The Office

Interesting past couple of days... sort of. After Polish class in the morning, I had lunch before heading out for a walk around Nowy Swiat Street and Old Town (hooray that outdoor seating is out or being set up!). I stopped by an American Bookstore (http://www.americanbookstore.pl/) and bought a few Polish-related books:

2 books on Polish tales (meant for children ;) )

A love story set somewhat in Krakow that extends to different generations; looks cute and has had some good reviews online

Yesterday the weather was great, until it began to rain while I was in my last class and I had to walk the few blocks back to the dorm in the rain (sadly, the unexpected showers meant I was hood-less and umbrella-less). :-/ On my way to that final class, the sky seemed darker, but I did not know that the weather was going to change so much and just let the idea of rain slide out of my mind... until I thought I heard rain outside the classroom window and the noise of cars driving in water. :-P I made it back to my room and had some issues with my computer's mouse (now it is working fine, but my program's assistant director called for me about my laptop's warranty - it is up, so no help there - and tech support before I ended up buying an optical mouse and discovering that my mouse NOW will work when I was about to set up an external one... well, I have back up and when the tech support calls me tomorrow I can ask about what to do in case this problem occurs again, but I hope it doesn't). I also picked up a package today. Thanks, Mom, Dad, and Babcia. :-D I now have an Easter card on my desk, new magazines, LUNA bars, gum, candies, and soup (as a gift since Campbell's tomato soup is not so easy to find here). :-P

Today I had history in the morning before doing some grocery shopping (I went to one of the malls, where I had some food from TUKAN salad bar: http://www.saladbar.pl/index.php, which was basically a salad bar in a food court, where your plate was weighed at the end and priced accordingly with any other items - drinks, sandwiches, soups, other prepared dishes. I then went to Carrefour for a mixed bag of foods and supplies after eating). In the afternoon, I had to miss my literature course to go on a field trip with my Jews in Poland class to see the Jewish cemetery here in Warsaw. It was very large and had both well-maintained plots and some that had fallen into disrepair, which made me sad to see. It was an interesting, yet awkward, experience learning about history and customs while walking around where dead people are buried. It became quite cold by the end of the tour, so everyone in the group was quite anxious to make it back to the dorm or at least somewhere for dinner. Tomorrow I have Polish class, where I believe we will be watching a film called "The Debt" (originally "Dług"): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0225535/

In the afternoon, my program group will be having a meeting about the upcoming Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot weekend trip (next weekend).

Interesting side note, I like updating my sister on my "Krasinski" sightings. There is this one guy I have seen a handful of times in a few different areas on the way to or from classes and he resembles (to me right now) John Krasinski from "The Office." I am tempted to scope him out and take a picture to see if anyone else agrees. Distant cousin perchance? He totally has the ears and the nose, in my opinion. :-P There is Krasinski ancestry connected to this part of Poland: they were a noble family and there is a Krasinski Palace and a Krasinski Garden near it. Plus, there is a Krasinski Street after the famous poet, Zygmunt Krasinski.

Pictures updated on Flickr (from Sunday at the zoo) and Twitpic (a few from Monday's walk and today's lunch).