Polish Culture pt. 2 (Reggae, Graffiti, and Mastering the Polish Look)

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So, I've been a bum and not posted much at all, but it's my last day in Poland, I'm going out for some really awesome pierogi later, and I'm finally at a hostel with wireless internet, yay! The one in Krakòw was nice, but I tried my flash drive with their computer and it just confused it... I got one of those terminal prompt screens when I plugged it in and had to restart, so my internet usage was severely curtailed, but that's okay. Anyway, as promised, a bit more on Polish culture. I also hope to post three more entries today (hurrah for wireless!) on my latest adventures. This will include Gdànsk, my return to Krakòw and the daytrips I took from there to Auschwitz (its own post) and then perhaps one post including Czestochowa, Zakopane, and the new Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakòw.

But for now, reggae, graffiti, how to blend in with Polish women, and anything else I happen to think of as I type this... oh, perhaps the Museum Night. You may also notice I've discovered the Elegant heading tags, so they're going to be in every post. I don't want to tax the current load speed I'm getting, so I'm not going to put photos in this one just yet. I will probably edit to add them sometime in the next few days/week.

Warsaw Students' Festival: Reggae Time

So, on the ninth, I want to say, we went to a student festival on the campus of Warsaw University. It's a really nice campus I think, beautiful buildings, and in the central area they had set up a stage, and all along the path to get to it, there were tons of beer stands. I'm guessing the drinking age is younger than 21. There was a lot of beer flowing (according to the guide in Gdànsk, post-communism has led to a greater preference for beer over homemade vodka, as it is more available.. this is probably a good switch). There was one actual food stand. We were pretty excited because on the sign was the name of a band, the Twinkle Brothers, a song of whose we had heard in a class on music as a reflection of its times, etc., in Poland (really interesting lecture!). These Jamaican reggae musicians have teamed up with a traditional Polish highlander family, the Trebunia family (I think I spelled that correctly). Who knew reggae + Carpathian fiddlers = awesome? Well, now you do.

Reggae is exceedingly popular in Poland. It's a nice beat, sure, but not exactly what I would've expected had I thought about it. The crowd was very into it, though. We got there around 6.15, and came in time for a Polish reggae band. They were okay, but, no offense to them, the Twinkle Brothers are better. We were meeting for dinner around 7 so we left around quarter of, but luckily the professor had chosen to have dinner nearby (I had more lovely kiełbasa, and I even got horseradish- who knew I'd have to ask for it? what is with the whole ketchup and mustard thing? but I digress). So, afterwards, we went back, and who was playing? The Twinkle Brothers and the Trebunia Family! They were great, did a lot of new songs. A friend and I also joined in on the rather unique 'I'm Polish and dancing to reggae' dance style. This involves largely moving from one foot to the other in some kind of rhymth and looking a little drugged out, but it was fun.

A byproduct of hearing the Twinkle Brothers was that we all started singing the refrain from their new song (just out on CD at this point I think) 'Don't Forget Africa.' It goes: "Don't, don't forget Africa. Don't, don't forget Etiopia." (twice) And you have to sing 'E-ti-OH-pia' the right way. Consequently, we started driving atleast one other person on the trip a little nuts. But it's a good song. I'm totally going to download some of their stuff.

Graffiti et al.

There's only so much one can say about graffiti, so I'm adding in the pay bathrooms and a podcast from Deutche-Welle. Many restrooms you have to pay a złoty or two (random fact: the name of the currency, złoty, comes from the word for gold), which is about a dollar. On the bright side, if there's a little old lady collecting, you can usually be assured a clean bathroom. And, unlike the Museum of Government History in St. Petersburg, the old ladies do not guard the toilet paper. So, it's a bit silly in some ways, but on the other hand, well, it's not a big sum to help keep it clean, and nice little old ladies employed. I charmed one, I think, because I was exceedingly polite, something I wish I remembered to be more often in Polish. I try to be very polite in English, but I can't always remember the Polish words. That time, however, I basically broke the bank of my Polish language knowledge and said hello (Dzien dobry), I thanked her (Dziękuje), thanked her on my way out and said goodbye (Do widzenia). I think she smiled on of those 'I'm an old person and I think you're silly but in a cute way' smiles. (On a slightly related note, a few weeks ago I greatly amused a different old lady on the bus because it took a sharp turn and I... kind of flew out of my seat a bit.. It was very funny, and she laughed kindheartedly.)

