poland

I'm at Paulina's house, a friend I worked with at Waldkirch in Germany, (perhaps stories to follow in a later post.), just outside Andrychow, near Krakow.

On the tv is Shallow Hal, which is dubbed, but... only sort of. I hated dubbing in Spain - this is far worse. There's only one guy who does the dubbing. And he doesn't even do different voices for the different people. It's as if someone is doing a director's commentary over the movie... but he only talks after the people onscreen do. He is hardly even expressive. Apparently this is how it is usually done in Poland.

Today we visited Krakow and practically boiled to death in the sun. Then, we took a tiny bus back to Andrychow which the driver filled with people (seats, then the aisle) and didn't bother putting on air conditioning (if there even is any in that bus). The windows can't be opened. The air seemed thick. But we made it alive.

After some pierogis Paulina, Paulina's boyfriend Maciek and I went for a beer in Andrychow, and then I got to walk Paulina's family's husky Nari. She was a good girl, and it was cool to be out in the country at night. It's been a while. The quiet, the bugs, the fields, the dark. Then at 10.30 Paulina's mom insisted that we have supper - I insisted I wasn't hungry, but I managed to put back that plate of roast beef and potatoes reeeeal darn easy.

Now it's time for bed.

Anyway, my agenda for tomorrow: get hair trimmed, get my eyebrows done, send a couple postcards, and visit Auschwitz. Yeah, I know.

And on Friday I make my way to Liberec (I'll arrive later than I wanted to, but it turned out to be a lot farther from here than I thought) for Lukas' wedding.

Alright, definitely time for bed now. I haven't been keeping too up to date on the travels, but I guess that's what Facebook is for.

Night!

and, that's right.

I just need to confirm for everyone that popped collars look ridiculous. I saw one today in a museum and it was just confirmation for what we all knew already.

P.S. in case you were wondering, I will arrive in Toronto July 22 in the afternoon and fly out July 27 to Yellowknife. You may start planning the parties now.

cheesy

Lessons learned in Switzerland: you may not be able to get a driver for your train to the chocolate factory, you can't get decent weather, and everything is damn expensive, but rest assured that you can find everything you need for a fondue dinner at the corner store.

Cheesy.

Geneva

I'm in Lausanne, 60km away from Geneva, staying at Daniela's house. Right now people are busy honking up a storm thanks to today's World Cup match that saw them beat Spain. Oh, poor Spain.

General observations of Geneva: - it's the first place I've seen adults use scooters as a legitimate commuting tool. And no, I don't mean the motorized kind. - There is so much English spoken here it's disgusting, every time I turn around another American arises from the woodwork. - Grocery stores close at 7PM?!!!! And I thought Spain was a crapshoot. -There are SO many Kebab places around here. Seems like way more than in Germany even.

Today I went to the Ethnological Museum of Geneva (MEG) and saw Buddhist monks making one of those powder-things. Aw darn, I read the word and now forgot it. I'll just give you the picture instead.

They also had this cool music exhibition based on the work of Constantin Brăiloiu, a Romanian music archivist. They had computers with all the folk music he had ever recorded and archives from around the world. In another room they also had a sweet sound system set up and a touch screen where you could see what was [the biggest?] hit in 50 different countries at the beginning of 2009, and then play them. In Canada it was supposedly "Crack a Bottle" by Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. Uh... what IS that even? In Spain it was "Beggin" by Madcon... I know THAT song. Ugh.

Tomorrow I go to Lyon to visit Lisa, I'll stay overnight and come back Friday morning. Daniela and I have yet to make plans for the weekend - the temperature has a low of 9 degrees for Sunday. Whaaat...

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention that I lost my jacket. My faithful white Columbia jacket that I've had since high school. The one that was supposed to warm me and protect me from the rain falling down from the sky. I had it on yesterday afternoon before meeting Daniela, and then it vaporized by the time I walked away from the train station with her. Inexplicable really. The same thing happened to me with my sunglasses in Getaria... I have absolutely no idea what could have happened to them. Sigh...

Buh I'm hungry. How nice that there are several Indian restaurants on this street. *Drools a little.* Must wait for Daniela...

rum diddly yum

Hey y'all.... once more... my vacation plans. I changed a few things around, mainly based on the exorbitant amount it costs to get to Slovenia. And time constraints, and the fact that I really wanted to visit Daniela and Christian in Switzerland and Germany respectively. Here's my new tentative plan, in case you're curious.

June 15 - parents leave from Barcelona and I'll fly to Geneva. Possibly go straight to Daniela's place in Lausanne. Stay there over the weekend.
June 21 - head to Zurich.
June 23 - Munich. Hopefully see Miriam (couchsurfer gal extraordinaire I met in San Seb).
June 26 - Berlin. Hang out with Christian (German prof from Ciudad Real days).
June 29 - Krakow. Or Andrychow I guess, to see Paulina... it'll be my first time in Poland too, I'm excited.
July 2 - Liberec. July 3, Lukas' wedding.
July 6 - flight to Tel Aviv. I'm flying El Al.... wheee!

And then... July 13, mah B-DAY in Israel! Yay, I love having my birthday in random places and Israel seems like a good place to do it in. I like the beer... and the people.

Then I'll meander on home around the 20th. July 27, I have a flight to Yellowknife already.

Roommate search for Monterey continues...

Parents are here in San Sebastian right now. I'm feeling a bit under the weather but I better pull myself together and get some day trips planned.

Over and out, love, laura.