Being well-rested
Taking my time in the morning
Getting morning coffee at my local café and the friendly chat with the owner
Morning commute to work on the express bus…time for solitude and thought
Free lunch at work
Chats and camaraderie with co-workers
Sincere appreciation from my clients
Phone chat with a dear friend
A good home-cooked meal
My health and well-being
Cooking meals for the week
Luxuriating in a candle-lit bubble bath, with hot tea, and a good book in hand
Relaxing music
9.28.2007
A row of houses...
A row of houses mixed with makeshift trailers and temporary housing along an oceanfront. Dusk. Air and mood is jovial yet calm. I am asked to watch two children in one of the older more historic houses on the oceanfront. Once I step inside the house the mood darkens and the house becomes a mixture of grays, browns, and shadows. It seems immense and never ending. I can’t find the two beings I am supposed to watch. Out of the darkness I hear an animalistic groan, which sounds strikingly similar to a child’s groan of discontent and discomfort.
A being makes its way toward me, lunges at me, and begins to insecurely embrace me. I am flattered and disgusted at the same time. The second being I am supposed to watch never materializes, but I am aware of her presence. I know it is a she.
In a basement. It is dank and cold. I can see the clouds outside getting gloomier and heavier. The sky begins to turn a grayish/black color. The animal childlike being turns out to be mentally retarded and slightly overweight. I understand this to mean difficult to manage. While it is embracing me (more like tackling) it unintentionally knocks me over and vomits all over me. I become disgusted and try to break free of its embrace. I throw it to the side and begin to run outside.
The weather has changed. The temperature is colder and the breeze transforms into hostile a wind that keeps getting worse. Funnel clouds appear in the sky, but nobody seems too concerned. As a matter of fact, the group’s mood is pretty festive.
I make my way to the trailer camp, which resembles a carnival camp. The crowd is partaking in some sort of celebration. My mom, dad, aunt are definitely there (so are others). I chat with them briefly and then tell them that I have to be getting back.
On my way back. The weather worsens precipitously. The wind picks up horrendously. It becomes very difficult to walk. I make it back to the house; the being can sense my presence (maybe it didn’t even know that I was gone). I become frightened by it and want to run but I don’t know where. So, I run out of the old house toward the camp.
The wind becomes unbearable. Palm trees are being whipped around resembling strands of hair in swirling water. Walking is very hard. People begin to freak out and try to seek shelter (for most of them it is too late). Trees are uprooted; people and cars are ripped from the ground and thrown about in enormous funnels of desperation.
I try to get hold of the ground and desperately grab at foliage. All around me, I witness the ever-increasing destruction. Somehow I manage to fight my way through the unbearable winds and make it to my sister’s house, which is right across the street from the house of the being that I am supposed to be watching.
The storm is gets stronger and the house rocks back and forth. It doesn’t feel like it can withstand the power of the storm. Objects fly about, missing me. Finally, the storm subsides and the weather and ocean calm down. I am aware that I left the two beings unattended and possibly dead in the house across the street. Although, I do not feel like going back to check on them.
I walk through my sister’s house and hear the presence of no one. The house looks very old and aged. The furniture is oddly colored with maroon velvets and chartreuse shag carpeting. The house (like the others around it) seems fine on the outside, but is barely standing on the inside. It looks like it has been untouched by human hands for hundreds of years. Dust and time obviously took its toll on it.
I make my way out of my sister’s house. I am in shock, dirty, and my clothes are tattered. People (both dead and alive) are scattered about. As I walk outside, I encounter my father. He runs toward me crying and screaming, “Oh, no! Oh, no! You won’t believe it!” At this point, my close friend, R, is with me. We both react with inconsolable tears. We know my father is talking about death. I understand him to mean “Your sister, brother-in-law, and niece are dead.” It becomes difficult to breathe.
My sister makes her way out of the rubble. She is not dead. However, her husband and daughter are. I am very emotional, whereas she acts like she has already accepted their deaths a long time ago. R, my father, and I cry erratically.
I walk through the house looking at the aged objects and fall into fits of intermittent uncontrollable tears. I feel a sense of guilt about the two possibly dead beings I left in the other house, but I don’t care enough to go back and check on them. I get a slight reassurance from my father…
(Dream recorded 1-03-00)
A being makes its way toward me, lunges at me, and begins to insecurely embrace me. I am flattered and disgusted at the same time. The second being I am supposed to watch never materializes, but I am aware of her presence. I know it is a she.
