Saturday 21 April 2007

New flat

Last weekend I moved into a flat near Kazimierz with a couple of students. It's not been so very long since I graduated and I have no children/cars/pets/smart shoes so I tend to consider myself in the 'student' bracket anyway (and feel outraged when I can't get a discount at the cinema).
On my first night I came back from a little walk around the Planty at around 8pm, had something to eat and put my pyjamas on. Around ten o' clock my flatmates came back.
-Pinolona! Put your contact lenses back in! We're going to a party!

I am not one to disobey instructions.

On Tuesday night I got on the wrong bus on the way back from the language school. The bus stop was definitely on the road leading into the town centre, but somehow the bus must have veered away to the north east. By the time I realised what was happening (the dual carriageway and houses giving way to warehouses were big clue), it was too late, and I ended up standing folornly between a cemetary and a slip road. It took me four bus and tram rides to manoevre my way home again...

Most of the language is still a mystery to me, although at least now I have learnt to say 'nie rozumiem'- I don't understand. I generally get by by pointing at things, and by saying please followed by the name of the item I want. Although 'prosze, wodka' is a mistake: there are so many varieties I end up playing a sort of 'getting warmer/cooler' game with the cashier: nie...tak tak tak...nie...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is actually quite worrying for anyone thinking that they might visit Krakow and use Pinolona as their tourist guide. We were naturally confident that by now she would have the language issue well under control and that after two and a half months in Poland she would be pretty fluent - hells bells she has degrees in interpreting and translation! Looks as if we might have to invest in a phrase book. As for guiding us around the bus and tram network, well maybe we will have to think again. The only consolation is that maybe other potential tourists will defer their visits thereby preserving the character of Krakow a bit longer!