I call it clash of worlds. Two people speaking the same language but being unable to understand each other. Just because in their life they walked completely different paths.
Take this story, for instance, which I heard from a strange Israeli girl.
Once an old Indian men met a rather young western girl. He was always interested in visitors. Maybe because he had never gone out of the province he had been living in. But he didn’t feel any bad about it, cause even though he hadn’t travelled much, he’d seen much in his life. But “you should always take an opportunity to learn more” he thought when he saw this western girl. He knew that western girls are usually open to talk especially with such a trustworthy-looking old potato as him. So he chose the standard opening line: – Hello, where are you from?
– Oh, hello, I am from Israel. The old man had heard of this country before, but didn’t remember anything about it. – How many people in Israel? – he asked. – We are six million people living in Israel.
– Sixty?
– No, no, six!
– Sixteen?
– Six. It was hard to believe. A whole country with six million people. In India that would be a medium city… Strange world. – So what do your people do?
– Well… We trade weapons. – [shocked] … bad karma… bad karma… The old man could understand many things but this was just unbelievable.
The young Israeli girl went away and the old Indian man prayed to thank that he is not a part of this crazy world somewhere out there.
“Man, are you following what is happening in Turkey? Exactly where we have been in the border with Iraq Turkey is ready to invade. Parliament has already aproved…PKK guerrillas are strongly acting, yesterday 100 troops tryed to ambush a turkish platoon, but where repelled (30 died).
Turkey some days ago bombed around Zakho (where we have been).. remember that the smugler who took us there pointed some mountains and places where the guerrillas were based in?
And there are 40 thousand troops concentred just aroud Cizre (the city from my curdish friend, Cuneyt, where we slept) to start invasion in that point…..”
The places we’ve been to now are becoming a battlefield.
To chyba zaczęło się od obejrzenia Human Traffic z Naleśnikiem. Ten stan wyostrzonej świadomości. Bo są chwile, kiedy wiesz więcej, są chwile, gdy widzisz lepiej, są chwile, kiedy wiesz wszystko, co tracisz i co zyskasz. A może to przez napięte 3 dni w pracy połączone z codziennymi wieczornymi wypadami na miasto. I nagle zrozumiałem kolejny kawałek mechanizmu świata. I nagle wszystko wokół stało się fascynujące. Uwielbiam te momenty, gdy mój mózg zmęczony ciągłym napięciem przełącza się w tryb stand-by i po prostu płynie. Tysiąc pomysłów na przyszłość. Jam session w 55. Tydzień na Jesionowej.
3 miejscówki w Warszawie w ciągu 2,5 tygodnia. Mylą mi się adresy, piętra, kody pocztowe, karty kredytowe, dni tygodnia, imiona, prace domowe, terminy. Przyzwyczajony do życia z otwartej na środku pokoju walizki. Buntownik bez przyczyny. Żołnierz korporacji. Korporacyjna kurwa wędrowniczka.
About the photos:
This guy is an one-man-army. Pretty surrealistic performance on an old football stadium in Warsaw. About 800 people came to see this guy, alone, without a ball, playing Boniek’s role in Poland-Belgium match from 1982 (3:0). He was amazing. And people were amazing, screaming, clapping, laughing.
Koala (vel. Piotr Duma – artysta fotograf, Jesionowa Team) symbolicznie zatopił swoją klatkę. Wszystko poprzedzone było długimi przemyśleniami, potem przygotowaniami, aż w końcu nadszedł ten weekend. No i zjechało do Dębek wesołe towarzystwo na warszawskich blachach i zaczęło “łobuzować” na plaży. A wieczorem “łobuzowali” w knajpie, gdzie gospodarz częstował wódką i żarłem. I wszystko się udało.
Moja luźna interpretacja:
Każdy z nas tkwi w jakiejś klatce. Porzuconych marzeń, prozy życia, obojętności, wygasłych uczuć, chorych ambicji, pogoni za niewłaściwym, złych przyzwyczajeń, porzuconych ideałów… Czasem trafiamy do niej przypadkiem, bo kiedyś w przeszłości nie mieliśmy odpowiedniej wiedzy i doświadczenia, by podjąć właściwe decyzje. Czasem brniemy w nią realizując cudze marzenia. Czasem nie mamy wyboru i zamykamy się w niej dla dobra bliskich. W każdym przypadku klatka to sprawa indywidualna. Czasem najtrudniej jest jednak dostrzec, że wystarczy nacisnąć klamkę.
