Meat paste

Lucky you! Two posts in a very short proximity of time! Can you believe I have more to tell you already?

Last night was amazing. The pub crawl failed because the person organizing it didn't really get back to us. We went to a club called Klub Cien (shadow - sounds like chen) instead. Wow! I never knew I liked mash-ups so much. There were two dance floors and a few guys spinning records and people with huge SLR cameras everywhere. By the end of the night there were only a handful of us remaining and we stayed laaaate. There isn't a bar time here, leaving no opportunity for an overweight suspender-wearing bartender to holler out last call and extend his empty gaze across an empty room. We danced so hard that I may have broken a toenail. Someone nearby would flip their hair around and I'd feel a spattering of wetness across my face. Sweat. How many different people's sweat is on me? Shudder.

I had to tell everyone a fake name because Page is impossible for foreigners to pronounce (ahem ktz). It comes out sounding awkward and unnatural, and that's only after me saying "Page. No, not Rach. PAGE. Not Padge. PAAAGGGE." Even the Australian guy we met had a hard time with it. The first name that came to mind was Jessica, and that seemed to be mostly fail-proof for the rest of the night.

The hostel provides a light breakfast that so far has consisted of a baguette and some jam or soft cheese. Today they had jam and some round tins of something called Podlaski. I opened mine up and was delighted to see peanut butter! Finally some protein. The pierogi is delicious so far but is really worthless nutritionally (yesterday I had pierogi with strawberry sauce for lunch and was hungry about two minutes later). The peanut butter seemed a little discolored and perhaps more processed than I'm used to, but I tore of a piece of baguette and was ready to scoop up a big chunk -- when I got a strange whiff. It smelled like cat food. Becca (a fellow badger) looked it up in her Polish dictionary and discovered that it's actually a meat paste. I examined the package and saw the cutest little chicken smiling at me from the foil lid, summoning Suicide Food. I'll let that thought sit with you.

Today we're having a teaching meeting where we'll be practicing lesson plans and learning some Polish phrases. Then we'll spend some time in the mall and have lunch there. I guess the mall is huge and has three stories. After that we're taking a bus to Auschwitz. The trip will take a few hours each way, and it is suggested that we use that time to work on our own lesson plans. I guess I'll be sleeping while everyone else is working because I get extremely car sick if I read or write in a moving vehicle. Airplanes are okay, luckily, but reading while using any other form of transportation results in an intensely awful feeling that will not cease for the entire day. Dramamine will make me especially drowsy since we stayed out late last night, so I guess I'm having a nice long nap this afternoon.

It is freezing here today. Probably not really, but it feels like it when you get out of the shower and your leg hair instantly grows an inch from the goosebumps. And the rain just won't quit. Seems fitting for a day that we go to Auschwitz.

By the way, remind me to tell you about the showers in the hostel.

Today is Friday, and I'm sad because I can't listen to my favorite radio show. Fridays are the happiest day of the week because of that show. That, and Fridays also mean I get to go home and spend a few glorious days with my favorite people. :) Thankfully Mel & Floyd is archived for 60 days after the air date, so I'll have about five hours of listening pleasure waiting for me when I get home. I can kill an entire afternoon. Or night. Yessssss.

Before I left for the airport I had to pack frantically because I overslept that morning. I packed the worst jeans ever - only two pairs, and one of them will lose their shape after one wear. Since it's freezing here, all the skirts and shorts are out of the question. So I've been wearing the same jeans for days. Days! Doing laundry will not be an option for at least two and a half weeks. I also forgot to pack any dresses and tank tops. I suppose the trip to the mall this afternoon will turn out to be rather useful! I'll report back with what I find.

xoxoxoxo

PEM