Catching Up

Sometimes a person just needs to settle into their surroundings and enjoy the quiet. This was that kind of week.

The car was still in the shop Tuesday so we pretty much just hung out today. Actually Aneta's father-in-law, Franke called and said he was picking us up at 10 AM to take us to the market. Turns out it was the Polish Bazaar that we had gone to with him previously. It was bitter cold out today and overcast so we bundled up like we were going to the North Pole. "Jzimna" is the word I keep hearing when it is cold out and I have no clue how to spell it but it sounds like zz- im -na to my ear. When I hear that I start piling on the warm clothes. We spent about a half-hour out in the cold before we headed to the car. I bought some more underwear and a gift for one of my grandsons and Aneta and Franke bought fresh vegetables, bread and eggs. Next we went to the regular grocery store so they could pick up the remaining items we apparently needed; milk, cream, coffee, etc. After the market they dropped me off at the flat and went to town to pick up Aneta's car from the repair shop. Her car has been converted to LPG - natural gas - and was having a problem staying alive while you drove down the road. Not real safe and very concerning to have your car die while you are barreling along in traffic on a highway.


Krystian came over again this week on Wednesday evening and we had a wonderful visit with our young Ron Paul fan. To hear him tell it the USA is doomed to a total collapse of our fragile economy if we don't elect Ron Paul. He believes this with all his heart and he is also highly incensed that the "mainstream media" in the US ignore Ron Paul. I played the Jon Stewart clip on Ron Paul for him, in which Jon Stewart makes the same point about the mainstream media. Then we discussed Jon Stewart and why I enjoy his show. He asked me if I ever watched the news on UTube. I said no, as I have never done so. He wanted to know why and I told him I supposed it was a generational thing. So we fired up the old iPad and found UTube and they showed me how to find RTTV, where Krystian thinks I will find unbiased world news at the touch of a button. Turns out RTTV is Russian TV and offers the Russian perspective on the news. I try to keep an open mind about these things but this one was a little over the top for me. Anyway, I indulged his whim and listened to a report on the potential collapse of the START Treaty and why Russia is getting such a raw deal from the US. It was interesting to hear a different prospective.

Thursday was a busy day for us. I got my roots touched up and a hair cut, went across the street for a French Manicure (new salon and really good) then followed it up with a visit to the Kosmetyczny for the old eyebrow and eyelash tint routine. The manicurist is Renata Ryndak at Cabinet Kosmetyczny. Her French manicure cost $11 and was the genuine article. I am 5 days into this manicure without a chip so the extra $5 was well worth it. I am back with Agneta, my first hairdresser and I just love her. A cut, color and style was $16 and change; can you believe it? Aneta left the car for me so I wouldn't have to walk home after getting my hair done because it was still so cold and I didn't want to mess it up by putting on a hat! What a wuss - I know. But we had plans for the evening so I really did have a good excuse.

Tonight we went to a slide presentation and lecture at the Ethnographic Museum in Dabrowa Gornicza where members of Aneta's Spelunkers group were going to be gathered to hear one of their own. Gregoriez, the presenter, had recently led an expedition of Polish adventurers to the former Russian Republic of Georgia to explore the culture and terrain in the Carpathian Mountains. Aneta went with some of these same folks on her expedition to Spitzbergen and also on a cave exploration expedition to Albania. We arrived a few minutes after six, due to traffic, and the small auditorium was packed to the gills. There was standing room only, although, since it pays to know people in high places, they found me a chair near the back and Aneta and Ania were placed in the front row. It was very hot in this small room with probably 200 people packed in like sardines in a can and absolutely no elbow room to start shedding layers. I got very warm and very sleepy as I listened to a lecture in Polish. The slides were beautiful and I was very interested in seeing them as this is the part of Russia that our former tailors and dear friends, the Anishchenkos, hail from. Apparently the lecture was amusing as I kept being jolted awake by chuckles and laughter. We even had a short lecture on the political situation in Abkasia and Ossetia, which I got the gist of from having read about it over the past few years.

