We are naked in Poland

Even though Thursday is not particularly longer than any other day during the week for me, it certainly is the fullest. I left my room around 7:25 to catch the 7:40 WKD which, like usual, was packed full of coughing, smelly people. My first characterization class was at 9 a.m. and it was a total blast! We experimented with different foundation bases and the effects of shadowing. For example, we painted half our faces with a light base, and the second half with a darker base. The lighter side was fuller while the darker side was thinner. We learned some really cool technics for eyes, making the face look longer or fuller, as well as some cool stuff with the nose.

After my voice lesson and Russian phonetics (yuck) I had dancing which is just funner and funner all the time. We are continuing to work with partners (I am still with Mr. Bean who seriously has someting wrong with his eye balls) on this very Krakowian style which is more or less hopping around in some man's arms. Mr. Bean isn't very coordinated, but we have a good time.

Styl i gest on the other hand was a little strange today. Same teacher, but in Styl i Gest things are more serious. We continued learning some Rennesaince steps, but then something in the class went way, way wrong about half way through when my professor decided to skip ahead about 400 years stylistically, and had us listen to some kind of modern music with a woman who was moaning like a cat. THEN she had us doing some exercise where the girls had to act like female cats, stretching and I don't know what all else while the guys circled around us on all fours, while we were "feeling the music". It was so totally weird, I almost started to enter stage 1 of "is this morally wrong for Dolly?"

But the other really weird thing about this class is, when we are changing into our black shirt, black tights, black shoes, white skirt get-up, we are in the same changing room with the guys. So everyone is just ripping their clothes off (Mr. Bean wears blue bikinis if you wanted to know- I didn't) like there is nothing to it and I am like "sorry, just trying to find my shoes under your pile of clothes so I can get out of here." In my acting class on monday, some guy took of his pants right there in class and changed in front of us then too. What is wrong with these people!!!!! I mean, I will admit that over the years I have become a lot more comfortable with myself- especially after being a lifeguard when you have to just get used to everyone seeing you in a bathing suit all the time. I had to catch myself once or twice getting ready to rip off my clothes when guys were around and the bathing suit wasn't underneath, but I caught myself! And sure, my favorite outfit is underwear and a t-shirt, but not when guys are around! So I don't know what I will do on days that I have to strip down more than I usually do. Right now I am being pretty careful about planning it all so that I just have to put clothes on, not take clothes off.

Tomorrow will be my next stab at my student visa. The office I first knew of is closed on Wednesdays, the day I could go and went, but thanks to a huge 2 hour mix-up where Kris came to meet me in Warsaw and waited for me at another Immigration office, we now know of a second one which is rumored to have a quicker process. In at 9, out by 3 with Visa kind of deal. So since tomorrow is my 42 day in Poland, I have no more time to waste! After I drop off my application, Mike and I are going to hit the national museum to check out the new exhibition, and then after my class in the evening, I am going to the synagogue with Joe! Maybe I can locate some family members and prove once and for all that I am Jewish!!!