ENGLISH VERSION:
My friend (photographer) made an artistic project – the cage.
Each of us has his/her own cage. Given up dreams , monochrome life, indifference, dead feelings, sick ambitions, chasing the wrong matters, bad habits, lost beliefs… Sometimes we get into it not of our fault, but because in the past we had not enough knowledge and experience to take a right way. Sometimes we get there because of following somebody else’s dreams. Sometimes we have no choice and we have to lock ourselves in to help somebody else. In each case it is an individual problem. But sometimes the hardest thing is to notice that it is enough just to press a handle.
I was walking back to my hotel after an extremely good day (it was Shiva festival) when I saw this man dressed up in white and orange robe in one of those narrow streets. I always feel respect to them (I always feel respect to all kinds of people strictly following their believes, whatever they are). I always look in their eyes and greet them with a nod. Surprisingly they almost always greet me back. “Namaste.” “Namaste.” “You speak Hindu?” “No.” This is how I met Raju Baba. This is how my biggest adventure in Varanasi began. So simply.
Instead of turning to my hotel I just continued walking with the guy having a polite conversation. He was surprisingly open-minded with a great knowledge and a great attitude. We went down by the Ganges river and set at an empty at this time ghat. Smoked a cigarette and talked, talked, talked.
He started to tell me about Hindu religions. So he was a Sadhu – a holy man dedicated to the search for God. He lived in the mountains to the North from Varanasi in an ashram (holy sanctuary, usually a little commune gathered around a guru).
We climb up a dark tower to see a burning ghat (a place by Ganges where families bring human bodies to burn them). Only 4 kind of people are not being burnt according to the traditions: Sadhu – because they are already pure, children – the same reason, pregnant women – because they have a kid inside which is pure and people bitten by cobra – because cobra is a Shiva’s necklace and its kiss is considered as a blessing. These bodies are thrown to Ganges. After spending some time at the top of the tower we walked around through narrow streets. In the end I was invited to his brother’s house. I bought some small textile souvenirs (mostly for myself). His brother was angry with him because he offers me good price (which are almost nothing compared to Europe anyway). We set up a meeting for tomorrow to go to the other side of Ganges.
The following day he was waiting for me at 6 in front of my hotel as agreed. We went to one of the bathing ghats and took a rowing boat. It is funny to see tourists in fully packed boats going the standard route up and down the ghats (as I did the day before) giving us a strange look as we – a white guy and a guy with long beard and an orange scarf – take the not common direction to the other side of the river. When we arrive to the other bank we find a human skull on the sand. I make some pictures of Raju holding it on a stick. We went there to visit a small Krishna ashram. As Krishna was a helper of a cow they were also doing this work in this ashram. They also had a nice garden to meditate. Pilgrims can come to ashrams and stay for free (donations or work is appreciated).
Raju told me the story of his life. He is in his thirties now. When he was a teenager he lived in Goa (the most touristic beaches in India). He made quite a lot of money on selling drugs to tourists. He had a gangsta-style life. That’s when he learnt languages. But then he lost everything and dedicated his life to God.
After the trip we visited a Nepali temple and then went to a rooftop restaurant in his brother’s hotel. Raju has two brothers. One of them owns a manufacturing business of textile, musical instruments and more. The other one owns a hotel with this rooftop restaurant (the best view in Varanasi) and a few other buildings. They also do some other businesses, not always completely legally. They are unhappy. The one that owns a hotel rarely goes out on streets. Raju kept telling them to go with him to the mountains and leave their problems behind. But they were too much into it to be able to do that.
Sitting on a rooftop some tourists were coming to Raju to make a pic. He was playing jokes on them – we had so much fun.
This was my last day in Varanasi. I went back to my hotel to pack up my stuff. I met with Raju again after check out. He gave me some shirts I ordered to be sewn for me. For the last time we go to sit by a ghat. Some people come around to bath in Ganges.
– You can give a donation for my ashram if you want. Just do what you feel like. Do it for your karma. If you are happy I am happy. And this is important. Money is never important.
I give him a donation. He was the best guide I could have. Good karma.
PS. I take a cycle-rickshaw to the railway station. I almost have tears in my eyes – I’ve had so many great moments in this place. The man who’s riding a rickshaw has a bandage around his ankle and then wrapped it in a plastic bag. On a crossroad he points his finger at a lying cow. “Bite! Bite!” he says and points at his ankle. “God’s blessing!” I reply (as cow is a holy animal). “Double blessing!” the man replies. This is Varanasi.
