either have free coat and bag checks or lockers that require either a 1 or 2 PLN coin to use, but you get your coin back when you are done.
After leaving the museum, and trying a free Nestle banana flavored ice cream Popsicle that they were handing out at the entrance (I don't think that they will catch on), we walked to the Royal Route so that Jenna could finish her souvenir shopping for the family. She scored big and that is all I will say as she is not home yet. We then found a cab (a Chrysler mini-van of all things) and after retrieving Delaney's and my luggage from the hotel, we headed to the train station for dinner. We found a kebab place just up the street and had a nice meal together. Delaney, once again the trooper, had a dish that is best described as pulled BBQ chicken without the sauce, very tasty. Jenna had the chicken kabob and Kelly and I had the lamb kabob. We parted company at the platform, Delaney and I awaiting our train and Kelly and Jenna hunting for an allusive travel alarm to ensure that they would be up and ready at 0'dark thirty to catch their flight out.
Safe travels to all and thanks for visiting.

New Stadium

A new stadium is under construction in Warsaw for the Euro Cup 2012 to be hosted in Poland and Ukraine.  Its coming right along and will certainly be finished on schedule (unlike the central train station).

First Day of Spring!

The first day of spring is a big deal in Poland apparently.  Adam's class when on a field trip - since the first day of spring is considered a day to play hooky.  They went to the 'underground' - a tour that leads under the streets of the Old City in Lublin.  He said it was pretty cool.  Delaney's class read poetry and went for a walk with flowers.  There were tons of elementary school kids out in the parks enjoying the sunny (if not particularly warm) weather.

Cathedral in Lublin

We visited the Cathedral the other day with Jenna and Delaney.  Delaney was very impressed with all of the 'gold' in the building.   

 Not sure who the saint is with the dog at his feet...

Funny side note:  The lightbulbs in the chandelier were all "green" energy efficient bulbs - kind of takes away from the attractiveness of the chadelier in my view.  

We have the same thing in our lights at home...

Playing in the Park!

Delaney FINALLY got to go play in the park near my university office today.  She and Jenna hiked around Old Town seeing the sights and then stopped to play before taking the bus back to our apartment.  They had a good time and so did Kelly, obviously : )

Street art

The other day Delaney and I were waiting for a bus and she was bored.  She dug in my travel bag to see if I had anything interesting (a book, something to eat, whatever)...she found the chalk I had purchased to use in my class.  This is how she decided to pass the time...

Going paperless (almost)

Its been a bit of a challenge for me to operate in an (almost) paperless world for the past several months.  I brought a mini printer from home (you feed in one sheet at a time) that I use for lecture notes and a few other important papers that I need in hard copy.  I have a printer in my department office, but since I'm only in the office 3-4 hours a week, I don't use this often.  Nearly all the work I do is digital.  This is mostly ok since the size of the desk that I'm using in my apartment is quite small and I can't have piles of paper stacked everywhere.  It will be interesting to see if this more environmentally friendly habit continues when I return home or not.  I have to admit, there are still some things that I'd rather have in hard copy as reminders that they need action on my part...

Majdanek concentration camp

We visited the Majdanek concentration camp today.  It was cold, rainy, and gloomy - It made it very easy to imagine how miserable the 150,000 poor souls were who passed through the camp from October 1941 to July 1944 when the Germans abandoned it with the Russian advance.  The site is huge (1 square mile) and one of the only concentration camps that still has the original buildings in tact.

Guard tower at along the perimeter

Prisoners were stripped, showered, then disinfected in large concrete tubs of disinfectant. This is the men's bathhouse. 

Prisoners were sorted upon arrival based on their fitness to do labor.  Most women and children were killed upon arrival in the gas chambers.  They used carbon monoxide and another lethal gas.  There was a small peephole in the door where the guards could observe until all the people in the chamber were dead.

After the disinfection process, prisoners were put into bunkhouses. They were designed to hold approximately 250 people, but often held up to 500.

 There were two small stoves at either end of the bunkhouse.  Each day prisoners were marshalled in the yard for roll call (sometimes lasting several hours) before being marched to their labor sites for the day.  They were served one meal, consuming barely 900 calories a day (estimates are that the body needs 3500 calories a day to survive hard labor).

This is a picture of bins full of shoes.  These shoes were taken from dead prisoners and shipped to Germany for distribution, or for reusing the materials for other purposes.  The 40,000 pairs of shoes displayed here were what was left behind when the Nazis abandoned the camp.

After prisoners died, or were executed, their bodies were cremated. The heat from the ovens was used to heat water in the camp for the 20 SS officers and 1000 guards.  The ashes were used to fertilize local fields, and were also dumped in a huge pile at the end of the camp.  The round structure below is a memorial built over the remaining ashes.

The inscription reads "Let our fate be a warning to you".

This last monument (below) stands at the entrance to the camp.  It is called the Monument to Struggle and Martyrdom who shape refers to the symbolic Hell's Gate from Dante's Divine comedy.

About 60,000 Jews and 20,000 people of other nationalities (the majority of which were Polish), were killed at Majdanek.  It was a relatively small operation compared to Aushewitz and others.