Warsaw on Foot

Today was our first time on the Warsaw Metro. We took the subway a couple stops north into the Old Town and sat in the shade. It was hot and humid. Jordyn presented her research on the Warsaw Ghetto and told us about her family's history in Poland.

very impressive
calm and spiritual despite the heat

It was a religious and national holiday in Poland called Corpus Christi day. It focuses on the Eucharist, which is the wafer transubstantiated into the body of Christ.  It also emphasizes the Last Supper, when Christ taught about the Eucharist ritual. The day is celebrated by a mass in the church and then a special procession that leads from the church to four different sites in the city, and the wafer is displayed in a case as part of the procession. It is a happy day celebrating the eternal presence of God in peoples' daily life. The Cathedral where it started was full, so we went on by and found some shade in a viewing spot where we could look at all the nuns and priests lined up, waiting to join the procession.  When it started, music was amplified into the street and the different groups (marked by different colored robes, or different uniforms, or amazing outfits) walked in an orderly manner, while the crowds watched.  Little girls in white dresses strewing rose petals on the street were among them, and once the procession had passed and the crowds followed, the pink, red, and white petals remained on the path.

the front of the
synagogue

After a break for lunch, we walked to the Nozyk Synagogue.  It was built at the end of the 19th century by a wealthy Warsaw Jew, and it was one of the many Warsaw synagogues before the war.  But it is the one one that survived the destruction of World War II. The Nazis destroyed all the rest, but they permitted this one to remain because they were using it to stable their horses!  After the war, the synagogue was restored.  Today it has been revitalized and is the central Jewish synagogue for Warsaw Jews to come and pray.  It is an Orthodox synagogue, though, so it is not to everyone's taste because there is separate seating for men and women, and only men lead the prayers and chant from the Torah.




We took the tram and walked what seemed like several miles to Lazienski Park to meet the students of Warsaw University of Social Sciences and Humanities.  Prof. Lucyna Alexandrowicz-Peditch, a friend of Prof. Myers, had recruited some of her students in the university's English language studies program to meet with us and show us what to do on a day when everything is closed.

Gus was one of the students who went with the Polish students to the bank of the Vistula River. He wrote that meeting the students was really fun and interesting. They were all about the same age range as of our group. They were really happy to meet us and hear how excited we were about being in Poland and exploring the history and culture of their country. The river bank is a good hang out place for college stundents to relax, enjoy the cooler air, and buy food.

Katie O'Connell wrote this about the experience:  We had an opportunity of a lifetime! After getting to know each other by taking a long walk from the Park to the River Bank, we all decided to go out to dinner to explore the night life in Warsaw. The amazing Polish students took us to a place called Halakoszyki. This place looked like a train station converted into a fun, vibrant and colorful food court. The food was tasty; there was a variety of selections from traditional polish food to seafood to Mexican cuisine. Poland’s take on Mexican food was humorous to us Californians. We took a dare to try it and to our surprise, it was delicious yet confusing! Our fellow student Dat ordered two tacos. When his meal came he was as surprised as all of us. His tacos were actually burritos! We asked the Polish students if we ordered wrong and they all laughed and said “no, this is their version of a taco!” We thought this was so funny, and our time together was a blast! We shared laughs, educational experiences, intimate moments, wonders about our countries and further future endeavors. We all exchanged phone numbers in hopes to get together soon in America.

Here's another tale of night life in Warsaw by Jessica:

On Wednesday night, Art, Serena, Jordan, Corrine, Gus, and I decided to explore the nightlife in Warsaw. We had no idea where to go or where to start so, we decided to ask a couple of Polish residents where we could find the best dance clubs in Warsaw. Everyone told us the dance club district of Warsaw was located in the street of Mazowiecka.

It was only a fifteen or twenty minute walk from the hotel, and when we got there, we were overwhelmed by the amount of clubs that were on that street alone. We were approached by promoters left and right handing out flyers to their club. For the most part every club was free for ladies, and fifteen Złoty for guys.

We decided to go to two clubs. The first club, Rozrywki, was mainly populated by Polish people and was similar to a generic club I could find in LA. However, the second club, Ritual Cocktail Club only played Spanish music. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, and it was packed with people in every corner of the room. The people were very diverse, from Asian, British,  and Russian backgrounds. In addition, I also noticed that there were people of every possible age range, from old to young and everything in between. Seeing older people was odd to me because back home, I m used to only seeing younger people going to the club.

{Contributors: Lesley, Jessica, Jordyn, Gus, and Katie}