Adventures in Poland - 1

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#1: Arrival

Date: 1/8/2004 7:56:00 PM

    My flight to Poland was relatively uneventful, and I arrived everywhere on time. I didn't have to sleep in any airports this time. I was met in Warsaw, so I didn't have to find a hotel, as Lincoln did on his trip. My luggage did not get lost, and there were friendly young men on the train to help me wrestle the heavy bags. And when I got off the train, Pastor Kris was standing there to greet me.
    I remembered the way to the little store down the street from the parsonage, so my first order of business was to get some milk and a few things to eat.
    After leaving Monday morning I hadn't done much more than doze a bit on the overseas flight, so when I finally got to bed Tuesday night, I slept an outrageous sixteen hours. Now, a week later, I am still sleeping more than I did at home, so I guess I'm still catching up. Although the long night may have something to do with it. I would tell you when the sun rises, but I haven't been up that early.
    I have met all my classes and they are delightful. The class sessions are 75 minutes long, and the students are attentive the whole time. When I suggested midway through the first class that we take a break and stretch, they laughed at the idea. So I haven't done that any more.
    I spend a lot of time out walking--mostly to the post office. There are often lines there, and they move slowly, but no one seems to become impatient. The post office is somewhat of a convenience store. In addition to postal services, they sell a variety of items: birthday cards and stationery, plastic dishes for camping, detergent. Along the wall, there are small tables with chairs where you can sit and write or put stamps on your letters or just gather yourself together.
    When I landed in Warsaw, it was overcast and dreary, but they had had no snow--unusual for this time of year. As the train neared Ilawa, there was a dusting of snow on the ground. Snow was falling when I got off the train.
    Since then, it has snowed a good bit, and the temperature has been above freezing only once, for a short time. The roads are kept clear of snow, and most of the sidewalks are covered with sand so walking is fairly easy.
    The lake is now frozen, although there are places where there seems to be only a thin film of ice. Nevertheless, people do not seem to waste any time using the lake as a short-cut. At first, there were only a few lines of footprints where the brave had risked life and limb (to my mind). Now there are many paths as much as three feet wide worn through the snow that covers the ice. Lincoln will be happy to know that I have no intention of venturing out on the ice. That was last year's adventure.
    Those of you who know me well might not recognize me. I wear a sweater much of the time and I have regained the skill of putting on pantyhose. The parsonage is not well insulated, so it is chilly most of the time. When I go out, I am bundled up with heavy coat, muffler, and heavy gloves. It makes me think of my Yankee childhood snow suits.
    I am surprised at how easily I have made the transition from a three bedroom house with a garage to provide storage to one small room and a kitchen I may use. I feel insulated from the world. What little news I do get is from BBC and seems mostly to be about places like India and East Timor. At this point, I don't even know how my beloved Gators did in their bowl game. And worse--it doesn't seem to matter.
    Midday is my main meal of the day. I eat that at the high school dormitory across the street. The food is wonderful. Today they had liver and onions (not my favorite), but they made it great--tender and tasty. When a plate is served, they begin by filling half of it with mashed potatoes. I think Poland must run on mashed potatoes! They are everywhere.
    On the steps outside the parsonage, there is an orange balloon tied to one of the small potted evergreens. The balloon has been there for days and seems not to be affected by the cold. It seems to remain fully inflated and cheerful. It adds a nice splash of color.
    Greetings to all of you from Pastor Kris and his family and congregations.

