02 April 1980

Shopping for clothes and more study

Some more shopping for clothes in town, I need a jacket and trousers. Ann and I go around for a while and finally stumble is a nondescript department store, mostly empty and otherwise stocked with very very poor quality stuff. Finally I buy an almost decent kaki colored suit for 2250 Zloty. I am not difficult when it comes to clothes, in fact I don't really care, but this is really borderline. The cloth is rough, But it's the best there is, anywhere in the city.

After which we go to the post office to call Cathy, Ann's friend in Washington who will join us for a tour of Europe at the end of our course. Ann mentions to her for the first time that we'd like to drive to the Soviet Union, and she is not opposed to the idea. Ann feared she would be as she has little travel experience, very little. She initially said she wanted to see all of Europe in a few weeks, because she was not sure she would ever come back.

Apparently that's the way many Americans see a trip to Europe. I always noticed groups of Japanese tourists in Rome shooting pictures of everything as if it was the last thing they would ever see in their life. Rather gloomy prospect. But Ann talked to her and explained that it is much better to see less but go deeper. As I think about it, I am really lucky to have Ann and Andrew as my travel companions, we share a strong motivation to understand, which requires time and attention to detail. Never hurry. This trip would not be nearly as fun and useful as it is without them.

End of the day again studying in my parents' apartment, hoping that the landlord will let us keep it a few more days. More cheap and cheerful pasta and red wine for dinner. Better take advantage of it while it lasts.

No comments:

Post a Comment

All relevant comments are welcome and will be published asap, but offensive language will be removed.