Month: October 2021

Luck Didn’t Get Me Here

Luck Didn’t Get Me Here

It’s not quite 5 am in Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, where I just woke up.  For the past 21 months, it is the place I have called home.  One of many places I have called home in recent years.  I thought about going back to sleep, but I knew that when I woke up again, I wouldn’t feel as refreshed as I do now.  I got up made a cappuccino and decided to put the pen to the paper.  I’ve had a few thoughts rolling around in my head this past month.  One stemmed from a conversation I had with Guy, a co-worker from my summer experience at Z-Camp, a youth language camp on the Black Sea in Bulgaria. We both said that we don’t like (I hesitate to use the word hate) when someone says, “oh, you’re so lucky”, in reference to our lifestyle.

Then, I was interviewed by Burton Cole from my hometown newspaper last month.  One of the things he asked was, “what do you want people to know?”  Finally, I was on a Zoom call with friends from the states.  Talking about my life in Poland, I remarked that I had fallen into a great job.  Marla quickly reminded me that I didn’t “fall into it” that I worked/planned to be where I am right now.  In other words, it wasn’t luck.

I made a conscious choice for my current lifestyle in 2013.  Although, most of my life I have had a goal of living life abroad even for a short time.  I started to put this goal in motion in 2012 by researching ways to live/work abroad.  Teaching English seemed to be the best option for me, and in January 2013 I started classes with the University of Miami of Florida to get my Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certification or TEFL.  The course was more intense than I expected and along with working full time, it consumed much of my after-work energy.  That TEFL certification was the first step in finding a teaching job abroad.  Of all the cities, in all the world I have for most of my life dreamed of living in Paris.  So, that is where I started.  I found 2 agencies and interviewed via Skype with one and a girl’s trip to Paris with my friend Teri to interview in person for the other.

Thrilled to have been offered a job with both, the research and planning began.  What does it take to live in France and the EU?  It isn’t so simple; you can’t just pack a bag and move to Paris.  Ah, immigration laws, which I won’t get into here.  Just know you need to apply for a special visa or temporary residency (rules differ between countries) to live and work in the EU.

I have a job in Paris, but what about my job back home?  I have a place to live in Ohio, but where will I live in Paris?  Will I need other insurance?  How much stuff will I need to take with me?  I had already decided this was a trial and planned to stay for 6 months.  Still, that is at least two seasons, what should I pack?  What part of the city do I want to live in?  Each job offer would require me to travel to people’s homes, so I had no idea what arrondissement would be best.  How much money should I have in reserve as a security blanket?  As I researched the answers to these questions, I put a plan in place so that in August 2014, I was able to board a plane and start life in Paris.  Was I lucky?  The dictionary tells us that lucky is something that results from good fortune and chance.  Chance didn’t land me in Paris.  Over a year’s worth of research, planning and further education landed me in Paris.  Everything didn’t quite go as planned in Paris, but that’s another story.  The point is, I made it happen.  I also came to the realization that this was the lifestyle I wanted at this point in my life.  I returned to the US but, I needed to find another path to travel and live abroad again.  Soon I was researching what I needed to do to live and teach in China.  A far cry from life in Paris, but it was something I wanted to do, I just had to figure out how to make it happen.  At least a lot of the research I had already done for Paris was helpful in this venture.  A few months later I was boarding a plane for China and what I thought would be 6 months studying (I applied for a student visa), living, and working in the Middle Kingdom.  As my 6-month visa was expiring, I knew I wanted more.  Which is how 6-months turned into 4 years.

After 4 years of working and traveling the Middle Kingdom and other parts of Asia, I was ready to give up my China life.  My next destination of choice was Bali.  After 2 short visits, I knew I wanted to spend an extended period on the Island of the Gods.

I already had friends that I considered my Balinese family, but I had to find out how I could stay past the 60-day tourist visa limit.  I also knew it was difficult to work in Indonesia as a foreigner, but I could volunteer and possibly apply for a social visa.  In the end, I discovered it was easiest to purchase a visa on arrival.  This is different from the visa on arrival that is free.  The free one cannot be extended beyond the 60 days whereas a purchased ($25) VOA can be extended 4 times for 30 days each time.  Also, customs and immigration are diligent about checking that arrival date stamp when you are leaving the country.  Every day your visa is overstayed will cost you 1 million rupiahs or about $70.  I can vouch for this as I personally know someone who overstayed their visa by not thinking about the fact that some months have 31 days.  See what I mean about it taking a lot of research and planning?  Was I lucky I was able to spend the better part of 5 months living in Bali? I will let you answer that.