#2: Settling In 1/2

Date: 1/16/2004 10:14:00 PM

    The orange balloon has vanished. There is no "body" left so I am assuming that it broke loose and went somewhere else. I miss it.
    Wednesday I had my first conversation classes in the High School across the street. I saw two clsses and they were to interview me. The first class went much as I expected--better, in fact. They were able to keep asking questions almost the whole period. One of the most interesting questions was, "Do you remember World War II?" So I shared my childhood memories of scrap drives, collecting tin foil, V-E and V-J Day parades and celebrating, ration stamps and not being able to buy chocolate chips for Toll House cookies.
    The second class was even more fun. The teacher said, "They are your class," and she left. The first question was, "What do you think of Iraq?" That was the heaviest question. They wanted to know if I knew any Polish VIP's. My list was one person long--the District Superintendent of the Methodist Church of Poland. They asked me how I liked Polish food and I asked them what kind of store I should visit to find bath towels. One girl told me exactly where the store was and I went there after class. One of the questions near the end of the class was, "What is the difference between the Catholic and Methodist churches?" These kids don't ask easy questions. But I thoroughly enjoyed it.
    I can already see that I will have to be careful not to over-schedule myself in the high school. I can also see that the 9:00 classes will test my getting-up-early abilities. Without an alarm clock I seem to wake up naturally at 9:00.
    Shops and the dormitory dining hall are all warm so I am learning to leave my sweater at home when I go out. Otherwise I either burn up or have an extra thing to carry when I take the sweater off. People keep their coats on in stores, so I often find myself wishing that I had a fan with me.
    I am learning to recognize the icy patches and avoid them when I am out walking. Today I walked all the way around the small lake. I won't try that with the large lake--I understand it is the longest lake in Poland.
    On Monday Adam's wife came with him. Adam teaches the semester 1, 2, and 3 classes on Monday and Wednesday. His wife speaks English quite well, but at the present she doesn't have much opportunity to use it. When Adam comes home from teaching English all day, he is ready to use his native language. So Ewe (Eve, in English--isn't that cute?--Adam and Eve) asked if she could come sometimes and spend the evening speaking English with me. We had a lovely time talking and playing cards. She plans to visit from time to time. I look forward to it.
    This week I received a wonderful package from Lincoln. The main thing was the adapter for my computer so I could use Polish power. So my computer now works and I can play games, but I still haven't been able to get on the web. That frustrates me because that is what I really want to do. Pastor Kris lets me use his computer to send email but I feel that I must work quickly and don't get to do as much as I would like.
    The package also included the church newsletter which I read cover to cover, a couple of small magazines, and some cards that arrived after I left. I loved every bit of it. He also sent the pistachio nuts that were left behind in the final re-packing of the suitcase. I have such a thoughtful son.
    Yesterday we had a day that can only be described as balmy. In the morning the temperature was up to 55F. Except that there was still ice and snow underfoot, it was like being in Florida. The lake had puddles of water all over it and I noticed that no one was walking on it.
    I find it interesting that many Poles don't like winter and they seem to find it strange that I do.
    Tonight we had a meeting of members of the congregations of Ilawa and Siemiany. There were fourteen people there from the churches, as well as the pastor and his two daughters, and two people from my 7th semester class who acted as interpreters for me. It was a great meeting. They all want me to come visit them. And they are excited about communicating with our church in Crestview.

#3: Settling In 2/2

Date: 1/24/2004 8:56:00 PM

    It had been snowing quite a bit. It seems to come down so gently that I am surprised at how quickly it accumulates on the ground. There is now about a foot of it in the yards and parks. Some of the sidewalks have so much sand on them that it is like walking on a beach.
    I also understand why so many Polish women have short, straight or long, straight hair styles. I have seen no fancy hair-dos. And no wonder! At this time of year you have terminal hat-hair. Everytime you go out, you have something on your head. Hats all are close-fitting, whether knit or felt. There is no point to a hair style that does not simply shake out or respond to running your fingers through it.
    Some of the snow flakes are so large that if you accidently inhale one, you feel that you might suffocate. It is also strange to realize that the muffler across your nose and mouth has become wet with the condensation from your breathing. And I wish my nose wouldn't run when it gets cold.
    Yesterday I had a nice, long, two-hour walk. I hadn't intended to walk that long, but I wasn't exactly where I thought I was. I won't say I was lost because I had a vague idea where I was--VERY vague! Fortunately I had my handy-dandy Ilawa map that I had secured shortly after arriving here. Eventually I came upon a street sign that I could find on the map and then I could figure out where I REALLY was and how to get to where I meant to be. Once there I found it was really easy (and short) to get back to the parsonage. It's a lot simpler than I had made it, but I had seen some interesting things--like a pizza parlor and the police station. Actually, it was a very nice walk.
    The calendar says the days should be getting longer, but it is still dark by 4:30 in the afternoon. The sun seems to make an arc across the southern sky, just above the distant treetops. It never seems to get higher than about 35-40 degrees above the horizon.
    I am doing quite well in the stores with a combination of writing down words from my Polish-English dictionary (no one seems to understand me when I try to pronounce them) or pointing. I do much better with numbers.
    In church, if I can find the hymn, I can read the Polish passably well. Last Sunday three of the hymns were familiar tunes. That makes me feel at home. Pastor Kris gives me a list of the scripture readings before the service so I have an idea of what his sermon is about.
    As I wrote this I was taking advantage of one of the warmest spots on my floor. It is in the other guest room. There is one inner wall in that room that gets heat from the furnace and it is lovely to sit with your back to that wall. This room is larger than mine. The iron and ironing board are kept in here along with the drying rack. (I have a washer, but everything is air dried.) There is also a wardrobe in this room where I store my luggage and my hanging clothes. (As I type this, I am wrapped up in a throw that I brought from home. And that is on top of a sweater. I know you won't believe it, but Marion is cold.)
    Blessings from Poland and greetings from the people here.