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Znowu w Delhi. Znowu sam. 2 noce. Zdecydowałem się zrobić sobie luźniejszy dzień, zrobić pranie, kupić bilety, przepakować się, zostawić mały plecak z kupionymi pamiątkami w przechowalni itp. Czasem trzeba, zwolnić, bo inaczej znika fun, a pojawia się znudzenie, zmęczenie rozdrażnienie.
Wycieczka do biura rezerwacji biletów dla turystów po bilety do Agry. Spotykam 2 Polki, które dopiero co przyjechały (inny przedział wiekowy ;-) ). “Pewnie brakuje Ci kogoś, żeby sobie pogadać.” Not really, dopiero co uwolniłem się od Koali. :D Ale daję się namówić na tzw. herbatkę. Mała wymiana informacji, potem po raz kolejny przechodzimy przez bazar i miłej podróży.
Wyruszam na piechotę do Old Delhi. Trochę błądzę coraz węższymi uliczkami i gdy już się wydaje, że już totalnie się zgubiłem nagle wychodzę przy Jama Masjid (największy meczet w Indiach). Początkowo co prawda myślę, że to już Red Fort (zmyliły mnie czerwone ściany), ale szybko orientuję się co i jak (niepierwszy to w końcu meczet, w który jestem, choć pierwszy czerwony). Przy wejściu każą mi zapłacić 200RS za aparat (mają na tę okazję informacyjną tablicę okolicznościową), a mi nawet nie chce się ściemniać, szukać innego wejścia, więc bulę. I w sumie dobrze, bo fotki wychodzą ładne. Jeszcze wchodzę na minaret (wieżę), gdzie mały, wredny, 12stoletni skurczybyk chce mnie oskubać za pilnowanie butów. Daję mu 3 RS i straszę, że jest “little, bad greedy person, the God always watching you”. “OK, OK, you can go.” W drodze do Red Fort kolejne niemiłe spotkania, dzieciaki które chcą papierosy, i znają tylko 3 słowa po angielsku: “Hello, hundred ruppies.” Lezą za mną, próbuję z nimi gadać, ale one swoje. Na koniec gówniarz rzuca we mnie przez ulicę patykiem. Potem zwiedzam Red Fort – rozczarowanie (a może już zmęczenie), meczet podobał mi się bardziej. I wracam na piechotę przez ulice, bazary. Próbuję na ulicy soku z granata z solą. Lesson learnt: nie próbować soku z granata z solą. Pod koniec trochę się gubię i łapię rikszę do Main Bazaar. Rikszarz mówi 15, a jak przychodzi do płacenia, to mówi “50! 50!”. Daję mu 20 i spadam. Długi dzień.
O gupich turystach
Nienawidzę gupich turystów. Lasek w kusych sukienkach na ramiączkach chodzących po meczetach (owiń się chustą do cholery, nawet jeśli nie każą), wraz z gościami w krótkich spodenkach, gupich czapezkach i gupich okularach przeciwsłonecznych, którzy traktują tubylców jak zwierzęta na safari i zatrzymują się bezceremonialnie przy matce z dzieckiem siedzących na podłodze, pochylających się, robiących zdjęcie i odchodzących, fotografujących inwalidów, żebraków. Zero wrażliwości kulturowej. Zero człowieczeństwa. Nienawidzę.
Dlaczego sam?
Bo tylko samemu można nawiązać takie interakcje z ludźmi, przełamać bariery i w końcu za przyzwoleniem zrobić wyjątkowe zdjęcia.
Bo przeżywa się wszystko bardziej niż jak podróżujesz z kimś. Jak jesteś z kimś, to jak się coś dzieje dziwnego, innego, to puszczasz “dżołka” i spływa po was. Jak jesteś sam, to wszystko wsiąka w ciebie.
Bo lubię się gubić w wąskich uliczkach, błądzić “na czuja” bez troski czy dobrze idziemy.
Bo łatwiej jest ignorować natrętów, gdy idziesz pewnie sam przed siebie.
Bo głód i zmęczenie w parze odczuwa się do do kwardatu, a nie podwójnie, a z głodu i zmęczenia płynie kłótnia o nic i niezadowolenie.
