June 29 – 12:10PM

Today is our last full day in Poland.  We’re leaving for Toronto tomorrow.

To be honest, I’m kind of glad.  I like Poland just fine, but I really just want to go home now.

I slept in this morning, and then had a big breakfast of crépes with Jiv, Ryan, Reid, Yev and Alexi.

With my stomach full, I set off for one last solo-tour of the Wroclaw square.  I went into some shops I hadn’t seen yet.  I revisited some ones I was already familiar with.  My pen was starting to run out (my journal is almost full!), so I bought a new one and am using it right now.

I sat in the square and listened to people speaking different languages.  I enjoyed the weather.  It’s a nice day today.

12:55PM

I’m back at the hostel.  This place is in really good condition, and nicely decorated.  The beds and bathrooms are pretty nice, and a dream compared to what we dealt with in Poznan.  The staff (a family, I believe) seem a bit rude and resentful – like they really don’t enjoy running a hostel.  I’m almost afraid to ask for the key at the front desk, as it’s usually accompanied by a rolling of eyes and some attitude.

Pro tip:  hostels are a good place to donate old computers to.  As somebody who has now been in a few hostels, I can’t stress how important basic Internet connectivity is.  Just a thought.

I think I’m starting to get over my cold a little.  I seem to be over the worst of it, anyhow.  Others in the group are starting to get sick though – it’ll be good to get everyone home and rested.

We were going to see a Pina Bausch talk-back session today, but it was canceled due to sudden health problems (Pina Bausch unfortunately passed away on June 30th, a day after this entry was written).

Tomorrow is going to be a long day.  We’re waking up at 6AM.  Then, a 7 hour bus ride to Warsaw.  After that, an 8-9 hour flight to Toronto.  Both Yev and Jiv have offered me a ride from Pearson Airport back to my apartment – I’m grateful, and at this point I’ll climb into the first car I see.

I’m not sure what the best course of action is jet-lag-wise, so I’ll probably just try to stay awake for the entire trip home and see if that works.

When I get back, I’ll take a few days to rest.  I’ll hang out with Em and the guys.  I’ll write a few blog posts.  I’ll upload photos.  Then, I’ll be back to work on MarkUs (I wonder how Nelle and Severin are coming along?).

10:30PM

After hanging around the hostel for a bit, Alex and I left and walked around downtown. We chatting about the trip, and what we were going to do when we get home.

Eventually, we headed to the theatre to see a film recording of a Krystian Lupa play.  I tried my best to enjoy it, but I really couldn’t get into it.  Like I mentioned earlier, video recordings of plays often don’t work well at all for me.

I think I napped through a good chunk of the film.  Eventually, it ended, and I caught up with Alexi and Yev as they were leaving the theatre.

And it was absolutely pouring out.  Buckets.  Torrents.  Huge rainfall.  I was scared to take out my camera for a photo in case I damaged it, so I can only describe it:  lots of rain.

We went back to the hostel to rejoin the rest of the group, and then purchased tram tickets for the next (and final) theatre piece of the trip:  The Temptation of Quiet Veronica.

THE TEMPTATION OF QUIET VERONICA (or KUSZENIE CICHEJ WERONIKI) directed by Krystian Lupa

Maybe it was the exhaustion.  Maybe it was the fact that my body was starting to rebel against this trip.  Maybe I’d just seen to much theatre these past two weeks.

Whatever the reason, I just could not keep my mind on the show.  The only remarkable thing I can think of happened just as the play was beginning.

I’m sitting in between Ryan and Alex.  The stage is still dark, and the audience is buzzing.  Ryan looks at us and says, very seriously, “I swear to god, if I see one more naked person, I think I’m going to flip out.”

The house lights started to dim.  The stage lights lit up.  And guess what was standing there, spread-eagle in the middle of the stage?

You guessed it.

For the rest of the show, all I could really focus on was Ryan’s hand, gripping, white-knuckled, on to my knee.

The Last Supper

It was our last supper together in Poland.  We decided to head back to that same place we’d eaten at after seeing CLEANSED, and what our tour guide called “the oldest restaurant in Europe”.

[simage=572,288]
[simage=575,288]
[simage=576,288]

It was an important dinner.

This trip marks the end of an era for me. I’ve known the people I’m traveling with pretty intimately for about 4 years.  We’ve acted together, studied together, sweated, presented, and complained together.  It’s a tight group, and when this trip is over, it will signal the end of my time studying at the UCDP.

[simage=577,288]
[simage=578,288]
[simage=579,288]
[simage=582,288]
[simage=584,288]
[simage=593,288]
[simage=594,288]
[simage=600,288]

Glad to go out with a bang, though!  We bought Tamara a cake with an explosive on top:

[simage=589,288]
[simage=590,288]
[simage=591,288]
[simage=596,288]
[simage=595,288]

It was a good dinner.  Afterwards, we all headed back to the hostel and went to bed.  With layovers, tomorrow was going to be a 20 hour trip home.

Click here to go to Part 17: Homeward Bound, Final Entry

Click here to go back to Part 15: Back to Wroclaw, Suzuki, FRAGMENTS, and NEFÉS