#4: Welcome To November

Date: 2/7/2004 5:47:00 PM

5 February 2004
    February dawned with above freezing temperatures and they have remained that way. It has been raining from time to time--mostly at night. The only snow that remains is where it had been piled. All the rest has melted. The ice on the lakes is covered with a sheet of water and in places near the shore it has broken up or melted so there are places for the ducks and swans to swim. Most of the time, though, the birds walk around on the ice. I have only seen a few fool-hardy souls on the ice this week.
    The sidewalks have been swept clear of sand and there have been trucks out with crews mending some of the potholes in the streets.
    Today I bought Valentines. I will have my classes translate them for me. Then I will see how well I did picking out appropriate ones.

7 February 2004
    I did well on half of the Valentines. Four of them were Polish puns--impossible to translate into English with the same humorous meaning. Still, they do have cute pictures. It cost more to mail them than it did to purchase them.
    My news still comes from BBC which has been running a series on Cricket. I missed most of it so I still don't understand cricket. Their focus on American news this week seemed to be Janet Jackson's performance at the Super Bowl and on the Super Bowl commercials. As a sort of side light they did tell the winner. I did hear about the subway explosion in Moscow.
    The next two weeks are going to be very busy. Next week is the last week of our semester. The students have an essay due and their final tests. The teacher has to grade them all and average grades.
    Then we have a two week break that coincides with the public school break. I will be spending the first week in the Hamburg area of Germany, where I have cousins. I am looking forward to seeing again the ones I know and meeting others that I have only heard about. There is an overnight bus that goes from eastern Poland, through Ilawa and across northern Germany to Hamburg.
    The time is flying by and I am not sure where it is going.
    I received my home church newsletter this week. It was exciting to see that a new UMW circle is being formed. We will miss Chera and Philip leading the children and youth programs, but I wish them well in their new positions. And my word for Dr. Wright is, "You're going to love retirement. It's great!"
    A famous Polish troupe of folk singers and dancers will be in Ilawa for a performance in the middle of March. General admission tickets go on sale the first of March. I hope I will be able to get a ticket. I would like very much to be able to see them.
    What I learned today: When you take mail to the post office in a woven shopping bag and it is raining, put the letters in a plastic bag. Otherwise the rain goes through the shopping bag and the letters get wet. (This is the voice of experience speaking.)
    One of the physical education teachers at the high school decided last week that I needed to learn to ice skate. He had flooded the outside basketball court to make an ice rink. So on January 30 I had my first ice skating lesson. I managed to stay on my feet the whole time--sometimes only because he was holding my hand, but at other times by myself. But I was doing fairly well, all things considered. As we were going back to the building, I did fall--but into nice thick snow so it didn't hurt a bit. However, that may have been my last lesson because by last Monday the rink was a big puddle. Now, a week later, it looks like a basketball court again.
    I have read most of the books I brought with me, but I have found a new source of reading material. Last summer the English department at the high school received a grant that they used, in part, to set up a small library. Many of the books were donated and they have a number of shelves of American novels. I've already borrowed and devoured a Mary Clark Higgins book of short mysteries.
    One of the first semester teachers, Dorota, took me for tea at her home and on the way she showed me some good places to shop. One was a store with a lady bug on it. It is a sort of discount store. In order to get a cart we had to unlock it by depositing a zloty into a red box on the cart. That struck me as quite a money maker for the store. Dorota says that she doesn't buy meat or vegetables at this store, but it is a good place to buy staple goods. I bought some tea which I needed and a box of tissues. The latter turned out to be fun. When I opened them I found that they are alternately orange and (no, not blue) yellow. I had bought another brand earlier and they turned out to be alternately pink and white. I like the orange and yellow better. Not only are they prettier, but they are sturdier, even though the name, Delikatne, suggests they are delicate. As we left the store I found out that when you put your cart back into the locked position, you get your zloty back. It is just a deposit. Poles must think differently that Americans. I can see an American taking the cart, red box, zloty and all. But it seems to work in Poland.
    I am having fun sampling different Polish sausages. I go to the nearby store and ask the lady what is good. She makes some suggestion, I pick one and go home to enjoy it. Everything she has suggested has been good. One kind that I bought somewhere else I didn't care for. What made it look so good in the package turned out to be a colored plastic wrap. Underneath the wrap it was kind of white and blah. (Sorry, there's no other way to describe it.)
    This afternoon I accompanied the Kopacz family on a visit to a family in the Siemiany congregation. They served us a meal of potato pancakes. They were cooked on a wood-burning stove which heated the whole house. The warmth of their welcome was even greater than the warmth of the house. After the meal the pastor's daughters went to another room to watch television while the adults lingered over coffee and cookies and talked. It was a very nice afternoon.

