I Got a Visitor!

Hannah Banana came to see me! For those of you who don't know, that is my cousin. I picked her and Rich, her father, up from the airport this afternoon. After they took some time to freshen up I gave them a tour of the city. Then we went to the Christmas market. My adoring Howell family, we didn't find any good ornaments. They all looked ordinary. I think we missed an area of the market. I'll go back and look tomorrow. Unfortunately, that means they won't be going back on the plane with Hannah. I will not rest until I find the best ornament, and then I think they will be light enough to send.

Hannah and Rich leave early in the morning for Auschwitz. (Jessica Huffman, I heard you were looking for a souvenir from her. I'm still so curious as to what kind of souvenirs you think are at this place. You should write me a letter about it.) They looked so jet-lagged I can't believe they made it as long as they did. We had mulled wine, and looked around. Then I took them for traditional Polish food. They had pierogies and cheese soup. I ordered zurek and made them try it. Zurek is the traditional Polish soup and it is good. They didn't look thrilled about it, but I think they need time to adjust to the taste.

It was nice to see familiar faces. I put them to bed at 7. Then I returned to the dorm to watch television until I fall asleep. If you are interested, and I'm sure you're not, I've been drinking raspberry tea with honey like it's Kool-Aid. You should be like me and drink it to make you sleepy. I'm too tired to write anymore tonight. I leave for Paris and Barcelona on Thursday. That should be amazing. I'll follow the usual routine: post pictures, write a blog. Perhaps tomorrow I'll fill you in on my Thanksgiving dinner. I'm sending positive energy vibes your way. Do branoc.

The Hang-over

What happened? It feels like I got punched in the back of the head. I was cooking, and then everyone was cheering, and then I remember watching Teresa eating curry. Next thing I know, I'm waking up with a flat full of strangers' things. I want to leave this land of sirens and return to my home (http://www.archinnovations.com/featured-projects/houses/morrison-seifert-murphy-berkshire-residence-dallas/). Is that too much to ask?

I love you Poland! I hate you Poland!

It's so pretty outside. You stole my coat Poland.

Genius in praxis.

I wish I was an artist. Perhaps if I had ever taken an art class I could pretend to be an artist, or at least be craftier than I am currently. Not that I've never attempted to be an artist of some form. In my youth, I spent time learning instruments that never seemed to have a promising future. It didn't help that I was deaf to the rhythm of the music. My parents were very supportive of my creativity, but I think in the end that it's safe to say I'm no artist.

That being said, I really enjoy artistic endeavors. At best, I can watch true creative genius at work. At worst, I can steal there ideas and morph them into something I can put my name on and seem psuedo-chic. It doesn't make me special, but at least I'm not boring.

Today's blog is my attempt to creatively express myself by admiring the fine work of brilliant artists. This is important for me because I'm learning about who I am whilst in Poland. I'm thinking about making these reoccuring subjects on this blog so please let me know if any of this is interesting to you, my followers and my readers. My creative expression will be presented in three sub-headings: 1. What I want when I grow up, 2. Eat what I eat, and 3. True Aptitude.

What I Want When I Grow Up

It can be argued that at the age of 25 and moving rapidly towards the age of 26 that I am a grown up. I'm going to disagree with that argument and state my case as being childish from lack of responsibility. When I return home and get a job, get an apartment, get a future, get bills, get a boyfriend, get married, have kids, etc. This is when I turn into a grown up. I would agree, however, that these things take time. I'm looking forward to a lovely transition from now to a stage where I can look around, pat myself on the back, and say, "good job". Therefore, I'm compiling a list of things that I want in that future. Since I have been trying to declutter my brain of my material possesions, this list will be my new defining properties. Here is the list so far:

1. A room with nothing in it except a chair. This will be the thinking room. It's brilliant. Nothing to distract me and anyone else who needs a break from overwhelming distractions in the everyday world. No music, no pictures, no discussion, no color, nothing.

2. A guerrilla garden. A space that is reimagined and reconstructed to become a garden. This innovation is an encouragement for everyone to reimagine the world around them.

That's all for now, but I'll keep working on it.

Eat What I Eat

Today I made this for breakfast. My room mate liked it so much she wanted me to take a picture of it. As I was making it I thought of the breakfasts that I consumed in the U.S. and thought to myself no wonder I was a fatty. Which made me think maybe I should share my skills now instead of waiting until I get back. So, this is a pretty simple breakfast fix. This has mayo on it, which is fine, but of course I recommend cream cheese. I couldn't figure out which cheese was which at the grocery store that's why I used mayo. Using toast instead of a bagel cuts down on carbs, but make sure it's wheat with lots of grains so you get your fiber intake. Cucumbers and tomatoes should be lightly salted and peppered. Then, smoked salmon topped with fresh dill. The kiwi is cut in half so you can use a spoon to eat it. It cuts down on prep time. Very tasty and it will leave you satisfied until lunch time.

True Aptitude

I was watching short, documentary type, videos of different subcultures all over the world this morning. I'm a sociology student so of course this is interesting to me. If you are interested the link is: http://www.babelgum.com/viceversus. As I was surfing around this site I found this other site: http://www.babelgum.com/browser.php#play/SEARCH,channelID:180160,hint_no_featured:1,order:MOST_POPULAR/0,3014270. It's super cool. Take some time to check out how people are reimagining the world.

