Mmm.. pączek.

Before moving to Poland, I became familiar with pączki thanks to the celebrating of Fat Tuesday in Chicago.  And while I enjoyed them back in the US, the pączki here are so much better.  The dough is spongier, the icing is applied with a lighter hand, the tops are sprinkled with candied orange peel, and the insides contain a dollop of delightfully tart rose jam.   They’re delicious!

i <3 rose jam

Fat Tuesday is not celebrated in Poland.  Instead, people here celebrate their pre-Lent festivities on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday by consuming all sorts of tasty treats and calling it tłusty czwartek, or Greasy/Fat Thursday.  I was too busy preparing for classes to partake in celebrations then, but I’m sure it was just as enjoyable as my lunch was today.

In one of my first-year sections yesterday, the topic came up.  A few students asked about celebrating Valentine’s Day in the United States, and I inquired about the opinions of celebrating it in Poland.  My students more or less agreed that yesterday was just another Tuesday.  It was refreshing.

And today, at the end of our lesson online, one of my Indonesian students wished me a happy belated Valentine’s Day.  This led to a quick conversation about how the holiday is celebrated (or not!) in both the US and in Indonesia.

For The Husband and I, yesterday evening was no different from any other evening.  We had a quiet dinner at home followed by watching an episode of a zombie-filled TV show we enjoy.  I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

The Husband and I think our cats are awesome, and we understandably take lots of pictures of them.  We’ve got numerous pictures on hand, so why not put them to use?

To help satisfy the internet’s need for cat pictures, we have posted our contribution at:  http://littlecatandninjafat.com/

Show Mook & Ninja some love.

And this is why Polish eggs make me laugh.

una caja de jaja

Are you laughing at my huevos?

Laughter, followed by desayuno.

After weeks of seeing posters around town advertising the movie W ciemności, I made plans to finally go see it.

bilety do kina

My friend and I chatted, in English, while waiting in line to buy our tickets, and when we arrived at the counter, the cashier asked if I wouldn’t rather see another film that had English subtitles.  I do want to go back and see the other movie, but I wanted to see W ciemności, even though it has neither spoken nor subtitled English, and my Polish is abysmal.  I purposely chose to see a movie in this format because I wanted to see how much I could comprehend.

I lost out on a lot of the subtleties of the film, but I definitely got it overall.  And it helped that my friend is also my Polish tutor, and could feed me pieces of plot line as I needed it.  All in all though, I’m pleased with not only what I figured out language-wise, but that I was able to pay attention for the entire 145 minute run time.

Living in Warsaw, I obviously have multiple opportunities a day to be immersed in the language, but staying present and focused during all of these instances is harder, for me anyway, than it may sound.  I have a tendency to daydream, and I rarely feel particularly motivated to understand the conversation of the two girls next to me on the bus, etc.  After I purchase a ticket and settle into my theater seat, however, I feel much more engaged and eager to try to figure it out.

I liked the movie, and enjoyed this language learning activity; it was successful both as entertainment and as language practice.  I would like to continue to see movies with Polish subtitles, both because I know research suggests that watching programs with subtitles in your target language may result in gains in comprehension and retention (over no subtitles, or using subtitles in your native language), and because my firsthand experience has shown me that it’s not just helpful, but it’s also a fun way to learn.

We were talking about sports, and he asked if I would be watching the Super Bowl.  I told him that I had never watched a Super Bowl game, and his jaw dropped.    He explained his surprise by telling me about his former belief that all Americans watch the Super Bowl every year.

Prior to this conversation, I had not given American game viewing habits much thought.  I know that the Super Bowl is always a popular event, and people have parties for it every year.  And anyone with a TV or internet access knows that the Super Bowl commercials are a big deal.. but do *all* Americans really watch the game?

While I understand that my student did not mean literally every single American citizen watches the Super Bowl, I think he had the belief that it is a huge national pastime.  And while I know my viewing habits, as well as those of close friends and family, I don’t have much of an idea as to what the rest of America does on game day.  I decided to check out some statistics and found that about 33% of the population does watch the Super Bowl.  A lot, for sure, but not all.

Our conversation stuck with me because I think learning about what beliefs people hold about various group or national identities is interesting, even when the beliefs are way off.

It’s been so cold that people are freezing to death.

It’s been so cold that The Husband’s office has closed due to “inclement weather” and has asked employees to work from home instead of risking the cold outside.