Bo jestem jedyną osobą pokrzywdzoną w razie niesłusznej decyzji .
Bo wolę być sam w ciemnej ulice na przeciw niebezpieczeństwu niż z dziewczyną (wyjątek stanowią Izraelki po 2letnim stażu w armii).
Bo nie lubię być ciężarem, gdy się struję, jestem zmęczony, brudny, rozdrażniony i w ogóle.
Bo podróż to oderwanie od codzienności, a niektórzy nawet 20000 km od domu zamęczą cię tamtejszymi problemami.
Dlaczego CZASEM lepiej nie sam?
Gdy chodzi o pełen relaks. Bo wino (używki in general :D ) smakuje lepiej jak smakujesz go z kimś.
Gdy chcesz odkrywać kulinarne walory (podobnie jak używki) – jak jestem sam, to jakoś szczególnie nie przejmuję się jedzeniem.
Gdy robi niebezpiecznie, bo lepiej mieć wtedy pewnego wingman’a, który będzie ochraniał ci plecy.
Bo taniej.
Bo czasem fajnie jest się do kogoś przytulić o wschodzie słońca, zachodzie, pod palmą, przy jakimś niesamowitym widoczku, pod gwiaździstym niebem itp.
Bo czasem zimno.
Bo nie jestem omnibusem i brakuje mi kilku cech umiejętności (np. język, niepohamowany optymizm, siła).
Bo fajnie czasem zrzucić na kogoś innego czytanie przewodnika, wybieranie hotelu, knajpy itp.
I tu należą się honory dla najlepszych partnerów podróży jakich miałem:
Alinie za zarażenie górami, podróże z plecakiem od schroniska do schroniska, luźne swetry i zimne piwka.
Anicie za 2 podróże stopem dookoła Europy, które pokazały, że wcale nie trzeba mieć pieniędzy, żeby pojechać daleko i przeżyć przygodę.
Also honours to the best non-Polish travel mates:
Rafael’owi for operation “What’s underneath?”in the Eastern Turkey (Kurdistan), we made a great team and went where everybody told us not to go. Great support with language (Turkish) and the feeling of safety (Brasilian military training).
Joni for being my Iranian wife (will never forget questions while checking in to hotels “Are you married?” “Yes, so much married!”), for the great attitude, travel experience, making it more interesting, being a good photo-model, making interactions with locals easier and prooving that there not necesarily have to be a girlfriend-boyfriend situation to travel together with a girl.
Sandra (Mexican Princess) for amazing attitude, killing smile, openess and wearing my cloths and a winter hat when freezing in Troy in Turkey in September.
[update – 23.09.2007] Koala jednak zasłużył na dodanie do listy (bardzo zasmucił go ten post). Za śmichy-hihy na rufie house-boatu w Kaszmirze i nasze niesamowite wizje spisane w jego czarnym notesie.
Amazing mountain pass from Leh to Kashmir. 480kms in 2 days (with an overnight stay in some shitty village). Avarage speed: 30kms per hour. Bumpy ride.
AMS – Acute Mountain Sickness. Symptoms: headache, lethargy, dizziness, difficulty sleeping, and loss of appetite. Had all of them. Recovery usually takes a day or two. Three days and two nights in my case. Rested a lot, slept 12-16 hours per day, sweared like hell and got better. Lesson learnt: taking a flight to high altitude is not the best idea. Take a bus instead.
But the flight itself was so worth it. Delhi-Leh. Over snowy mountain tops and exciting landing (lowering down to the tops of hills surrounding Leh, then a narrow 180 degrees turn and a smooth touchdown – priceless). Koala was waiting for me at the airport.
Luckily Dalai Lama himself was visiting the around so luckily we’ve seen him (and took some pics). White skin got us straight to the VIP sector. Lots of luck.
After days in Ladakh and some lazy time in Kashmir I am going south. Now I am in McLeod Ganj – the residence of Dalai Lama. Later Amritsar, Delhi, Jaipur, Agra. So few days left and so many places to visit.
I have some stories and pics, but have no patience to upload them using overpriced Internet. I will do that later.
What an amazing day. Wake up at 4:30 with a strong will to take a boat trip on Ganges river right after the sunrise. Of course since the very begining one guy approached me offering a boat and wouldn’t let it go saying that he is the only option and there is no other way to make this trip for a single person if not with him for a tremendous price. I have just ignored him and tried to join some other big, big group but the people who were aranging tours wouldn’t let me in (perhaps the whole groups were ripped off). So I was wandering around in the morning rain losing my hope and the guy was still not backing off.
