This weekend, I once again demonstrated why I sometimes refer to myself as "ignorant Amerikansky". Sundays, for me, are a day to sleep late, grab a mocha (have I turned into that which I hate? Yuppie scum? or am I just a Polish metrosexual?) and wander around the streets of downtown Warsaw. These ventures have no purpose other than to further my discovery of all things weird and wacky in Warsaw. (alliteration alert!)
Getting of the metro that morning . . . okay, I admit that it was 2:00 PM. It's not often that I roll out of my abode before noon. Anyway, the subway platform and the rest of downtown was crawling with kids soliciting donations for something or other. I gave the spare change I had and was rewarded with a heart sticker that had something in Polish on it. This wasn't a random occurence since everywhere I went there were kids asking for zloty. And there weren't many people to be found that had not been relieved of their coins for the mysterious heart sticker.
As I continued toward the Palace of Culture and Science (formerly the Joseph Stalin Palace) there was this huge stage with Polish pop stars singing to a huge crowd of people. And here was one of those giant mystery hearts hung on the palace. I'm not sure I've seen a higher concentration of stiltwalkers in one place either. It could be an accident liability issue back in the states that makes performing on stilts a lost art form, but I think we need to bring 'em back. Everybody loves a guy on stilts!
There was even a strange, silvery guy who looked like he was auctioning off small children. I didn't have a clue what to make of this.
I'm never one to be shy about talking with people but for some reason I felt quite self-conscious about asking what all the hullabaloo was about. I think it stems from that "stupid American" complex I have. I just don't want to come across as a complete dumba** to the locals. Mark Twain once said:
"Better to close your mouth and appear to be stupid than open it and remove all doubt."
I think Mr. Twain was a wise man so I tried to keep a low profile until I could get back to my apartment and look up this major event on the internet. Upon doing a bit of research and typing in the words "Wielka Orkiestra Swiatecnej Pomocy", I was able to discover "The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation" which is a coalition of charities helping kids all across Poland by having parties, auctions, and concerts on one big day, the Finale. They raised over $9 million in one day last year. Now I feel bad about only giving them 5zl (about $2).
Well, I think I've rambled enough about this subject. Oh yeah . . . one more thing. Over the Christmas break, my neighbor growing up, Joe Gnoza, who has taken numerous trips to Italy during his retirement was expounding upon how everybody thinks his last name is of Italian heritage when, in fact, it's Polish. I was a bit skeptical of this since every last name here ends in either "czyk" or "ski". Getting off the metro the other day, I was astonished to see an advertisement that proved Joe right . . . translation anyone?
2 comments:
Gnoza
Distant (Prehistoric? Arcane?) knowledge about God and man
I looked it up in the dictionary, which was actually somewhat more informative than that poster slogan, and learned that it means "the knowledge of God that is accessible to man and that will ensure his salvation" -- interestingly, in Polish the referent of "his" is also ambiguous. But it translates to English as gnosis. I feel that if I were religious I would have not had to look this up.
Nice blog :)
jasia
I feel smarter already! Thanks for the translation!
Post a Comment