One month and going strong...

Things are getting better. They began to improve as soon as we received our air freight and the kids got most of their things in that delivery. Then, it got even better when we got our DSL connection and with it Vonage. It is great to be able to talk to people in English as if I were still at home.

The language is becoming easier to read at least. I can’t pronounce words very well. Like in German, all the “w” sound like “v’s” which doesn’t help since those are favorite letters in Polish words. We live near an area called Wilanow which is pronounced “Vilanov.” Very confusing. I’m happy to report that Thing 1 has actually picked up quite a few Polish words from his Polish culture class. He took me by surprise when he said good morning to his teachers in Polish. It was very cute. I met a Polish nanny at the park last week who taught me a few words while Thing 2 played with the little girl she was caring for.

I must say that, so far, every meal has been a pleasant surprise. The only one that left something to be desired was Chinese take out. You can find every type of cuisine here. The only thing I haven’t had here is American food (but they have that here too in the form of McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc). The pierogies are delicious and they make them with every kind of filling imaginable (including chocolate!). We’ve also had some French and Italian food that exceeded our expectations. Portions are just right. Water here is sold in two varieties (until I came here I was unaware of this). With gas (gasowana) and without gas (nie gasowana). What I mean by gas is carbonation (with bubbles if you will). People drink this like we drink bottled water in the US. You have to specify what you want when you order to avoid a shock to your taste buds.

There is also a great service here called “Room Service.” This is take out like I have never seen. This business has a website which is also in English where you can order food from a number of different restaurants. This isn’t just neighborhood fare. They have every time of cuisine imaginable. We decided to try it when we got here and were very pleased. We order in at least once per week. They even have these portable machines (tiny) to process your debit cards. Prices are comparable to the US and sometimes cheaper depending on the cuisine.

I am happy to report that my grocery bill has indeed been cut in half just by moving here. I bought 5 containers of formula the other day (about 61 oz) comparable to 2 large cans and 1 small can in the US. I paid about $15 USD for all five. The same amount would have run me about $62 USD in the states. A big pack of Pampers is about $8 USD. Deli meat, cheese, bread, and produce are much cheaper. You can get a pound of turkey for about $1 USD. Same for most things listed above. Packaged goods are sold in smaller quantities, but interestingly, I don’t find myself buying more to make up for it. Speaking of packaged good….Packaging here leaves much to be desired. For example, in the US ie cream is sold in a carton. Here, it is sold in plastic carton. The Cat in the Hat accidentally dropped a bag two weeks ago and his ice cream carton cracked and spilled everywhere. They don’t sell good quality freezer bags or sandwich bags like Zip Loc. I was informed of this prior to leaving and did not question it. I bought plastic bags, trash bags, etc in bulk. I’m glad I did. I don’t think I’ll have to buy any for the rest of our time here.

Shopping malls around here are rather new when you consider that communism only ended here about 17 years ago. However, they are everywhere and they are just something else. And they are not small. Most malls and grocery stores are gigantic. Some have escalators without steps so you can take your strollers onboard. Most malls also have a grocery store. I found one the other day that was advertised as having 100 registers. Many of the grocery stores are open 24 hours. Here is a website of one of the British chains here, Tesco. For the polish version of any website, add “pl” instead of “com”.

The mall nearest to us is the Sadyba Best Mall. It is about a 15 minute walk away from home. This one is a bit smaller compared to my favorite one thus far, Galeria Mokotow. Every mall that I have seen or been in has an IMAX theater. Movies are shown in English with Polish subtitles except for the children’s movies which are dubbed in Polish. The American School provides screening of children’s movies in English before the dubbed version opens in theaters. Movies show up here about 3-4 months after they are released in the US unless it is a blockbuster and then it tends to open the same weekend. Considering that I am still able to receive Netflix’s while I’m here, I doubt I will be seeing any movies here since they are probably out on DVD before they get here.

So far so good here in Warsaw. The time is going to be changing soon. We will see how we adjust to the long nights.