#5: Vacation Time

Date: 2/24/2004 1:28:00 PM

    The semester is over, but not quite. There are students who have been ill who still must take tests and turn in essays so there are still loose ends to be tied up.
    The schools are now in the midst of a two-week winter break so we are, also. I spent the first week of the break in Germany visiting relatives in the Hamburg area.
    There is an overnight bus that goes from the northeast part of Poland westward through a number of small cities, including Ilawa, to the German border, straight to Hamburg and then north through several towns almost to the Danish border. The route is then reversed back to eastern Poland. There is a bus running each direction every day. The price is reasonable and there is even a 10% senior discount. The bus was about half full so most people had a double seat to themselves. That does not, however, mean that it was comfortable sleeping. The bus was equiped with a VCR and television sets--one in the front and one midway back--and they showed movies until about midnight. The films shown were all American but overdubbed in Polish, all in the same voice, so that you could only dimly hear the English underneath. Four of the five movies were ones I had seen so I could follow them pretty well: Gladiator, What Women Want, The Patriot, Philadelphia. The fifth one seemed to have been started after the credits so I don't know what it was and I had not seen it. It was a period piece that seemed to take place in Africa around the turn of the last century and had something to do with building a railroad. It had Michael Douglas with long hair playing a supporting role. The main story line seemed to be to kill an elusive, man-eating lion who kept killing the workers. The book I was reading was better than the movie.
    I spent three days in the small town of Tating near the North Sea. This area is north of Hamburg and in the past was part of Denmark. Even Hamburg has a Danish flavor to it. I walked on the beach at St. Peter-Ording to the water of the North Sea. It was low tide and at that time the beach is at least a half mile from high tide mark to the water's edge.
    We saw the flood control system at the mouth of the Eider River which is so massive there is a tunnel running through it that carries two lanes of traffic and shortens the drive from north to south. I also saw the canal that connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea making that journey quicker and much safer. Actually, the first time we crossed the canal the fog was so thick you could barely see the edge of the road and the canal may as well not have been there. The second time the day was clear and you could see all up and down the canal.
    The next three days I spent with other cousins who live about 20 km. north of Hamburg. We spent one day touring Hamburg and another day touring a marvelous shopping mall that had three levels and a food court you wouldn't believe.
    Germany takes recycling seriously. All trash is separated. It is not allowed to put food down the drains. (My Cousin Michael speculated that maybe that was so as not to feed the sewer rats. Who knows?) The toilets flush differently, too. They have start and stop. I think that is to keep from wasting water. However, the water quickly becomes foamy and you can't tell when everything has been flushed away.
    There, as in Poland, the midday meal is usually the big meal of the day.
    There, also as in Poland, shoping carts are locked together. To unlock takes one Euro (about four times as much as a zloty) but you get it back when you lock your cart back into place. I did find out that the reason for this gadgetry is to keep the carts from being left all over the parking lot. To get your money back you must put the cart back into the corral.
    Back in Ilawa life seems pretty calm and winter seems to be vanishing. Today it snowed briefly, but it melted as soon as it hit the ground. I have caught up on my laundry, my letter writing, and my sleep. I have also begun planning for the next semester. After putting it all down on paper I find that the semester will not be as rushed as I had feared it might be. That is good.
    While I was in Germany all sorts of things have happened at home. My son has become a land owner, my brother-in-law has had 5-bypass surgery, and Lincoln is coming to Poland at the end of March. If I'm not on line by the time he gets here, he will be able to accomplish that for me. Halleluia!