Leaving Bali, I had already committed to a job in Poland but took a couple of months to return to the USA for the holidays.  Fast forward to February 2020.  I boarded a plane to Poland with a notebook of information on things I had to do after I arrived.  I had a company, English Wizards, I would “work” for who would provide job leads, but it was still up to me to get hired.  I contacted a language school (my company had sent them my CV) before leaving the USA, but they wanted to wait until I was physically on Polish soil before moving forward.  Which basically meant that I would arrive in Poland with job opportunities, but no guarantee of a source of income.   After landing a job, before I could be paid to work, I had to obtain a PESEL number.  It is like a Tax ID as I would be paying taxes in Poland.  You can’t get a PESEL number without a bank account.

I arrived in Warsaw on February 3, 2020.  Checked into my Airbnb (I wasn’t sure if I would stay in Warsaw or move to another city).  It was also 40 minutes from the city center by bus, not exactly ideal.  I landed a job the first week so I would need that PESEL number so I could get paid.  I was able to open a bank account and then I needed to apply for my PESEL which needs to be done in Polish.  English Wizards provided me with a step-by-step document to help me complete the paperwork on my own vs hiring someone to do it for me.  All is good now, right?  Not exactly, I arrived with a tourist visa which is only valid for 90 days.  I have a job, a bank account, a PESEL number, an Airbnb to stay, what else could I possibly need.  Again, EW had provided me with documents detailing the further steps I had to take to continue to live and work in Poland.  Before my tourist visa would expire, I had to apply for a Karta Pobytu or temporary residency permit since I didn’t have time to apply for a working visa while I was in the states.  It must be applied for in your home country, it was the holidays, I would have had to go to the Embassy in New York City. So temporary residency it would have to be.  To apply for my Karta Pobytu, I had to have a rental contract and it couldn’t be an Airbnb.  It had to be an official contract with a landlord. Now along with working, I had to apartment hunt in a city I wasn’t familiar with.  After some research, I knew I wanted to live in the city center.  Also, my job, teaching Business English at 3 different companies, was in the city center, so it just made sense.  I found a shared flat that I liked and signed a 6-month lease in case I decided I wanted to move.  It’s been 20 months and I am still in the same flat. Rental contract signed, now I could get my TRP. Wrong!  I also had to have medical/emergency/accident insurance that met all the criteria of the government requirements for a foreigner.  Next, another small task, haha, I had to have copies of all the pages in my passport with entry and exit visas for the last 5 years.  For me, this means copying 2 passports as I had just renewed mine.  Then, as part of the Karta Pobytu application, I had to list all the countries with the entry and exit dates in chronological order in Polish.  Honestly, for me, it was kind of a nightmare if you have ever seen my passport.  I also had to provide copies of my work permit (which I had applied for before arriving in Poland), a work contract, and the list went on.

Feeling satisfied, thanks to detailed instructions from EW, that the application was filled out correctly (in Polish, blue ink, all caps) I went online, paid my filing fee, and was ready to submit the paperwork.  BOOM, the global pandemic hits in Poland and we are on lockdown.  Everything would now need to be submitted by post instead of in person.  I got my package of documents together and sent everything in and requested proof of delivery.  Because of the pandemic, everything was at a standstill, and it was months before I heard anything.  I finally received notification that my application was denied as it was missing a document.  I could appeal or start a new application.

By now I had a roommate, Valeria,  who worked in a company that helped people obtain their Karta Pobytu, so with her help, I decided to just reapply as some of my other documents would need updating.  I had signed a new lease agreement, my work permit would be expiring, and I would need to submit my new one, etc.  So together we prepared a whole new application, sent it by post, and played the waiting game.  Finally, notification, I had the submitted wrong insurance.  I could appeal and send in the correct proof of insurance.  Valeria to the rescue, wrote my appeal since she speaks not only her native language of Russian but also Polish and English.

10 days ago, after 21 months in Poland, I finally received my 3-year temporary residency or Karta Pobytu.  Was I lucky?  Nah, I don’t think so.  Maybe I would say I was lucky to have Valeria as a roommate, but luck didn’t land me in Paris, China, Bali, or Poland!

