Easter Prep

We are excited to welcome people into our new home and create some new traditions since we are here without family.  So, we decided to have a few friends over for Easter Dinner on Sunday.  This week we have been prepping and planning for our guests.  It has been quite an interesting undertaking.  First, was the issue of finding a ham.  The Poles do not eat ham for easter like we traditionally do in the states.  Therefore, to get a traditional American ham we had to order it from a local butcher that a number of expats use.  We were a little nervous that we would get a ham like we were expecting but we wound up with a perfect American style ham.  Finding all of the other Easter dinner ingredients was also a bit of a challenge.  It took trips to 3 different grocery stores.  Brown sugar was the hardest item to track down.  It is not a common item here in Poland.  The grocery shopping itself took longer than usual trying to figure out what everything was in Polish.  For example, the letter "k" is the only difference for the word heavy whipping cream versus the word sour cream in Polish.  But, in the end we have everything we need and are looking forward to our guests!

Since Poland is 99% Catholic, Easter weekend is a VERY big deal here!  A lot of people were off today, Friday, and everyone is also off on Easter Monday.  We are looking forward to experiencing our first Easter traditions in Poland.  More to come after the weekend.  Happy Easter to everyone.  Enjoy the weekend with your family and friends!

The Roads of Poland

The one thing that the Poles LOVE to complain about over here are the roads.  And, although we haven't actually driven on them yet it seems that these complaints are definitely warranted. During the years of communism most people in Poland could not afford a car.  Therefore, once communist ended and people started making more money there was a HUGE influx of cars on the roads of Poland.  This coupled with the fact that the roads were not maintained or worked on regularly under the communist years has led to some pretty bad roads throughout the country.  Poland is working to repair these roads but there are simply so many roads that need work that it is going to take years.  Since Poland is one of the host countries for the 2012 Euro Cup soccer tournament the government has started putting significant funding towards fixing the roads for all of the guests that will be here for the tournament.

Tom came across this situation near his office today.  A result of a big pothole in the road.

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has spring in Warsaw and we could not be happier!  The sun is shining, the weather has been in the mid-60's and the parks are beautiful as everything begins to bloom.  We feel quite terrible for our friends back in Chicago that are experiencing snow right now.  : (  But, we spent the weekend thoroughly enjoying the weather.  

Saturday we went on a walking tour organized through a womens expat group that I have joined.  They hold monthly walking tours that highlight different areas of the city.  Our tour covered the perimeter of the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw.  Of course, the entire area was destroyed during WWII so nothing looks the same, but it was still fascinating to hear about the 400,000 Jewish Poles who lived in this ghetto until their extermination at Treblinka. Quite a sobering walk to say the least....

After the walking tour we needed something more upbeat so we headed out to the Warsaw Eagles football game.  Yes, you read that right....football...the true American kind, not soccer disguised by another name.  There is a european club American Football league that is becoming pretty popular over here.  We saw the Warsaw Eagles defeat the Bialystock (city in Northern Poland) Lowlanders 54-0.  The game reminded Tom and me of a high school football game.....complete with marching band and dance team.  We had to laugh when we saw that the concession stand was serving "American Hamburgers" (how they read on the menu).  We had a fun time at the game and Tom really enjoyed getting back into the football spirit.  The Warsaw Eagles season just started, so I am sure we will head to another game or two before it ends.  And, the best part, tickets were only 10pln a piece, the equivalent of about $3.

The Marching Band playing at halftime

Sunday we went to Church for Palm Sunday.  We have been attending mass at the only English speaking church here in Warsaw.  It's quite a nice community of expats and its nice taking time out of our week to reflect on and practice gratitude for our experiences here.  The palms for Palm Sunday that most folks are used to in the U.S. don't exist here.  But, I guess palm trees aren't that abundant in Poland either.  The palms in Poland are colorful reeds/pussy willow branches bundled together featuring small flowers (real or ones made from crepe paper). And, we were fortunate that our friend Vicky told us in advance that in Poland its B.Y.O.P. (bring your own palm).  Luckily, the week leading up to Palm Sunday palms could be purchased from street vendors on pretty much every major street....so we were in good shape.

Typical Polish Palms for Easter Sunday

After church we headed to Moktowskie Park with our friends who live across the street.  They have a goldendoodle puppy named Mia.  Mia and Charlie have become fast friends.  Mokotowskie Park is a huge park on the south side of the city.  It was great to spend the afternoon there enjoying the weather, people watching and letting Charlie play with Mia and all of the other dogs there.  It was a great afternoon!

Mokotowskie Park in Warsaw

In other news, Polish class must be making some sort of impact.  I was able to order a taxi this weekend 100% in Polish.  And even understood the dispatchers questions and was able to answer him in Polish.  It feels good to be making progress, even if it is small.