4 flights in 25 hours. I'm finally in Poland.

Yuck. I love travel, but that was even too much for me. I'm happy to finally be in Poland and settled into my little dorm of the 8th floor of Olowek. Try saying the name of my dorm outloud. Olowek. (ollo-weck?) Nope. Try again. Uh-Woo-Vick. That's right.
L = W
W = V
Talk about confusing.
The university I'm studying at is the University of Wroclaw. (Row-claw, you ask?) Nope. Try Vrotz-wav. Don't ask. Apparently CL = TZ.
What?

This language barrier is killer.

I arrived at the Wroclaw Airport yesterday. John (my professor) was there, but two other students who were supposed to arrive at the same time missed their flights in Munich. The big group of 9 students had also been delayed (in Chicago) and ended up missing their flight in Warsaw. There were two Polish students at the Wroclaw Airport to meet and greet the American students. However, I ended up being the only American student to arrive on time, so I got some quality chat time with the Polish students. They knew some English, but it was still pretty difficult to keep a good conversation going. I realize I compensate my lack of Polish language knowledge with gestures. I constantly appear to be playing charades when I try to talk with Polish people. I'm sure it's entertaining for everyone else, but quite tiring (and frustrating for me).

I was alone for about seven hours in the dorm before my classmates started arriving. It was raining so I didn't want to venture very far. Plus, I didn't know where the heck anything was in the city. I went grocery shopping and had to carry my groceries home in my arms and in the rain. I had cheese sticking out of my purse, granola bars jammed into my jeans pockets... you get the idea. Apparently it's one of those deals where you bring your own bag or buy one. I didn't know that. After checking out, my groceries were just sitting there. I pointed to them and gestured to the Polish cashier that I needed a bag. She shook her head no and pointed to the end of the (8-person) line of people. She had already scanned my credit card, so in order to purchase a grocery bag, she was telling me to get back in line. That's when I said whatever and started stuffing food in my pockets and tiny purse. Welcome to Poland.

By 9:30 last night, the group had all made it. We met at John's favorite Wroclaw pub, The Guiness. Two Polish students met us there as well and they gave us tickets for an exclusive party at the WZ Club. It was exclusive because it was open to only the Sociology students at the University (they don't actually have a Communication program, so we hang out with the Soc students). The club was a blast. I wasn't planning to stay long, but we had so much fun dancing and bonding with our new classmates. Apparently the Polish love Michael Jackson. A re-mix of "The Twist" was also a big hit. Interesting.

This morning (Wednesday) came way too soon. I felt so tired. That's the crazy thing about travel. Whether you have 2 hours or 8 hours of sleep, you can motivate yourself to get up. Or guilt yourself into moving. When will you have this experience again? Maybe never. You can sleep when you get home. (That's my self-talk. It usually works).

Anyway, today consisted of a walking tour of Wroclaw with John. Wroclaw has quite the history, and it was hit pretty hard during World War II. Today, 95% of the city is Catholic. Being Catholic and Polish sort of go hand-in-hand here.

It's still cold and pretty gloomy. (around 50 degrees F). I think by next Tuesday it's supposed to warm up.

We visited a really cool 360-degree painting called the Panorama. It's pretty sweet. You walk in and they painting goes all the way around room. It's 15 meters x 114 meters (I'm too tired to do the conversion right now, but that's big. Trust me.) The painting depicts the Battle of Raclawice and combines painting with artificial plants, rocks, dirt, etc, to make you feel like you're in the middle of the battle looking out. (www. panoramaraclawicka.pl)

There's still no internet at our dorm so I'm writing this blog from a Starbucks down the street that has free wi-fi. Unfortunately, they close in a few minutes. Otherwise, I could probably write a bit more from my day. Oh well, I'm sure there will be more time (and more to share) tomorrow. My class officially starts tomorrow, which means I'll have my first Polish bus experience tomorrow. Ciao for now.