Days 19 & 20: Lodz and Torun

I have to apologize upfront that there will not be any photos for a while :( I accidentally left my converter in Lodz and so will have to use my host families computer (which don't have a place for my camera card) from here on out to post to this blog....

Day 19: Vocational Day in Lodz. TodayI went with Piotr (Peter) around the University and then walked around Lodz. Peter was a professor at the University up until a couple months ago when he and quite a few other faculty members lost their jobs due to lack of funding. I didn't quite understand all the reasons, but from what I could put together the President of the University mismanaged the budget and has put the University in a pretty poor financial state.

Later on we met up as a group and went to a shelter for abused women and children. This was definitely a highlight for me given my background and interest in social services. All the same social services that exist in Iowa exist in Poland they are just funded differently and not as "noticable" in the community. For example, this women's shelter serves anywhere from 24-33 women and children (and now with the change in the law they have to admit men as well) on a daily basis. That seems like a lot except for when you realize that the city of Lodz is 1 million people and this is the only shelter like this! The facility was quite run down and they are going to be undergoing a renovation in a couple months that will help with that, but the services they provide are well ahead of the curve. They collaborate with the police, the hospital, legal services as well as psychological services for the women that are staying there. Women are allowed to stay up to 3 months and during that three months all they are supposed to be focusing on is rebuilding and restarting their lives. The shelter conducts trainings and workshops (i.e. stress management, dealing with abuse, coping mechanisms, etc) for the women and children. The Rotary club of Lodz Centrum (our host mom's) has been supporting the shelter for several years now and has provided them with a new fence, refigerator and two "fully loaded" computers for the children.

In the evening we headed to Manufactura which is the largest shopping centre in Lodz. The area reminded me of Jordan Creek, just a bit smaller. It's constructed from an old textile factory so all the buildings are brick and most of the bars and restaraunts all have outdoor seating or "garden patios" as I have learned they are called. The guys headed to the Museum of Modern Art while Kim and I took off to go shopping. We also had a mac attack and so stood in line to grab a McDonald's Big Mac and curly fries, yes the Mickey D's here serve curly fries along with breaded shrimp!!

Day 20: Transfer to Torun. Today we made the 3 hour transfer from Lodz to Torun. I'm really looking forward to Torun, it's a smaller city, around 200,000 and very beautiful. Torun is home to the late Capernicus, the astronomer who was the first to say that the Earth was not the center of the Universe. For years (500 to be exact) the Catholic church denounced him and just this last week the Catholic Church celebrated the 500 year anniversary and formally recognized him. In Torun we have homestays again. I have been placed with a very young family who owns several bakeries and ice cream shops around town. It's a family operation that has been in business for over 60 years! When we were walking to their flat they told me that they hope I like ice cream because I will be having lots of it. They have two little girls Laura (7 years) and Magdaline (3 years) who are super cute. I've always had a way with kids, but let me tell you, it's difficult to communicate with a child when you don't speak their language! They just stare at me as if I'm and alien, it's kind of funny!

After lunch we went for a stroll and of course stopped off for my first Lenkiewicz ice cream experience. I wish I would post a picture because I thought I was in for a single dip chocolate ice cream cone and what I was served was the most beautiful large ice cream sundae with two different types of ice cream topped with whipped cream and a couple of chocolatey corn flake type cereal pieces. It was delicious. We then went to Lulu's parents house, sat around and talked and as you can guess, ate more tastey treats. The one thing the Polish do not lack is hospitality.

Later that evening we met up with Margot (I've shortened her name since I don't know how to spell it) She was one of the gals who was on the GSE to Iowa. It was great catching up with her and hearing about her group's trip to Iowa and exchanging stories. We hung out at a pub with her and some of her friends, listening to a good band and enjoying a couple of bottles of Lech. It was a fun low key night.