Written by: Cédric Reese
Dzień dobry, hello everyone! This week I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that, Tuesday night, a group of us went to a Polish milk bar and had some amazing food. Now, I know what you’re thinking, a milk bar? In Poland a milk bar is actually a traditional restaurant that serves cheap food in a somewhat cafeteria style. However, the one we went to be a little higher end and, as a result, it was more of a sit-down style instead of the traditional cafeteria. The food was amazing, I had a cucumber soup with apples and for the main course, chicken schnitzel with a potato and shredded vegetables. It tasted amazing and I was so happy to try some traditional Polish food that wasn’t pierogi! Now for the bad news, I got food poisoning from it! At least I believe that’s where I got it from. Soon after we got back, my stomach began to hurt, what I thought was just indigestion turned out to be a terrible night! I hardly got any sleep and was feeling too sick to go to class the next day! I was so sad because I hate missing class and the fact it was our first week of class made it that much worse! On the bright side I was able to recover quickly, and I was ready to head to class the next day!
I think now would be a good time to tell you about the classes I’m taking. My primary major is history, so the bulk of my classes are history related. My history related courses are Polish culture and history, Jewish communities in Krakow, The Holocaust 20th century Jewish studies, Poland and Eastern Europe under Communism, and also exploring art and architecture of Krakow. I’m also in two Polish language classes, Intro to Polish, and Polish for Daily communication. These classes are all great, but they have a few ups and downs. One bad thing is they often last around 4 hours! Even the classes I’m greatly invested become a slog as we are just not used to classes that long in the US. On the other hand, each class only meets once a week so most days I only have two classes that last between 2-4 hours. Another plus is that all classes except the language ones offer field trips, so the long times are justified as later in the semester we will use our class periods to visit various places in and around the city! Another downside is that I have only a single class on Fridays, and it’s from 2-6! Many of the other students dropped it as they wanted their Fridays off, but I decided to stick through because the class is interesting, and I need the credit! But there is another bright side. After January, my single Monday class will be finished, so I’ll have Mondays off for the rest of the semester! So, I do get my three-day weekend to travel, just not in the most ideal way.
On Friday a few of us decided to go to a local hockey game. While it was nothing like a UND game, it was definitely really cool to see. It was just a local team, so neither the crowd nor the stadium were very big. There was a very dedicated group of fans that brought a drum with them and would start the chants. It was very neat to see a similar kind of passion that people at UND games have, even if the scale was much smaller. I also tried a Polish kielbasa, which was both really good and really cheap. At first when I ordered all they gave me was two slices of bread and a receipt. I was really confused and stood there for about three minutes until the one concessions lady pointed outside. It turns out there was a gentleman grilling them outside. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone grill when it was only 30 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was neat getting the food fresh like that. The home team of Cracovia was playing what I had heard was a much better team, but they still managed to win 3-1. While I’m not sure I’d want or be able to make it to another hockey game, I’m glad I made it to this one!
Most of the week was spent in class or being sick, and on Saturday, I stayed home. On Sunday, though, I managed to organize a few people to the nearby city of Nowa Huta. It was a city built by the Soviets during the 60s and 70s and was designed not only for its massive steelworks, but also to act as a blueprint for “an ideal socialist city”. So, we took a bus and just got off at a random stop. We walked around for a while, just taking in the architecture. It was a gloomy day, so that made the utilitarian buildings look that much more striking! It was really cool to see, as it was like nothing I had ever been to before. After some time, we made our way to Ronald Reagan square, which had been named after him after the fall of the USSR. Sadly, there was no statue of Reagan and I was greatly disappointed. Originally, the town was meant to not have churches of any kind. The local residents protested in the 70s, and finally a massive church was built for the residents. So that’s where we headed next. It was named ‘The Ark,’ as the building was massive. I had seen cathedrals before, but this one was entirely different with its unique and modern style. It truly was quite striking in relation to all of the Soviet buildings!
Well that’s all for this week, hope to see you all again next week!
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