In a basement. It is dank and cold. I can see the clouds outside getting gloomier and heavier. The sky begins to turn a grayish/black color. The animal childlike being turns out to be mentally retarded and slightly overweight. I understand this to mean difficult to manage. While it is embracing me (more like tackling) it unintentionally knocks me over and vomits all over me. I become disgusted and try to break free of its embrace. I throw it to the side and begin to run outside.
The weather has changed. The temperature is colder and the breeze transforms into hostile a wind that keeps getting worse. Funnel clouds appear in the sky, but nobody seems too concerned. As a matter of fact, the group’s mood is pretty festive.
I make my way to the trailer camp, which resembles a carnival camp. The crowd is partaking in some sort of celebration. My mom, dad, aunt are definitely there (so are others). I chat with them briefly and then tell them that I have to be getting back.
On my way back. The weather worsens precipitously. The wind picks up horrendously. It becomes very difficult to walk. I make it back to the house; the being can sense my presence (maybe it didn’t even know that I was gone). I become frightened by it and want to run but I don’t know where. So, I run out of the old house toward the camp.
The wind becomes unbearable. Palm trees are being whipped around resembling strands of hair in swirling water. Walking is very hard. People begin to freak out and try to seek shelter (for most of them it is too late). Trees are uprooted; people and cars are ripped from the ground and thrown about in enormous funnels of desperation.
I try to get hold of the ground and desperately grab at foliage. All around me, I witness the ever-increasing destruction. Somehow I manage to fight my way through the unbearable winds and make it to my sister’s house, which is right across the street from the house of the being that I am supposed to be watching.
The storm is gets stronger and the house rocks back and forth. It doesn’t feel like it can withstand the power of the storm. Objects fly about, missing me. Finally, the storm subsides and the weather and ocean calm down. I am aware that I left the two beings unattended and possibly dead in the house across the street. Although, I do not feel like going back to check on them.
I walk through my sister’s house and hear the presence of no one. The house looks very old and aged. The furniture is oddly colored with maroon velvets and chartreuse shag carpeting. The house (like the others around it) seems fine on the outside, but is barely standing on the inside. It looks like it has been untouched by human hands for hundreds of years. Dust and time obviously took its toll on it.
I make my way out of my sister’s house. I am in shock, dirty, and my clothes are tattered. People (both dead and alive) are scattered about. As I walk outside, I encounter my father. He runs toward me crying and screaming, “Oh, no! Oh, no! You won’t believe it!” At this point, my close friend, R, is with me. We both react with inconsolable tears. We know my father is talking about death. I understand him to mean “Your sister, brother-in-law, and niece are dead.” It becomes difficult to breathe.
My sister makes her way out of the rubble. She is not dead. However, her husband and daughter are. I am very emotional, whereas she acts like she has already accepted their deaths a long time ago. R, my father, and I cry erratically.
I walk through the house looking at the aged objects and fall into fits of intermittent uncontrollable tears. I feel a sense of guilt about the two possibly dead beings I left in the other house, but I don’t care enough to go back and check on them. I get a slight reassurance from my father…
(Dream recorded 1-03-00)
9.26.2007
"When I had a Fulbright in Warszawa. . ." II
Dear Ms. _______________,
I am writing you today with the hope that you might be able to help me. My name is [Chrzanka] and I am a student Fulbrighter currently living in Warsaw. According to my contract, I am scheduled to return to the States in June 2002. However, a not so minor problem may prevent me from doing so.
I am a dual citizen of both the United States and Poland. I was born in Poland; however, I have spent the majority of my life in the States. As a dual citizen, I have two passports and I entered Poland on my Polish passport. The problem is that my Polish passport expired on [date].
My attempt to renew my passport two weeks ago at the Mazowiecki Urzad Wojewodzki w Warszawie was unsuccessful. Therefore, I went to the main Passport Office at Plac Bankowy on Wednesday, [date] in order to try again.
As it turns out, renewing my Polish passport in Poland is more complicated than it should be and it will require even more time to process my paper work than it would if I were not a dual citizen. My problem stems from the fact that my Polish passport was issued in Chicago in 1992 by the Polish Consulate. Because of this, I have to write a letter explaining my circumstances and I need to wait two months, instead of the usual 6 weeks, before I can get my new Polish passport. I still have not submitted my paperwork to the Passport Office because I am missing a bit of information that every Polish citizen has, that is the "PESEL" or "numer ewidencyny" [like a social security number].
In theory, because I was born in Poland I should have this number on record somewhere. However, I found out today that I do not have this number because I was too young to receive one when my family emigrated to the States. Therefore, I need to apply for one now.