Following the presentation w toured the museum which was absolutely wonderful. This man has led expeditions to India, Peru, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea,Albania, Spitzbergen (near the Artic Circle)from which he has amassed an amazing collection of cultural artifacts reflecting the life and habits of the peoples of these various parts of the world. The Georgian expedition will also takes its place in the museum as well. What a way to spend Thanksgiving while all my American friends and family were stuffing themselves with turkey and all the trimmings. We had meatloaf and mashed potatoes with shredded cabbage and carrot salad left over from the day before! I was going to make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for Aneta and all her friends but there is no such thing as a whole Turkey in this country unless you take up arms and go hunting for a wild one. The other funny thing was all the friends have jobs and were working that day - imagine!

Friday was a bad day. A really bad day. It started out fine but around noon I got terrible stomach pains and ended up with an horrific case of the stomach/intestinal flu. Aneta packed Ania off for the day and When Witek arrived home for the weekend they immediately took Ania to Aneta's parents for the weekend. I didn't blame them and wondered why they didn't just go and stay there themselves. I slept most of the day - when I wasn't visiting the loo. I had a date with Michal and Agnes to spend the evening together but when Aneta got home and saw that there was no improvement in my condition she called them and begged off for me. They sent medicine over to me with instructions to take three tablets tonight and three in the morning and a promise that I would then be well! Did it work? I took the tablets as instructed ad I certainly felt fine on Saturday - although not so fine I wanted to go anywhere or do anything. Aneta and Witek went to her parents and spent the day and left me alone to heal and rest.

Sunday I cooked hash browns and fried eggs for breakfast and just kept on cooking as Chris came to visit and wanted some as a "memory" of what I fed them for breakfast in the US. Witek declined my offer of breakfast until he saw Chris's breakfast and then he changed his mind. Witek's cousin Ela also came by for a visit and Michal came at 1:30 to collect me for our rescheduled date. He walked me over to Agnes's flat for a lovely Sunday dinner. On the way he took me to see the local Catholic Church in Knurow. It is pink and shaped like a Pope's hat. It is an odd structure. We went inside and it is barren, stark and cold. The decor is spartan to be kind. But it is their church and Michal and Agnes hope to be married there one day soon I think.

We arrived for dinner at 2 pm and were greeted by Agnes and Konrad - such a handsome young man and so shy. Agnes prepared the wonderful traditional Silesian soup called Rosol, which is a broth with pasta noodles, fried pork cutlets and mashed potatoes accompanied by a lovely salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, red pepper and chinese cabbage. All of this was followed by a wonderful chocolate cream cake roll, green tea and an apéritif of cherry brandy. I was given more of the medicine they had earlier provided and instructed to take two with dinner and two more twice on Monday. We visited - a difficult thing for Agnes as her English is much more limited than Michals - and looked at the photos on my iPad from the Croatia trip and a few photos from Prairie City and my family. We discussed business ideas and talked about how some of these young folks in Poland might be able to take advantage of the new rising middle class with a business idea or two. These are industrious, hard working people who are really hungry for a break - or a breakthrough as the case may be. If they were in the US they would all be Republicans - TEA Party Republicans I think. Maybe that is what living in a social welfare state for 40 years does to you. This generation is very outspoken about not wanting to live in a social welfare state and they seem quite unhappy with the leadership of their current government.

Michal and Agnes walked me home around 5:30 pm and Witek and Aneta served coffee and tea. They stayed and visited until Witek left to go back to school at 8 PM. All in all it was a lovely day and a lovely solo excursion. Michal was helping me with some information I needed and we needed to keep it private. That is what prompted the dinner without my dear companions, Aneta and Witek. They, however, got an invitation to dinner at Franke and Marions so I am sure they were also well fed.

Just a short week and a half until my plane leaves the ground and I am homeward bound again. Aneta and I are both having withdrawal pains but happily planning our next tour for September of 2012. Come join us!
Linda
PS
Aneta has put more pictures on the older blogs if you have the energy to scroll through and look at them. Hapy hunting!