I take a rikshah to the train station to buy a ticket for the day after. (More about rikshaws later on). After waiting in a line of tourist for 30 minutes and after 2 powercuts, 2 office floor cleaning breaks I manage to get a ticket. Not for the train I wanted, cause that one was sold out, but on the earlier one. On the other hand train never seem to be on time here anyway. I have tried the lower class sleeper last time and it was ok, but this time I am going for some luxury – 3-AC (3 levels of beds in a cabin, air conditioning).
Then I met another guy (funny American) and his buddy (blue raincoat Brit) and then a couple of Spanish people. So we were 5 looking for a cheap option. It is a raining season, so the Ganges is up, so currents are strong, so rowing is more difficult, so prices are higher, but we were all experienced India tourists ( ;-) ), so it was the matter of honour not to get ripped off. So finally we went down with the price to the acceptable level, came to the agreement with the guy that was bothering me for the last hour and at 6 we have finally set off. Watching how hard it was to row I felt sorry for the guys, but on the other hand they were trying to rip us off terribly at the begining, so no tips. A light monsoon rain was puring all the time, but this is something you get used to (even though I was wearing just a t-shirt and it was early morning I was fine). I made some nice pictures of people washing themselves up in the gaths by Ganges river. We see a real monkey group attack on some food store. The annoying guys seem to be ok, just too pushy and “clever”. So everything works out. Then together with the American and the Brit we have a breakfast at the rooftop restaurant next to a busy street and monkeys playing on the other buildings.
Then I drop off everything in the hotel and go to the Golden temple of… shiva penis. Right. Got a blessing. You cannot bring anything in the whole neighbourhood cause there were some bomb attacks so now they are paranoid about security (and doing a good job).
Then I get lost in the narrow streets and wonder around for some time till I find some main road, and some more time before I know where I am.
Willing to try something different to my hotel’s restaurant (good and cheap btw), I go to a place called German Bakery where they have all kind of good and fancy food India, Thai, European… whatever you can imagine. All kept in a laid back atmosphere. I meet Beatriz – a cute female Columbian freelance journalist. We talk much about traveling in India, sharing observations, experiences, about traveling in general, about plans, ambitions, about Poland, Columbia. We exchange email addresses (being watched with waiter-boys all the time – no privacy in this country), hug goodbyes and go our ways.
Then I go to the night ceremony of fire, music, smells, flowers, water by the river. I made many amazing pictures there. People are really great. I am doing my best not to disturb anybody, but they are so nice even moving away and giving a place so I can get a nice shot. And the ceremony is amazing. And I even stepped into Ganges to get some good shots. I hope I will not get sick of that cause water in the holly river is super polluted . I am so impressed.
After such a day I feel truelly happy. And I really feel like I change my attitude. Finally I get the right attitude. I am starting to trust people, I start joking with guys who offer to give a massage to my neck, I play with kids, I talk to friendly rikshaw guys. Then I head up to the hotel… But the best is still to come. I meet Raja Baba… But this is a different story for another note. And this is still an open story. To be continued… ;-)
Before I came to India I talked to Nacho (my Spanish buddy from Brussels). He had just came back from India. And he told me “Amazing country. But so challanging. You will see.” I think after 3 days I understood what he meant. It was while taking a cycle-rikshaw. This guy took me for a 2 minutes ride, being all exposed to the rain, on bumpy streets, hardly being able to make it at some moments. I felt so bad seeing it. This guy was doing that because of me. And I will pay him really shitty nothing in return. Thing that should not be. (My second reflection though was that it would be interesting to do that job for some time as a white guy in India :-) ). On the other need if you use a motor-rikshaw instead this guy is let with nothing. Nacho, I know you have such a good heart (deep beneath your hairy chest :P) and I know you must have felt the same.
Photos will come later on. Memories fly away more quickly than images.
PS. [Delhi 2007-08-16] I am back to Delhi to catch a flight to Leh on 17th 5:30am.
Nie mam kontaktu z Koala (wylaczony telefon). Jak sie nie znajdziemy, to wyglada na to, ze sam lece w Himalaje.
