pinolony nie ma

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. But the longer I put off blogging, the less the idea of writing appeals.

I'm sorry: it was January, the weather was rubbish. Only one snowfall, and that only lasted an evening.

What have I been doing with myself? Uh... working - there's only one thing less fun than translating and that's hearing a translator talking about translating.
Being ill is another, and having all kinds of adventures with both private and public doctors, with and without interpretation. Not to mention finally getting my ass to the optician.
- Can he come in to help? I asked (Car Guy looked up for a moment and then went back to glossary-writing 'sorry, was that "gas-permeable"?')
- No... no problem, the optician speaks English.
(Car Guy visibly disappointed)
Yeah, he spoke English... like I learnt some German in school once. But we managed to work it out, and I can see much better now.*

Yesterday was a special day for doughnuts, to mark the beginning of the end of Carnival season. Although to be honest I haven't seen much of a party going on so far. The streets seem empty and everything is grey.

The restaurant Pod Aniolami had organised free doughnuts (in Polish: Pączki, easy to remember because over-consumption leads to development of paunch) and hot drinks on the Mały Rynek. When I walked past on the way back from work, the queues didn't seem too bad, so I lined up and soon I was sinking my teeth into sugar-glazed dough with a somewhat surprising rosehip-flavoured filling. Unfortunately this was not accompanied by tea, thanks to my least-favourite Polish tradition. As I stood at the hot drinks stall, an elderly gentleman pushed in front of me. Then a young-ish man with a little girl. Then a mohair-clad babcia. What could I do but let all of these worthy citizens pass?

Finally I was standing at the front.
- Can I have a cup of tea? I asked

- Sorry, we're closed now.

I hate Poland.


*By tilting my head slightly to the left and squinting.