Awesome Thing About Living in Europe # 8

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe #8:  The Ability to Travel around Europe Quickly and Easily

When we decided to make the move to Warsaw one of the things we were most excited about is the possibility to travel to so many places throughout Europe so easily!  We have a huge list of places we'd like to get to in the time we are here.  Not sure we will make it to all of them. But, we are super grateful for the ones that we are able to get to.  So, since Tom and I celebrate birthday's only 11 days apart we decided what better way to celebrate than to hit one of the places on "the list".  So, we are off on an adventure - a short two and a half hour flight from Warsaw!  Can't wait to share it with you when we are back.  xoxo

Our Easter Weekend - Part II

Our Easter weekend continued with a great day on Sunday!  We woke up and went to the only English speaking mass here in Warsaw.  We are super fortunate that to get to this church we have a great walk from our house and through the historic Old Town area.  After church, we prepped and cooked as we waited for our guests to arrive. Everything came together really well and it was so nice to welcome people into our new home here.  Our dinner guests were mainly expats from all over the world that we have met here.  It's funny how the expat community bonds fairly quickly since everyone is "in the same boat" and is eager to help each other out.  We had our traditional American style Easter ham...which was delicious!  And, we enjoyed great food and great company late into the evening. Our celebration was not traditionally Polish though.  On Easter Sunday most Poles go to mass at 6:00 am and then celebrate with family over brunch.  The brunch meal features traditional Polish sour soup with sausage, called Zurek.  And, it is also customary to serve a number of different fish dishes.  Tom prefers the American menu for Easter.      : )

Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures from our Easter dinner celebration...guess we were too busy having fun to take pictures!

Tom was off of work on Monday for Easter Monday.  It was great to have a day to clean up, recover and relax.  The weather here was in the low 70's so we took Charlie on a long walk in the park.  We were also hoping to see signs of another Polish tradition on Monday, called Smigus Dyngus, but we never came across it.  Maybe it happens in the more neighborhood type areas?  

Smigus Dyngus – that’s another name for Easter Monday in Poland as. It’s a day for water fights! In the past, it was intended for young men to sprinkle water at young ladies as a display of affection. The ladies who got soaked were believed to have the highest chances of tying the knot soon.

Today, it has taken a more carefree dimension. Anyone is a target, including those slumbering in bed. Kids band together in groups, armed with buckets and water pistols, making sure that no one slips away dry. The older generation maintains the tradition by spraying one another with cologne water

Our Easter Weekend - Part I

This past weekend we celebrated our first Easter in Poland and it was quite the experience.  On Saturday, we were invited to our friend's, Lech and Sheila's, for easter basket making.  This is a very traditional custom here in Poland.  At Lech and Sheila's we dyed easter eggs with dye made from various vegetables and flowers (onion, hibiscus, etc.)  Then we put the eggs into our easter baskets along with various food items that were being served at the easter meal on Sunday. Don't worry, we decided against bringing the 10 pound ham!  The Easter basket is similar to a Jewish seder plate in that the various items in the basket are representative of various parts of the Easter story.  Here's a list of some of the traditional Easter basket items:

• Maslo (Butter) - This dairy product is often shaped into a lamb (Baranek Wielkanocny) or a cross. This reminds us of the good will of Christ that we should have towards all things.
• Babka (Easter Bread) - A round or long loaf topped with a cross or a fish, symbolic of Jesus, who is the Bread of Life.
• Chrzan (Horseradish) - Symbolic of the Passion of Christ still in our minds.
• Jajka (Eggs) and Pisanki (decorated with symbols of Easter, of life, of prosperity) - Indicates new life and Christ's Resurrection from the tomb.
• Kielbasa (Sausage) - A sausage product, symbolic of God's favor and generosity.
• Szynka (Ham) - Symbolic of great joy and abundance. Some prefer lamb or veal. The lamb also reminds Christians that the Risen Christ is the "Lamb of God."
• Slonina (Smoked Bacon) - A symbol of the overabundance of God's mercy and generosity.
• Sol (Salt) - A necessary element in our physical life. Symbolic of prosperity and justice and to remind us that people are the flavor of the earth.
• Ser (Cheese) - Symbolic of the moderation Christians should have at all times.
• Candle - Represents Christ as the Light of the World.
• Colorful Ribbons and Sprigs of Greenery - are attached to the basket as signs of joy and new life in the season of spring and in celebration of the Resurrection

Once the baskets were assembled we walked to the local church in the neighborhood to have our baskets blessed.  There was a huge crowd of people at the church and we waited our turn to bring our baskets to a table and have the priest bless them in a 15 minute ceremony.  And, the people kept coming as we were leaving.  Apparently, the priests bless baskets all day - from morning to sundown on Easter Saturday.  It was really neat to witness and take part in this Polish tradition!  Later in the day, as we were in other parts of the city, we saw tons of people carrying their Easter baskets and saw basket blessings happening in front of every church we passed.

Our homemade dyes for eggs

Tom adding his wax design onto his egg

Some of our finished eggs

Prepping our baskets

Our favorite basket -- see the special item in there being blessed for a dip for Easter Sunday dinner

Part of the Easter Saturday group

The entrance to the outside of the church for basket blessing

The baskets on the table ready to be blessed

The Blessing

The crowd at the Church

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe # 7

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe #7:  Watching the Royal Wedding after sleeping in!

Since 99% of the time we don't like the 7 hour time difference between Warsaw and Chicago we will happily celebrate it this coming Friday when it will allow Sarah to watch the Royal Wedding at a normal hour after a restful night of sleep!  Looking forward to watching the pomp and circumstance and the making of a princess!

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.