POLSKA

I am here and I am tired. I haven't slept much between changing time zones and taking three flights here. I am staying in a hostel. I have had some interesting airport/airplane food between KLM (Dutch) flights and snacking on some cereal bars one of the other students brought (given to her by her local Polish aunt and uncle). I probably will go more into detail later when I am less jet-lagged. My flights went pretty well and the airports were nice. It is cold here, same as I think it would feel at home or at school. I have seen my first Polish snow. :) And the Polish buddies all seem nice. I am glad to have my luggage and to be stretching out my legs on an actual bed after being in airplane seats for several hours.

The flight from ROC to JFK was OK. I wrote some in my journal while I waited (I may transcribe later - not much other than people-watching and Subway turkey salad eating). I sat in the last row (the seats were one-aisle-two) because I was assigned an aisle seat with someone next to me, but in the penultimate aisle. The sole flight attendant told me no one was assigned in the three seats of the last row - in front of the lavatory where I had just been pre-departure - so I chose that instead so I could put my coat in one seat and have the window seat for myself. This was especially good since I had thought no one was sitting next to me in my original seat, but someone showed up while I was in the bathroom. She was quite frazzled when I came out and for some reason put her boots on my coat... :-/ This flight was quick with I think one snack/drink service and maybe one other drink service. The flight was maybe less than 2 hours and I did Sudoku and relaxed and read a magazine. There was only overhead storage - which was small - on one side, so I had my backpack with me, but the smaller suitcase I brought that was not checked was pink-tagged for priority, so I did not have to lug it with me onto and off of the plane. But it was a connector plane, so we had to walk down steps and then take a shuttle to go to my next terminal (I think A to B?). De-icing of planes also meant for some delays. There was some snow falling before I left ROC and then really light flurries when I was at JFK. It was chilly and there were tons of snow mountains on the ground for the heavy snow that came a few days before (I feel bad for people who have to plow the runways).

JFK was OK as well. My next flight was on a Boeing 747, so it had two floors, a lot of crew members, and a high occupancy. Luckily I sat near an attendant station and I had one seat open next to me and then one woman - who I believe is a Polish vegetarian based on her "special diet" meals and seeing her on my flight to Warsaw and at the baggage claim - by the window. I prefer aisle seats so I can leave my seat without bothering someone(s). There were fun individual TV screens (I decided to watch "Amadeus" after trying to watch "Animal Kingdom" and being unable to hear the dialog for some reason) and food included weird almonds with smoke flavoring, Coke Zero, a meal of roll, carrot cake, weird garden salad with tuna, and chicken stir-fry with sesame seeds, noodles, and sugar snap peas. I had tea, fell asleep after the movie ended, and was later given a blueberry muffin, orange juice, and strawberry yogurt. KLM is fancy since attendants are well-dressed, the utensils - aside from a spork for yogurt - are nice, and the boxes/containers/cups for food and drink are nice. I liked the male flight attendant who I had. And the soda cans are really sturdy and cool. I had a small pillow and blanket on this flight. I also had a remote to control the TV (it had a lot of movie, TV, and music options). Leaving this flight was more difficult because the overhead compartment was high and my suitcase is a bit heavy, so I did need some assistance. :-P

Amsterdam's airport is cool. I took some Euros out of an ATM and I bought an apple and a Coke Zero with 5 Euros I had from the last time I was in Europe. The last flight was another smaller one with mostly Polish people that involved taking a shuttle to and from the plane to go to or leave a gate. Everyone was allowed to board at the same time, so by the time I was on there was not much room for my suitcase and I had to go to the back. :-/ And then someone was sitting in my seat due to row confusion. So an attendant offered me the emergency aisle before telling me that I would be unable to have my backpack with me. :-/ I had to go find a spot towards the front of the plane for it before being told how to open the emergency door. And the woman who took my seat was mad at me for having to move my backpack as if I did not know when how should I have known? I tried to say that I was moved and I don't think she cared or understood. I slept some on the window since I now had a window seat. I looked out and saw clouds that seem fluffy enough to sleep on. It was also nice when flying at night and seeing the lights or cars so small that you feel weird seeing them from a perspective where they are no longer bigger than you. I liked when the plane would change direction and it would be as if the wing were waving at the locations and people below. On this flight I was handed a sandwich shortly after waking the first time - it was half chicken with some herb spread and maybe sun-dried tomato bread, while the other half had cheese, maybe mayo, and a seeded grain bread. These flights made me realize that being a strict vegan would not be easy or it would mean giving up food included in the flight or settling for a vegetarian meal if you were to plan ahead and make a special request beforehand online. I saw some vegetarian choices on my long, middle flight and some of it looked better, but not really all of it. Airplane food is still airplane food.

I made it to Warsaw and my suitcase was one of the last to come out. I used a cart and eventually made it to where my group was meeting. Everyone seems nice and we took a taxi van to the hostel we are staying in for a week. A hostel is a hostel. :-P I am sleeping in the bottom bed of bunked beds and there are two others in my room. There is a shower/sink room and a toilet room. We are on the third floor I think? And this place is old and looks different everywhere I go in terms of paint color or wallpaper. The doors aren't the best and it is a bit cold now, but not too bad. I met some of the other students and have tried to settle in. My cell phone has no service and I have had only some luck with Internet. I tried some Polish cereal bars and water that one of my current roommates brought from her Polish aunt and uncle. I am alone now relaxing. I did not sleep much recently and I am not used to the time yet. It is a bit cold and I might just nap or relax now. More later.
The Hostel I am at for the first week