Juwenalia

This is my third consecutive May in Poland (words like 'glutton' and 'punishment' spring to mind) and yet I've never quite got to grips with Juwenalia , the annual student summer festival.

This year, however, I'm a registered student at the Jagiellonian University (known as 'UJ', pronounced - with English spelling - as 00h-yacht) with a real legitimacja and everything, so I want to take advantage of the festive times.

I know that there have been concerts all week, on a temporary stage outside the student halls of residence - which thankfully I do not inhabit - but apart from that I've never really worked out what it's all about.

I asked a friend from salsa class.

- Well... everyone gets the day off on Friday, no classes at all.

Bonus! Although I quite like our Friday classes: they start early so there's usually not too much of a crowd, and it's conversation class: not as mentally taxing as grammar (besides which, Pani Kinga often has sweeties in her handbag).

- Ok, but what's actually happening on Friday?
- Well, the students dress up and we march to the Rynek, and then they hand over the keys of the town to us for the duration.

Interesting.

- So what does that mean?
- Students rule the town! We get to make the rules for a day and basically we can do what we want.
- Great! But what does that actually mean? In practice I mean?

She thought for a bit.

- ummm..... oh! It means you can drink from an open can of beer on the Błonia!

The Błonia is a huge triangle-shaped common to the west of the city centre. Needless to say, open-air drinking is forbidden in Kraków, with police cars regularly patrolling the banks of the river at night.

Well this is great news - and there's no more time to lose!

I'm off, to exercise my limited sovereignty over the beautiful city of Kraków.

plik! fiizzzzzzz...

One Week

I've been in Kraków for a week now, and as far as I can see very little has changed (surprising I suppose if you consider the speed of change in the mid-2000s - what do we call this decade anyway? I hate 'the noughties', plus Noel Coward got there first).

I'm living in an apartment block, very similar to my old place on Starowiślna. I think it's slightly newer: at least the flat seems newer inside (no window panels on the doors). I'm still on a main road, even more main than Starowiślna, but slightly further back, so the noise isn't so much of a problem. Plus I'm on the other side of the river now, so fewer drunk revellers!

What have I discovered in a week?

- I'm sorry to have missed the snow in England. I love snow, and the dog loves it too: it makes her turn into a puppy again. There was a little bit here when I arrived, but it's since melted.
- Cats are not as obliging or affectionate as dogs. I miss the dog.
- Running on old snow is a slippery experience.
- Teabags are not the same here: they're designed to be taken without milk, so the blend is less strong.
- Polish beer kicks my arse. So does wiśniówka, tatanka, and anything else like that. I am seriously thinking of renouncing them altogether.
- Cherry Powerade works magic on a dehydrated body (see above point on Polish beer).
- I have been to two aerobics classes ('w fitnesie') in four days. Polish aerobics kicks my arse. My knees look very wobbly in the mirror and my hands as though they might snap off.
- It is probably very unhealthy to check facebook on a long train journey. Whatever happened to reading (ok, I do that too) and I-Spy?
- I never thought I would willingly eat smalec* more than once (see above point on Polish beer).
- It is hard to speak Polish with Polish people if you are a native English speaker, and I have to make more of an effort, before my Big Test on Monday...



*basically spreadable lard with pork scratchings in