Okay, now to graffiti. It's kind of.. everywhere. Many many buildings (well, not on the nice facades in the Old Town, but on the bricks of the old wall even) have lots of graffiti. And it seems like it doesn't get cleaned up. Even on the train, passing by country houses, the fence around someone's backyard would just be absolutely covered with it. I don't really know Polish, so of course I can only pick out the obvious things, like an anarchy symbol here or there (not a majority, though). It does seem that graffiti stays largely outside, though, and some things, unlike in the US, don't get touched. For instance, there isn't really graffiti on the buses except here or there, usually from some nasty fringe group saying something nasty and stupid (they're generally nice buses, although I think just about every vehicle in Warsaw and possibly Poland as a whole could use a brake-check-- squeaky!). I've never seen so much on so many places I think, although I will say they are outdone by whoever scribbled on that one building I saw from a bus while in NYC-- I swear it was up 9 or 10 stories.

The crowds were out last Saturday in Warsaw for Museum Night. Every museum in the city was open for free from 7pm to 1am, and your museum ticket also functioned as a public transport pass. We've gone to a number of museums, so we were going to hang out for the jazz concert in Old Town square and eat dinner (an interesting experience- we found one table free, and the waitress looked like she'd been pulled off the street to wait- no uniform, and she had to bring food and drinks from somewhere down a street leading to to the square- not a nice task on the cobblestones) and then go to the National Museum of Art. Well, the jazz was.. very strange, and we ended up ordering pizzas that were really rather good once you wiped the ketchup off of it, lol. We found a bus that would take us to the National Museum, and we got there, and then we saw a line which extended quite a ways. It was already getting late at this point (we'd hung out and shopped some in the main square) and so we ended up going to a bar and chilling, since the line looked to not abate for quite a while.

And lastly for this hodgepodge section, Misja Kraków. I randomly downloaded a bunch of podcasts on Polish language, and I finally listened to them halfway through the trip and it's so much fun. The only problem was that the final podcast was mislabeled- it was actually part 26 of Mission Paris, in which you learn French! So, I'm hoping Deutche-Welle, which put them out, has the right one somewhere. It's like you're in a computer game or something- Suzanna has to save Poland and then there's a guy who's getting her information, etc. Anyone in green is bad (something which only workds because it's effectively a radio play, lol). I think they're hilarious, and finally I learned how to say 'excuse me' and 'I don't speak Polish'-- the latter handy because in the last week all of a sudden a lot of people have been asking me for directions (weird).

and, finally,

Blending in with Polish Women

I cannot claim any particular insight into men's appearances although it seems the young professional crowd dresses sharply. However, there are a few keys to blending in here. One is that a lot of women dye their hair red. Not everyone, of course, and some older women have chosen reds that aren't age appropriate (ones that aren't even remotely close to a natural color.. it's not good), but there are a lot of small salons all over the place and it seems to be very popular.

Also, scarves. These are fading out as the weather warms up, but the first couple weeks, a significant portion of women were wearing scarves and shawls. The fashion in general isn't terribly different from US, but the younger women seem to have very personalised styles. So, there are really really bright colored tights and layers. There is also a reluctance to wear open shoes-- only in the last week or so have there been sandals on the streets. I think I stand out a lot when I wear flip-flops. They also tend to dress warmly. This is probably because, even on a warm day, it is pretty cool in the shade.

A slight digression, there is a lot of baby bundling here. Someone we had dinner with said in winter, little old Polish women would let her know that her newborn daughter's nose was red, but she was already bundled up, but I guess not enough. 😊

anyway, enough for now. Time to go hang around old town, maybe shop some, and have some awesome pierogi.

~Nadja

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Comments

[Linda]

Nice to hear from you
I thought your trip must be coming to an end about now and was hoping we would hear from you again before you returned home. I love your shrewd and perceptive observations of Polish society and culture. As is your way, you throw yourself into experiencing the way of life of the country you are in including trying to speak the language. I can tell from what you write and how you sound that you have had a fun trip and I'm so glad.