Act Like A Vegetarian Day ;)

... or vegan/pescaterian depending on what is consumed (dairy/no dairy/fish as only animal, etc.). ;) I tend to be pescaterian or vegetarian most of the time, so today I made sure not to have any poultry (since I don't go into red meat, pork, or anything else other than occasional chicken and turkey and seafood in terms of animals; animal-related products that are a bit more difficult to give up include yogurt/fro yo and honey and eggs/egg whites or anything else that happens to have some milk or any aforementioned items in it). But, it is a Friday during Lent (Wielki Post), so that means no consumption of animals who lived with Jesus (or, simply put, you can have seafood/fish and dairy, but lay off other meat and poultry on Fridays, please).

The Browns are now on THREE continents! I am here in Europe, my Dad's over in Asia, I have a lot of family on the East coast of the US, while Jenn is reppin' West Side over in sunny LA. ;)

Today, some people on my program had to be up VERY early to ride a train or bus to Zakopane. Others are in Lublin and Prague. I, instead, went out to lunch at VEGA, a vegatarian place on my foodie hitlist:
http://www.vega-warszawa.pl/
I had some vegan soup (called red lentil flavour, but also called dhal soup, so curry/Indian-like ;) ) and some different salads - one was boiled shredded carrots with coconut flakes and raisins, another was shredded beets (not sure what other flavors), and the last had chickpeas, kidney/dark beans, peas, and green beans in some kind of brown sauce. I especially liked the chickpea salad. There were a couple of other salads I thought of trying, but the plate looked fine with those three (as the server placed them). I would go back again since the price was not bad at all and the place is cute (plus there are more foods to sample). The food is healthy, Polish-meets-Indian-meets-typical-Vegetarian. I liked it. :)

I choose BEET over MEAT ;)

After lunch, I went to the Jewish Historical Institute, but for some reason I was told it was closed? (The sign said 4 PM...) and I was even encouraged to come on Sunday, when it is free. :-P I then explained that I was mainly interested in genealogy. I was told that I had to go to an adjacent building for this office (which is also at the site of the former Great Synagogue and now is maybe an office building or bank). I had to wait a bit and then, unfortunately, I experienced some fierce genealogists. :-P I gave them the info I had, but I was told it was not enough and I could contact them when I had more. Maybe next time. :-/

Then I considered going to the Copernicus Science Center, but when I looked at nearby buses from where I was I recognized one of the bus numbers and later realized I had recalled it because... it goes to a mall I wanted to check out sometime. :-P So that is where I went!
http://www.wolapark.pl/index,2.dhtml

I bought some leggings and a new cotton dress at C&A: http://www.c-and-a.com/uk/en/corporate/fashion/

and then I checked out Auchan.

I had not been to one since 2005 in Legnica. It was similar to the other big hiper/supermarkets I have seen here so far (TESCO, Carrefour). Each place has postives and negatives. Not sure why I am going on a search to find the "best" or "perfect" grocery store [will always be Wegmans to me, and not all of those are even created equal! Whole Foods is also quite nice and Trader Joe's has its moments. :-P] since I don't mind the European way of shopping - going to separate stores such as the meat deli and the bakery and then the fruit and vegetable store, etc. But, I still keep trying out several. :-P This place is probably one of the better places I have been to, but not good enough to become my exclusive grocer. It had free bags (! just in case I need them. ;) ) and self-checkout (TESCO has the former, while some Carrefours have the latter). Also, there was a large selection of just about everything, but I did not see sweet potatoes (did not look too hard) or my new faves - EKO apple chipsy (basically crunchy organic apple slices that were dried with nothing added, except sunshine and Magic). As nice as this mall is, I think going to an easier to access one is fine as well since most of the other places are available closer, except this grocery store (there are H&Ms, Zaras, Camaeius, C&As, Sephoras, Empiks, Green Ways, etc.). It was a good mall. I think it is easier by tram versus bus next time. I enjoyed just walking around since only the grocery store was busy. The travel back took so long that I did not have a chance to go to see the science center today since I would not have enough time to make it there (I made it back to the dorm at almost 5 PM and the center closes at 6 today). So, I will do that tomorrow or Sunday. Now, I am waiting on laundry. I think that's all for now. :) I thought it was supposed to rain today, but I am glad it did not. I enjoyed the teeny bit of sunshine, but not the crazy wind.

Photos are updated at: http://twitpic.com/photos/kab1221

And This Is Not All Of It...

