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My old apartment on ulica Gwiedzna -- "street of stars"

That's Sarah's Lonely Planet Poland Guidebook on the table, which I've used to compare their history of Polska with that of my Rough Guide volume. Up on the 3rd floor I was, and I had a lovely view of the birches just outside the window. You all know of my penchant for long stints of coffee-drinking on weekend mornings, so picture me beside the window sipping Maxwell House and reading The Once And Future King. I read it over several weeks, taking notes and re-reading my favorite parts. I was right to bring it along as an adventure book, an allegory, a journey as I journey.

Sunset in Zagorze -- my neighborhood in Sosnowiec. Every night I could see the Sun's last glimpse for me through a window in this building west of mine. My building was similarly styled...earlier I emailed to you that the outside of these buildings reminds one of Cabrini Green...but inside they are quite nice -- better in fact than my last digs in Big D. In the right foreground is a pre-/primary school...see the copious sandboxes in the middle? The building at left is a gymnasium (roughly Junior High) and liceum. One of the two is named for Jan Kiepura, a famous performer from Sosnowiec who, during the '20s & '30s I believe, acted on the stage and on film, but was best known as a singer of ballads and such..."Pennies from Heaven" sort of thing, I believe.

2002 is the 100th anniversary of Sosnowiec, and in June a statue of Jan was unveiled at the new square at the Stacja Gl/ony -- like our Union Station.

Back to the picture...every morning I was awakened by singing birds; and later in the AM I listened to the seemingly endless compositions of children's verse -- the rhythms of playing chase, the varied cadences of games like tag, the determined dribbling contained in the basketball song. Much of humanity is squeezed into a tight space in this neighborhood, and I'll miss the great lot of it.

(I've only spent one night in my new digs, as of July 17...so pix & text will have to wait until late August.)

My work

What can I say? It's a better room than I had at Walt Whitman!!

Doing group work and employing the "sl/ownik" -- Polish/English dictionary. Marcin, in the middle, is one of about 10 men in all of Poland who wears hair beyond his ears. Agnieszka was very cool...this given that her shirt is basically a pro-hemp statement: "Smanuj Zielen'" -- 'keep green free.'

Agnieszka i Paulina. Agnieszka was very friendly and spoke up in class when other elements -- usually boys -- sent out the signal that cooperation was uncool. She plays the flute and piano and came to our end-of-the-year fajita cook-out in the park.

In this picture we were playing a game in which students select the next person to answer a question by tossing the ball.

We must keep classes active -- they're 80 minute, after-school/after-work session and many students are there because their parents want them to get English beyond the regular classroom. Another problem is that their school curriculum is usually British English; and even some of our books are not American English!
 

Look carefully at the red & white sign -- The American Academy of English, it reads. Behind the sign are two classrooms; the left is Sarah's and the right is Molly's. Above Sarah's is Bryan's room; above Molly's is Patrycia's. My room is behind Bryan's.

Patrycia is a Polka whose English is excellent. She is in her early 20s and teaches novices. This way, all students of native English speakers have at least one year of English before we get them. Patrycia wants to move to Ireland to be a waitress, because, she says, you can sit and do nothing and not get fired.

Pszczyna

I and Sarah and her German beau, Joachim, went to Pszczyna one Saturday to see the museum and zamek -- castle -- there. The castle is really an overgrown hunting lodge that has been rebuilt many times over the last several hundred years. Thus, the walls inside are lined with antlers, horns, skulls and other such trophies.

The cathedral beneath this steeple was the site this day of at least two weddings. We caught the exit of one wedding party -- bride conspicuously in late 2nd trimester -- and the entrance procession of the next. Sarah almost became a member of the second wedding party: she began to enter the sanctuary between processions for a peek inside. Joachim and I lost her as the next party entered behind her. Finally she reappeared -- sans fleurs.

The balustrade(?) and lion line the steps to the "back door" of the lodge. The steps open onto the beautiful lawn you'll see below from a reverse perspective. The last major renovation occurred during the Baroque period, and Rococo abounds in gilded, colunmar reliefs, trompe l'oiel floral designs and other standards of the style. A conservatory of two floors features a sky motif on the ceiling and two enormous, gold-framed mirrors at either end of the sapcious room, earning it the name "Great Hall of mirrors. While there, an American choir began to sing a hymn, proving to the world not only their choral expertise but also the acoustic majesty of the hall. I choked-up more than once as their voices pierced the air and the open ceiling visually betrayed the solidity of these walls of sound.

On a more earthly -- and geographic -- note, while inside a woman overheard us talking and asked, "Do y'all speak English?" To which I replied, "Did you just say 'y'all?'" Turns out she was from Alabama and had once taught English herself in Katowice. Made me a little homesick, of course.

A view of the back door, as it were, from across the lawns and pond. You can row around the pond, and while it looks idyllic, the water is quite "brudny" -- filthy. But you can see that the Spring flowers were in bloom and that the verdants forests are lush...I kept looking for Maid Marion.

The rivers and steams I've seen so far in Poland invite willow trees, and they've been simply lovely. We spent about an hour in the Sun here, talking, breathing, eating chocolate cheese. Sarah has a heart as gentle and as serene as this image. She and Joachim are both people of the earth, hikers, campers, mild, demure adventurers in a world eager to make all action "extreme." They met in Wisconsin, in fact, during an outdoor excursion of some sort, became friends and later began to date. Fate pulled them together again after he returned to Bavaria and she took the job with American Academy.

