We got Skunked! (see below)

Red sky at night...part-time English teacher's delight! Perhaps the best sunset we've had since we've lived here in Warsaw. This is a quick shot fom our kitchen window...and tomorrow I have an easy schedule for work-so I'm riding to ASW w/Jill, working out, then hopefully continuing a long ride in Kabacky Park...if the weather is as nice as this sky predicts! (I got skunked on the PCT during one amazing 24 hour period in Oregon!)

Cracovia! (Someone was holding their thumbs for us!)

Here in Polska the country still can't decide which season it is (but the Communist-dominated Parliament did decide to postpone elections until the fall-hoping for a better chance at survival (approval still around 5-10%!)), as within the last 48 hours we've had temps from 32-70 F, sunshine, big puffy cumulus clouds, strong winds, biting rain and even some hail-while the Tatry mountains got some more snow. But I guess it could be worse. Some of the American School teachers who've been here awhile say that it snowed in the city in May a few years ago!

So Jill and I were successful in completing the Krakow half marathon last weekend! And so were Dawn and Lisa who joined us! I had hurt my left knee the previous weekend and I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to run-but lots of icing, stretching, resting and then using Ben Gay the day of the run helped a lot! My goal was to finish in under 2 hours and I did it in 1:54. Jill finished around 2:03 (she was hoping to beat 2 hours, too :( but she was a bit sick the week before the run-and neither of us slept very well in Kelly's stuffy flat). Lisa and Dawn finished strong and Lisa even got interviewed for TV!

The weather was crappy. Lots of dark clouds hovered over us at the start with wind and rain keeping everyone chilled before the starting gun was fired. But I had a positivie attitude about the weather improving and was the only one wearing my sunglasses-and sure enough, about half way through the run, the sun popped out and I was the only runner not squinting :)

The finish wrapped around the Wawel Castle, then up the Royal Way on the painfully unsmooth cobblestone street that killed my feet. With a final run around the Rynek square, I finished just a few meters from the tall Clock Tower (see old pics in blog). I was glad to be done with it...though a part of me felt like pushing through and doing the whole marathon...but I'd probably be injured if I had.

But, I think we all finished because there were a few Polloks and Polkas (Polish men and Polish women, respectively!) who were holding their thumbs for us! It's fun to find both the similarities and the differences between our cultures-and here's a small example. In the states, we wish someone 'good luck' and often respond with 'thanks!' or some other form of acceptance of the support. We also sometimes cross our fingers for good luck. Well, in Polska, it's actually BAD LUCK to accept a 'good luck!' comment! Because basically you're jinxing yourself. It was entertaining watching the Poles and myself stumble over this tradition with our mix of languages and habits the few days before the run! But, instead of crossing their fingers for good luck, they 'hold their thumbs' (both of them) for you. Oddly, during the end of the run, and afterwards, my right hand index and middle finger were numb-two of the most affected by the extreme cold during Geoff and mine's epic climb of 'The Idiot Journey' on Denali's Upper West Buttress almost 2 years ago. Renata, one of my favorite students quipped that perhaps I would've had warmer fingers if they were holding their thumbs rather than sticking out being crossed during the run!
:)

Oh, speaking of Geoff-he and Glenn, both of my partners from Denali are heading back this week to lay seige on the famed Cassin Ridge route up Denali's massive south face. That was our original planned route 2 years ago-but weather, equipment and especially bare, icy conditions didn't make it so feasible for us little guys. I wish you two well and will be holding my thumbs for you over the next month! Climb fast, drink a lot and sleep little!

