Wilkommen in Polska: Life is What Happens... While You're Busy Making Other Plans

It's hard to believe that it's been about two months since my last post. It's not that there hasn't been anything going on (we went to a First Communion celebration, we traveled to Szczecin, we found a new place to live), it's just that life has been incredibly busy (planning for the Blessing and Honeymoon in England/Scotland, working two jobs, applying for a Masters program).  Hopefully this post will give a full update of what's been going on.

Back in May, we were invited by one of my students to celebrate his First Communion, and the plan was to meet him and his family at the church. However, we underestimated how big First Communion is here in Poland. In simple words, it's a huge deal. The only time I've seen so many people in a church is on Easter Sunday in the Bible Belt. It was standing room only, and the nearest parking was probably a quarter mile away. Seeing as I was wearing rather high heels, we decided to just go to the after party.

There were about forty people at the house to celebrate: all of the brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and, of course, grandma. We were informed that this was a typical Polish gathering. For holidays and birthdays the entire family always comes together to celebrate. It's actually pretty touching to see the importance of family in Polish culture. And it wouldn't be a Polish celebration without the food....LOTS of food. There was the first starter of soup, and another starter of something else. Then, there was a choice of chicken, beef or pork (or all three!) for the main dish. Then there were also some different cakes and pastries, and finally there were delicious strawberries. We were able to take home some amazing desserts!

In June, we went to a city called Szczecin, which is pronounced like "Shchechin". Szczecin has one of the largest ports in Poland, but it's still developing. A random point of interest in Szczecin is an Indian restaurant owned by a former Miss India, called Bombay. It was delicious and the interior is exquisite. Unfortunately, Szczecin didn't seem to have much else to offer. We tried finding the tourist office, but all the signs only directed us to the river.

Overall, the past few months have been pretty busy for us, and on top of it all we're getting ready for our big trip to the U.K. Although it's not my home country, there are definitely some things I'm homesick for in England. There's a special pub I'm looking forward to enjoying a cider in and I'm excited to have a Sunday roast again. Of course, I can't wait to see all our friends and family who will be celebrating our Blessing with us. Since we've been so busy, I think we'll especially enjoy our time away. Perhaps some distance will even help us better appreciate what we have here in Poland.