Language Exchange

Filipa teaching Ania some Portuguese by the candle light

(yes, there's also electricity in Poland...)

Yesterday, after my usual Wednesday polish class, me, Filipa and Martin met with Ania, one of ours dearest polish friends! We headed to PRL, in Rynek, and there we had a "kawa z mlekiem" (para os tugas: meia de leite...), which always comes with a very tasty small cake (included on the price). We were quite entertained speaking about similarities and differences between our countries, mainly language issues. After some minutes everyone was trying to speak each others language, which was quite funny... Although we had something a little bit more "informal" that day, there are some "tandem" meetings. A tandem is someone that is interested in learning a new language, and therefor, tries to find someone interested in learning his own language and able to teach the native one (usually polish, of course!...). Me and Filipa don't have an "official" tandem, but if there's someone who is of great help, that someone is Ania! We tried to practice our polish, with her help, and also teach her some Portuguese... We had a blast, and when we noticed the time, it was already 00:15! I guess that the polish saying is true: "Happy people don't count the time..."! So this post is mainly dedicated to Ania, but also to Sandra (now in the UK), that helped us since the first day we met them! Thank You!

Anthropology Class

Skull drawings by me ( they will be on e-bay shortly...)

After spending almost the all summer digging full skeletons, I thought I had some ideas about the human bones... Well, here in Wroclaw I applied for the subject of Archaeological Anthropology, and I can tell you that the professor was talking for almost two hours only about the human skull (ah... & in polish...). Jesus... They have names for every small lump we have on the freakin' skull! So, to entertain myself, and also(!) to learn something I drew some of the "Normas" (as the professor called them...) of the skulls. In the end I was quite happy about my drawings (enc the post...) and I understood I little bit more of bones.

Torun

Nicolaus Copernicus Monument and Old Town-Hall Tower behind

While I'm staying here in Poland, I'm trying to manage meeting a little bit more of the country itself, and not only Wroclaw. So at a weekend, some time ago, I joined a group of students that organised a trip to Torun. It's a lovely city full of history, of knights and castles, and place of birth for the well known and famous Nicolaus Copernicus. There's a tradition of typical gingerbread cookies from this city, and they are quite common used at Christmas all over Poland. In the lower floor of the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum House, they run a second museum dedicated to this delicatesy. There, we we're allowed to cook a gingerbread cookie ourselves, and the history of the tradition itself was explained to us. There are other lovely things to visit in the city: a Planetarium, the Rynek architecture (city center), the Old Town-Hall (with a big polish painting exhibition), a lot of beautiful churches, the ruins of a castle (that played a big role in the development of the city), and also a leaning tower. For those who are interested in further information about the city here's the link to it's official web page:

http://www.torun.pl/portal/index.php?lang=en

Gingerbread cookie I made (lost all teeth eating it...)
Leaning Tower (who cares about Pizza...)

If you have the chance to come to Poland, don't miss visiting Torun. You can do it in a weekend!

If only he could...

Dedicated to Pedro...

Saudade*

Even being a young man, longing to meet a new world, its places & its cultures, after a couple of months away from home, I cant avoid missing it. The new technologies might help us, allowing us to minimize this feeling. On a regular basis, I call home, just to check up how everyone is going there. And, maybe once every two weeks, we make a net meeting with a web-cam. Things look pretty much the same there...

Man!!! Me being away is really regretted by all back home... Can't you tell?

*Saudade (Portuguese word)
feminine noun

1. longing;
2. yearning;
3. nostalgia, homesickness;
4. deixou muitas saudades a todos - his going away was regretted by all, everybody misses him;
dê-lhe saudades minhas</EM> - remember me to him;
matar saudades - to cheer oneself by the sight of someone or something one longs for;
tenho muitas saudades dele</EM> - I long to see him, I miss him very much;
ter saudades da sua terra (da pátria) - to be homesick;

Night Life in Wroclaw

Night Life in Rynek (City Center) / Town Hall

Most (Bridge) Tumski on the way to Katedra

Nice spot in Tumski

Katedra itself

Here are some random photos of the city at night. Some of this places are on the way of my everyday ride to my Faculty, and i appreciate them a lot! Later on I intend to post some more. Hope you like this few ones. Take care!

Polski Fiat

Polski Fiat: who needs Minni's?

It's not just any old Fiat model 126! No... It's more than that: it's a POLSKI FIAT. This small car is in the heart of a lot of polish people. It's the first car for a lot of youngsters, because of it's quite cheap price, and easy maintenance (small electric part... mainly "mechanical"...). I guess it's just one more thing that still lingers on in Poland since the PRL (socialist "era"). But from what I've found out, people here in Poland, or most of them, have a special place on their hearts for this small mechanical wonder. Some years ago it was the car for the "people", a little bit like the Volkswagen Beetle in Germany. Nowadays, they still ride the polish roads every where, some with more difficulty(!), and you can see piles of them stuck up in pounds or 2º hand car sellers. Anyone can get one easily for around 50 euros (around 200 Zl PNL) !

You can find a lot of variations to this original model: some of them are quite "ttuned be the owners!!! I've seen some of them that we're good enough to be on the "The Fast and the Furious" movie!

I don't have a driver license, but if I had one... Believe me: I would buy one, for sure!

Just starting...

View from one of the bridges of the Odra River towards the Katedra

It's fresh new... I have decided to create this blog in order to make it easier for me to show my photos and experiences during my year in Wroclaw, Poland. I'm not the first, and I wont certainly be the last one to do this, because it really is a nice way of sharing this experience with my family, friends and who ever more can be interested. I've been here for maybe more than two months, but I think still on time to start this. This is my first blog, and from what I know, it takes Patience and dedication to keep one running, so I hope I can manage it. Hope you like it! Take care!