Wiosna

Spring. Yes, it has been something like a month since I last posted, and I am sorry. The weather has been so tricksy lately. You get a day where you need to unbutton your coat to walk around comfortably, and then a few hours later you have a snowstorm. This has happened 2 - 3 times that I can think of, and I was not expecting that at all. “That's March in Poland,” they say. But these past few days have been really glorious. I even bought a spring jacket (on big sale — they must have been like me, thinking that spring was never actually going to come), after having walked around rather comfortably all day in just a long-sleeved shirt. There's been rain, clouds, and sunshine. My bazie (pussywillows) are sprouting and rooting. I keep my windows open. Spring really is the best because it is so full of hope. I will miss being here for the beautiful Polish summer, but spring here feels like you've earned it.

So what else have I been up to? Well, I'll have to look at my pictures to remember. You can look too. This post will be very image intensive, just to warn you. You might want to set aside 2 - 3 hours to absorb it all.



Without going into backstory, here is a Communist bunker-looking church I walked around one day.

Our young friend Krzysiek's birthday was at the end of February. Bruce & Jane sent me some presents to give to him, and I thought I should give him one as well. I knitted him this dishcloth / handtowel. It says Hi.


The day of his birthday, he and I visited a new church in the morning. It was interesting for me, being all in Polish, of course. I at least recognized some of the tunes to translated praise songs. I'm glad I went. Afterwards, he took me to see his school, Politechnika. It really is beautiful.




You see it was a beautiful day as well.


Madame Curie.


Krzysiek told me that Steven Seagal filmed a movie here. It was meant to look like his mansion and there was a fight scene. EDIT: K sent me a Youtube link to prove it. Here you go.




The beautiful ceiling of the main room.




Outside.

Then we went for some pretty nice pizza. It had bamboo shoots on it. Krzysiek thought they would be hard like wood. Well, they weren't. Here are some plants they had inside. We did not eat these.



Then we headed to Susan's for home group. On the metro, we saw a gentleman who I'm certain was Alfred Stieglitz.


c/o www.metmuseum.org


What do you think? Is the father of photography alive and well in Warsaw?

It was Krzysiek's first time at home group, and it was good to have him. Przemek is usually our only guy. Which I'm sure he hates... We ended up the night with a cup of soup and Pass the Pigs.


Those bunny things are salt & pepper grinders. We were all fascinated. It was easy to overseason your food just because we had so much fun working them.


So now let's move on to March. I had only newly gotten my replacement camera, I think. Here's the picture my mom sent me on the card. I got my photo talent from my dad.



One day, I met Krzysiek for lunch at a cheap restaurant. Oh, with such innocence and joy did I embark that morning. It was beautiful, sunny, and fresh. Plus, I saw this girl's awesome shoes on the metro ride over. Little did I know what was to come.




Here's Krzysiek in the place where he eats every day. You can get lunch for 10zł. I got 3 pierogies for 5.



We had a nice meal and coffee. Then he went to class and I went back home. As I descended underground, the weather was still lovely. But somehow, during the 20-30 min ride back home, Calvin must have appeased the snow demons, and I emerged to an astonishing amount of snow pelting down, with the ground already covered in white. I took some video because I couldn't believe it. It had been warmish, and there was no indication of any kind of weather besides Nice.

From Blog Videos

You can see how I felt about it. Plus it appears to have aged me about 6 years.

A couple of days later, I met Joe and Krzysiek for cheap breakfast at Jeff's. Seriously, a huge breakfast for 9zł. Just don't try to get a refill of tea... That costs you another 3. The menu would lead you to believe otherwise. Jeff's is an American style restaurant. It reminds me of Ruby Tuesday's. It feels like the American embassy.




Me in a lightbulb.

Then we went back to Politechnika. One thing I'm doing is working with Joe to get pictures of student locations, because that's primarily who he works with. I'll be putting them up on Google maps sometime soon. The main building at Politechnika is so beautiful to me, and I want to post all my pictures, but I'll spare you. Here's one more angle, though. Or two or a few.






The best Chelsea is a barely visible Chelsea.



Then Joe and I went to SGH, the School of Economics. It's interesting because it continued as the School of Economics even during Communism. You have to wonder what they taught there.







After that, I enjoyed some reading alone time at Barista Espresso Bar & Bakery. It's owned by the guy who started Coffee Heaven, and it's all fair trade stuff. Delicious as well. Here's my latte love.


So far, everywhere I've been does latte art.


Headed home.

The next Sunday, after home group, Przemek and I went to see an Irish band he had read about. It turned out to be not so great. The musicians weren't into it, and it was a lot more fusion and self-indulgent jamming than I like. But we still had a good time.


On the way... I liked the graphic and Warsaw likes Chopin. I mean, LIKE-likes.


Believe it or not, this has been intensely color corrected. It was SO RED IN THERE.


...yawn...