Students in Sosnowiec

Justyna, Yola, Gosia, Marta i Ola

Yola was the mother of these girls in the classroom: she was my oldest and took the class because she said her husband was taking a similar class and therefore wanted her to continue her English too. She would often say that a particular topic was senseless to discuss...and take about 20 minutes to do so! She was a real delight.

Justyna i Gosia are philosophy majors at the Silesian University in Katowice (near Sosnowiec and the HQ for the American Academy). One night, they were the only 2 to show up for class, and we had a wonderful conversation about philosophy for an hour and 20 minutes. They are great people!

Gosia is serious about law, but Justyna may change her major to Psychology. She loves horses and is absolutely dumbfounded that I -- as a Texan -- don't horseback ride regularly.

Marta is a serious pre-med student and an absolute delight. Ola has yet to finish gymnasium, is extremely quiet, but is one of those students that the others would turn to get the English word for something.

Kasia, Sebastian i Monika. There were two boys in this class, and if either showed up, the girls didn't talk and the boys were too cool for school. Kasia especially walked this line, sometimes looking directly through my eyes as if to say that she had something to say but knew she couldn't. As time progressed, Monika i Ela -- I'm so sorry I don't have her picture -- paid less attention to this rule of non-compliance. They were always very sweet to me once the boys were out-of-sight. Ela always asked me one personal question each day. I haven't seen her photos, but her work was part of a city exhibit...she paints as well an has great taste in music. She often wore a T-shirt that read: "Muzyka Przeciwko Rasizmowi" -- 'music does not like racism.' And she believes it.

Monika was quite something. We truly enjoyed our conversations and talked forever about The Lord of the Rings and the like. We'd write messages to each other in Tolkien's invented alphabet. She was always happy to be in class and always had a smile.

And what can I say about Sebastian except that he was the only student in 9 classes that I recommended not be given a certificate of completion. This goes beyond having to pay to repeat a level at American Academy: a certificate presented to one's school can allow a student to jump a level in (or exit) the public school language program.

L/eba: Session One -- The Greatest Gang

Eleni yucks it up with Piotrek i Timon as Magda i Kasia -- cousins from L/o'dz -- look on.

Our ratownik -- lifeguard -- Tomek with Justyna, her friend i Yacek.

The only remaining wall from Old L/eba, part of a church that was destroyed like so much of the rest of the town by a Baltic storm. One reason that this is the only remain is that people simply grabbed their bricks, moved east, and rebuilt their homes in present-day L/eba.

Ewa i Monika -- inseparable friends. Monika's brother, Michal/, also attended.

Ania i Natalia were in the train cabin with me, Eleni, Bartek -- Ania's brother -- and Konrad -- their cousin. As you can see, Ania is a precious girl, and she and Natalia became fast friends. Also holding the string is Patrycia, and on the rail are William i Kasia -- Konrad's sister. She came late and left early because of illness. Willie was quite energetic, always had a gag up his sleeve, and could be counted on for harmless misbehavior night and day. His older, quieter brother Emmanuel also attended. Questions about hue? Their mother is a blonde Polka and father is Nigerian.

Courtyard soccer at Gaja, our pensjonat: literally "boarding house." Though Poland defeated the US (and although the US went farther in the World Cup), the kids often chanted, "Hey, Hey, USA!"

Wow...six of my favorite people: standing are Kasia, Kasia i Kaya, and then Ania -- in a rare state of joy -- i Magda i Basia.

The first Kasia is cousin to the seated Magda -- look at the eyes and cheeks in this and other photos.

And again, the middle Kasia i Kaya are best friends.

Look carefully...middle Kasia is the sister of Basia.

Look at Kaya's hands on Basia's shoulders: this is absolute respect: Basia is a pillar of cool rightness.

And now gaze again upon Kaya: one day, that same face may be on a Wheaties box: she's an excellent swimmer, and I hope she goes on to the Olympics.

Is your head spinning from Kasias, Basias, Gosias...?
Some nicknames:
Barbara is the same as in English: Basia is said BAH-shah.
Katarzna: Kasia -- our Kathryn. The "rz" is pronounced like the 's' in "pleasure": Kah-TAHZ-nah. Kasia is said KAH-shah.
Mal/gorzata: Gosia -- our Margaret. Mow-goe-ZAH-tah. Gosia is said GO-shuh.

Bored, this afternoon I just
told the girls we'd take
silly pictures around L/eba....

Some were better at it than others.

Okay...what I told them to do was pretend that each side wanted to push the tree over but in opposite directions.

Next 4 pictures: sunset on the Baltic coast....

Best friends...
Monika i Ewa

One of my favorite pictures: littlest Kasia.

Blonde Kasia, Ala, Upsidedown Marta i Helena -- these four were constantly arm-in-arm.

zacho'd sl/onca...sunset

Ewa, Kasia i Michal/ work on a TV ad for the "best language summer camp" in Poland. The name Ewa is the same as Eve; Michal/ -- ME-how -- is Michael.

Her name's Asia...they were told to label something in the room they could name in English....

After a soccer game...Magda, Ewa i Karolina.

The "wydma" -- shifting dunes along the Baltic Coast.

Me & my great partner Eleni -- we worked the first session of L/eba together and made the most of bad weather, a few lousy counselors and a few other trials. Self-taught in Polish but also a Classics major -- and speaker of English & Greek since a babe -- Eleni was translator in more than one late-night, cross-cultural conversation about politics, religion and many other unmentionables.