So, back to Krakow...
There was a crazy, cute, little old lady, all dressed in white (including white panty hose!) who was running the full marathon with an umbrella strapped across her back! Well, we ran into her later in the old town square. She was shuttling her 4 heavy bags across the giant square, trying to get her and her belongings to the train station (a good 2 hours at her current pace!). We helped carry her things and she took my arm for support, as she happened to have twisted her left ankle around the 18th kilometer (42 km in the full marathon). She was from Poznan and this was her 25th marathon! She was easily 75-80 years old! Her name was Maria, and after we helped bring all her stuff to the station and helped her get her ticket, she bought us little Krakow key chain souvenirs and gave us her address and phone in Poznan (a beautiful city in Poland we haven't been to, yet). She told us she runs every day, M-F and that we were welcome to come join her. The Poznan marathon is in October (Warsaw September)...so we'll see. Anyhow, she was quite inspiring-if she can run 25 marathons...I can at least do one! (Besides the umpteen marathon-plus-length days I hiked with a pack while walking along the Pacific Crest Trail way back in '97 (42.5 was my longest-that has to count for something, right?!)).

So, Jill had noticed and commented on the fact that this was my first competitive event in over ten years! After so much racing in triathlons, road and mountain bike races in Arizona, I had solidly shifted to non-competitive (but sometimes life-threatening!) sports-pursuing sea kayaking, long distance hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering and waterfall-ice climbing. I must say, it was nice to run against others-thought it's still really against myself. So, for the first time in over a decade, I have a pretty medal and ribbon added to my wall. Perhaps while stuck in this flat part of Europe I'll add a few more before our time is done here...


Well, I came back to Warsaw and English First to have another class cancelled. Many students are starting to save their zloty for the summer holiday(s). And, unfortunately, Hanna, my private student also cancelled after our class this week, too. :( So, I'm back down to 18-ish hours a week (paid), but the load is lighter and giving me more time to plan, which is good since my First Certificate exam prep group needs all the help they can get-as their exams for English are in one month.

So, since I'm working a bit less, I'm helping out with the American School a bit more. Yesterday I got to be a chapperone and tour guide for a visiting school, in town for a middle school volleyball tournament. I picked up the Belgrade (Beograd) kids and 2 adults, cashed their Euro and dollars into zloty and we took a big blue bus to Wilanow Palace for some sight-seeing. It was fun being a tour-guide for a few hours-giving me a taste of what it must be like for Tessa, our lovely host in Italy, who does this for a living. Hmm, maybe someday that'll be my career-so many options!?!

Well, that's it for now. Italy pics are still on the way. Oh, and if you're thinking at all of making a European vacation, Jill and I will be romping around the Alps, Dolomites, Slovenia and Croatia from June 19 until around August 15. See you somewhere?!

Ciao!
jr and jsj
:)

Don't be such a Szczyrk!

Easter weekend was approaching and we thought we'd have one last chance to ski for the year (last and only time was Austria over xmas for me and Jill!). Poland had been dumped on in March-but it also got damn hot fast, too. We set our sights on the Polish mountains and skipped Zakopane because that's where everyone would be and I hear the lifts are incredibly slow. Everyone wanted to relax, too, as life'd been hectic and heading to a small town sounded like the right ticket for us-so after 2 trains and 2 buses we finally made it to 'sh-CH-r-k' (kind of with a rolling 'r' sound in the middle). I get it right about once every 2o tries. Ugh!

Lance strongarm joined us for our extended Easter weekend trip to the unpronounceable town called Szczyrk in the foothills of the Polish mountains in the south. Lance is another ASW teacher of the 8th grade and formally taught in Athens for a few years after departing Los Angeles awhile ago. He unfortunately just told his kids the big secret that their 8th grade scores don't mean a thing...they only matter once they're in high school. Doh!

Mostly cloudy and up the lift we go! You don't buy an all day lift ticket, but a little ticket like what we use for the busses in Warsaw. It's 9 zloty a ride ($3) so you pay for how much you play. Unfortunately, the rain came soon after this shot...and didn't stop, so this upcoming run was mine and Lance's last...as for the girls...read on!

Hmm, now why are we doing this? A huge warm front had come through the week earlier-the snow had been a meter high in town and now it was almost all gone-and it was raining, relatively crowded-but hey, we lugged our stuff this far-might as well use it!

J tearing it up in epic damp conditions! Wipers would've been nice to have on the goggles!

Lance and I hanging out under the umbrella in the pouring rain. We waited for a long time for the gals...apparently they went to circumnaviski the mountain and took a few diggers along the way-they were a wee bit muddy when they came back to the hotel!