I think that night is the night I met one of my upstairs neighbors. We both got in the elevator at the same time. I pressed 3; he pressed 4. “Hmm!” thought my brain, as I experienced a burst of excitement. I worked up the nerve and asked, “Czy pan rozumie po angielsku?” (Do you understand English?) He answered, in English, “What?” Ha, that didn't help my confidence. So once we sorted that, I asked him if he played piano. “No, I play guitarrr.” The way he hung onto the R, along with the fact that he didn't understand my terrible Polish, and I'd just been listening to irish-ish music, led me to ask where he was from. He turned out to be Polish, naturally. I said he sounded Irish, sorry. He said that was a compliment, because it meant his English was good. Then I said I played ukulele, then the elevator door started to close. “See you around,” he said. I would still like to be friends with my upstairs neighbors someday, but they're getting a bit annoying. They make entirely too much noise into the wee hours of the night, and that woman WILL NOT STOP SHOUTING. At least now I know there are probably 2 men, 1 woman, and 1 babby all up in that piece.


Speaking of nothing in particular, here is a motorcycle I liked.

And here are some images to do with the Department of Management in the University of Warsaw. Apparently this is quite a growing area of study, and this building is extremely nice.








I also took the opportunity to earn some extra cash by posing for a couple of sculptures.




And here is the computer lab. Har har.


March 10 was my dad's birthday. He would've been 51. That was a Wednesday, our Bible Express day. When I arrived to where the girls were gathered, there was a card and flower waiting for me. Kaylin had bought me this beautiful tulip and written me a sweet card with verses of encouragement for the day. It was so lovely and thoughtful of her. Here is a picture of the tulip when it opened up.





This is Kaylin's tulip, with the white one that Przemek gave me for Women's Day on March 8. He is so thoughtful too.


Here is Kaylin examining our Indian desert at a deserted Indian restaurant (see what I did there). It was truly delicious. This is some kind of ice cream made with pistachios.



Ah, now let's get into the green stuff. I like St Patrick's Day because I can talk about Ireland without sounding like too much of a broken record. One night in English club, I gave a brief history of St Patrick, and then the next Sunday we held a party in honor of the holiday. I made leek & cheese soup, and champ; Kaylin baked brown soda bread (my FAVORITE) and chocolate mint cookies; Maja made a dish with zucchini and cheese. Susan made green angel food cake, a traditional Irish delicacy. I attempted to teach everyone some Irish (I feel like I know more Irish than I know Polish), and Maja showed us some traditional dance steps. It was all set against the background of my carefully handcrafted Irish music playlist. It was a pretty laid-back evening, with a lot of good conversation, and of course excellent food. If everyone enjoyed it half as much as I did, then I reckon it was a success.




Ben, my camera hero.


I think Kaylin got much better pictures of Maja's performance, but she was just so cute. She tried to teach me some steps, but too many people were watching. I practiced later in my kitchen, though.


I think Przemek should wear this hat all the time.

It had been snowing that entire day. As the evening wore on, Kaylin, Przemek, and I hung around in hopes that Susan would drive us home. Well, of course she did. I got home around midnight, and everything looked magical in the snow. By the next day, we knew it wouldn't be pure anymore. I heard that later they took a little photo voyage on the way to Przemek's house. For my part, I stomped around in the snow for a while, immensely enjoying myself and the quiet beauty of it all.


Snow on my klatka's door handle.


It actually was nighttime, believe me.




See, night.




Sorry, it was just too beautiful and unspoiled.


Snow depth.


You can see the snow was still really coming down.


Then, too soon, came March 17. It's St Patrick's Day, and the day Dad died. This made it 3 years since he's been gone. One of the worst parts of it is that it feels like he's been gone for much longer than that. A lifetime, even. I still have lots of memories, but he feels so far away. That sounds stupid. Of course he's very far away. I think about him and miss him just about every day. I wish so many people in my life knew him: Cameron, Hannah, Lisa, etc. He was still alive when I knew H & L, but in Houston for most of that time. I kind of stopped wanting to have kids after he died. What's the use if they won't have the most awesome granddad in the world?

Anyway, I didn't spend the whole day moping, though that paragraph might lead you to believe otherwise. Thankfully, there was plenty to occupy my day. (Also, my cousin Lindsey had her first baby that day. Her name is Harper June. I love that name, and I'm so happy for her and her husband. Can't wait to meet the little one.) Kaylin and I met with Ania, a photographer friend, in the morning to discuss possibilities for an exhibit with our Photo / English club people. Here's a picture I took to illustrate fill flash (term used very loosely) to the group one night.



Then we had Bible Express, and afterwards we made pad thai and corn fritters. We also tried and failed with fried spring rolls. They still tasted delicious, but looked terrible.


I don't know what was so funny. Probably a lot of things. Lots of things were funny that night.






Nats pounding cashews for topping, and showing me her new bracelets.