My passport (and visa) arrived with a delay. One more day and there would be no trip. But fortunately everything worked out this time. You can achieve quite a lot with some patience and politeness. So tomorrow, with God’s help, I will be far, far away. Alone with my backpack in a strange land. Still had no time to read the guidebook. Will do that on a plane. On a very last moment. And then, shall the adventure begin. Just another dream coming true. So easily. I was looking for a nice self-portrait for facebook (narcism, hell yes) and found this one (crop from a bigger picture):
The work stress is changing into a travel stress… and I kind of like it. Not ready for my travel at all. Haven’t looked into the guidebook yet. I hope I will have enough time for that on a plane. The idea of the travel is to visit the Northern part of India – the desert of Rajastan, Himalayas and the holy city of Varanasi. Let’s see how it works out.
I’ve had many shinny days recently. Full of laud and honest laughter. Hanging around having fun and getting to know each other. Putting aside this-will-not-work thoughts and just giving it a chance. Fair enough.
Crazy headhunters stroke me with double power. I have no idea why, but I am getting like 3-5 emails per day with “once-in-a-lifetime opportunities”. Crazy motherfuckers want even to arrange phone interviews when I am in India. Damn, I hate this pushy approach. But I am taking it easy and just checking the options. I kinda like my job so no quick moves – just looking around.
GOING TO INDIA on 10.08 – 04.09! Not planned at all. Decided today, urlaub taken, tickets bought! I love it!
Andrzej and Asia got married this weekend. Nice feeling to participate in that (and be the best man) after so many years of history together. Remembering the old times – long hair, hardcore parties at Orbital, going to concerts together, drinking one bottle of wine each straight from a backpack (to hide from the police), so many nights I slept over at their place watching movies, drinking beer, hundreds of games of pool played in Ygrek while having some hours off during the classes… And now – adult lives, working, having wives, driving cars, changing flats… Anyway, I really had so much fun on their wedding and the party afterwards. I am too modest to say that I was the king of the dance floor, but for sure Justyna (my dancing partner) was the queen! And she left me with an aching knee. Totally worth it! ;-)
Visited Tina in Fürth. And this feeling for having a person cut out of a photo and put together with a different background which doesn’t fit to an image kept in ones head.
Now – off the projects, taking a deep breath in Gdynia. Summertime. :-)
It’s been a year now I’ve been working for a German company. I’ve spent quite some time in the lovely country of beer, schnitzel and pommes frites. For the anniversary I wanted to write a serious note on Polish-German relationships, stereotypes and so on. But I won’t. I will tell you a bullshit story instead.
Last week I was out with 2 other Polish guys to a pub in Heildelberg. Sitting, drinking beer, speaking not too loud (not to scare anybody with our Slavic language). Then a group of drunk young German guys came. 15 of them. And of course they started talking to us. I was expecting troubles. So when the question “where are you from?” finally came up I thought “oho… it’s coming”. “Poland.”“Whaaaat?”“We are from Poland.”“Aaaaaa, Polen…. VODKA!” Yeah – so, finally. The best words we could hear from the young Germans. No “Polish people still cars” as we heard so many times before, but “vodka”. So we ended up drinking Polish vodka with them, buying each other a round and sharing these magnificent moments. Nice.
What does it mean to me? The new generation of Germans again starts to value and respect Polish people for the good stuff and our uncommon abilities (vodka!). Hopefully I soon will no longer have to deal with assholes calling Polish people thieves so I would not have to give them a quick history lesson about WW2, 50 years of communism and poverty. And our not-always-good relationships will become a song of the past. And the day will come when we would really forget the memories and just sit together and drink. And make a toast. Für Grünewald!
This week I am again working in the German HQ. Staying in a village close to Speyer and driving a tiny car that makes me smile. :D Sleeping a lot! Today driving to Nürnberg to meet up with Tina (German girl met in Mexico, too nice to be German ;-) ). Feels a little bit like vacation.
Switched the blog application from blogger.com (which was sucking) to wordpress.org (which looks better). Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds. I will work on it more some time in the future to make it look nicer and have more pages. Just be patient.
Quick update: Spent last weekend in Denmark – went to Roskilde with Ania and Tomek (was officially introduced as her boyfriend’s boyfriend). Lots of mud, some beer, 110.000 people, 220.000 rubber boots. Some nice bands, some old and not-so-cool-anymore bands (RHCP). Photos from this event pending to be processed and uploaded.
Then took a Monday off and was visiting Copenhagen with Ania (Misiu went back to work and earn money for his high-life living). Easy day.
