I spent the month of July crashing on my dad's couch in Warsaw. Or, at least, I would have were there an extra couch to crash on. Since he lives in a tiny bachelor pad with only one couch/kind-of, almost-fold-out bed type thing, I spent most of the month sleeping on the floor. Still, it's nice not having to pay rent. :) I caught up with uncles, aunts, and cousins, trying to keep track of all the new editions to the family between various weddings and births that have occured since I was last in Europe.
Spending part of my summer in Warsaw has been an awesome experience. The city has changed tremendously since my mom and I made our way to the C-H-I. Even in a faltering world economy, Poland has somehow managed to keep okay (part of that probably has to due with the fact that they aren't on the Euro, and thus don't have to put up with all that Greek bankruptcy nonsense). And since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has not only sent a work force abroad to various counties, some more happy to receive these "Polish plumbers" than others, but it has also seen quite a bit of foreigners immigrating. Over the course of my bar hopping around Warsaw (and I certainly bar-hopped quite a bit), I heard Spanish, English, Korean, Ukrainian, and all sorts of other languages I wouldn't expect to hear in Poland.
Though I missed the frenzy of the 2012 Euro Cup in Warsaw, I still saw an energetic night life in Warsaw. "Beach" bars have opened along the Wisła River (meaning a few bags of sand strewn around a some beach chairs set out), gay clubs have opened up in the city center, and whether you're in the touristy Old Town (Stare Miasto), on the ritzy Michigan Ave.-like boulevard (Nowy Świat), or sipping brews in some local knaipa off the beaten path, you're bound to find a young, (somewhat) international crowd enjoying dark beers and loud conversation.
My last week in Poland I spent in Hel. By which I mean, I went camping for a few days with my cousins and their friends on the Hel peninsula on the northern coast of Poland. Hundreds of camping trailers, tents, wind surfers, and families with crying children. The weather was a bity rainy but we still got some sun. We enjoyed the ice cold Baltic water for about 2 minutes, and for the rest of the time we chilled on the beach, watched folks wind surf, and ate delicious seafood. My favorite meal, however, was when we went to a naleśniekarnia -- a place that sells lots of different types of naleśniki, Polish crêpes. Dinner was some kind of chicken with veggies all wrapped in a thick crêpe. And for dinner... why more naleśniki of course. This type stuffed with bananas and Nutella. Awesome.
Pluses: I've found places that offer shots of vodka and other liquors (but, really, why bother when you've got Wyborowa vodka?) for as cheap as 3 or 4 złote (about US $1). And not watered down candy drinks, but just straight shots of liquor. One place in particular is open 24/7 and offers vodka for a euro and plates of traditional Polish appetizers (pickled herring, cooked potatoes, etc) for like 3 euros (12 złote). If that isn't heaven, I don't know what is.
Warsaw is, by Polish standards, a large city. So even though that means you can't walk from/to all the bars in one night (like you could in Kraków), it means you also have plenty of different neighborhoods to visit, so you don't get tired of the same old spots. And whereas Kraków is so touristy you could barely even hear and Polish being spoken in the main square (thanks to cheap flights from/to the UK via Ryan Air and the likes), Warsaw retains its Polish character while still offering a good-sized international flavor. I met Spaniards that have lived and worked in Warsaw so long that their Polish is about as good as mine.
Beers are almost always served as .50 sizes (half a liter, or just a tad bit more than a pint). Anything less is just plain nonsense to Poles, I guess.
Transport -- though the Metro layout currently offers a whopping ONE line to travel on, the city is currently trying to double that number to two within the next few years. What's nice is that trams (trolleys) and buses connect just about every corner of the city, and for cheap.
Currensy -- the złoty is about a 3 to 1 exchange rate for the US dollar ($1 buys you 3 złote) and 4 to 1 for the euro. Thus, stuff is cheap. It's not exactly going to be one-third of what it would be in the states (things like brand-names clothes and electronics actually cost quite a bit more than in the US), but overall it is quite easy on the pocketbook. A dinner of pork chops, potatoes, salad, and a soft drink will run you about $6.
Minuses: First off is that it can be quite difficult to find ice-cold drinks. Most restaraunts offer room-temp waters, sodas almost never include ice, and this is sadly extended to beers as well. The lady at the shop may say "tak" when you ask if her beers are cold, but what she means is "I want to sell these beers, good sir." So then you drink warm beers. Or, if the pizza place you go to informs you that their fridge went out the other night and thus everything is warm, you do as my cousins did and simply ask for ice in your beer. Why that place still had ice after a night of a broken fridge is still beyond me.
Red tape. It took my entire month in Poland for me to get my ID card. Even though I was born in Poland, to Polish parents, and had an original birth certificate, I had to jump through hoops to prove my citizenship. The lady at one office told me, "Sir, we can't prove that the Piotr Marcinkowski on your birth certificate is the same Piotr Marcinkowski standing with you today. And we can't be sure that the Paweł Marcinkowski on that form is the same Paweł Marcinkowski in front of me now." Sure... I can only imagine the amount of work it takes to become a US citizen (I've heard my fair share of horror stories of people just applying for visas to visit the States for a week or two), but hey, those are hoops I don't have to jump through myself. Fortunately, my folks put up with that nonsense years ago :)
Although there is a lot of stuff in and about Poland I could say that isn't related to the prices or temperatures of their alcohols, I'm going to just leave all that for another day. Take my word for it though, the foods great, the vodka's strong, and the women are beautiful.
