It’s hard to believe I’ve been in Poland over a week and haven’t had a chance to post ANYTHING to this blog. Life has been incredibly busy. The day Sarah and I arrived we arranged to meet a realtor, the next day met the realtor and saw three apartments, the third day signed a lease, and the fourth day moved in. We’re living in Stary Mokotow (Old Mokotow), a very nice area of Warsaw, in a 2 bedroom apartment. Within walking distance is a great vegetarian restaurant as well as many shops; the metro entrance is just a stone’s throw from our building.
A few days ago, we left Warsaw for Torun where we are doing a 10 day orientation with other Poland Fulbrighters. There are a whopping 57 of us, the vast majority grad students either teaching English here or conducting their own research. There are 7 or so core Fulbrighters and, interestingly, many of them are on their second Fulbright (like me). We are studying Polish and getting lectures from scholars at the Nikolas Copernicus University here on Polish literature and history. Yesterday afternoon was a 3 hour (!) walking tour of the old city district which dates from medieval times, including ruins of a Teutonic Knights castle. Very cool. Will post some pictures once I have time and can figure out how to.
Gotta go eat (doing a lot of that) and then off to a morning of Polish language classes. Do widzenia! (Goodbye!)
Great to know that you arrived and have started to settle. It actually sounds a little easier that the last time, but now you are experienced. Eat some gingerbread for me.
-Janet
So happy to hear from you. Sounds like the basic transition is going smoothly. Hope the rest will be just as easy. Wishing you a wonderful New Year. Love you both, Regina
Thanks for sharing, Richard. When you can, please post some pictures of your adventure. It would be fun to see what Warsaw, and other areas in Poland, looks like. Good luck.
Deborah