The randomness and reality of my everyday life in Lodz

This past week I decided to document, through a photo journal if you will, my life here in Lodz during the regular work-week. There are a lot of amazing things and places that I have been fortunate to see in my life already, and I will admit that Lodz does not make this rather exclusive list. Despite not being the most beautiful city that I've been to, it gets bonus points for the fact that I'm here with IAESTE.

The IAESTE experience, has at times been frustrating and disgusting, but for the most part something that I will always be glad I was a part of. Despite the little annoyances and our usual dose of complaining ("Why is it so freaking hot outside?") I'm sure that I will miss the little quirks of Lodz when it all when it's over. So without further delay, let me take you through some of my experiences.

DOM STUDENCKI IX

As I mentioned before this is our residence. This is the place where nearly all of the trainees stay during their work term. Isn't it beautiful?

Our place of residence. We bring out tables and eat dinner outside and chill in the early evening on the stairs.

Erin and I live on the first floor, which in Poland is actually the second floor. In the picture our windows are being blocked by the little roof above the stairs.

Like any residence, this one come with its own set of quirks:

1. Dozens of stray cats, little ones like this one, and big ones as well. There are literally DOZENS of them running around the yard and since they all look very much alike, it's hard to say just how many there really are. Now, you might be wondering, "How do these cats survive?" Ah, that brings us to quirk #2.

2. The crazy cat lady and her SUPER fat dog Misia (and I though Kicia was fat...). In fact, she's not crazy at all, she's quite a nice lady. She does however feed the cats each evening (picture to follow): she gives them food, water and milk (Polish style). I'm pretty sure she names each of them as well, but don't quote me on that.

Misia and the "cat lady" walking past The French.

Now, what's the harm in an older lady looking after some neighbourhood cats, you ask? Well the problem is that she leaves food everywhere, and you know who likes food? La cucaracha!! Roaches!! Ah yes, every evening Erin, me and a number of other girls get super creeped out as tens of these little suckers come out onto the grass near the bowls of cat food. Sometimes they congregate together into what Erin has deemed as "The roach orgy". A sample of the disgusting infestation can be seen below.

Apparently they like beer... This little sucker is enjoying some Tyskie.

We have also spotted these in the basement on our way to the laundry room (Virginie warned me about seeing "little things" in the basement on my first day) so needless to say we venture down there only when absolutely necessary.

3. As you can imagine with almost 100 trainees in Lodz, we try to find some way to pass the time. Since beer is VERY cheap at the store (~2.50 zl/ bottle = less than $1 CD) we usually buy a cold beverage, bring out some tables in front of the building eat dinner and generally chill.

Javier trying to crack open a coconut, in the background people chilling.

This chilling often lasts into the late or rather early hours of the morning. 100 people are tend to make a bit of noise, that's unavoidable. It does however, irritate our neighbours; on the South side of Dom IX our neighbours are the priests of an Anglican Church, who many times have voiced their displeasure with our noise making. It got to the point that this past Friday I came back from work and was greeted by the following notice on the front door:

This brings me to quirky thing #4 - Engrish. Honestly, attention foreigners? His magnificence? Erin and I had a good laugh at that. I think that Chris' response was the best though; "Don't they have a dictionary over there or something? Who writes these things?" Yes, you would think that someone would proof-read the text, but alas you walk over to the list of all the trainees' names and their country of origin (which is posted on the board in the Dom) and you quickly realize that this is not the case:

I sure can't wait to visit Chiny Land!

Just an FYI: After meeting with "his magnificence" and informing him that we're not planning on moving, and if forced many people threatened to leave home early, we were given another chance: no one is to be loud outside after 10:00 p.m. or else.... Hence, this brings the end to evening chilling at Dom IX.

SIGHTS OF LODZ

I try to take my camera where ever I go, so as to never miss anything exciting. Here is a display of some random photos from this week:

Some shots of the pride-and-joy of Lodz known as Manufaktura. It's basically a bunch of old factories that have been renovated and turned into a big mall. The red brick is really nice, and in general the structure reminds me of the distillery district in Toronto. Liz and I went shopping for some bathing suits and jeans last week after work.


The complex features Europe's (or was it the world's?) longest water fountain. On the hot days (which in this case are all of them) kids have a blast splashing around in the water.

Another shot of the gorgeous red brick in the setting sun. You can see the main gate of the complex in the background.

On my way to work I pass through a small park. One morning I noticed a pigeon flying back and forth between a tree and a pile of sticks. He would land, pick up a stick, fly away and return a minute or so later. Being a bit obsessed with bird watching, I decided to pause for a while and observe. I couldn't get a shot of him in action, but after he was done, he started doing some odd yoga-like moves on the ground. Too bad my zoom is not better...

There is a small park really close to our Dom (there are a lot of parks in Lodz) and I took this shot one night during our walk. We live right next to that first church that you see in the picture. A little further down the street you can see the cathedral. The white building is an old factory which houses the city's textile museum.

One of the nicer buildings on Piotrkowska. On the city website they claim that Lodz is the city of colours... "What colour is that, grey?" - Erin

An old palace of one of the prominent factory owners in Lodz. Now, the office of "his magnificence".

POLISH MEN AND THE FASHION FAUX PAS

I don't know why, but here in Poland 95% of the time when a man wears sandals, he will wear socks. It may be 50C outside and he may not be wearing a shirt, but he will wear socks. And it's not just older men, teenagers, little children; all of them socks and sandals... I just don't understand it. Being the kind of person who wears her Birks until mid-October I simply cannot understand why anyone would want to wear socks when it's so hot outside.

I was very determined to get proof of this phenomenon, but how do you discretely take a picture of a strange man's feet? I got an opportunity yesterday while on the tram, and voila! Just to prove that I'm not making it up!

So there you go, a week in Lodz. Stay tuned for the pictures and stories from the weekend!