Since I'm a few days behind, I'll have to do a brief recap:
Day 1: Travel 16 HOURS! Um...this was pretty miserable. The flight to London was only 7 hours and went by rather quickly, despite the fact that I was unable to sleep and pretty much froze the entire flight. The rest of the travel was on a German airline (Lufthansa) and was amazing. The airline was clean and spacious and I thought 100% better than American. Definitely would fly with them again if I had the opportunity, but I did find it difficult to understand their English.
When I arrived in Poland, I was scared to death. The language is completely incomprehensible. There is no way I could ever have any idea of what they are saying. Since I went through customs in the UK and was coming from Munich, I didn't get my passport stamped in Poland, I was disappointed, but my anxiety kept me from being too upset. Fortunately, when I was trying to find some cash from the ATM, this man (our collaborator's Ph.D. student) asked me what flight I got off of and then asked if I was "Doonya Peles" I said yes and then thanked him a million times for coming to pick me up. He knew who I was from a terrible picture on the internet. I didn't care though, he was my safety...
...but his being my "safety" quickly flew out the window as soon as he shifted his car into gear. His car was similar to a smart car, my luggage barely fit and I had my backpack and other overnight bag in my lap. His radio was blaring because his two sons had somehow fixed it so the volume couldn't be turned down and he drove like most Europeans. Floor the gas and then slam on the brakes when you need to stop. He proceeded to tell me that most of the one way lanes get reversed several times a month for reasons of "safety". Um...maybe keeping them the same way would be the best for safety, but somehow we did manage to safely get to the hotel despite a minor mishap. To get tot he hotel, you had to drive through a narrow little tunnel. His car was too wide and scraped the side of the tunnel, but he didn't seem to care. He acknowledged it happened with an "whoops" and then continued to drive. Haha!
My hotel in Krakow (pronounced Kracovea) was quiet. It wasn't terrible, but I guess you'd say had character. The bed was on the floor and came up to your elbow if you'd put your finger tips on the floor. The bathroom was small and cramped and the room was small, but I somehow managed. The professor I'd came to visit was going to take me to dinner at 7 so I got ready and waited for him downstairs. He took me to an "authentic" polish restaurant and had his family join us (his wife, son 2 years older than me and another son 7 years older than me?). It was a polish family dinner. Very enjoyable! I had some type of mushrooms, I think they were fried, but I don't know and veal cutlets with beetroot puree. It was good and the conversation was good. The collaborator has a collaboration in Michigan and goes frequently so the conversation was good with the occasional polish break out.
I went to be after dinner and struggled to wake up on time the following morning.
Here is a picture of my hotel, the room (note the velvet comforter) and a picture of the tunnel where the student scraped his car through.
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