Wednesday, I did nothing. It was nice. Thursday, I went to a spa at a huge swimming park invention. Check out the link here if you want to see what I mean: www.aquapark.lodz.pl. I originally only went to get a massage, but it was so nice and not expensive I decided to go swimming in the water park, get a facial, and hang out in the spa. I was there for nearly 4 hours! All in all it cost me 100 American Dollars. Wow!
Okay, so it was all just like in the States, except for the spa area. There is 7 rooms with 6 different types of spas. Steam, hot, menthol, some weird rock stuff, etc. They also have relaxation rooms, a cold tub?? and a hot tub that is like a pool. Anyway, I'm sitting in the spa-tub thingy noticing that there are naked men (there was only one other woman- but I had not yet noticed her, and another woman came shortly after this). I was wondering why they were naked, and trying very hard not to look at-you know- their private parts- when a women comes up to me all flustered speaking rapid Polish. It came down to this- I was not allowed to wear my suit in the spa area. If I did not get naked immediately, I needed to leave. Humm, that was a new one. So, I got naked.
Anyway, while I was in the pool area (where clothing is mandatory) I met a man from Slovenia. He kinda grows on you- anyway, he was nice, and literate (translation, he spoke English well), and interesting so I hung out with him. (Did I mention he was really nice??) We went to a very traditional Polish restaurant that is also a hotel (kinda a b&b) that had good food, and very cool old world interior. Then we tries to go sight seeing, but got lost, so we had coffee instead, and later that night met up again.
We went back to the pool (Fala) where they were having a party after hours- with alcohol, food (lobster!), a live DJ spinning music, a light show etc. We spent a couple of hours in the various pools (mostly the hot tub). It was great fun (we shared contact info- He went home Friday).
I went to bed like 2:30am. That is the latest I have gone to bed since my single days! I awoke this morning with eyes that hurt so bad I thought I was going blind. They were bright red, and would not open. They were on fire! I rinsed, and rinsed and slept more, repeated the process, again and again. Now at 5:30 pm I still have prickles but noting that is unbelievably horrible as this morning was. I have deducted (because I am so incredible smart-translation: I looked it up on the internet) that the problem was /is Chlorine. I can't stand sunlight still, and they still do hurt, but it's at least manageable, plus I took some pain killer).
Now I am staying here (Friday) grading, watching American TV I downloaded off the net, and eating pizza (which is not as good as American).
I like Poland. I like the opportunity to live in another culture, and I like teaching. I met another professor from Israel teaching here. He mentioned that he used to run the Clarke Program in Israel, and they need teachers there too. I will investigate this further, how very interesting that would be! Imagine the depth of my teaching from these experiences!
Okay, so it was all just like in the States, except for the spa area. There is 7 rooms with 6 different types of spas. Steam, hot, menthol, some weird rock stuff, etc. They also have relaxation rooms, a cold tub?? and a hot tub that is like a pool. Anyway, I'm sitting in the spa-tub thingy noticing that there are naked men (there was only one other woman- but I had not yet noticed her, and another woman came shortly after this). I was wondering why they were naked, and trying very hard not to look at-you know- their private parts- when a women comes up to me all flustered speaking rapid Polish. It came down to this- I was not allowed to wear my suit in the spa area. If I did not get naked immediately, I needed to leave. Humm, that was a new one. So, I got naked.
Anyway, while I was in the pool area (where clothing is mandatory) I met a man from Slovenia. He kinda grows on you- anyway, he was nice, and literate (translation, he spoke English well), and interesting so I hung out with him. (Did I mention he was really nice??) We went to a very traditional Polish restaurant that is also a hotel (kinda a b&b) that had good food, and very cool old world interior. Then we tries to go sight seeing, but got lost, so we had coffee instead, and later that night met up again.
We went back to the pool (Fala) where they were having a party after hours- with alcohol, food (lobster!), a live DJ spinning music, a light show etc. We spent a couple of hours in the various pools (mostly the hot tub). It was great fun (we shared contact info- He went home Friday).
I went to bed like 2:30am. That is the latest I have gone to bed since my single days! I awoke this morning with eyes that hurt so bad I thought I was going blind. They were bright red, and would not open. They were on fire! I rinsed, and rinsed and slept more, repeated the process, again and again. Now at 5:30 pm I still have prickles but noting that is unbelievably horrible as this morning was. I have deducted (because I am so incredible smart-translation: I looked it up on the internet) that the problem was /is Chlorine. I can't stand sunlight still, and they still do hurt, but it's at least manageable, plus I took some pain killer).
Now I am staying here (Friday) grading, watching American TV I downloaded off the net, and eating pizza (which is not as good as American).
I like Poland. I like the opportunity to live in another culture, and I like teaching. I met another professor from Israel teaching here. He mentioned that he used to run the Clarke Program in Israel, and they need teachers there too. I will investigate this further, how very interesting that would be! Imagine the depth of my teaching from these experiences!
2 comments:
I went to Germany in high school and this same thing happened to me about being naked in the spa... Lets just say I ran quickly away with my friends.
What was your favorite part about Poland? I heard the food is delicious.
Did you get to enjoy the local music?
My Favorite part was learning new things. So basically, I loved everything about it! The history is so amazing. People do so many outdoor things compared to the US too.
Post a Comment