Then a week in Germany staying in Heidelberg, working in a factory, pretending to be an expert.
Then weekend in Gdynia – beer with Heldt and Lesiu.
And tomorrow back to Germany for a week.
Not much.
Have some stories – hope I will have some time to write them down.
Finished reading Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. I was really impressed. Not another sweet pseudo-spiritual book. More to the real life than any of his books.
Last week spent 3 days in Stockholm again. First Ignacio came to pick up his keys to Brussels apartment which I took away by an accident when I was visiting 2 weeks before. His plane arrived late, then he ran out of fuel on the to Stockholm so he finally arrived at 1:30 am. Then we had to find a place to park his car and then I had to bring him to my hotel and sleep him over illegally. Like corporate hippies. And then he took off at 6 am. The other day I met with Joanna (MCP Sweden – for some people these magic letters mean a lot :-) ). We went to a place where beer costs 25 SEK (2,5 euros) = crazy cheap for Sweden and where they bring you another one without asking if you want it or not. So we talked a lot as always about life, sharing our different points of view, etc. As always interesting experience.Weekend was all about moving out and moving in. First on Friday moving Tomek from his old apartment in Warsaw to his own new one. And then on Saturday moving me from Warsaw to Gdynia. Since I have 2 months of vacation period at my studies there is no need for me to spend time in our lovely capital. So I just moved back to my parents’ place (sic!). No plans for how long.And on Saturday night went to Opener Festival in Gdynia. Heavy rain. Lines for everything except for beer. At least met some friends. Didn’t care about the concerts at all. Went home early. Woke up tired.Aurelie had birthday on Sunday. Missed that party. Happy birthday!
Mat got married in Santa Barbara (USA) – congrats!, God bless America!, Andrzej is getting married in 3 weeks in Bydgoszcz (Poland) (and I am gonna be his best man)… Real weddings season.
What are your dreams? Did you ever have them? When did you give up? How old were you then? 4? 12? 15? 21? Was it hard to forget?Or maybe you are one of those people who went for that and just started doing what you loved? Maybe you were born in your suit or in your sandals and you are fine?
After 4 days of being fucking professional, all dressed up and stressed up today something just broke inside me. The emotionless bubble crashed. Going to work on a tram I read about nurses striking against the government. Not wanting much – just a decent life. And the prime minister saying they will not get anything. And police moving them away of a street to a sidewalk. And then a quote of a representative of miners saying something like ‘We will not let to hurt the girls. Police used force against them. We are coming to defend them. They can face us we are not afraid.’ Then I just broke. Emotionally.
It sucks that in this country people working for years don’t have a decent life. And it is said that after 20 years after gaining democracy people still have to strike to be heard. And just as then the government is sending police to turn them down.
Then I thought how lucky I am being able to afford so much. Not thinking how much is a candy when buying it, etc. Most of the people in Poland aren’t that lucky.
Then at work I went to HRs to pick up some documents. And this colleague (lady in her 40s) told me that soon she’ll not be working here anymore. After years of working in HR in this company she is quiting and moving to Canada. Not for money – for her passion which is clinical psychology. And she told me that she was doing that part time in a hospital in Poland, but she was paid so little that it almost was a charity job. So she’s moving there to study it more and live of it. I was so amazed. She shown some emotions in this emotionless environment. And then we talked about seeking for opportunities, emigration, life. Amazing.
Next time you call my country a low cost country think about people fighting for a decent life. And I am sorry for not driving an Audi or a BMW and not owning a race motorbike as you do.
But… still I think that you can go for your dreams and achieve what you want. This will be a bumpy road but don’t give up. Ironically you are even in a better position. Owning nothing you have nothing to loose. Starting from nothing you will appreciate more what you gain and achieve. That’s why we – Polish people – will conquer the world one day. And the Polish-Chinese border will come true. Unless you are lazy and you give up. :-) It’s always up to you.
It’s been a terribly tiring week. Haven’t got such a brain killing experience ever. So much time in our lives we lose for what we don’t want to do and things that are not important at all. But at least I had a nice view.
