Let's start with Friday night and work backwards. (That's what she said?)
Remember the time that Ewa, Gosia, and I had a spontaneous flat tire on the way to Kozienice a couple months ago in the ever-reliable company car (that I broke the ignition key to back in the fall)? The old clunker officially died this Friday night, on our way home from Kozienice, on the outskirts of the forest in the middle of nowhere. THANK GOODNESS we had cell reception, because at least 50% of the car ride we don't. The car smelled like burning rubber...we think the clutch burned. There was smoke fuming from the front hood. There was a bus stop at the side of the road that we hung out in. It was a lovely image - three women in their work attire (dresses and skirts) at the side of the road. We looked like the ladies of the forest. Most passersby didn't even glance our way (note to self - being a lady of the forest would NOT be a successful profession). Our boss' husband couldn't come pick us up, because he had been drinking. Our boss was at the time, drinking. So, Gosia's boyfriend came to the rescue. We did have to wait for our other boss though, to give him the keys, for them to later deal with the car, today, or whenever. It was a comical situation, but at the same time it's not funny at all. The problems with the car are never taken care of. They say they'll get a new car for next year, but why not now? We obviously need it! We're lucky that it wasn't a worse situation. Only in Radom...Damsels in distress part 2?
The adult class I teach on Thursday usually consists of about 2 or 3 of my 10 students showing up. Ewelina ALWAYS comes. On Thursday, she was the only one. So I said, screw the lesson, let's go out for coffee. It was really lovely. We're around the same age (she's a couple years older) so we totally get along. We were chatting about dating and relationships and travel and work. I almost started crying at one point...I got a little misty-eyed. Ewelina was saying that she doesn't understand why no one else comes to class because it's such an excellent opportunity to talk with a native English speaker. Then she told me that she thinks I'm really smart and a wonderful teacher. I was so touched. It's been hitting me lately how much I will miss my students here, and that just made it even more clear.
Last Friday, with my men in Kozienice, we were practicing the use of "will" for making predictions. There was a fortune telling activity in their textbooks. There were 10 tarrot cards, and they had to randomly number them. Then, their partner would choose 5 numbers, and the other would predict their future. At the end of class, I chose one number from each student (only 4 of 5 were present) and had them predict my future. The first one told me I will get a surprise next week. Looking back, I definitely had a couple surprises. The next TWO men told me I will get married next year. They were laughing and got a kick out of this, very amused that I chose the same thing twice. (They were further amused when the last number I chose - 8 - was a prediction about marriage with the first gent's set of cards.) I was told I will move house...well, and I will! It was a fun activity - good for some laughs as always.
Berlin! Heather and I went last weekend, as we had Monday off. Getting there is a story and a half. Friday night, after classes, Gosia and Ewa drove us directly to the train station, and we made the 9pm train with a couple minutes to spare. Thank goodness, because the next train, at 9:24pm takes THREE HOURS to get to Warsaw, instead of the usual two. We weren't to leave for Berlin until early Saturday morning, and we had our hostel booked. We get to Warsaw, planning to buy our Berlin train tickets at that time, rather than waiting for the morning. SOLD OUT. WHAT??????????????????????????? NO. Normally, this wouldn't be a HUGE problem because we could just take a later train. However, we had very important appointments in Berlin on Saturday and HAD to be on the 6:35am train to Berlin. We did try to avoid this by buying our tickets two weeks ago when we were in Warsaw. But with the volcano, the international train ticket line was GIANT and we waited for about 45 minutes and moved about a metre. We had to give up and get back to Radom. Anyways, we headed to our hostel to try and figure something out - bus? car rental? Things were not looking good. We decided our best bet was to just get on the train, and try and buy a ticket on it (as we have done before), and play the "we didn't know it was sold out" card. They can't just kick us off in the middle of nowhere. I figure as long as we get to Poznan, then Poznan to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Berlin, we could totally do it in pieces and catch buses once in Germany, if need be. So after a very fitful night's sleep, we get up, and get on the 6:35am train. We went to the buffet car, to have a tea and calm our nerves. We saw the ticket man, and decided to approach him rather than avoid him. Buy a ticket? No problem! Cash only. Oh. We were planning to pay with card. 125 PLN. *Phew!* We have cash...let me just see here. Shit. We are both 5PLN short (which is like, $1.50). That was the price of the tea we just drank. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. THEN HEATHER SAVES THE DAY! She has Euros. The ticket man can't accept them - but the buffet car can change them! BIGGEST SIGH OF RELIEF EVER! Ok. So with tickets in hand, we wander to find seats. Success! In the last car, there are two free seats at the very back, calling our name. And to sleep we went.