#6: Back At Work

Date: 3/6/2004 8:52:00 PM

    The first week of the new semester is over and I'm only behind schedule in half of my classes. Two groups didn't have their new books the first day of class so I did listening activities. It was okay, but not the way I had planned it. Now everyone has books and things are going more smoothly.
    Dorota, one of the first semester teachers, keeps asking me if I'm not lonely. I think she finds it hard to believe that I'm not. That's not to say there aren't things I miss. For instance, being able to pop over to Tallahassee to help my sister while my brother-in-law recovers from heart surgery. All I can do is offer flippant advice by e-mail--advice designed more to amuse than be helpful. And it is humbling to realize that my sons are able to work together to solve their various problems. But it is comforting at the same time. The humbling part is to remember that I am not indispensible. Life goes on without me and, while I may be missed, I am not essential. I don't think anything vital will go undone because I am not there. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be anyone available to do what I am doing here. It makes me think of Jeremiah 29 where the Lord says, "For I know the plans I have for you . .. ."
    Dorota and I and Julia, the pastor's ten-year-old daughter, are going to see a world-famous Polish folk troupe this coming Friday. They are performing here in Ilawa and I am really looking forward to seeing them. Dorota saw them as a child and is eager to see them again.
    This is the second sunny, blue-skies day in a row. The snow is melting and it is not quite as cold out. It was very pleasant walking today.
    This afternoon I began English lessons with the pastor and his family. He said it was his wife's idea--I'm not quite so sure about that. The lesson went very well. Zofia picks up the pronunciation quickly. And I now have Kris saying "guest" without pronouncing the u. I am learning a little Polish in the process. The Polish word for castle is also the Polish word for lock and for zipper.
    I have begun a once-a-week conversation class with one of Adam's third semester students. From her I have learned about the Polish time change. They have Winter Time and Summer Time. The time changes on the Sundays following the equinoxes in March and September rather than the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October as we do in the United States.
    I have been busy lately organizing all the scraps of paper in my Bible that have sermon notes on them into some orderly fashion. I purchased a notebook at the bookstore across the street from the post office. The nice lady in there probably thinks, "Here's that crazy American again," but she always smiles and tries really hard to help me. I buy many of my greeting cards there, too.
    I missed my walk on Monday, but I got the exercise anyway--mopping the bathroom floor. On Sunday, 29 February, the service at our church was taped for broadcast over Polish radio this coming Sunday. In preparation, everything was cleaned, scrubbed, polished, waxed, or decorated. Both the Ilawa and Siemiany congregations were here for the occasion. After the service there was coffee, tea, and goodies in the classroom. On Monday after I ran a load of washing, I was greeted by a bathroom full of water. Evidently in moving the washer to clean for Sunday the discharge hose was pulled loose a bit and much of the emptying water was emptying onto the floor. I'm glad it wasn't a top-loading machine. That probably would have flooded the entire second floor! Today when I did a load of washing we discovered that the problem was not completely solved, but we caught it in action and were able to make sure that the problem was, indeed, no longer a problem. And Wiki learned a new word: problem.
    The days are growing longer now. It is nice to have the sky still light at 5:30 instead of an hour into total darkness as it was when I first came. And I have seen my second Polish sunrise. A week ago Kris had a meeting in Warsaw and I went with him. We left Ilawa at 6:30 so I was wide awake at 7:00 when the sun came up. While Kris was in his meeting I had tea with the District Superintendent and we had a very nice visit for about an hour. Then I read a book while I waited for Kris to finish. On the way home we stopped for lunch at (No, not McDonald's) KFC. It was a little spicier than at home, but it tasted good.

