Back at Uni

My trip to Eastern Europe to see family was as anticipated, dramatic and busy. I was sick when I set out, I had this weird cold which this time left my throat alone, but gave me fever and this tight headache. My sinuses were also congested. I flew from Manchester to Munich. At the train station I met this American guy, Andrew, from Wisconsin. He first asked me something about the train, then we struck up a friendly conversation that lasted pretty much most of the way. It turned out we were both on the flight to Munich. He had a pretty interesting background. He was my age, and well, a lot more successful than I was. He was an engineer in the Navy, a broker, a project manager in Dubai, and now lives in Naples, Italy. He also happened to sit right in front of me on the plane. Can I just say that I find Americans the easiest people to converse with. And of all the countries I lived in and visited, I identify with America the most, deep inside. I can't help it, that state of things just is, I think I adopted a fictitious US identity long before I ever set my foot on that land.

We hectically changed planes in Munich and I got really sick on the flight to Warsaw. So sick that I in fact fainted for about 10 minutes. It was the combination of the rapidly decreasing air pressure we experienced during descend and my congested ears & sinuses. In a moment I felt incredibly weak and hot, and I was out. Good thing I had begun chatting to the friendly Spanish guy sitting next to me. He was flying to spend Christmas with his Polish girlfriend, and we had spoken about Spain, Poland and travels. He probably alerted the staff that something was wrong. It was a weird feeling. My ears hurt just before fainting but blacking out itself didn't hurt, it was like being given some strong anesthetic and slipping away. After I came to we were just landing and a nurse was sitting next to me. I never saw the Spanish guy again. They rushed me off the plane in an ambulance. I was walked off the plane and I remember all the passengers staring at me so intensely, boring their eyes into me. I felt weak and was apparently white as milk, but I knew I'd be ok. I was taken to the airport clinic and my blood pressure was 130/70 which apparently was ok.

I had a good time over the holidays, which wasn't free of drama. I had a fight with my mother because I went to visit my uncle with whom she doesn't speak. She's got good reasons not to see him, but I personally love my uncle and he's done lots for me in the past, and he's got no kids of his own (his only daughter died years ago) so I'm willing to overlook the mistakes he's been making regarding the family. But after my mother and I battled it out, I felt horrible. I guess I still have a conscience, so I went into her bedroom, hugged her and apologized. It felt good, and then we spent 45 minutes putting pictures of baby Lena on facebook. That's my little niece.

When I visited my uncle we had an amazing time walking on a frozen river. Wisla literally froze over, and high mounds of ice sheets formed as the river froze, it got warmer and the ice sheets began to float, then it froze over again. The result was a moon-like landscape. Truly fascinating.