Kevin's Photoblog

This in another of the old water pumps in the park in front of the Chemistry building.  These are scattered about the city.

This is one of the smaller entrances to the building – not the main entrance.  The lions heads are interesting, and at eye level.

This is the Chemistry building at the Western Pomeranian University of Technology, where I am doing some SEM work.  This is a pre-war German building and thus has a lot of exterior ornamentation.  The interior, which is being refurbished, has high arches hallways and very fancy banisters.

This is the Chemistry building at the Western Pomeranian University of Technology, where I am doing some SEM work.  This is a pre-war German building and thus has a lot of exterior ornamentation.  The interior, which is being refurbished, has high arches hallways and very fancy banisters.

The tram today is very crowded.  I guess my age is starting to show as someone quickly offers their seat to me.  Such behavior is common here as Poles are very polite.  Cars here will readily stop for people to cross the street – we see as well in northern Maine, but Szczecin is a city with a population of 400,000.  Poles when they see a colleague for the first time that day shake hands.  The Polish Dziękuję (thank you) and Prosę (please, or you are welcome) are perhaps the most spoken words in Poland.

I am a little more than midway through the Fulbright and am due for having the teeth cleaned.  An appointment is easily made for the next day – there are long waits in the US – and the cleaning costs 120 Złoty (about $30).  Szczecin has many good dentists, as Germans will commonly come to Poland have less expensive dental work.

I attended a choir honoring the “three wise men” holiday that marks the end of the Christmas season, in the St. Jakub Cathedral, which is the biggest and probably oldest church in Szczecin.  However, you will notice that the brickwork here is very new.  This church was badly damaged during the war.  The acoustics are very good, as is of course a characteristic of all the old churches.

Snow (sneig) has fallen.  This is at the tram station near my apartment.  Not much snow falls here – the locals say there used to be much more.

I am now back in Szczecin, and back to work among my silicoflagellates.  To start off the second half of my Fulbright photo-blog, I have here a very rare silicoflagellate:  perhaps the oldest known double skeleton.  This is Vallacerta hannai, and comes from the Cretaceous of Russia.  The specimen was found by David Harwood, but I was sitting next to him when he found it.

The bus driver who takes me from Berlin back to Szczecin wants a picture of “the brother of Paul McCartney.”  I am not sure if he appreciates that my brother Paul is not the musician, but no matter, we pose for the picture.  I also include a picture of the bus.  The bases are also efficient and surprisingly inexpensive in Poland.  This trip costs 50 Złoty, or about $12.  I have no idea who they can make money at this rate.