This has turned into a longer post than I expected, but I do ramble a bit.  I mentioned I was recently interviewed by my hometown newspaper, the Tribune Chronicle. Burton Cole asked me what I wanted people to know.  Simply put, I want people to know that Aldous Huxley had it right when he said,  “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”  When you immerse yourself in a culture and open your eyes, your mind, heart, and soul to their culture, foods, traditions, and differences,  you just might see your own eyes looking back at you.  People are mostly good.  They want to be happy, enjoy their family and friends, eat good food, feel balanced, feel important to others, be free from social judgment, make a difference in the life of others, and live each day without regret.  I want people to know that my lifestyle isn’t for everyone.

 

Yes, I have seen amazing places, met amazing people, but not everyone wants to squat over a hole for a toilet.  Not everyone wants to travel/live abroad independently leaving behind the friends you have just made to have to start over in a new city or country.  It isn’t always easy dealing with language barriers.  Everyone can’t live without certain modern conveniences.  In my over 7 years abroad, I have never had a clothes dryer.  I must hang all my laundry to dry.  For 2 years in China, I had to take my sopping clothes out of my “washer” and put them in a spinner before hanging them to dry.  In my first 6 months in China, I had an electric conduction pad and a rice cooker to prepare all my meals.

I spent 6 months in a flat with only a squat toilet.  Not everyone can pack up and leave family and friends behind in their home country and start over with only the things you can carry with you.  I could go on and on about some of the perceived negatives of why living abroad isn’t for everyone.  More importantly, I want to say if you think it is for you or you want to try it even for a short time, don’t make excuses, plan, do the research, pack a bag, and go.   As this unknown author’s quote says, “it will be the scariest, most liberating, life-changing experience of your life.  Try it at least once.”

I want people to know that luck didn’t get me here.  If you still think I am lucky, well, don’t be surprised if I say, “I have made my own luck”.

A Day in Alexandria Egypt

A Day in Alexandria Egypt

Egypt…a country in the Northeastern corner of Africa linking it to the Middle East. When I think of Egypt, I think of the Land of the Pharaohs, the Nile River, Cleopatra (even though she had no Egyptian blood), the pyramids, the Sphinx, and of course Tutankhamun or King Tut.  I never really thought about “Roman” Egypt even though I know Cleopatra was romantically involved with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Spending the summer working for English Wizards who sent me to  Z Camp in Bulgaria, afforded me the perfect opportunity to visit Egypt.  I spent a few days exploring Bulgaria at the end of camp and then headed to Cairo.  I actually stayed in Giza so I could wake up each morning and see the Great Pyramids and Sphinx.  I was enjoying all my time in Cairo and Giza but wanted to see other areas.  Luxor/Valley of the Kings I decided was too far and time-consuming for this trip, so I decided on a day trip to Alexandria.  I arranged for a private car, driver, and guide through Viator which I have used many times in the past all over the world.

Alexandria is the third-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and Giza.  It is the seventh-largest city in Africa.  It was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC on the site of an existing settlement named Rhacotis which became the Egyptian quarter of the city. Alexandria was best known for one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Lighthouse of Alexandria.  Being a lover of cemeteries and catacombs, the Necropolis, one of the seven wonders of the Middle Ages, especially caught my attention.  Okay, enough history, let me get on with my visit to the city. That’s a lie because you know I will give you a bit, probably a lot, of the history of the sites I saw.  What can I say, I like learning the history of what I am visiting?

Being about a 3-hour drive from Giza to Alexandria, the day started very early.  I was very happy when my guide suggested we stop for a coffee before getting on the highway.  Caffeinated, I settled in the backseat for the drive.  As we were driving the guide gave me a bit of the history of the city and said our first stop would be the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa or “Mound of Shards”. So named because of the mounds of terra cotta shards that were found there.  These items were left behind by those visiting the tombs, who would bring food and wine for their consumption during the visit.  Being a place of death, they did not want to bring these containers home so they would break them and leave them.

Because of the period, you can find the merger of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian culture.  You can see Egyptian statues wearing Roman-style garments or creatures from Greek and Roman mythology.  You enter the catacombs by climbing down a circular stairway (99 steps) surrounding a shaft where the deceased bodies were lowered.

