So this is my fifth day in Krakow, and I've decided to finally start this blog people have been suggesting. Now that I've got internet in my room and am not dependent on inconsistent wifi signals downstairs, things should be much better. (Unlike last night in the lobby when, mid-conversation with my boyfriend, I was interrupted by a very drunk Finnish guy asking if I had any 'fire.' He was holding a cigarette and I pulled my lighter out to let him borrow. Miraculously he brought it back, though I started wishing he'd just kept the damn thing when he decided it was a good idea to alternately try to hold a conversation with me in his exceedingly limited English and pass out next to me on the bench. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to log into his Facebook account on my laptop, two of his slightly less drunk friends showed up. Rather than assist him to a bed or something similarly useful, they sort of camped out and started reading my now-typed Skype conversation over my shoulder once I reclaimed my laptop, taking the opportunity to make fun of Parker for telling me to tell them to piss off. 'Peess off? He watch porn? He looks the type.' After a few minutes of heavy hinting at them to leave, I convinced them that paying to use the internet room would be a good idea and they finally left. At 3:30 in the morning.)
Okay, so that was a bit of a rant. Anywho - interwebs in my room! Hooray!! Let the blogging commence.
I guess it's almost past dinner time here at the moment - strange that it's just getting to be lunch time back home. I'm definitely not adjusted to the time difference yet (hence 3am conversations). I'm also not quite readjusted to walking everywhere, and it's a good 30 minute walk, if not longer, just to get to the city centre from our dorm on ul. Piastowski. And speaking of dorms, my roommate and I are technically still in one of the 'hotel' rooms here at Piast and can't move into our actual dorm room until tomorrow. Looking forward to unpacking and settling in a bit more, though it seems I've lived out of suitcases for the majority of the past several months. At least we've met several people already - the joys of cooking in a communal kitchen!
Speaking of the kitchen, it's been hilarious to try and cook food around here. The only cooking or eating things I packed are my bento, two sporks, lots of chopsticks and a set of measuring cups. I brought several bags of ramen, some udon, two or three containers of furikake, an instant rice cake soup bowl, a box of cheesy tuna noodles, a pouch of tuna, a box of vanilla Jello pudding, some teabags, a huge bag of Community coffee, a couple of boxes of Pocky (thanks to Mom) and a few candy bars. My first night here I employed the provided electric kettle and coffee mugs to make a cup of tea and a cup of ramen. I realised I would need milk and sugar for the tea and found them easily enough at the grocery store (the bag of sugar took a bit of guesswork, but a few sly peeks around the shelf helped me determine which bags were leaking flour and which were sugar). I braved the kitchen two nights ago and made some tuna noodles, using a pan I found in the kitchen and my spork for stirring. Last night was the biggest success to date; Kelly wanted burritos, so we bought tortillas, chicken breasts, 'Tex-Mex' marinade in a pouch, some allegedly gouda-flavoured cheese product, and a jar of salsa. I cooked the chicken breasts whole using the marinade as a sauce after I realised I had no knives to cut it with, but the sporks once again came in handy to slice up the cooked chicken. Burrito win. (Even if the cheese was a little funky.)
Tomorrow holds another walk to the centre to pick up our student id's from the admin building, and I'm determined to finally eat a kebab from the stand across the street from Piast. As usual, the things I've found most exciting thus far are food-related: the grocery store right next door that I visited my first night here and have been to almost daily since, a sklep (shop) down the street where we can get Kinder Surprise and cheap beer, kebab places everywhere, a mall with a Carrefour (a grocery chain) and a tiny shop selling all sorts of international food (including Mexican stuff, lots of Asian and Indian stuff, some UK things and even Vermont maple syrup!!). There are so many restaurants we can't wait to try, from steak to sushi.
We've yet to figure out the tram system. And it feels weird to be surrounded by people) who speak a language of which you understand next to nothing. It's okay, though. I've got all the important bases covered. I can say yes (tak), no (nie), and thank you (dziekuje) and can ask for at least one kind of beer without messing up the pronunciation (Zywiec).
More stories to come.
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