Monday night I finally had the chance to visit Zachęta art gallery where Julie and Lara have been interning. They had a new exhibit opening, so I had the opportunity to experience it. Now, don't get me wrong, I love art, and I fully support everyone's right to pursue their form of creativity and expression, however, some "modern/contemporary" art I just don't quite understand. This exhibit was one of such example. The artist (a Polish woman, who is known worldwide) found a way to capture sound waves in empty space and then broadcast them over a speaker system, so you can hear the "rise and fall of air." It was described to me as "experiencing the sound of empty space." When I arrived at the museum, I walked up the staircase to the room where the exhibit was. This was my impression of the art: essentially it was a large grey room, with a lot of white noise. Apparently when it debuted two years ago in Venice, you could put your ear up to the wall and hear it/feel the vibrations from the sound waves (which sounds like it would be kind of cool). That wasn't the case in the room at this gallery, as that technology wasn't available for this space, so it was pretty much all lost on me. Fortunately I wore all black with a blazer and some red lipstick, and said things like "It's a shame they had to compromise some of the original concept in order for it to be displayed here," so I don't think anyone could tell I did not even remotely "get it." Props to this artist for making money and winning acclaim off of what is essentially a giant white noise machine!
While the art wasn't quite my "thing," it was a great space. This photo of the exhibit is from the official photographer for the Zachęta Gallery, posted on Facebook.
After the art, the full depression of Monday hit, because it was the last chance for me to see/hang out with Lara before she headed back home to North Carolina. When people start leaving, the "end" of your time abroad seems unfortunately real--I knew this was the start of a slow goodbye to Warsaw.
Tuesday I had a little bit of downtime to recover from my weekend away, before the complete chaos that was the American Memorial Marshall Fellowship (AMMF), began at my office. The AMMFs are an amazing group of up and coming Americans, in fields ranging from industrial engineering to government and policy work. This cohort of 19 was on the tail end of a month-long journey through Europe, where they participated in a variety of social, political, and culture activities, in order to further develop their own skill set and expand their frame of thinking. They came Wednesday night, and my GMF life revolved around this amazing group until Saturday night.
*Disclaimer: I became completely obsessed with this amazing group of Fellows, and I very much aspire to be as accomplished (and fun) as they are. Also, I can now add "becoming an American Marshall Fellow" to my future goals and dreams list.*
Wednesday (July 3) night we hosted an American Independence Day-themed reception to celebrate their arrival. The U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Stephen Mull came and spoke. I had high expectations of his address, and he surpassed them. He is very put together and very relate-able--I think U.S.-Polish relations are in the best possible hands. It was a great introduction to Poland for the Fellows, and a great way to mingle and meet them.
Even interns get to celebrate Independence Day at GMF Warsaw!
I was quite glad we were able to celebrate Independence Day on the 3rd, because the 4th was a full day of meetings around Warsaw. My personal highlight was a trip to the headquarters of Polityka, a weekly news publication. There, we had the opportunity to hear from Wawrzyniec Smoczynski, a Marshall Fellow himself (who went on the program to the U.S.), who is the Editor for the foreign news desk, in addition to serving as the managing director of a new project, Politylka Insight, which is a daily publication aimed at presenting unbiased news information on politics in Poland. That evening, we also heard from the Director of the Warsaw Uprising Museum before going on a guided tour. Unfortunately, we lost the "best tour guide" to the Prime Minister of Thailand, who simultaneously toured the museum with her delegation.
Friday was more meetings, but it was well worth it. Though everything presented was interesting (the entire program consisted of top level experts), the unanimous favorite event of the trip was lunch with Dr. Janusz Onyskiewicz, Former Minister of National Defense, a key leader of the Solidarity Movement, and all around badass. He gave us a very clear discussion of the current state of Polish-NATO relations, along with tales from his personal history. The entire room was enthralled through the two hours of his discussion and storytelling, which were over all too quickly.
From the lunch with Dr. Onyskiewicz. It was great food at a beautiful venue, but the speaker overshadowed it all.
The pace changed substantially from business to fun Friday night, as we had the opportunity to take the Fellows for "a night out in Warsaw." As I hadn't yet had a real "night out in Warsaw," I looked forward to it as much as (if not more than) the Fellows did. They were a fun group, and we had a great time. My personal highlight was Eve Club, where they played a great list of "old school" American rap, hip hop, and R&B. I'm pretty sure our group was the main entertainment for everyone else who decided to come to the club that evening!
Saturday was another busy day for the Fellows, who had a debriefing in the morning, followed by a tour of Warsaw. I tagged along, as I had only been on a guided tour of Old Town. It was informative, but exhausting. I think everyone lost their energy about halfway through!
It was beautiful weather for the walking tour. We literally walked all over Warsaw, from Parliament and Three Crosses Square, through Old Town, past Saxon Park, to the Little Ghetto (which fortunately the end point, and is conveniently where my apartment is located).
As tempting as it was to take a nap after several hours of touring, I instead went to dinner with them at Zapiecek. It was a farewell dinner, and, even though I'd only known them a few days, I found it rather sad. Maybe having that many Americans around provided a taste of home, and maybe it was just the long hours together, but I was certainly upset to see them go, though I know they were all happy to return home and rest after an intense month of travelling together. It's been quite a long time since I'd felt that exhausted after just a weekend, but it was a blast. I'm torn between wanting the Fellows to be back, and enjoying the opportunity to really catch up on some sleep!
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