Between the second and fourth centuries, the facility was used as a burial chamber. It was rediscovered in 1900 when a donkey fell into the access shaft.  It is believed that the catacombs were originally intended for one family, but for reasons unknown, expanded to house numerous other individuals.  So far, 3 sarcophagi have been discovered along with other human and animal remains.  The sarcophagi have non-removable tops, so it is assumed the bodies were inserted from behind.  The entrance to the main burial chamber resembles a temple with two columns and numerous other carvings.  I was seriously blown away by this visit.

After leaving the catacombs the temperature being hot AF,  our first stop was for water, cold, please. Then we headed to see a Roman triumphal column.  The Corinthian column known as Pompey’s Pillar sits among the ruins of a Roman complex called Serapeum.  The Temple was built at the end of the 3rd century BC during the rule of Ptolemy to worship the god Serapis.  So, who in the heck is Pompey and why does he have a column?  In 60 BC, Pompey was part of the military-political alliance known as the First Triumvirate along with Julius Caesar and Marcus Crassus.  Pompey was also married to Caesar’s daughter Julia. After the deaths of Crassus and Julia, Pompey and Caesar began contending for the leadership of the Roman State in its entirety. This led to Caesar’s civil war, Pompey was defeated, fled to Ptolemaic Egypt where he was assassinated. But that still doesn’t explain why he has a pillar.  It is said that when he was assassinated by Egyptians, they put his head in a jar and it was stored atop the column. Another theory from Crusaders of the Middles Ages is that Pompey’s ashes (not his head) were atop the column and gave it the Nickname “Pompey’s Pillar”.

Most historians now agree that this monument was built in 298 AD, in honor of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, but the name Pompey’s Pillar has stuck. The column is flanked by 2 red granite sphynx statues which were discovered in 1906.  It is believed they were built between 186 and 145 BC during the reign of Ptolemy VI Philopator.

As I mentioned previously, it was hot AF so after visiting the Pillar we made another stop for water.  Funny thing, all this water and I didn’t have to pee…guess I was sweating it all out. Okay, hydrated and cooled off a bit it was time to head to our next venue, the Roman Amphitheatre.

It was discovered in the 1960s during excavations for a planned government building. It is believed that the amphitheater was built in the 4th century AD and used until the Arab invasion of the 7th century.  The theatre, the only one of its kind discovered in Egypt had marble seating for around 700 people.  With further excavations and research still being carried out, there is now a theory that the theatre may have been a small “lecture hall” and the whole site an ancient academic institution.  Along with the ruins of the theatre, remains of Roman baths, columns, a residential district, a gymnasium, and a largely intact villa.  It is called “Villa of the Birds” because of a large mosaic on the floor depicting several species of birds.  Excavations continue at this site today.

Unearthed in 1998 by the Polish Archaeological Mission, the American Research Center in Egypt – in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Polish-Egyptian Preservation Mission, the Polish Center of Archaeology and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities then began work to conserve the mosaics in the Villa of the Birds. The mosaic shows a pigeon, a peacock, a parrot, a quail, and a water hen as well as a panther. It was fascinating to see people working at the site during my visit.

 

 

 

 

 

More water and off to our next stop, the Citadel of Qaitbay.  Situated on the Mediterranean Sea, the Citadel was considered one of the most important defensive strongholds not only for Egypt but all the coast.

It was erected on the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.  The Alexandria Lighthouse is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  An earthquake in the 11th century damaged the lighthouse and only the bottom survived and was used as a watchtower and a small mosque was built on top of it.  An extremely destructive earthquake in the 14th century completely destroyed the lighthouse. Although it is believed that the remains of a Byzantine bath are thought to be built from the remains of the Alexandria Lighthouse.

In 1805 when Mohammed Ali became ruler of Egypt, he completely renovated the Citadel, but in 1882 the British bombarded Alexandria and the Citadel sustained great damage.  It was neglected until 1904 when King Farouk wanted to turn it into a Royal Rest House and ordered it renovated.  The most recent restoration was in 1984.  The Citadel is now one of Alexandria’s most popular tourist attractions with beautiful views of the bay.

By now it is getting to be late afternoon and we still have a 3-hour drive back to Giza.  I am hot, tired, thirsty, and hungry.  One of the great things about being with a private guide, I didn’t have to go to the pre-planned everyone has to eat here type place.  I asked my guide to please take me to a small local place to eat traditional Egyptian food.  I was not disappointed.  I can’t tell you what I ate, but they laid out a feast for me.  Well-fed and hydrated, once in the car I quickly fell asleep to the sounds of Egyptian music.