Late nights make for unpleasant mornings....

My original plan had been to get to the internet cafe on Saturday to catch up with the last two days on the jobsite. I was going to eat dinner with the gang, update the blog, then meet up with everyone at our favorite cafe for some coffee and dessert. Instead our dinner gang ended up being the "let's stop here for a quick beer" gang. Then one turned into two, then two turned into three...... need I say more?

Lesson learned: it is impossible to keep up with Europeans.

By 12:30 I was pleading to be taken back to the hotel. That night was when I regretted most not having a better grasp of Polish. I'd forgotten my card with the name and address of the hotel, and I couldn't tell a taxi driver where to take me. Center square is a good 20 minute walk from our hotel, and I knew if I tried to walk back by myself I would have been in MAJOR trouble with the various "Dad's" in the group. It was well after 1:00 by the time we made it back. When I got to my room I cried when I saw my suticase overflowing with all my junk. I packed as quickly as I could. I'm amazed that everything arrived in one piece. Needless to say, there were some tired and grumpy people getting on the bus yesterday morning. I was in better shape than some- I'd stopped drinking earlier in the night so at least I wasn't hung over, I was just tired. But even so....

Lesson learned: sometimes it's okay to put your foot down and say no.

One of the funniest parts of the evening was at dinner. A few days before some of us were at dinner with Sam and Dorota, one of the other translators. We wanted to buy the beer glasses because the logos with the various beers were so cool. We asked Sam to ask the waiter if we could buy them. Sam shook his head and said that they wouldn't sell them so we should just steal them. we protested and said we couldn't do that. So Dorota asked for us, and the waitress said she couldn't really sell them, but if we gave her 5 zlotys, (about $2), we could take them. So Saturday night they had different glasses and we asked Sam to ask the waiter. He didn't really want to, but we weren't going to steal them. So he asked. Sam and the waiter were going back and forth in Polish and the waiter went to the bar, and then came back a few minutes later. He whispered very low in Sam's ear and then walked away. Sam said, "he says that they cannot sell the glasses. But it would be quite alright if you put them in your bags and took them. And it would be quite nice if you could leave some money with the bill."

Lesson learned: it is okay to steal the glasses as long as you leave some money.

More on our last two days at the jobsite to follow.