First laundry experience at the Polish dorm was interesting... I could not fit all of the laundry... so my hamper is almost half-full. :-/ This is two loads and it took a while, now I have to wait for it all to dry overnight. I am trying not to take up a lot of space and I feel bad to do this to my roommate. :( I will not have to wait this long again; part of the reason for having so much was being at the hostel for several days. Somehow I will learn to figure out the laundry machines and I will not wait so long. :-P I learned some about laundry from my Babcia, but not how to use weird symbols and/or Polish. :-/ I may take pictures of the laundry room sometime as well... it's what I expect now from college laundry rooms, haha.

I Remember a Soldier Sleeping Next to Me...

"I Wish We Could Open Our Eyes
To See In All Directions At The Same Time
Oh, What A Beautiful View
If You Were Never Aware Of What Was Around You
And It Is True What You Say
That I Live Like A Hermit In My Own Head
But When The Sun Shines Again
I'll Pull The Curtains And Blinds To Let The Light In"
Marching Bands of Manhattan by Death Cab for Cutie

Today the sun was shining and the sky was blue... even when I made it outside! :-D Before I left, I watched a soccer (football, if prefered) game outside my window. I can even sit in my window. :-P The guys playing looked to be middle-aged friends from the area (I would assume), playing for fun and maybe for exercise. As can be seen in my previous post, this weather made it a great day for taking pictures. It was a bit chilly out, so I tried to stick to the sunny-side of streets when outside and did use public transport (hooray for student ID with 90-days!). I rode on the Metro and saw tons of fur coats (some could be faux, of course ;) ). A lot of people were leaving church and the nice weather (plus weekend) meant a lot of people were out on the street. I saw everyone's favorite Panda Bear/Chinese restaurant mascot on Nowy Swiat (one of the best streets ever - so many cool places to visit). I checked out another Empik (this one led to its cafe and a SEPHORA, nice. I had to stay away from the books in English... still have a couple more here to finish plus learning more Polish to do) and saw more gorgeous clothes in store windows while window-shopping (saving money for essentials kept me from further browsing and going inside stores to look at prices. Maybe when better weather comes along I will actual buy something(s)). There is a street food that involves Belgian waffles with toppings (gofry) that might be of interest to some people I know. ;) I could both smell it and see people in line for it. I even saw the fake palm tree here (thought it would be a good day to see it with the blue skies and sunshine - better for pictures than the gray sky I am more used to now).

I think it was yesterday, but there was a guy on the Metro who looked odd; a lot of people were looking at him as he awkwardly tried to sleep on his seat... with blood and Frakenstein-like stitches all over his head... hooligan post-hospital visit maybe? He had on dirty (maybe even blood-stained) clothes. It was a weird sight.

I also found it to be a good day to check out some places I had been meaning to see, such as John Krasinski's possibly ancestral palace/garden grounds (Krasinski Palace & Gardens). I went by the National Opera again. I went back to Golden Terraces Mall; there is a cute cupcake stand there (they are not cheap at 6 PLN each) and I looked at the shirts at Hard Rock Cafe (I have a soft-spot for the local/specific tees they make at each establishment; I did not see any at the Warsaw one. :-( ).

Self-check out - such as at certain grocers - and big bills also make me avoid speaking Polish. :-P I probably should try more sometimes... Once I wanted to make it back to the dorm, of course, the bus I wanted had issues and I had to wait for the next one to come about 20 minutes later (by then it was a bit cold and darkening out). But it is nice seeing the city when the lights come on, especially the rainbow of colors reflecting on the Palace of Culture and Science. :-D I bought more minutes on my phone (provider Heyah! always puts the OutKast song in my head) and I am starting to somewhat understand public transport and the lay-of-the-land... not well, but improving at least. Not becoming worse. ;-) That is where maps come into good usage. I will begin figuring out postage and Skype soon!

I can't wait for Spring! The sunshine and Valentine's Day flowers are making me want the cold wind to go away. I just watched a great "Castle" episode. Last night I finished that "How I Met Your Mother" episode before doing yoga/Pilates/stretching and going to sleep after some noisy neighbors quieted down (or I was just tired enough to fall asleep anyway). Laundry and two classes tomorrow. :-/

"The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you"
Dear Prudence by The Beatles

Cooler Than Being Cool? Ice. Cold.