Spring roll wrappers... I thought they would be more transparent when held up.


But now you see what we had to deal with.


Proof that I helped.


FOOD MAKE FATTY HAPPY, HRUNNGGG! (That is an eat noise).


We didn't listen to Li Yan's spring roll theory until too late.


The absolute worst looking "spring" rolls ever. Seriously revolting. However, they tasted pretty good.

OK, we're almost done. We finished cooking around 9pm, at which time I needed to meet Przemek to go see a band playing actual Irish music in honor of the day. Their name is Anam na Eireann, Soul of Ireland. They had a lot more feeling and fun than the other band we went to see. This night was truly excellent, and a great ending to a great day that I was expecting to be a lot worse. I had my moments during it, but overall I did well. My thanks to the Father.


You love that Traditional Irish Disco Ball, don't you?


The violinist was quite talented. I'll probably marry him.


I tried to take a sneaky picture of this guy sitting alone with like 8 green beers. But of course he had to look at me just as I did it.


Grainy, but looks cool bigger.


Leather pants? SERIOUSLY??

Besides the great music and company, the highlights of the night were the two friends I made. First was Pretty Long Hair Guy, known to some as Gregory. (Says Przemek, it should actually be Grzegorz.) This guy was sitting in front of where we stood, and he had such long shiny hair that I became quite intrigued. I touched it. Then I began a conversation. (Sometimes I do things out of order.) “Do you speak English?” I asked, in English this time. “A little,” he said. “I like your hair,” came my reply. He laughed and thanked me. Then that was it til later, when we I asked to have my picture taken with him. (His hair looked nicer in real life.)



Wow. Probably THE most awkward picture ever. Now, Przemek thought I was making fun of Gregory, BUT I WASN'T. His hair was so soft and beautiful. I liked him! I think he was married, so I hope he didn't think I was hitting on him. Anyway, if it had been a different setting, I would've invited him to English club. But it was loud, he was drinking, and I didn't really get the chance.

Now, to leave the evening on a positive note, let me introduce you to my other friend. I don't know his name, so I choose to call him Dodek. I looked it up and it means "gift; hero." And brother, he definitely was both of those. He... I... Well, I can't explain. Please just watch this video, and you will understand. Just when you want to turn it off, keep watching, because he usually does something amazing just then. The first bit, with the violin trick, I included not only for variety, but also for the fact that Gregory flipped his hair during it, and it got in the way of my camera.

From Blog Videos

I so desperately wanted to join Dodek, but shyness and heavy rainboots kept that from happening. Maybe if I had been on something stronger than water... Still, what could I do as he left, cruel friend guiding him out before the show was over, but to pat his back and give him a thumbs up? He raised his glass to me and gave me a nod. I was feeling quite fulfilled, when a minute or so later, Dodek ran up, and gave the crowd and the band a raucous final performance to end the evening on. Unencumbered by jacket and drink, he danced his beautiful heart out. It was better than anything I could've hoped for. My only regret is that I did not video more.

From Blog Videos

That seriously was one of the best nights ever.

So, brethren, that is what I have been up to. Bible Express, English club, some socializing, some moping. I've seen two movies in cinema: Alice in Wonderland (Alicja w Krainie Czarów) and The Lovely Bones (Nostalgia Anioła). Enjoyed both. I had a nice dinner last night with Susan, Joe, and Ron and Trey, two members of IMB who are above S&J. Ron has been in Hungary for 13-16 years (I forget), and Trey has been in Croatia for over a decade as well. I had naleśniki for the first time. They're Polish "pancakes" or crepes, and can be sweet or savory. I had mushroom and cheese in tomato sauce. HOLY COW. I just want to eat it forever. I have some in my fridge. Maybe I'll go eat it now.

I love you and thank you for the prayers and kindness you continue to lavish on me, despite my lack of updates. I'll try to do better from now on... I realize this is a ton to read in one sitting.

Oh, one more thing. My mom's husband's pit bull attacked my best daughter cat, Leia, on 3/17 as well. They thought her back was broken, but it was a swollen spinal cord. No feeling in her back legs, but she's very slowly regaining it. She also got a hernia. They couldn't operate on her right away, because her system was still in shock. When they finally got to operate on her, they found that her small intestine was perforated, and she might not have made it if they had waited any longer. So far, it seems that she is recovering, but very slowly. If you don't feel weird about praying for cats, please pray for my cat. I've had her for like 11 years and I love her so very much. (She's the one I've shown you pictures of on this blog already.)

Thanks guys. Enjoy your beautiful TN and other weather while I keep hoping and wishing for springful days.

Love,
CLB


PS: Since I feeeeeeeeel diiiiiiiiisgusting about all my pictures of me, here's an over-the-toply Photoshopped picture of me.




But before you start beating down my door, fellas, just remember that I don't look anything like that in real life. For your health!