This matter worries me because I really was counting on returning to the States in mid-June. Moreover, I need to change the date of my return airplane ticket very soon. I purchased it when there were no return dates fro June available. Therefore, I am working with a very short timeline. My question to you is whether there is a way in which I can bypass this process and enter the States on my American passport instead of having to go through the hassle of renewing my Polish passport in Poland.
I would appreciate any advice that you can offer me regarding this situation.
Sincerely,
[Chrzanka]
P.S. You may be wondering why I did not renew my passport in the States. Well, I naively accepted the advice of the Polish Consul in Los Angeles and decided to take care of the matter in Poland. At that time, I had no idea that taking care of something that is relatively simple in the States would be so difficult in Poland. Moreover, I was living in the Bay Area at the time and my circumstances did not allow me to travel all the way to Los Angeles to renew my passport.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
Dear Madam,
I am sorry to hear about your problem. You will, however, understand that we are not responsiable for attitude of every person working in Poland. If you are not satisfied with the service please report it to the
superiors of the lady you talked about. I can also advice you to ask during the conversation with superiors
about this birth certificate which according to my knowledge in not needed in your
case ( due to para 2 point 1 of Ordinance of 10 March 1999 with regard to documents needed in order to get passport). The lady was also wrong saying that you should apply for passport here [the United States].
You have every right to apply in Warsaw and she knows that. In conclusion let me state that you had the bad luck to meet the person who was not fully prepared to deal with more complicated case such as
yours.
Regards,
__________, consul
~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, thanks a lot!
I am writing you today with the hope that you might be able to help me. My name is [Chrzanka] and I am a student Fulbrighter currently living in Warsaw. According to my contract, I am scheduled to return to the States in June 2002. However, a not so minor problem may prevent me from doing so.
I am a dual citizen of both the United States and Poland. I was born in Poland; however, I have spent the majority of my life in the States. As a dual citizen, I have two passports and I entered Poland on my Polish passport. The problem is that my Polish passport expired on [date].
My attempt to renew my passport two weeks ago at the Mazowiecki Urzad Wojewodzki w Warszawie was unsuccessful. Therefore, I went to the main Passport Office at Plac Bankowy on Wednesday, [date] in order to try again.
As it turns out, renewing my Polish passport in Poland is more complicated than it should be and it will require even more time to process my paper work than it would if I were not a dual citizen. My problem stems from the fact that my Polish passport was issued in Chicago in 1992 by the Polish Consulate. Because of this, I have to write a letter explaining my circumstances and I need to wait two months, instead of the usual 6 weeks, before I can get my new Polish passport. I still have not submitted my paperwork to the Passport Office because I am missing a bit of information that every Polish citizen has, that is the "PESEL" or "numer ewidencyny" [like a social security number].
In theory, because I was born in Poland I should have this number on record somewhere. However, I found out today that I do not have this number because I was too young to receive one when my family emigrated to the States. Therefore, I need to apply for one now.
This matter worries me because I really was counting on returning to the States in mid-June. Moreover, I need to change the date of my return airplane ticket very soon. I purchased it when there were no return dates fro June available. Therefore, I am working with a very short timeline. My question to you is whether there is a way in which I can bypass this process and enter the States on my American passport instead of having to go through the hassle of renewing my Polish passport in Poland.
I would appreciate any advice that you can offer me regarding this situation.
Sincerely,
[Chrzanka]
P.S. You may be wondering why I did not renew my passport in the States. Well, I naively accepted the advice of the Polish Consul in Los Angeles and decided to take care of the matter in Poland. At that time, I had no idea that taking care of something that is relatively simple in the States would be so difficult in Poland. Moreover, I was living in the Bay Area at the time and my circumstances did not allow me to travel all the way to Los Angeles to renew my passport.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, March 27, 2002
Dear Madam,
I am sorry to hear about your problem. You will, however, understand that we are not responsiable for attitude of every person working in Poland. If you are not satisfied with the service please report it to the
superiors of the lady you talked about. I can also advice you to ask during the conversation with superiors
about this birth certificate which according to my knowledge in not needed in your
case ( due to para 2 point 1 of Ordinance of 10 March 1999 with regard to documents needed in order to get passport). The lady was also wrong saying that you should apply for passport here [the United States].
You have every right to apply in Warsaw and she knows that. In conclusion let me state that you had the bad luck to meet the person who was not fully prepared to deal with more complicated case such as
yours.
Regards,
__________, consul
~~~~~~~~~~
Yeah, thanks a lot!
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