The weather can be pretty fickle sometimes... I was tempted to go outside because of the blue sky and sunshine visible from my window. Once I did make it outdoors, the wind picked up and it was very cold. Burrr. I wore comfy jeggings to keep my legs warm and bundled up as much as possible. :-/

Ever have one of those days where there is so much you could do and almost end up not doing very much because of it? I felt that way today because I could not make up my mind over what I wanted to do. Once I went outside, I scrapped all possibilities that would involve too much time walking outdoors. :-P Public transportation can be a godsend. I am especially grateful for the 90-day passes us CIEE program students purchased. I was even checked on the tram today for the first time (cards are needed to enter the Metro, but buses and trams I had never been checked on until today). When it became quite cold I decided to head back to finish checking out the mall, Galeria Mokotow. :) I think I am having a love affair with it. :-P I basically walked the entire place, seeing the food court and other restaurants/cafes (American chains must be nicer here on purpose. And there was a placed called Wiking that had a weird smell, somewhat fishy. I saw a ton of Asian and salad places that looked good, too), glanced into the Sephora, American Bookstore - too soon to buy books - and tea store (CUTE tea accessories), and went through Empik (similar to Borders) and a cute kid's/toy store. A small store with Asian foods was a bit disappointing and there was another store that had a lot of interesting and imported foods. I looked at the movies playing at the cinema and was not too excited to see any of them really ("Away We Go" with John Krasinski is actually here now... The only two that struck me as more watchable were "The King's Speech" and "Love and Other Drugs.") I bought some more groceries (heehee, I quite enjoy this big Carrefour; even heard people speaking English and Japanese (maybe?) while there) including SWEET POTATOES (almost took a picture of them in the produce section) and a plug-in tea kettle so I can heat up water in my room (I miss having a microwave though :-/ ). There was so much beautful clothes, shoes, bags... window-shopping can be fun. When I left the mall, the snow was coming down somewhat hard and in large flakes. Again, the weather being a tease, it seemed almost nice once I made it on my bus (after waiting a bit) and off when heading inside my dorm. What can you do?

Tomorrow will probably involve laundry. Yuck doing laundry, but yay once I have clean clothes (too bad I will not have the fun after-dryer warmth). :-P I had found Christmas lights in my dorm room, but they did not seem to be working when I plugged them in to an extension power-strip... Hmm.

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey: Rambings & Observations Made by Me
-I think the amount of older people I see here might be a good sign. Seeing only young people might mean that a lot of people do not make it to old age. Even heard a lady on a Metro platform who sounded identical to my great-grandmother. That was weird.

-I see so many dogs here. Also what they leave behind... but maybe it is done because my Mom always said that stepping in dog you-know-what means good luck for Poles. I am not sure what to believe.

-American food chains must be putting more effort into their ventures abroad; it seems that the menus and establishments are much nicer here and pretty popular (except I heard Taco Bell did not work out so well).

-Now that I have found my sweet potatoes, not sure what else Poland is missing... maybe certain clothing stores? A lot of the ones I have seen here seem nicer anyway.

The Sun Shines in Warsaw!

Thanks for sharing some blue skies and sunlight, Jenn. ;)

Everyone put on sort-of semi-formal wear for the ballet; we stopped at an Italian cafe/restaurant beforehand for a quick dinner. I had a fish soup with pieces of salmon, carrot, and soba noodles with fish broth and a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, cheese (pushed aside), cucumbers, and dressing.
Restaurant: http://www.giovanni.pl/rubino/main.html

The ballet was GREAT. I adored the costumes and men in tights, haha. The dresses the girls wore I wish I could dance around in. :) After the ballet it began to POUR rain down on us as we anxiously waited for the bus. I stayed at the hostel while some of the others went out to a couple of clubs and to have some food (I heard kebabs and McDonalds mentioned... NO KFC OR MICKEY DS FOR ME!) I stopped at a gas station on the way back and bought a LITER of cola. ;) (in addition to an apple and gum). I relaxed, read, finished up homework (selected classes already, so it was pretty much finishing some Polish vocab) and fell asleep. :-P Tonight I have to finish up packing since we leave the hostel tomorrow! :-D We should all celebrate leaving! Hooray! Less than 24 hours before dorm life begins. I will not be living only out of a suitcase. :-/

Today, we went to the Chopin Museum. It may be one of the most beautiful museums I have ever seen; gorgeous inside: marble staircases, chandeliers, classical music, artifacts... Wow. It is probably an important attraction I would recommend to anyone who comes here. We had made another Starbucks run before hitting the museum; this is still the only American chain I have had here, so I am still "pure." I had the fruit salad again, which is not cut up into the smaller chunks, but still mostly tasty (especially the pineapple). The only negatives I have about the Starbucks are the seeded grapes (have not really seen seedless there or at the market) and the lack of light mocha/caramel/etc. frappuccinos. :-/ What can you do? Near this Starbucks there is a Chinese restaurant and we saw a person dressed as a panda bear (second day in a row seeing it) advertising to eat there. It was walking near a woman selling flowers while holding a sign for the Chinese food.

