Poland: Day 3 - 6: The Heat, shady cleaners, bad luck, and good luck

Day 3-6 The Heat

So, for most of the week it was a long battle against the heat.

Just how hot was it? A dog got stuck into a melting road in Poland.

So yeah. And if the heat wasn't enough to drive people mad already, it was made worse by the burning sunlight shining from all directions of everywhere.

Highly relevant picture from Hyperbole and a Half.

It was so bad that the heat would suffocate us in the small apartment, starting from around 10 AM until sunset. We bought a fan to keep cool, but once the house got hot, the only way to stay cool was to sit right next to the fan for the rest of the day.

So mom and I went outside (into cooler buildings) often.

There is a gigantic mall/eateries area not too far away. (kind of like how many American neighborhoods are set up - a separate residential area and consumer area) Normally you'd need a car to go from A to B, but luckily there was a "short cut" we can go on foot, which takes about 15 minutes.

The shortcut to the malls. 

Corn fields on the side.

You can spot KFC!

The walk takes about 15 minutes. This is how 15 minutes of walking under the burning sun feels like.

Highly relevant picture from Hyperbole and a Half #2.

And then we go to a Starbucks and read a book or something while we take shelter from the heat.

There's a nice grocery store around the area!

Shady cleaning lady

Because my dad usually lives alone in Poland part-time and he's a sort of person who can't be bothered to do anything that isn't his money-making job, he has an old lady come clean the apartment every Tuesdays and Thursdays.

And she is kinda shady, to put it mildly.

Google image search result for "shady people".

I have not actually seen her face to face, as mom and I are out before she comes to clean the house. However, the evidence she leaves behind have indicates major shadiness.

When we came back to the apartment in the evening, there were: 

1) Cigarette ashes floating in the toilet bowl.

2) Signs suggesting that she and/or her boyfriend (who drives her around) used the shower.

3) A significant reduce in laundry detergent.

4) Foot rugs and bath towels put in the washing machine together.

5) Signs suggesting plates have been used to eat something.

6) And overall, not that spotlessly clean house.

I don't think any of you wanted photos of that anyway.

So yeah.

Bad luck

So nothing horrendous happened, but a series of very minor bad luck, especially when suffering from the heat and all that, just kind of wears you down.

First, Choco the dog gave birth on Tuesday. Talk about a wildly off expected date. And since she has to tend to her puppies, I may not be able to see her again during my stay in Poland this month. Aww. The Korean store lady showed us pictures of her three puppies.

Secondly, I dropped my watch and a part of it broke.

Third, my laptop charger also broke... somewhat. Fuck.

It's a paper-thin charger for a paper-thin laptop, and the fragile charger design leads to easy breakage. Damn you Samsung!

After frantic attempts to resuscitate the charger and not be left laptop-less, I found that the charger works if I bend a certain part of the charger at a certain angle. So far I've been able to re-charge my laptop several times, but I don't know how long it will last.

And Good luck

After months and months of broken promises and angry phone calls, my Czech visa is finally ready.

Christ. It was high time the freaking thing came out.

Which means 1) I am able to leave Czech Republic and go to the USA for grad school, and 2) If lucky, I can temporarily go back to Prague during this month-long stay to fetch my visa.

Woot!