#7: Spring, Perhaps?

Date: 3/10/2004 9:31:00 PM

    As I was out walking today, because it was windy I was trying to bring to mind the old saying (probably Yankee because Florida never seems to work that way) "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." But what popped into my mind was "The March wind doth blow and we shall have snow." It's a beautiful sunny day and most of the snow has melted. However, I noticed that there are people who still have faith in the lake ice--there is a fresh path worn across to the other side. The footbridge has been swept clean and you can see little places here and there where the boards have been broken through. I remembered the spring picture Lincoln had taken of the statue in the park in front of the parsonage and the one taken an hour later where everything was blanketed in snow.
    Monday, March 8th, was Women's Day in Poland. There were flowers and chocolates everywhere. One of the English teachers at the high school told me about it. It seems to have been a Soviet holiday. (It made me think of the May Day parades of arms and armies when she said that, but Women's Day is nothing like that.) Traditionally each woman received one flower--always a carnation--and tights, which were not usually available in the stores. She said that under the Communists women came to look on the holiday as a bit of an insult. Now they celebrate it because they like to celebrate and they look on it as a bit of fun. The men , including male students, give single flowers and/or candy to the women and girls. The German teacher was given a big chocolate candy bar by her students, but she felt it was more of a bribe to avoid a test than a gift for the day. Among all the flowers given and the ones I saw at the florist, there was not one carnation. What I saw were roses and tulips. The men in Adam's first class gave me a rose. It is a beautiful dark red, long stemed rose and it is on the desk in my room in a very glamorous Pepsi® bottle.
    As I walk around town I notice the trunks of trees that have been cut down. They don't cut them off at the ground. They leave anywhere from 3 or 4 feet of trunk to 10 or 12 feet. Then they carve these trunks into statues. I think it is a neat idea.
    Today and tomorrow I am assigning the first round of essays for this semester. Today's class was not thrilled. They will have to think--it is a tough topic. I put them on a deserted island and they were to tell me what three things they would take with them and why. (I also told them that they couldn't take a suitcase full of stuff and call it one item.) One student asked me where the island was. She wanted to know if it was in a lake or ocean because she wondered about drinking water. So I told them they could assume that there was fresh water on the island. I look forward to seeing what they think is important to have with them.

#8: This And That

Date: 3/13/2004 11:29:00 AM

    Today is the birthday of the Girl Scouts of America. (Just a bit of trivia from my childhood.)
    One of the things I have noticed during my walks is that there always seem to be school-aged children out and about at times when I thought they should be in class. I mentioned this to one of the English teachers at the high school. She told me that due to space constraints most of the schools in Ilawa are on double sessions. She went on to say that the high school was fortunate in that they did not have to use double sessions.
    The high school day begins at 8:00 in the morning and runs until 2:40. There is no lunch break and no food service. However, there are a couple of fifteen-minute long breaks between mid-morning classes when students (and teachers) can eat their "second breakfast"--sandwiches or other food brought from home. They eat lunch after school at home or at the dormitory in the case of the students who live too far out to commute.
    The teaching week is much shorter than in the United States--30 hours, or less in some cases. So it seems as if the teachers are on flex time. Some teachers are there only four days a week; some come in later in the morning; some leave early. It all depends on their schedule and the schedlues seem to be different depending on the day of the week. If a teacher is absent and her class cannot be easily covered, the students are released. They call it a "window"--free time to study or whatever.
    Unfortunately, there are students who smoke. Even in the dead of winter you can tell when there is a break between classes because there will be small groups of students who cross the street for a smoke in the park.
    My map of Ilawa shows a picture, numbered 9 in the list of "places worth viewing," of a small carved wooden statue of a woman in native costume with a background of grass. So, picturing a field full of these little statues, I went looking for the place on the map with #9. As with most of my explorations I seemed to be not quite where I thought I was and I was happy to have the map at hand. I never fournd what I thought I was looking for. I did find a house with three impressive carved and painted pieces in the yard and a sign that, even though I couldn't read it, seemed to convey the idea that you could purchase such items inside.
    My walk was not a total loss. I saw a whole neighborhood full of nice little houses. Many were two family houses. You could tell because there would be a line down the front of the house where one side was one color, the other side a different color. And often a fence would go up to the line of demarcation dividing the yard, too. In Poland, even with the flats (apartments), people own rather than rent their living quarters. To them, renting seems like throwing money away.
    I also found something that looked like a prison. Actually, all I could see was a very high wall with small glassed-in rooms perched atop the wall at various points. When I arrived home, Pastor Kris confirmed that it was a prison. He also said that he thought my "place worth visiting" was the house of the artist who does sculptures out of wood. In the spring he has exhibits of his work outdoors in the area around City Hall. He is also the one who turns the tree trunks into statues.
    Yesterday there was an interesting group eating in the dining room at the dormitory. One of the group was the principal of the high school who looked like I imagine I look in a group of people speaking Polish--attentive, but having no clue what is going on, because he speaks no English and most of the conversation was in English. There were two men who were teachers from the Netherlands and three of the English students from the school. They were exploring the idea of exchange students involving our high school and their school in a sister-city in the Netherlands. I wish I had asked the one man where he had studied English because he sounded very American.
    Tonight we saw the Polish folk troupe and they were marvelous! The costumes were elaborate and every dance, every song had a costume change. It must take two 18-wheelers just to haul the wardrobe. The singing was exquisite and the dancing was amazing. I loved every moment of it. The program went without break for an hour and a half and the audience often clapped along with the rhythm. There were parts where the beat of the music just told your hands to move.
    When we had entered the building there was a large area in which you could check your wraps. The process went very quickly...until the show was over and everyone wanted to reclaim their coats at the same time. Most of the crowd was gone when we finally got ours. But the night was pleasant and the walk home was very nice.

