I have been back in the States for 16 days and back in NM for 11 days. I guess I can't use jetlag as an excuse for fuck-ups anymore. It was good while it lasted.
I felt weird not completing my travel blog to the end.
Ahhhhh... New Mexico. It's starting to cool down a bit (just a bit.) I didn't miss all of the rain (yesterday was a great rainy day.) The smell of roasting green chile is in the air (yum.)
Fall in New Mexico is just the best.
So where did I leave off?
After the amazingness that is Krakow, we climbed into the van with our awesome driver Rafal and headed to Lanckorona, a small town southwest of Krakow. It is beautiful, of course.
Poland is beautiful. Got it.
Steep, winding cobblestone roads, sweeping views, valleys, meadows, and huge trees. Small cafes with excellent coffee. So charming.
This was our backyard. I'm being serious.
Our favorite Lanckorona cafe.
One morning, I woke up a little too early. I took my computer down to the cafe-the only place with (kinda) internet in town. It was too early and the cafe was not open yet, so I decided to hike to the castle ruins. Yes, with my stupid laptop in my bag (not my smartest move.) It was a beautiful and a lovely hike (straight fucking uphill. I actually had to stop once and rest and it was not very far. Lame.) Here I am:
Yes, I know I look terrible. It was REALLY early.
Side note, this weird thing has happened to me. I don't know if it is getting older or if it is being married. But I got up this day, left sleeping Aaron a note that I was at the cafe, and left. When the cafe was closed, I decided to do a hike. I got about halfway up and thought, "What if I die? No one knows where I am." When I was in my twenties, I was queen of the takeoff. After much pleading from my mom, I started at least giving her an area for my solo camping trips. I never used to worry about it. Sometimes something "scary" would happen, like a group of guys would camp by me and it would make me nervous (sorry dudes, just a thing you deal with as a single girl out alone) but I never really cared. Now I worry. I'm all alone what if something happens? I think I worry because I know Aaron would worry.
Back to the tour...
We ate dinner at an amazing place in Bukowina called Bury Mis. The food was delicious but the decor was incredible. It was a giant metal scrap sculpture gallery/steampunk ship of the future/magical land of dreams. No joke. It was just amazing. No photo would do it justice but here is a blurry one of the bathroom (my camera just couldn't hang with the lighting in this place.)
I wish my whole house was like this.
A little closer.
I don't think I want to write much about the research/cultural exchange work we did. It will become the foundation of what I hope is a beautiful and moving international show. However for now, I think I'd like to hold on to it. I will say it was absolutely humbling and deeply profound to be invited into the home of a Romani family to share tea and coffee, songs and stories, and just simply be together. Also, the gallery and work that the lovely artist Gosia shared with us was breathtaking. It was a beautiful experience and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.
Other things that happened:
An outside on the deck movie night. We watched Papusza as part of our research. The movie is mainly in Romani and the subtitles are in Polish so Piot and Daga had to translate as the movie went. This might sound annoying or weird but it was actually super cool. It was a lovely night of soup, beers, coffee, movies, and discussion.
We visited the Romani Museum in Tarnow, we lost Nando for a bit, Alex and Nando ran all over town trying to find the museum, we drank beers on our decks overlooking the valley, we took a walk with Piot and Nastka to pick berries, we participated in a super cool show for kids, and just generally had a great last week in Poland.
Whew. What a tour.
Action photo from the road!
Aaron and I finished out the trip by traveling to Washington to see our dear friends get married. Their wedding was on Orcas Island, which is where we honeymooned 8 years ago. We drove to Edmonds and did some life repair (i.e. laundry) and visited Shannon. Then we drive to Anacortes so we could catch the early morning ferry. We wandered around downtown Anacortes. I bought a book and Aaron found an awesome suit at a thrift store. We ate a late lunch at a place called Secret Cove which is right on the water with a wonderful view.
The next morning, we took the ferry to Orcas. Orcas is an absolutely amazing place. If you've never been- go. For reals. Just go. We went sea kayaking, wandered around the town, drove around the island, went to the top of Mt. Constitution to watch Amy and Jason get married, caught up with old friends at the reception on the lake, and had a nice morning at our fancy hotel with the gorgeous view. It was pretty okay.
Kayaking is just the best thing ever.
The view from the top of the mountain. Shut up! I know!
Of course there were problems. It's not all unicorns and fairies. Aaron and I had a couple of fights. It rained on us. We got lost. My feet hurt (why can't I ever find the perfect travel shoe??) Everyone had an "uhhhh...I think I maybe had too many beers last night" morning, Aaron and I got delayed coming home and had to spend a million dollars we did not have to rent a stupid hotel room in stupid Seatac so that we could catch the plane the next day. I cried. Aaron got mad. Delta was no help (Delta sucks y'all.)
But really- the trip was all pretty great. Everyday I am grateful that I am able to have these kinds of experiences. I feel so blessed.
I am back home and have hit the ground running. New show opens September 18th, classes at UNM started, and Revolutions is in full planning mode. After being home for 24 hours I had already set about 24 meetings. Yeesh. Tour/research trip complete. Thanks for being a part of the journey. If this blog is all over the map or weird- I blame jetlag.
