Standing in the middle of the Wisla

I wore sandals today! After we got out of our morning lecture, I discovered that I was crazy enough to wear a long-sleeve shirt and another flannel shirt, when the temperature was over 70! I headed straight back for the hotel, and changed into one of my Bologna outfits--my skirt, a my black t-shirt, my Kenyan scarf, and of course my sandals. I shed the heavy backpack and grabbed my Bologna bag and set off to bask in the sunshine. Each day seems to get sunnier and sunnier, and I just get happier and happier! There was no way that I could stay inside--can anyone say PICNIC!!!! I grabbed bread, raisins, and granola, and picked up some yogurt at the store, and while I know this sounds anticlimactic (especially compared with the lentil soup), let me tell you that it was absolutely scrumptious. I found a spot on a hill overlooking the Wisla river, with the castle behind me and a clear blue sky above me. I took my sandals and scarf off and sat in the grass trying to comprehend a Donna Haraway article. Although the setting made tacking the article much easier, I didn't exactly read the whole thing before the methodology seminar where we supposed to discuss the article. After I read most of it, I decided to join the couples and families and cyclists and walk along the river (boats and all). I had not had the chance to just simply walk along the water and soak up the sunshine since in Europe, and it reminded me of going to the beach with my family this summer. There was a sandbar on the other side of the river, and so my nature trail-loving, tree-jumping, trouble-maker self absolutely had to check it out. Don't worry, I didn't swim, I actually used the bridge (I guess that's what those sidewalks are for). Being on the sandbar was like being back on the beach--the waves gently meeting the sand, people talking in the distance, the sun beating down. I just stood in the sand, letting it come into my sandals as I tried to take the scene in--the castle, the city, the sky, the river, the hills, everything. There were even skipper-rocks, so I gathered as many as I could and skipped them across the water. I was so content and at peace, even though trying not to get all mushy (or slightly grossed out) as I stood there with all of these couples. The scene was so idyllic, and I tried to make it sink in: I am in eastern Europe, farther away from my family and friends than I ever have been before, this scene is amazing, and I am here experiencing it all!