Discovering Warsaw...

My mom visited last week so we took in a lot of Warsaw in a week. Old Town Warsaw is beautiful. When you enter the market square there are informative boards showing the same place in 1945 when it was completely demolished by the Nazis. Here is a website where you can see some post-war pics and modern day ones: http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Poland/Warsaw/Warsaw02.html .

I guess that what is striking here is the fact that most of Warsaw (about 85%) had to be reconstructed after the war yet part of the fortress wall that protected the area hundreds of years ago has survived virtually intact. Most of the “Old Town” is really rather new. The buildings were reconstructed to look like the pre-war sites through pictures. The streets leading to the market square are filled with shops and restaurants and on the market square itself there are artists selling their paintings and musicians performing. It was interesting to walk through there and hear musicians singing Pearl Jam, Guns and Roses and other American music. Radio stations play American music between their Polish commentaries. Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m in Warsaw because of the many American influences here.

Shops sell lots of Polish crafts and pottery. The Boleslawiec pottery (http://www.boleslawiecpottery.com/) is what people refer to as “polish pottery” and it’s everywhere. Amber jewelry (http://www.amberworkshop.com/) and crafts are available as well beer steins (like in Germany), Russian nesting dolls (http://www.kremlingifts.com/nesting/index.html) and lacquer eggs and jewelry boxes. My favorite creation was a vase with roses created out of amber. It was beautiful.

We also went to the Palace of Culture and Science. We went to see the science exhibit and evolution exhibit both of which were small in comparison to the museums we have in the US. They also had a Barbie and Lego exhibit that ran until last Sunday. They had every Barbie imaginable and many Lego creations. Thing 1 enjoyed the Lego exhibit of course, but even Thing 2 enjoyed the Barbie exhibit. She kept trying to grab the dolls in the glass cases.

They had Barbie’s from around the world representing different countries as well as different eras. In the World Barbie display it was interesting that all the dolls were standing except the Russian one. The Poles don’t hide the fact that they do not like Russia (Germany is a close second) and this was a subtle snub to their neighboring country.

Our First Polish Snow

We had our first snow on November 2nd. Since then, it has snowed everyday since. It is light snow and thankfully, as the temperature climbs, it melts. We got about 2 inches overnight on Sunday, but it melted before we had to shovel any of it. I’ll enjoy that while it lasts. November 1st was All Saints Day/Day of the Dead and is a big holiday here. People go to cemetery’s and place candles at the graves of loved ones. No grave is untouched as it is customary to place candles on graves that do not have one.

Crime in Warsaw

Preventing terrorist attacks is a big deal here and I find myself even more hypervigilant now that we are here than I ever was at home. They recently caught a group of Iraqi and Bahraini men trying to cross the German/Polish border illegally. And Germany is a cesspool of terrorist activity. To give you an idea, any time we drive into the Embassy, their staff search for explosives. It doesn’t matter if you go there everyday and are friendly with the people there. They search it anyway. While it’s a pain, it is comforting that they are doing what they can to prevent a bombing.

Crime is also prevalent here or so I am told. My perception is that the more comfortable you are with your surroundings the less you will perceive the crime around you. I lived in the United States most of my life and while I was careful I wasn’t as aware of potential for crime as I am here. What I am told is that thieves here work in groups. Some provide distractions while others rob you. Violent crime happens, but not as much. Most people try to avoid confrontation with their victims. Pickpocketing is popular. I do limit my outings with the kids because of this. With a stroller, two kids, and a diaper bag/purse, I am a vulnerable target. I keep to my neighborhood and venture out further in a taxi or with other people. Some thieves will smash your window while you are parked at a light and grab your purse if you keep it in the passenger seat. This happened to someone recently. The thief took a diaper bag and when he realized this, he gave it back to the woman and ran. I feel pretty safe at home because it is a fortress. To enter our courtyard/porch you have to ring a buzzer before we let you in.

Overall, I am more careful only because if something were to happen here, it would be more difficult to find help.

On the road again….can’t wait to get back on the road again…

Have I mentioned how much I miss my car? Forget “happy lights” – sitting in my car (heck just seeing my car) would help any blues I may have. It is supposed to get here this month. I feel like I kid waiting for Christmas. I could not believe how dependent I had become on my car.

Taxi fare is expensive here and the bus is not very “stroller” friendly. Round trip to Thing 1's school is $20 USD. Any other side trips add up quickly. I don’t like the taxi either because both kids are riding without their car seats and that worries me. It was hard at first when it wasn’t so cold because Thing 2 would move around a lot and it was hard to contain her within my seatbelt. Now, I have her immobilized by her winter coat so she has to stay put.

Parking here is interesting. Drivers create parking spaces on sidewalks. They don’t block the whole sidewalk, but drive one side of the car up on the sidewalk. I’ve seen this everywhere. This makes the roads much wider than the usual European roads.

It’s the end of Daylight Savings Time as we know it

Well, I knew this was coming and now it has arrived. With the end of daylight savings time, we have been thrust further into the darkness. Sunrise is now at about 6:30 and the sunsets (total darkness) by 4pm. That’s about 9 hours 15 minutes of daylight. I wish I could say this is the worst of it, but this is set to continue until the winter solstice when our daylight will “peak” at 7 hours 38 minutes and 17 seconds. How do I know this? Check out http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=262 a site for the world clock.

With the darkness comes, SADness ( or Seasonal Affective Disorder/winter blues for you non psychology folk). This is a very big deal here. So much so that the Embassy Medical Office has what I will call “happy lights” and invite people to stop by and “worship” the light for about 15 minutes per day during the winter. Sounds a bit cult-like - I think I’ll buy my own if necessary. I had this problem when I first moved up north and have not experienced anything like it. As of right now, I can’t say it is affecting me too much. I just wonder if the kids keep me busy so that I have no time to be depressed.