No, I don't have a video...

Okay...so the video tour of our flat didn't pan out the way I had planned. I'm still periodically messing with it--patience "blogger buddies," it will come. In the mean time, let's all blame YouTube.

In other news, I attended my first Catholic mass in Poland last night. Emikla, my flatmate, let me tag along with her to the student service a few blocks from Olowek. The service took place in a smaller chapel in the basement of the church and it was completelt packed (I hadn't seen this many people in a church since Christmas Eve mass). There were actual pews toward the front, and then plain wooden benches behind those--where we sat. Those who arrived last stood in the aisles, and they did so shoulder to shoulder. Every time we stood up from the benches, I hit my head on the elbow of the woman who was standing beside my bench; that's how crammed it was. Of course, the whole mass was in Polish, so I didn't catch too much of what was going on. I tried to follow the service by comparing it to mass at home, but even that was hard--a few things seemed out of order. The priest was apparently very funny; the congrigation was laughing quite often. A couple of students from the University played their guitars for the mass, and everone sang. The aspect of the mass that most impressed me was the complete focus everyone in that church displayed. Those who were standing didn't fidget, and everyone kneeled on the stone floor with their backs straight. It was truly a mass of very devoted Catholics--get it? See how I make cheesey jokes?

The past week here has been rather odd. We have 2.5 hours of Polish class every day, and then the rest of our time is free. Well, most of the Americans and the British students have been going a little crazy. It's been a constant pattern of drinking and late nights. Well, my alcohol tollerance is pathetic, so bar hopping isn't really something I can actively participate in. The beer here is stout--I had two in succession at the Erasmus (International) Party, and my head was buzzing. The pst few days have reminded me a great deal of the first weeks of my freshman year in college: it's this guessing game of trying to find the people that you can trust and actually be friends with. I've been spending time with my flatmates. Kasha took me to the iceskating rink on Friday night. I had never skated, and now I can say I did for the very first time in Poland. I'm really excited about that.

Saturday, the Erasmus group took all the exchange students about 100km outside of the city for a hike. We were supposed to climb a mountain, but it turned out to just be a big hill. We were bussed out of the city and through a multitude of small towns, which I thought were the most interesting aspect of the whole trip. Each town had a church and a very large crucifix in the town center--something that would never been seen in the US. Anyway, we climbed to the top of the "mountain" and took some pictures from the top. There was a little concession stand at the top (where most people bought beer, of course). Then, we took a differant trail back down the mountain, which was ridiculiouslt steep. There were stones embedded in the earth and they were covered with leaves , which made the trail slick. Between the conditions and the beer, I was surprised that no one fell on their head on the way down. At the bottom, we waited for the bus at yet another cafe. Somewhere in the midst of this expedition, I ended up hiking with the Chemistry Masters students from India...one of which was rather geeky. A big Russian-looking guy from Moldolva kept putting all his beer in water in the Indian guy's bag so he would carry it down the moutain. It was really funny in a "watching people fall down on America's Funniest Videos" sort of way.

Saturday night I went to Pizza Hut (which is Applebee's level fancy) with the Indian students. They ordered spicy pizza and then put ketchup on it.

Sunday was a strange day. I woke up completely homesick--all I wanted to do was go home. I was questioning everything that had brought me to this country and why I had made the decision to study here. All the Americans are constantly partying, and that's not why I came to Europe. I want to get something out of this expirience other than an easy semester of goofing off. I wanted my friends; I wanted my family; I wanted to drink water out of the tapp. So, I was depressed in Poland, which is not a good feeling. Eventually, I found Lance on Skype (we instant message to others within the building since there's no phone system), and he and I went for a walk along the river and talked everything over. It made me feel so much better just to know that the majority of the worries that were (are) churning in my head are also in his. Plus, it was almost 60 degrees out--the day was gorgeous. Later, we met up with Andrea and spent the afternoon putzing around the Old Town.

So...that's what I've been up to. Now, I think I should go attempt to study my Polish.

Dzien dobry!