5/1/11
Poland's Easter traditions are a little different than those of the U.S., but they do have the Easter Bunny of course. On Saturday, I colored eggs with Dagmara's family. It was pretty fun, Dagmara and her brother were very competitive to see who could make the best one. I, on the other hand, have long since accepted the fact that I have little artistic talent and made a red and blue Twins egg which was probably the best egg I've ever colored. I'm not sure if American Catholics do this, but in Poland, Saturday is the day you bring your Easter basket to the church where the priest blesses everyone's food in a short 15 minute service. Baskets typically have a few Easter eggs, some Polish sausage, and other small food items. Sunday morning, we had a big breakfast (it seems that a typical Polish breakfast always has ham in it) of buffet style ham sandwiches. Poland has a ridiculously wide variety of ham, most of which is very tasty. That being said, I have yet to see a pig in this country. After breakfast, we went to the church (we got there on time so I could sit down!!!). The service seemed like a typical Easter service, though I couldn’t understand anything.
I was disappointed to learn that Poland does not have the tradition of hiding Easter baskets for children, so I took it upon myself to hide a basket for Oskar, Dagmara's 5 year old brother. I made a couple clues, and Dagmara gave the first one to him, telling Oskar that a mysterious rabbit had given her this piece of paper. His face was full of excitement and surprise. Oskar can't read yet, so it didn't matter that the clues were in English. We read him the clue, and he went to work, quickly finding the next clues. When he found his Easter basket at the end, he was disappointed that the actual Easter bunny was not there. As a consolation prize, he got to eat a bunch of candy. After a few vicious games of Uno, we went for a walk in the woods. We saw a rabbit, and Oskar knew right away it was the Easter bunny. Dagmara confirmed that it was the same rabbit that gave her the first clue.
Monday in Poland is also a holiday. No work for anyone. The name of the day pretty much translates as "Wet Monday." All the kids and teenagers, even some adults, have water fights in the streets and neighborhoods. Apparently the tradition started a long time ago when boys would throw water on girls they thought were attractive. I'm not sure how well this worked for the boys on a romantic level, but it's changed over time to become an all-out water fight.
Instead of water fights, Dagmara and I decided to go to Auschwitz, which is about an hour from her mom's house. Not really a "fun" trip, but a very educational and historically important one. The weather was gloomy, raining off and on, which fit the mood. When driving to Auschwitz I, right before you arrive, there is a beautiful river to one side of the road with lush green trees on the banks, and to the other, a brick wall with barb wire. There was far too many people touring the facility that day to really feel the impact of this terrible place emotionally, but it was still very powerful and scary. To save time explaining exactly what Auschwitz is, here's the Wikipedia link to those interested:
Basically, Auschwitz is divided into two camps: the original camp (Auschwitz I) is the smaller one, the second, Birkenau, was built later by the Germans to accommodate more prisoners and build new gas chambers. The camps are about a mile or two apart. Auschwitz I has more artifacts and takes longer to tour, though it is much smaller. The museum reveals a lot of horrible things that the Nazis left behind. There are thousands of shoes from the victims, pots and pans, suitcases, eyeglasses, children's dolls, prosthetic limbs, deportation orders, and the worst thing for me, leftover human hair that the Nazis were using for the textile industry. The famous sign at the entrance of the camp says "Arbeit macht frei ", which translates as "Work will make you free." There are a million things I could say about the camp, but words can never do it justice.
On a more positive and lighter note, it was decided due to my projected work start at the end of May, that I will be coming home…tomorrow…for 3 weeks. I'm pretty excited to meet my new nephew Jase, see family and friends again, and of course attend Nick and Sarah's wedding (friends of our family). Hope to see some of you guys soon!
PS forgot my camera cord in Lodz, so no pictures for a while L
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