It’s been so cold that, when I’m outside for more than a minute or two, I can’t breathe.  As in I need to start puffing on an inhaler.

It’s been so cold that the city of Warsaw has been burning large metal containers filled with coal along the main streets so that those stuck outside can attempt to warm up a little.

burning coal on the streets of Warsaw

And it’s been so cold that the Warsaw Zoo had to move their meerkats into a specially heated pavilion.

Thankfully, our apartment here is heated.  I guess this just means that we’ll be inside hibernating until it gets warm again.

Fast forward a few months, and The Husband and I finally made it down to the Tesco.  After resurfacing from the Metro, I thought I had somehow been transported back to Morocco.

Marjane is the Walmart of Morocco, and it’s kind of a big deal.  When we first arrived in-country, I was not impressed by the store, but after spending my first month in Errachidia, where we were without even a grocery store, spending 6 hours on a bus to go to Marjane in Meknes became an errand that I looked forward to; it was the nearest place where I could get coconut milk, peanut butter, and other items that I like to have.  And items are priced and clearly labeled!

As we walked through the Tesco parking lot and into the store, the similarities between it and Marjane became more numerous.  The store itself is at the back of an indoor strip mall, there is a small play area for children, people walked by us with shopping carts full of multiples of the same item, and both stores have policies against taking pictures inside.

behold, Tesco!

Checking out a new part of the city, and having a better idea as to the kind of products Tesco carries made it worth the 30 minute ride on the subway.

And just like at Marjane, they had a wide selection of slippers.

my first course

For dinner on Saturday, the three of us went to a restaurant where your meal is served and eaten in complete darkness.

unsicht-Bar

While the food was not the greatest, the overall experience was really cool.  To begin with, the menu (which you read in the low-lit bar area) is not very straightforward.  You can choose what type of protein you want, or opt to be surprised.  The description of each course was written so that guests would have a vague idea of what to expect, but the specifics weren’t stated, so diners are left to try to figure out what they are tasting, smelling, and feeling in the dark.

The Husband and I both selected vegetarian meals while our cousin decided to let himself be surprised.

vegetarian noms

raise the level of excitement.

Dining in the dark was a fun, and very novel experience.  Thanks, Bhaiya!

In front of the Reichstag

The two of us ended up taking the train from Warsaw to Berlin.  At about 5.5 hours, it’s kind of a long ride, but if you’re prepared with something good to read and a snack or two, it’s not bad at all.

This was the first time in Berlin for all three of us, so over breakfast on Saturday, we discussed and decided on taking an official tour.  Segways were our first choice, but those tours aren’t offered until March, so we went with our other option – our own two feet.  Within minutes of deciding to take the all-day walking tour, we were walking down the street with our group.

I typically avoid tours because they seem to either move too fast or too slow, and have too many people.  That and I usually prefer to just wander around on my own.  I enjoyed this tour though.  Our group was small enough to have it feel personal, but large enough that I could hang back for a few pictures without anyone noticing I was missing.  And our guide, a fellow American named Preston, was funny and interesting.

The weather this weekend has been dreary, with temperatures hovering right around freezing and intermittent rain/sleet/snow.  The guys did not last long in these conditions, but I was enjoying the tour too much to leave.  We ended up walking around for about 6.5 hours, and saw just about every main point of interest in the city.

colorful cars inside the Berlin Museum

Supreme Parish & Collegiate Church - the fanciest Lutheran church in all of the lands.

the Neue Wache Memorial

After the tour, I headed back to the hotel to repose for a bit.  Reposing turned into napping, and soon it was time for our 2100 dinner reservations.

We enjoyed an interesting meal together, and by 2345, we were headed back to our hotels after abandoning plans of going out in favor of sleep.

Our cousin had an early flight, so The Husband and I spent Sunday morning and afternoon wandering around the city.  We hit Berlin’s version of souk el Hdd where we even had some mint tea and I met a French-Moroccan man selling tagines, and later hunted down the perfect brunch place.  We rounded out our pre-train afternoon by speeding walking through the Tiergarten.

Walking through the Sunday morning flea market.

Mein Frühstück: Bio-Spiegeleier mit Toast und Salat.

Berlin's Victory Column

We were back home in Warsaw by 2100, and best of all, I didn’t have to set foot on a plane.  I definitely enjoyed the weekend, and I’d like to go back to Berlin.