In Poznan, more people with reserved seats boarded, so we had to relocate. We found a compartment in another car and settled in. We ended up chatting with the two men - Daniel and Mariusz - for most of the time. Very helpful guys to have around - as they both spoke English, Polish, and German! The Frankfurt to Berlin stretch requires the purchase of another train ticket. The men were able to talk our ticket price down (thanks guys!). We pass over our cards. They don't work. WHAT? NO. Daniel was so trusting and kind as to pay for our tickets and let us pay him back once we reached a cash machine in Berlin. SAVED AGAIN! (Damsels in distress part 3?)
We arrived in Berlin on time, paid Daniel, and headed to our hostel. We then set off for our appointments, with plenty of time. We arrived half an hour early, to find the place closed. Odd...but perhaps they were having a slow day and would open for us at 4pm. I found a payphone and called a few times. No answer. Another girl showed up, as she too had an appointment. That made us feel better. However, she said that the owner was absent-minded and forgot about appointments sometimes, as this was her second or third reschedule. She gave up. We waited until 4:45pm. Nothing. Knowing they were closed Sunday and Monday morning (when we had to leave) we emailed anyways, letting them know we expect them to fit us in. We heard from them Monday evening, apologising about their not showing, explaining that a staff member had a bad accident and they couldn't be there. Excuse or not, we don't know. So it's almost all settled...except for the deposit transfer back to Heather's account. We'll continue to harass them about that.
After our epic heartbreak, we soaked up as much Berlin-ness as we could. Half-chickens and fries from our fave food vendor, good beer, espresso, the Wall, dancing and rocking out until almost 5am (and still feeling sore four days after) filled the rest of our Saturday. Sunday we wandered around the Hackescher Markt and Friedrichstrasse neighbourhoods. We had an amazing gnocchi lunch, and then walked to Check Point Charlie. We had coffee and just sat for a while (we were so very sore from dancing). It was so relaxing. We had a little nap back at the hostel, then went to our staple vendor for dinner. We went to check out a bar called Magnet, as we heard there would be live music. It was closed though, as someone had died. We found another cosy bar that was playing jazz, and then had some freaky live music. By freaky I mean they improvised so much that it sounded like three solo artists trying to drown each other out. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fabulous. It was just background noise for us anyways. We had great conversations all weekend. Heather got us writing discussion topics on strips of paper, for us to pull out from time to time. It's great fun!
Monday morning we headed out for coffee before our noon train. I forgot my sunglasses at the hostel and decided to go back for them. Then we loaded up on Millie's cookies (a baker's dozen each...the most amazing cookies you will ever eat) and had a little lunch. The train ride back was smooth sailing, as we had bought our tickets online a few weeks prior (something you can't do from the Polish rail website). Mariusz found us on the train and sat with us. It was so nice to see him again! We had enough time in Warsaw to grab food before our train back to Radom.
That reminds me...a couple weeks ago I taught my gents in Koz the terms "dozen" and "baker's dozen". One of them said "Polish dozen...11!" I burst out laughing. Poles all talk about how everyone in this country cheats and steals. Those men always crack me up!
Oh! Heath and I baked 76 peanut butter cookies yesterday. I think that's enough out of me. Less than 6 weeks until Italy!!!