Nights are bright in Sweden. Tomorrow they have mid-summer celebrations. But I am back to Poland, so this year – no fun. :-)
On a plane today I was sitting in the back. There was a little Asian girl sitting in the row behind mine on the other side. She could be 10. With a small lufthansa plastic bag with documents she was sitting there by a window. She must had had a long way behind. She didn’t look ok. She was sitting straight, pale on her face and she was shaking. Next to her there was a guy in a suit 32, and a woman, same age, also on a business travel. So the little girl was obviously not ok. She looked as she was extremely cold or scared or excited or about to throw up… Don’t know. But obviously she was not fine. The guy noticed that but did not help. The same with a the lady (but she had an excuse that she was sitting too far). I just couldn’t look at this. Stopped the stewardess. Excuse me, but I think that this kid needs some attention… She went there asked in English if everything was ok (more the people next to her than the girl), asked to take a look at her during the landing, said thank you to me and went away. Very helpful – 15 seconds of an illusion of we-care. Bullshit. Just 20 more minutes of the little girl’s shaking and we landed. Nobody did anything. But we landed and everything was fine. No victims, she didn’t throw up.
I wish she was sitting next to me. We would listen to a music from iPod, look at some photos, or just go through a newspaper. And maybe she would grown up for a little more different person – more helpful, more caring, more open. But no – this is a tough world baby and you have make it on your own.I am sick of this emotionless world.
Chcę tylko wejść w sandałach do strumyka gdzieś w dalekim kraju i chodzić. Nie mieć problemów, myśleć, uśmiechać się. Mieć proste życie, tam gdzie życie jest proste. Być bliżej natury i codziennie się nią zachwycać. Moje będą palmy i zachody słońca. I nic nie będzie na opak.
update(English translation):
I just wanna walk into a stream wearing sandals in a country far, far away. Have no problems, think, smile. Have a simple life where life is simple. Be closer to nature and admire it every day. Palms will be mine and sunsets will be mine. And everything will be on its place.
Biurową ciszę zagłusza dźwięk telefonu. Niespodziewana moc melodii sprawia, że wszyscy Kollegen odrywają wzrok od monitorów i oczami szukają posiadacza telefonu z tak niespotykanym dzwonkiem. Uśmiechaja się, bo to miła odmienność od codziennej rutyny i wszechobecnych standardowych ustawień. A ja uśmiecham się do nich. Jeszcze chwila, gdy zerkam na wyświetlacz kto dzwoni i odbieram krótkim “Siema”. Kollegen wracają do pracy nieświadomi, że ta fajna melodia, która tak bardzo im się podobała, to pierwsze takty Stawki większej niż życie.
Spent a week working in Waldorf and staying in Oberflockenbach. At first it felt like vacation… Countryside, fresh air, nice weather, big bed, room with a balcony. Big Salsa Party in Heidelberg on Wednesday. But after a week of spending too much time with 2 Hungarians and 1 Polish I feel like I need more privacy. But finally – the weekend has landed. Since I am not coming back to Poland for a weekend I had to arrange my time here in Germany. Just in case took my palm with GPS maybe to visit around. So I started planning and checking how far it is to some cities around. Chose HOME, calculating…, 450 km, 4 hours.
Hey Nacho, what are you doing this weekend? Are you in Brussels, can you sleep me over? I will be coming with a friend. What kind of party? Garden party, barbecue… Awesome! I’ll be there.
Hey Aurelie! You bitch, you never pick up! I am coming to Brussels for a weekend. Just to let you know. I hope to see you! Ciao!
Met a friend I haven’t seen for almost a year. She told me I have changed much. In a better way. More confident, more relaxed, more satisfied. And looking more manly. :-) Nice to hear that. I think I am much better than a year before. And A LOT changed. I am half a way to making one of my biggest dreams come true. And yes – I got older.
Kraków is a truely magical city. My first reaction when I got off the train station was that it smells different to Warsaw. Trees and the amazing Old Town. There is the photo month taking place at the moment, so there are lots of photography exhibitions all around the city. Visited a few of them – really great. Damn I am getting more and more into the culture thanks to my lovely friends.
I am staying at Ewa’s and Monika’s place. It is really great to interact with people doing something so different for living than myself. Have to be more open for people. I wish I had more friends like them.
I did some reading (The Devil and Miss Prym, P.Coelho) and again got really relaxed. I have to get away from Warsaw more often. To the unknown.
I have set purpose to do something creative or usefull everyday. I waste so much time everyday… I should learn something, write or work on my pics, or read, or whatever. The only acceptable excuses are traveling and interacting with people from whom I can learn something. I should try to work on self-development. And learn. And travel.
Time to see the Old Town by night. And have a beer perhaps.
