There was a surprise for the group as we left the hostel this morning: there was a peak of some blue sky! :-P Later on it actually has snowed quite a bit and is back to being dark/gray/cold. I also saw some music videos at breakfast - Ke$ha, Enrique, Europeans?...
Today was another day of a course presentation (the class and professor seem interesting - the woman is around my grandmother's (Babcia's) age and has the same first name as my great-grandmother. Plus, she worked a lot in the Solidarity movement as one of the intellectuals who went to the shipyard in Gdansk to help with the strike. She has also written many books and articles in addition to teaching at a few universities throughout Poland, - meetings with Bogdan and Gosia, and a cancelled tour of the library (not sure if this will be rescheduled), which meant taking it easy at lunch. We went as a group to a Vietnamese/Asian fusion restaurant near the school building (somewhat celebrating Chinese New Year?). I tried some pho (it was OK, but I am uncertain how authentic it was...), black currant juice (something Gosia and Bogdan love ordering for everyone - they feel it is very Polish to drink), water, and a dish of tofu with vegetables and some kind of sauce (said tomato...) with white rice. It was all so-so (didn't like the tofu and the sauce was just alright); I used chopsticks AND a Polish menu, haha. We also had back-up English menus and Gosia just in case. :) She now knows that I am into vegetarian food/vegetables, haha. The soup was not vegetarian, but the main dish was meatless.
Restaurant: http://sapaya.pl/
After lunch, the students in beginners and I went to the coffee spot on the ground floor of the school building. We had an interesting Polish lesson followed by a Metro adventure to Nowy Swiat Street to visit a really great (and free) exhibit about an American photographer (Julien Bryan) who traveled a lot and was in Warsaw when WWII broke out in 1939. It was an amazing sight to see pictures throughout Europe (Russia, Germany, Poland) in the 1930s and 1940s. I could actually see the devastation faced by the city and Poles. One important image was of a "peasant" or farm girl (I believe only 12 years old) who was crying over her dead older sister's body; I guess the story was that Germans were bombing near fields and, when it seemed over, women headed back out into the field to pick potatoes. Unfortunately, the German pilots returned and this girl's sisters died (See the image here: http://www.dsh.waw.pl/galerie_photo/_20101025122510/dziewczynka.jpg). There were several wonderful photographs and an old documentary (in English with Polish subtitles; I think the photographer Julien was the narrator). The exhibit was so special to me because I would look at the pictures of babies and children (especially little girls) and think of my Babcia in Poland at the time and near the ages of these small kids. It was so wonderful to see how much Mr. Bryan fought to bring help to Poles. It was also crazy to see how much the city I am currently in had been destroyed and rebuilt.
Exhibit: http://www.dsh.waw.pl/pl/3_740
Today was my first bus ride, which means that, other than walking, I have used Metro, tram, and taxi van. So I think I have covered all of the types of public transport, haha. :-P I also saw a lot of the cool downtown area - Sephora, Starbucks, Grycan (Polish ice cream I think I will have to try), other stores and restaurants. Tomorrow is the last day of orientation before my first full weekend here. I am off to finish up Polish homework and see what else may happen tonight. I have used the kitchen facilities somewhat here at the hostel (dishes, utensils, mugs, microwave, sink), which is a bit sketchy, but I only use them for tea and frozen vegetables. Last night some people made pasta, but the Chemistry experiment that it looked to be while cooking seemed to turn out OK in the end for them, haha.
Goodnight, Warsaw! (Watch the performance below of a Polish band singing "Goodnight Warsaw.")
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