You ever have those moments when something gets stuck INSIDE your jacket?! Dawn's zipper jammed and it took some surgery to get her wallet out of her gore-tex jacket!

Mmm, big ass pizza! It seemed to help being a bit closer to Italy, as the pies were a bit spicier than what we've found in Warsaw

L & D at an underground disco with a very, very grumpy bartender (the place was dead, and it was, afterall, Easter)

I had a fun night out with some Polish military boys who enjoyed practicing their English with me. I was hoping to get them as private students (they were also from Warsaw) but didn't see them again. Probably for the better, as soon as their English meets a certain level, they're off to Iraq-of which they'd rather skip. They kicked my butt in foosball, too.

Heading out to do a pseudo urban and nature hike, just picking our way through the houses to get up to the higher ridge above

Look at the scale of that ski run! Not too bad for a po-dunk mountain town-but too bad for us it was so warm and rainy the day before :(

Jill happy to be out hiking in the natural, smog-free world again :)

J & D, mushing in the snow, about to embark on our descent off the ridge

Wringing out the soaked-through socks and shoes...but it was well worth the effort to be back in the hills again!

Zoom in and check out the thickness of that roof! This looked like a great restaurant...but had zero, zilch, nada for vegetarians...oh, well.

Very tall, modern Catholic church, of which Dawn said the interior didn't take advantage of the height. Oh, well, still an impressive ship-like prow, especially from a distance!

Quick-spray graffiti, even in Szczyrk!

Java Kava. Kava is coffee po Polsku. Jacek, the co-owner of the place spoke with us awhile about this and other business ops he's handled-he's also the GM of a big hotel in Krakow, of where Dawn and Lisa will stay at during the Krakow half marathon. It was a really nice building with some massive, custom windows. He said labor is still dirt cheap in southern Poland, so the expenses weren't so bad. Surely to be a little goldmine-as every tourist who saw it came in, and all their beverages and food were great! Good luck, Jacek!

Yum! Good coffee, big comfy seats and American sized cups, too! A great way to relax on our long holiday weekend

Random Stuff!

Howdy! Spring has sprung and what follows is some semi-random pics from the last 2 months or so. Enjoy!

Trivia Night! We spent a fun evening in the ASW gymnasium at a combo dinner/trivia game night that benefitted the tsunami victims. We were team PU...which stands for Pilsner Urquell...and we kinda stank in comparison to a lot of the brainiac groups :)

There were 6 topics, and 9 questions per subject. The caterers definitely fueled the sugar high that night (see plate)

Team PU, enjoying their mascot, and sitting out the 'winning' round, but we won the award for having the most team spirit! (and won some nice Polish pottery for it! Cool!)

More guests! This is Martin and Aza. Martin is my urban climbing partner from Hamburg (home of the exploding frogs!) and Aza's his faithful dog with the straightest and tallest ears ever!

Kinda cool, kinda creepy. Not sure about the history for this massive monument over in Praga, the un-bombed city across the river from Warsaw

Jill gettin' deep with Simon about life in Japan (one of Jill's previous overseas (otherseas?!) adventures) (Her haircut's still lookin' great :)

Simon and Julie at the Cork Irish pub. Julie met Simon, who's from the UK, at a school conference (in Italy?) last Fall. They've been going strong ever since, and she's making the big move to England next year to teach French and Spanish there instead of here. We'll miss you Julie, but we'll surely visit! :)

Riding 'round Warsaw! Warsaw's amazingly (and sadly) flat, and they are slowly building more and more bike trails. One sunny weekend in early April we got out to enjoy an urban ride. Hopefully they'll keep adding new bike paths, as the drivers aren't the nicest when you're out on the road!

George and Agnieszka, our former neighbors...George just moved to a much nicer flat at a much better cost, with much help from his Polish speaking girlfriend!

Pan Adam, his baby and Ralph, all out enjoying a pint at Klub Lolek, a Flintstone's-esque bar in the middle of a large park in the city

not your average war memorial...on the north side of the city. The 'bars' on the ground are the names of numerous Poles from this part of the city who died in WWII