Starbucks City Mug: Warsaw (with Chopin's Monument)

Other side of the mug

After the museum, the group decided to go have some great views of Warsaw from the Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki) since the sun was shining and it was pretty warm. This is the first day of really nice weather - nearly spring-like. :) This made the group happy to stay out. We had a chance to walk around a bit - especially in the Centrum area. There are so many places I want to check out - tea shops, bookstores, cafes...

I prefer beautiful and meaningful art/graffiti. This is Chopin with his head being a map of Warsaw, the blue being the river (Wisla)

View from the Palace of Culture and Science (notice the tall building is the Novotel Hotel)

Another view from the Palace

The ceiling by the elevators on the observation deck floor

A few of us bought train tickets to Berlin (I am holding off for now since I know of at least a couple of other train tickets for which I need to save money). I stopped at a market with a few others for snacks: fruit, rice cakes (rice waffles here), and snack bars. I have had this German brand lately, in addition to Nestle ones:
http://www.corny.de/

Now I am relaxing again, about to pack, and wondering what else I may do before leaving this "fun" hostel at 10 AM tomorrow morning (especially glad to leave after so many days of "breakfast," "bathrooms," and hearing about people trying to break into our rooms...)

Pa, pa. ;)

"Golden" Terraces for Good Reason

Another long, cold, gray day here in Warsaw. Today included a presentation about a CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) class about social issues in contemporary Poland. The class seems interesting and it is one that I had put on my main list of classes to consider taking. After the presentation there was the first Polish lesson. I decided to stick around with the beginners for at least a few days since it will be helpful for me. Once SGH classes begin again I may join an intermediate there instead of being with the beginners or the advanced groups here. We learned the alphabet (not something I had a lot of experience focusing on, so I liked working with it) in addition to reactionary phrases, greetings/farewells, and numbers.

The group learned from our assistant director (Gosia) that we will be attending a performance at the end of the month of a traditional folk dance group from the area. Also, we will go to a ballet in March. After the lesson, we had a brief meeting with the program director (Bogdan) and then the advanced group had its lesson while everyone else went back to the mall Golden Terraces. It is so great. We all went straight to the food court since it was time to eat. Some had to comfort themselves with Mickey D's :-P but I chose to go to a place called "Salad Story." The menu was all in Polish, so I had to use the pictures and some knowledge to order a salmon salad (salatka rybaka). I was spoken to in Polish and answered brief bits in Polish. Not sure if I was convincing or the girl just tried anyway, haha. Somewhat success? Scary as well. Pertains to a "slang" word our Polish professor taught us: "cienki" (weak/afraid). Jestem cienki. :-P
http://www.saladstory.com

Salad with smoked salmon - second or third time having smoked salmon since leaving USA - , sprouts, lettuce, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and vinaigrette dressing

After lunch, the girls who were there went to H&M. I bought a scarf and a dress:

The white one with flowers :)

Cotton dress :-D

I also considering purchasing a glitter headband. Maybe next time? ;) Since I was quick in the store, I told the mini group that I had to drop by the grocery store quickly and then I'd return. I bought more apples (yay fruit!), some gum, a Coke Zero to drink then, some baby wipes, and some snack bars (think that was all...). I walked around the mall a bit; it is one of the best malls I have seen. The Five O'Clock tea/coffee shop/store chain that I have been meaning to go to has a location at this mall; it smelled sweet and amazing inside, but I shouldn't be buying teacups and tea assortments when staying in a hostel. :-P I did not enter SEPHORA, but I think I may at this mall or another in Poland before heading trans-Atlantic again.

My sister's home away from home - this one being one of the Warsawian/Varsavian ones

On the way back to SGH for another class presentation, the mini group stopped at an CUTE ice cream shop (Malinova) that has been recommended to us before and is right near the school; I had a fruity-flavored scoop similar to sorbet. Us girls will be going back. Tasty. :-P The class presentation was on Jews in Poland. It seems interesting, so I am looking forward to it. Since then, the group bought some groceries (some of my purchases included frozen steamable vegetables (yay vegetables!), yogurt (mmm, apple-y and cinnamon-y), and more snack bars) and now we are at the hostel. Orientation continues tomorrow...

Na razie!