-Paweł
Showing posts with label Warsaw. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warsaw. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Bikes, Brewskis, and Human Rights
Due to high demand (like maybe two friends asked at some point if I'm still bloggin), I've resurrected the OC blog. Last I left off, I was about to trek around Torres del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia. Between December and March I hitch hiked, couch surfed, worked, bought a guitar, partied on warm beaches and rainy islands, and even manged to hike to the top of a volcano drunk from the night before. In short, I had a blast enjoying the summer months in Chile. But, it's always 'on to the next.' So now I'm hanging out in Europe enjoying possibly the coldest and rainiest summer I've had in a long while.
I participated in a summer conference on human rights with a group called Humanity in Action. HiA flew me out to DC in late May, where I caught up with old college friends and professors, and wandered around the campus of my alma mater (our hotel was next door to GW). The US fellows got to participate in a 3 day conference that included panels with various DC shakers and movers working in the field of human rights. We met with some folks at the State Department, got a brief tour of the Pentagon, and chatted with folks at the Council on Foreign Relations (where I ran into my house mentor from my senior year dorm). After a weekend of playing catch-up with old friends, and a few intense days in DC kicking off the program, it was off to Amsterdam.
As I sat at National Airport listening to two friends argue about the practicality of modern nation-states and international borders (the coming month would be filled with these over-my-head type conversations) a voice over the PA announced our flight to Paris was canceled. No explanation, no reasoning, no advice to stay put and wait for the next flight. Just...I had a flight to Europe, now I don't. Simple as that. So we spent a while running between several terminals and baggage claim, and finally all got seats on Air Canada, Paris via Toronto. After arriving in Paris, I grabbed a bite to eat with one of the fellows and boarded my train to Amsterdam. I'll explain what I was doing in Europe, in the first place.
The HiA summer program consists of month-long programs running simultaneously in five European cities -- Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Paris, and Warsaw. Each city has a different layout, but each program has fellows from the US, the home country, and a few others (Ukrain, Turkey, or Bosnia) meeting with various speakers such as local politicians, journalists, Holocaust survivors, activists, refugees, etc. I was assigned to Amsterdam, where we looked at present-day human rights violations through the lens of the Holocaust. We had meetings at the Anne Frank House (where she hid during the war), traveled to The Hague to visit the criminal tribunal that prosecutes war criminals from the Bosnian war, visited local TV stations, and met with many cool ass people.
Most of us got bikes from our host families to use for the month. I lived in a newly built area about 30 minutes from city center by bike. Every day the commute included rides over really long, inclined bridges and almost always lots of rain. Our group consisted of about 20 fellows from Bosnia, Turkey, the Netherlands, and the US (though the American group was super diverse, with only 2 of the 8 of us actually born in the US). Needless to say, it was a real chill group full of super smart folks with common interests. After listening to speakers for 8 hours a day, the convos over beers at local pubs each afternoon were quite lively and thought-provoking. After an amazing month with the Dutch, we were flown to Sarajevo for an annual conference, and as a way to wrap up the summer programs.
The conference focused on post-war rebuilding and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I got to catch up with US fellows I met in DC and swap stories about our experiences in different cities, meet HiA fellows from past years, and network with lots of different people in the human rights field (which have already led to some connections in Warsaw). Sarajevo is an amazing city! While the country still has plenty of issues to work through, at local and national levels, there is plenty of natural beauty and good vibes across Bosnia. Sarajevo reminded me of Krakow: fairly small, lots of old interesting architecture, and a vivid night life with crowded small bars packed in various nooks and crannies of the city. Due to a long lay-over in Serbia on the way to Sarajevo, we also got to see Belgrade for a few hours. Belgrade, to me, was similar to Warsaw: a sprawling city, lots of worn-down communist-era apartment blocks, but with a beautiful old-town area with castles and a scenic view of the Danube cutting through the city. Thanks to the Slavic, former USSR connection, I just spent my time in Bosnia trying to communicate with locals in Polish, and succeeding about half the time.
After a month of intense HiA activity, full of soul searching and pondering my next professional moves, it was time to unwind a little with family in Poland. I arrived in Warsaw July 1st, in time to watch the Euro Cup finals. I've spent the last 3 weeks catching up with relatives and friends, and just getting to know the city. Though I've been here several times before (last time was when I studied abroad in 2009), I feel like I'm experiencing Poland in a different way this time around. Thanks to HiA (the Warsaw program had to run in July due to the Euro 2012 happening in June), traveling in South America, and other resources, I know have a good amount of friends here in Warsaw. So I don't just have to bounce from one aunt's house to some cousin's house, etc. I've been surprised by the amount of English I've heard around town when I go out to the pubs at night. Poland is finally beginning to feel like a part of western Europe now, rather than just the remnants of the Soviet Union. Between the Euro 2012 and a people from other parts of the EU migrating here for work and vacation, Poland feels much closer to its EU neighbors culturally. Then again, I'm sure part of it is my own perspective, which has changed quite a bit between 21 and 25 years old.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures and entertaining stories up on this blog in the next few weeks. I just wanted to get all caught up with what I've been up to since May. Now it's back to downloading hip hop mixtapes, trying to peacefully coexist with my father, and waiting for The Dark Knight Rises to come out in Poland...