Back at home with my new coffee cup I bought from the lovely ceramic maker in Lanckorona.
I felt weird not completing my travel blog to the end.
Ahhhhh... New Mexico. It's starting to cool down a bit (just a bit.) I didn't miss all of the rain (yesterday was a great rainy day.) The smell of roasting green chile is in the air (yum.)
Fall in New Mexico is just the best.
So where did I leave off?
After the amazingness that is Krakow, we climbed into the van with our awesome driver Rafal and headed to Lanckorona, a small town southwest of Krakow. It is beautiful, of course.
Poland is beautiful. Got it.
Steep, winding cobblestone roads, sweeping views, valleys, meadows, and huge trees. Small cafes with excellent coffee. So charming.
One morning, I woke up a little too early. I took my computer down to the cafe-the only place with (kinda) internet in town. It was too early and the cafe was not open yet, so I decided to hike to the castle ruins. Yes, with my stupid laptop in my bag (not my smartest move.) It was a beautiful and a lovely hike (straight fucking uphill. I actually had to stop once and rest and it was not very far. Lame.) Here I am:
Yes, I know I look terrible. It was REALLY early.
Side note, this weird thing has happened to me. I don't know if it is getting older or if it is being married. But I got up this day, left sleeping Aaron a note that I was at the cafe, and left. When the cafe was closed, I decided to do a hike. I got about halfway up and thought, "What if I die? No one knows where I am." When I was in my twenties, I was queen of the takeoff. After much pleading from my mom, I started at least giving her an area for my solo camping trips. I never used to worry about it. Sometimes something "scary" would happen, like a group of guys would camp by me and it would make me nervous (sorry dudes, just a thing you deal with as a single girl out alone) but I never really cared. Now I worry. I'm all alone what if something happens? I think I worry because I know Aaron would worry.
Back to the tour...
We ate dinner at an amazing place in Bukowina called Bury Mis. The food was delicious but the decor was incredible. It was a giant metal scrap sculpture gallery/steampunk ship of the future/magical land of dreams. No joke. It was just amazing. No photo would do it justice but here is a blurry one of the bathroom (my camera just couldn't hang with the lighting in this place.)
I wish my whole house was like this.
I don't think I want to write much about the research/cultural exchange work we did. It will become the foundation of what I hope is a beautiful and moving international show. However for now, I think I'd like to hold on to it. I will say it was absolutely humbling and deeply profound to be invited into the home of a Romani family to share tea and coffee, songs and stories, and just simply be together. Also, the gallery and work that the lovely artist Gosia shared with us was breathtaking. It was a beautiful experience and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.
Other things that happened:
An outside on the deck movie night. We watched Papusza as part of our research. The movie is mainly in Romani and the subtitles are in Polish so Piot and Daga had to translate as the movie went. This might sound annoying or weird but it was actually super cool. It was a lovely night of soup, beers, coffee, movies, and discussion.
We visited the Romani Museum in Tarnow, we lost Nando for a bit, Alex and Nando ran all over town trying to find the museum, we drank beers on our decks overlooking the valley, we took a walk with Piot and Nastka to pick berries, we participated in a super cool show for kids, and just generally had a great last week in Poland.
Whew. What a tour.
Aaron and I finished out the trip by traveling to Washington to see our dear friends get married. Their wedding was on Orcas Island, which is where we honeymooned 8 years ago. We drove to Edmonds and did some life repair (i.e. laundry) and visited Shannon. Then we drive to Anacortes so we could catch the early morning ferry. We wandered around downtown Anacortes. I bought a book and Aaron found an awesome suit at a thrift store. We ate a late lunch at a place called Secret Cove which is right on the water with a wonderful view.
The next morning, we took the ferry to Orcas. Orcas is an absolutely amazing place. If you've never been- go. For reals. Just go. We went sea kayaking, wandered around the town, drove around the island, went to the top of Mt. Constitution to watch Amy and Jason get married, caught up with old friends at the reception on the lake, and had a nice morning at our fancy hotel with the gorgeous view. It was pretty okay.
Kayaking is just the best thing ever.
The view from the top of the mountain. Shut up! I know!
Of course there were problems. It's not all unicorns and fairies. Aaron and I had a couple of fights. It rained on us. We got lost. My feet hurt (why can't I ever find the perfect travel shoe??) Everyone had an "uhhhh...I think I maybe had too many beers last night" morning, Aaron and I got delayed coming home and had to spend a million dollars we did not have to rent a stupid hotel room in stupid Seatac so that we could catch the plane the next day. I cried. Aaron got mad. Delta was no help (Delta sucks y'all.)
But really- the trip was all pretty great. Everyday I am grateful that I am able to have these kinds of experiences. I feel so blessed.
I am back home and have hit the ground running. New show opens September 18th, classes at UNM started, and Revolutions is in full planning mode. After being home for 24 hours I had already set about 24 meetings. Yeesh. Tour/research trip complete. Thanks for being a part of the journey. If this blog is all over the map or weird- I blame jetlag.
Back at home with my new coffee cup I bought from the lovely ceramic maker in Lanckorona.
