A day in Przemyśl

Today I've been on a trip abroad... Or actually on a shopping tour... But it sounds too lame! ;) Let's just say that I went to Poland for a few hours. I go to Przemyśl (the city in Poland, which is closest to the Ukrainian border) once a 2 months to buy medicines for my landlady (whom I actually call my "aunt" for most of the time), which are much cheaper in Poland. She'd need a visa to come to Poland even for such a short time, so I'm glad to help her this way. Also, my groupmates are fond of Polish chocolate, so I indeed had to do some shopping! :D Sometimes it takes so little effort to make people happy ;)

So welcome to Przemyśl - one of the most underdeveloped places in Poland with an almost unpronounceable name... Okay, I'll stop being cruel for now :) Until 2009, when I was still living in Poland, I used to joke that Przemyśl was this country's best city, simply because it was so close to the Ukrainian border! :) Coming to Przemyśl by train always meant that in about half an hour I should already be at the Ukrainian border... 

 

This is the pedestrain border checkpoint in Shegyni/Medyka, 14 km away from Przemyśl. Looks very exciting, right? :) But taking photos is forbidden there, so I was very brave to take this one. ;) It's also possible to cross the border by bus or train, but it takes much more time, especially if you choose the train. As the railway gauge in Poland is narrower than in Ukraine, it takes several hours to change the wheels. So yes, it's quicker if you simply walk through the border - today it took me some 7 minutes. Just like at any other checkpoint on the Polish-Ukrainian border, there's a lot of smugglers. They're really funny at times - they know all the Polish customs oficers and if they see the strict ones are on duty, they just go back home instead of crossing the border :) On the other hand, it's quite sad that they're forced to smuggle to earn some money. I bet most of them don't do it for fun...

I know it's quite weird, because border is nothing more than just a line on the map, but I always have very ambigious feelings while walking those ~500 m between Ukrainian and Polish checkpoints. I guess it must have something to do with my national identity - it's one of the very few moments, when I'm reminded of being Polish. At the moment I'm fine with it, I'm happy to be Polish-Ukrainian and don't feel that I should choose just one of those idetities. Still, crossing the border to Poland doesn't feel like going home. It feels like going abroad. Coming back to Ukraine feels cozy. But at least I have no problem with traveling to Poland anymore, which is a good thing, because ths country has some useful stuff to offer. ;) For example, you can send letters and they'll arrive much quicker that if you had sent them from Ukraine! Yes, you've guessed it right - the first thing I've done in Przemyśl today was to go to the post office! :)

I've sent a letter with a small surprise to Søren in Iceland. I took a picture of it without stamps, because I suspected that the post office lady would take the letter away from me - and I was totally right. ;)

Same with this envelope for Bahanur in Turkey. Actually, it's full of Ukrainian and Belarusian envelopes, which Bahanur wanted to receive. You know, it's like a matryoshka doll! ;) And of course there's also a letter inside one of those envelopes! :)

 

I've also sent a letter to Essi in Finland and at least in this case I was able to take a picture of the Polish stamps, which are actually nicer than usually. ;) It felt kind of special to send a letter to Essi from Przemyśl, because that's where we met when she came to visit me in June. And that's also where we had our first "adventure" - she left the train on a wrong station and I was afraid I wouldn't find her! :D Later we joked about it all the time, but imagine how scared I was when I didn't see her on the train on which she was supposed to come? :) Therefore Przemyśl is just unforgetable!

Later I went to a shopping centre to receive a book which I had ordered a few days ago... Yes, it was in December 2014 that Ksenia discovered it was possible to order books online and to receive them in the shop a few days later! I'm not really modern even if I'm young... :)

 

Yeah, I know I shouldn't be doing it, because I'm already trying to teach myself 3 languages simultaneously... But as I'll be traveling to Israel in a few weeks, I want to revise my Hebrew a bit. I used to learn this beautiful language for a few months back in 2005 - I attended classes at Jewish Cultural Centre in Wrocław. I remember I was the only non-Jewish student and also the youngest one, but at some point almost everyone resigned and the classes were over. I thought I had forgotten almost everything in 9 years, because the only Hebrew word to come to my mind was "Shalom" ;) But as soon as I opened the book, I realised that I could still remember a lot of words and the whole alphabet! Don't you think that our memory is an amazing thing sometimes? It stores so much information, which seems to be forgotten, but in fact simply needs to be brushed up! I'm really glad I've bought this course book, even if it's very easy - probably even too easy for those, who want to go beyond the A1 level. But that's what I need now, before my trip. And then I hope I can buy something more ambitious in Israel :) 

 

Then I went on a short walk in the centre of Przemyśl. In fact, it's a nice city and a very old one - it was founded in the 10th century, if I remember well. And they even have a castle in Przemyśl, although I was too lazy to climb it today.

 

 

There are a few old churches in the historic part of Przemyśl and they haven't been renovated yet (it's indeed quite an underdeveloped place as for Polish measures), but it looks nice in a way.

Some churches are hidden in the narrow streets, so it's quite hard to take a picture of them. This is the Greek-Catholic (which is in fact Ukrainian and not Greek) cathedral.

And now the churches are trying to hide behind the old houses ;) Well, I think Przemyśl is nice in a way - it's one of those few Polish cities, where I feel really comfortable. I know there's also a beautiful 19th century fort located in villages around Przemyśl and I'd like to visit at least some parts of it one day. Unfortunately, today weather wasn't right for searching for fortifications in forests and villages, as it was raining for most of the time. Yet I'm sure I'll come to Przemyśl again - maybe in 2 months from now, and maybe sooner.

Last but not least, I should share some news with you. No, nothing really big has happened since my last blog entry, but I've passed my first exam with 92%, which makes me really happy :) I don't care about my marks much, but it's always pleasant, when my result is over 90% - perhaps also because it doesn't happen very often. ;) My next exam will be on Sunday. Yes, on Sunday. But it's too early to worry about it - I still have 2 days to prepare for it! :) I'm such a typical student, am i now?

And here's the mail I've received since Monday:

A lovely letter with a Christmas card from Olga in Belarus. She used an envelope showing the Mir castle, which reminds me that it's one of the few tourist attractions in Belarus that I still haven't seen. Maybe I should go there one day? ;)

And a Christmas card from Maude in France, who now sends her mail from Germany :) It was very nice to hear from her after a long break and I hope we'll start writing letters to each other again.

I feel very tired now, so I think I should go to sleep, if I only can prevent myself from learning Hebrew at night! Yes, I'm quite enthusiastic about it at the moment and I hope it'll stay this way! :)