-Paweł Escobarski
I participated in a summer conference on human rights with a group called Humanity in Action. HiA flew me out to DC in late May, where I caught up with old college friends and professors, and wandered around the campus of my alma mater (our hotel was next door to GW). The US fellows got to participate in a 3 day conference that included panels with various DC shakers and movers working in the field of human rights. We met with some folks at the State Department, got a brief tour of the Pentagon, and chatted with folks at the Council on Foreign Relations (where I ran into my house mentor from my senior year dorm). After a weekend of playing catch-up with old friends, and a few intense days in DC kicking off the program, it was off to Amsterdam.
As I sat at National Airport listening to two friends argue about the practicality of modern nation-states and international borders (the coming month would be filled with these over-my-head type conversations) a voice over the PA announced our flight to Paris was canceled. No explanation, no reasoning, no advice to stay put and wait for the next flight. Just...I had a flight to Europe, now I don't. Simple as that. So we spent a while running between several terminals and baggage claim, and finally all got seats on Air Canada, Paris via Toronto. After arriving in Paris, I grabbed a bite to eat with one of the fellows and boarded my train to Amsterdam. I'll explain what I was doing in Europe, in the first place.
The HiA summer program consists of month-long programs running simultaneously in five European cities -- Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Paris, and Warsaw. Each city has a different layout, but each program has fellows from the US, the home country, and a few others (Ukrain, Turkey, or Bosnia) meeting with various speakers such as local politicians, journalists, Holocaust survivors, activists, refugees, etc. I was assigned to Amsterdam, where we looked at present-day human rights violations through the lens of the Holocaust. We had meetings at the Anne Frank House (where she hid during the war), traveled to The Hague to visit the criminal tribunal that prosecutes war criminals from the Bosnian war, visited local TV stations, and met with many cool ass people.
Most of us got bikes from our host families to use for the month. I lived in a newly built area about 30 minutes from city center by bike. Every day the commute included rides over really long, inclined bridges and almost always lots of rain. Our group consisted of about 20 fellows from Bosnia, Turkey, the Netherlands, and the US (though the American group was super diverse, with only 2 of the 8 of us actually born in the US). Needless to say, it was a real chill group full of super smart folks with common interests. After listening to speakers for 8 hours a day, the convos over beers at local pubs each afternoon were quite lively and thought-provoking. After an amazing month with the Dutch, we were flown to Sarajevo for an annual conference, and as a way to wrap up the summer programs.
The conference focused on post-war rebuilding and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I got to catch up with US fellows I met in DC and swap stories about our experiences in different cities, meet HiA fellows from past years, and network with lots of different people in the human rights field (which have already led to some connections in Warsaw). Sarajevo is an amazing city! While the country still has plenty of issues to work through, at local and national levels, there is plenty of natural beauty and good vibes across Bosnia. Sarajevo reminded me of Krakow: fairly small, lots of old interesting architecture, and a vivid night life with crowded small bars packed in various nooks and crannies of the city. Due to a long lay-over in Serbia on the way to Sarajevo, we also got to see Belgrade for a few hours. Belgrade, to me, was similar to Warsaw: a sprawling city, lots of worn-down communist-era apartment blocks, but with a beautiful old-town area with castles and a scenic view of the Danube cutting through the city. Thanks to the Slavic, former USSR connection, I just spent my time in Bosnia trying to communicate with locals in Polish, and succeeding about half the time.
After a month of intense HiA activity, full of soul searching and pondering my next professional moves, it was time to unwind a little with family in Poland. I arrived in Warsaw July 1st, in time to watch the Euro Cup finals. I've spent the last 3 weeks catching up with relatives and friends, and just getting to know the city. Though I've been here several times before (last time was when I studied abroad in 2009), I feel like I'm experiencing Poland in a different way this time around. Thanks to HiA (the Warsaw program had to run in July due to the Euro 2012 happening in June), traveling in South America, and other resources, I know have a good amount of friends here in Warsaw. So I don't just have to bounce from one aunt's house to some cousin's house, etc. I've been surprised by the amount of English I've heard around town when I go out to the pubs at night. Poland is finally beginning to feel like a part of western Europe now, rather than just the remnants of the Soviet Union. Between the Euro 2012 and a people from other parts of the EU migrating here for work and vacation, Poland feels much closer to its EU neighbors culturally. Then again, I'm sure part of it is my own perspective, which has changed quite a bit between 21 and 25 years old.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures and entertaining stories up on this blog in the next few weeks. I just wanted to get all caught up with what I've been up to since May. Now it's back to downloading hip hop mixtapes, trying to peacefully coexist with my father, and waiting for The Dark Knight Rises to come out in Poland...
-Paweł Escobarski
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