Womp womp

Who remembers when I said I was going to try out for America's Next Top Model? This photo proves how photogenic I am. What a waste of talent. I really botched that opportunity. Which opportunity? Well, the day after my 21st birthday they were holding auditions at Oak Hollow Mall and I didn't go. I squandered it along with a long list of others. I believe myself to be a Jack/Jill of all trades so I'll spend my time pursuing one of my other many talents.

This week I'm in my "dip". That's what the international department called the first low you feel after you have been in the country for a little while. Luckily, the weather is gorgeous. I'm going to spend my day rocking the hell out and hopefully I'll snap out of it. I'm not the only one in this stage. I'm just the only one who can't go home for the weekend. Another American friend and I were recounting tales of the U.S. to the other students yesterday. "There, they have free refills, and free water." "They fill your cup with ice, and you can drink water from the tap." I realize that everywhere is different, and without those differences life would be boring. Here the bars close at like 6 am, and you can buy liquor at any grocery store and gas station. Not to mention, I'll be making you all delicious savory pancakes, zurek, and omelets when I come home too. So, for now I'll just focus on the positive.

Monday I'm going to Prague for the night to take a break from this city. Teresa's dad is in town and he's going with us. I like hanging out with my friends' parents. It's just an older version of them so why shouldn't we all be friends? Anyway, I'm scatter brained these days. I'll keep you posted as always. Happy Birthday: Grandma Towa, Grandpa Sims, Jessica, and Alex.

How am I not myself?

Cultural breakdown is confusing me. Normalcy is established through routines and rhythms of everyday life. Don't take that for granted people. When your routine is taken away and you are presented with the freedom of choice life feels chaotic.

Things to do:

1. Get over material possesions

2. Get over yourself

3. Get over routines

4. Figure out what you like to do

I'll see you all when I accomplish these things.

You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war.

That's what I learned this weekend after visiting the Panorama Racławicka (don't forget to pronounce that crazy l as a w and that w as a v), aptly named after the battle of Racławice. I was going to write out a report for you, but now I found the website to the museum you see here to the left. It's way better. Here's the link:

http://www.panoramaraclawicka.pl/en/what_to_see.html

That way we can get straight to the jokes. First of all, that website is perfect. You don't even have to go see this in person. It gives you all of the interesting information sans the really boring breakdown of the painting. Not to mention the website turns the painting into a magic trick. I.E. "The large painting (15x114m) 'transfers' the viewer into an altogether different time, a reality of its own, by artfully combining painterly devices (special kind of perspective) and technical effects (lighting, artificial terrain, dark and usually tortuous passage to the viewing platform)." Tortuous passage and technical effects? Poland, are you aware that you are Poland, and the only thing technical and tortuous about you is the insane/nonsensical way you manage yourself? I have to admit that I was excited to go to the Panorama. The Polish people are really proud of this and the name sounds bad-ass. In all seriousness, Panorama is more like a talented 4th grader's diorama that got stuck in the way of Rick Moranis's laser (the second machine), and since then has been scented by the sweet perfume of an old lady fart stuck in an armpit. I'm not even sure who the hell won the battle. I thought it was the Russians, but Xuane thinks the Polish won the battle and the Russians won the war. Anyway, the moral of the story is Europe is Poland's bully.

That's another thing that I've learned on this trip. Not all history is interesting. Pretending that it is doesn't make you smart, and it sure as hell doesn't make you fun. One of the great things about the U.S. is it's so young in comparison. I was never one to study a lot of U.S. history, but you better believe I'm going to start studying it. It's short and easy compared to this place. As a matter of fact, that's exactly why I haven't studied U.S. history, because I've been studying European history. When I was in Krakow I made the executive decision to go to the Castle Cathedral instead of the Saltmines (perhaps a huge mistake) and it was filled with the dead Kings of Poland. The tour guide was giving us a fatiguing rundown of the history, and she was summerizing it. I think the main things that I noted after that tour is the different styles of art (i.e. Renaissance, Baroque, Romanticism) and that the Kings were buried in an awesome tradition ( involving the removal of the heart). In the future, when you pick your tourist destination, make sure the history is something that you really are interested in because one hour tours will turn into a three hour tours faster than you can imagine. Furthermore, don't come to Europe to explore history just come to lose weight because your fat American ass is going to be walking around forever to get to these destinations.

The final note for this week is in regards to my personal favorite, Thanksgiving! Family and friends fear not that I will be alone on this holiday. I always take initiative, and this year I will be having my very own Thanksgiving dinner for myself, the other Americans, and any of the Erasmus students that want to participate. I'm going to have to be creative with space and food, but I'll take lots of pictures because I'm sure the outcome will be entertaining. Also, to my followers, you are awesome. Congratulations on proudly standing up and saying, "I read this blog." Most people think that true love is proven by marriage, but they are wrong. If you want to know if someone really loves you start a blog and see if they read it. Until next time, adieu.