At the Cinema...

I don't know whether nor not this film has been widely released in the U.S., but I just found out that the film "Katyń" by Polish director Andrzej Wajda has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Even though I saw this movie within the first two months of my coming to Poland (and there were no English subtitles like there is in this trailer) I was really moved by it. It is an incredibly powerful story that is so important in this county's history. I also remember it being very beautiful despite the tragedy. Some emotions can certainly that transcend language.

Żałoba narodowa (National Mourning)

I don't ever say this, but recently I have felt a lack of media in my life. Well, maybe more accurately I feel a lack of media in my own language to explain to me in English the important things that are happening in Poland. An example: a military plane crashed down Wednesday in the northwest of Poland, killing all 20 officers on board. I didn't hear about the incident until Thursday evening from a Polish friend.

The online Polish media has a wealth of information and special reports surrounding the tragedy, but I came upon a stunning lack of material when I searched various English-language outlets. The International Herald Tribune had the most comprehensive explanation, but I had to do some scouring of their website. CNN's mention is pitifully small and remains un-updated. The crash didn't make my top BBC headlines. Get over Davos, people.

So right now, Poland is finishing a two-day period of national mourning. It is just kind of scary to think that something as big as this can go almost unmentioned in the media abroad.

W katastrofie zginęło dwudziestu żołnierzy. Przyczyny tragedii nie są znane. Prezydent poinformował, że formalnie decyzja o żałobie narodowej zostanie podpisana po jego dzisiejszym powrocie z Chorwacji do Warszawy, ponieważ do tej decyzji musi być kontrasygnata premiera. Wiadomo już jednak, że żałoba będzie obowiązywała albo od godz. 20 w czwartek, albo od piątku przez trzy dni.

The secret is the biały ser

Last night I was fortunate enough to be invited to a pierogi-making party at a friend's house in Kraków. And while Lydia, my friend, is not Polish, nor were any of us guests, she had an honest-to-goodness Polish recipe. However, the Poles that she lives with kept walking in and out of the kitchen to laugh at us. And one of Poland's most famous kings even came by to have a little czekolada gorąco.

Here is some of the documentation. Smacznego!

Ambition

Here is my new project: to run in the Półmaraton Warszawski (Warsaw Halfmarathon) on March 30. I've always wanted to do something like this, but I know that part of the reason I am so looking forward to going to Warsaw is that, if I finish, it will mean to me that I have in effect, "conquered" Poland. Not in political terms or anything, but rather this race is representative of all of the frustration I have felt while being in Poland, and by doing this I feel like I can overcome all those barriers. Anyway... that might be a little too philosophical for a 13-mile run. And if nothing else happens, at least I'll have my free t-shirt.


Check me out here. As of three days ago, I was one of only 3 registered Americans.

Coś jeszcze...?

NOTE: It proves I am learning something when I start to title my posts in Polish - haha.

I don't want to try to explain all that has happened since the last time I made a comprehensive post, so here is just a "highlights" reel, a veritable, visual "Best of."

PRAHA

KRAKÓW


WIEN

"Wilst du mit mir tanzen?"

Vienna probably deserves it's own entry because there is where I began my new year; it would just seems fitting. The truth is I am too lazy and I am rushing off to a Polish history exam in a few minutes, but that is beside the point. What I want to emphasize is this last picture. I took it at a milonga in Vienna after I had taken a brief lesson. (Just as a piece of advice, I don't recommend trying to get instruction in something you are already not so good at in a language you don't speak at all, like, for example, taking a tango lesson in German...) What I realized by the end of the night, that after numerous attempts at small talk with various partners, my life is too complicated to explain in the space of a pause between songs - who I am, where I'm from, why I'm in Poland, etc. While it might be difficult to understand sometimes, even for myself, I kind of like that I am almost excessively complex.

an insufficient update

I have made four (soon to be six) border crossings and have celebrated multiple holidays since the last time I posted. There needs to be an über-comprehensive post to bring y'all and myself up to speed with recent events STAT! (Notice the suggestion of German creeping into my vocabulary. That was my subtle way of reveal that I am taking in Vienna at the moment.)

In the meantime, here is the link to my most recent WDN article, published on December 25th. That makes me feel a little honored, quite frankly.

And while you're at it, you might as well check out the online magazine Apuntes, which published a piece I wrote on Spanish-English literary translation in their "Otoño-Invierno 2007" issue. Let's hear it for the functionality of a Sarah Lawrence theoretical essay.