#9: Sweater Weather

Date: 3/17/2004 10:38:00 PM

    Happy Saint Patrick's Day. This is not a day that is celebrated in Poland. My students had heard about it from Mary, my predecessor, so they already knew about the parades in New York and turning the river green in San Antonio.
    On Sunday afternoon there was an ecumenical service in the nearby village of Lawice. It was presided over by the Catholic priest and Pastor Kris. Pastor Kris delivered the sermon which was well received. The day was dreary and rainy and I hoped that wouldn't keep people away. I needn't have worried. When we entered the church (which reminded me of the cafetoriums in the schools of my youth--a large multipurpose room with a large stage at one end) there was standing room only, and plenty of people stand ing. The music was provided by the community choir of Ilawa. They were wonderful. In the group I recognized a couple of Adam's students and the high school principal.
    I was expecting a famous man to speak, but he never did. After the service we went across the street to the elementary school while they converted the church into a fellowship hall. Inside, the school looked like a museum. There were pictures of the famous man, Emil von Behring, done by students and other memorabilia including newspaper clippings proclaiming a Nobel award for victory over diphtheria and tetanus. It finally dawned on me that this man had not spoken because he was dead. Actually what we were celebrating was his birth 150 years ago in this village. The school had been named for him and that may have been the only reason it was still open. It has only 30 students in three classes. Most schools this size have been closed because they are not cost-effective. Von Behring's father had taught in this school.
    After looking at all the exhibits and signing the guest book, we returned to the church for cakes and fruit, tea and coffee. While we were enjoying the goodies, Pastor Kris met a woman from New York and brought her over to me. We visited together for quite a while. She and her twin sister live in Queens with their husbands. A few years ago their parents were visiting them from Ilawa when they became ill. Since the malady turned out to be Alzheimer's, they have not returned to Poland; the daughters are caring for them in the States. We commented on the fact that it is a small world.
    The world became even smaller the next day. As I set out for the post office, we ran into each other on the street. We stood there and talked for several minutes. She will be returning to the States this Friday. I enjoyed talking with her.
    On the way to Lawice on Sunday we passed a supermarket. It was only a block away from the open air market that I had visited. So yesterday I went exploring and I actually knew how to get there and where I was when I arrived. I got a cart and went up and down the aisles just savoring all the choices. Occassionally I would see something I wanted or needed and put it in the cart. I kept an eye on my purchases to be sure they would all fit into the two tote bags I had brought.
    There was a whole aisle with both sides full of coffees. (Tea only rated one side of an aisle.) When I got near the back of the store I found a huge section for sodas and beer. The meat and cheese section was every bit as large as the drinks section. But suddenly I was in a section that was not food and I felt as though I had been transported to WalMart or Sam's Club. They had everything from clothes to power tools.
    My purchases fit almost exactly into my bags. Then I realized that even little things have weight and I was glad I had not bought any big things. As it was, my fingers were nearly numb by the time I arrived home. The pastor offered to let me go with them when they drive there in the future--I think I will take him up on that.
    Today I left my coat at home and walked to town wearing a sweater. I carried a second sweater in my bag, just in case, but it wasn't necessary. The weather is beautiful. People are out raking leaves off the grass. The city workers are taking the evergreen boughs off the rose bushes. It seems that everyone thinks spring is here.

#10: Carpe Diem

Date: 3/22/2004 12:39:00 PM

    Slowly but surely I am learning to seize the day. In the stores I have seen things and thought, "Oh, good, I'll know where to find that when I want it," only to find that when I wanted it, they no longer had it. The shops do not stock large quantities of anything. I had found pistachio nuts that way. When I was ready to buy some, the store no longer had them on the shelf. The other day they were back on the shelf, but when I picked them up and saw the price I decided I no longer needed nor wanted them. While most of the food here is very reasonable, there are some things that are very dear. Brown sugar is another item like that. It costs ten or twelve times what white sugar costs. A kilo of white sugar (roughly 2.2 pounds) costs around 75 cents, USD.
    Mandarin oranges have been in abundance the whole time I have been in Poland and I have eaten many, many of them. Prior to my stay here I had only seen Mandarin oranges in cans. They really do come another way. But I can tell by the quality recently that they must be nearing the end of their season. The Clementyne season seems to be over--any that I find are all mushy. I found an avacado at Kaufland. The sticker says it is from Israel. I am waiting for it to fully ripen.
    By the way, one of the exercises for the semester eight class had them list five places in this area where they would take a guest to Ilawa. Number one on everyone's list was Kaufland--the supermarket where I had such fun. All the members of that class are women--that may have had something to do with it.
    Sunday was the first day of spring. The students in Poland celebrated that fact on the Friday preceeding. They did no school work but had spring-celebrating activities all day long.
    March is not becoming a lamb as it wanes. In fact, it is no longer a lion, either. I think raging bull would characterize it more truthfully. Saturday night there was a ferocious wind storm. (Or so they tell me--I slept through it, as I have been known to do with hurricanes and tornadoes.) But the next morning I could see the results. At some point when someone went out the parsonage door, the wind had grabbed the door and in the process had ripped the door-closing device out of the wall taking a chun k of plaster with it. Across the street in the park a huge lower branch of one tree had been torn off and laid on the ground near the statue of a famous Polish writer, leaving a ragged scar on the tree trunk. The heavy winds came and went throughout the day.
    Last night Dorota and I went out to dinner at a restaurant called Yellow, perhaps because of the color of the building. It faces the small lake and the walls are large windows on the lake side. We sat by the window and enjoyed the changing day. During our meal there was a downpour. It didn't last very long and it left the windows clean. After that there was a very nice sunset and a twilight sky so blue it reminded me of the western Caribbean seas around the islands I visited in November.
    The meal was excellent. I had Chicken cordon bleu (although it had a Polish name) and Dorota had fish. She gave me some of her fish; I gave her some of my chicken. Both were very good. After the entree we sipped tea and watched life on the lake. The swans were gliding around in large numbers. Dorota said that she did not like swans, that they were ill-tempered and known to attack other creatures such as humans. At no time were we rushed by the staff. After letting dinner settle a bit we ordered ice cream--the house specialty which was called YELLOW. It was much like a peach (rather than banana) split served in a deep ice cream dish. It had three or four scoops of different ice creams crowned with whipped topping and drizzled with a red syrup with a long rolled confection stuck in the top looking like a huge straw. One scoop was butter pecan, two were pink, and hidden in the bottom was some chocolate. It was delicious. There were few people in the restaurant. Evidently most of the dining out is d one on Friday and Saturday. The atmosphere as pleasant with quiet music playing and colorful butterflies hanging from the cirling. On the walls were pictures done by local school children--very good pictures. Art and music are still an important part of the curriculum in Poland.
    Only four more days before Lincoln and Robert arrive. I am looking forward to hugs from home folk.

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