Adventure in the Polish Mountains

June 23

I am writing this from our hotel in Warsaw before a day full of sightseeing and magical adventure.  I figured before Dagmara and I set out on our Warsaw tour, I would fill you all in on the last few weeks.

Work has been going really well for me.  I've been at the school "Speak Up" for exactly a month now, and they still like me, so that's a good sign.  I work about 15 hours a week there, but hopefully it will be a little more soon as one of the British teachers is leaving in a week.  Classes are pretty easy to teach, very little preparation time, and generally I really enjoy my students.  Some of them are very intelligent people.  For example, one student does electrical engineering and programming for the GPS company TomTom, and another is either finishing a thesis or a patent on some algorithm for eye-scan identification, kind of like they had in the movie "Minority Report" with Tom Cruise. 

Now that I am legal to work in private language schools, I've been getting flooded with job offers, but the hours and pay are the same as where I'm at, so I'm still looking for some daytime hours to add to my evening work at Speak Up.  The preschool is going ok, I told them to cut me down to 3 days a week, as it's only for 30 minutes a day and I spend close to an hour commuting there and back.  The owner had promised that there would be more kids and more classes soon, but there hasn't been, so I have a feeling I will part ways with the school in a month or two if nothing changes.

As for adventures….Dagmara and I made a very exciting trip to the Polish mountains about two weeks ago.  We went to a beautiful mountain town called Zakopane in the Polish Tatra Mountains, determined to ascend to the highest peak in the country, Rysy (wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rysy), at 8,212 feet.  The mountain can be climbed from both the Polish side and the Slovakian side, as it is exactly on the border of the two countries.  However, the Polish side is much steeper and more difficult, something Dagmara and I underestimated.

After doing some sightseeing on Saturday afternoon/evening in the town, going up a gondola to a shorter mountain peak overlooking Zakopane, and buying some warmer clothes for the higher altitude, we hit the sack early.  Sunday morning, we set out from the parking lot in the national forest at 9:30am.  A website Dagmara read said it should take 10 hours to get to the peak and back, so we knew we were okay on time.  The trail for the first 2.5 hours is actually a blacktop road, which was kind of disappointing.   The road ends at a hostel/restaurant/grocery store on the glacial lake of Morskie Oko.  That’s where the real hiking begins.  The view from Morskie Oko (Marine Eye) was beautiful.  After another 1.5 hours, we made it up to the second glacial lake, Czarny Staw (Black Lake).  Planning ahead, we packed a lot of food and water, so we stopped here to rest and eat some.  Most people who hike in this Tatra park stop at Morskie, but of those that choose to continue, the vast majority stop at Czarny Staw.  We were already behind almost all people that were going to the peak of Rysy at this point, but based on our research, we still had plenty of time to get to the peak and back down.  Or so we thought…

The trail goes around the lake and then begins to rise very sharply on the far side of the lake.  Maybe 100 feet above the lake, the snow drifts begin.  After this, the trail really deteriorates, with loose rocks and no real steps.  After an hour or two of hiking, we met a group of people coming down who told us it was about two hours to the top from the point we were at.  No problem.  We hiked another hour, met a guy coming down.  He said another 2.5 hours, but he didn't make it to the top.  He said we could do it easy because we were young.  My confidence was high.  In all honesty, I wasn't too tired yet because the trail was so bad that it forced us to move very slowly.  It was a very tedious task, and probably more mentally draining than physically. 

The views were more and more amazing as we went up.  The two glacial lakes below us were beautiful, the pictures I took will not do them justice—my camera just couldn't capture the vivid blue-aqua color.  At about 3pm we met a middle-aged couple coming down from the top.  The woman was wearing sandals, so I felt encouraged that the way may even get easier.  They laughed when we said that this part of the trail was difficult.  It only gets harder, they responded.

We crossed a few more snow drifts and at 3:30 we rested for a while on a plateau to take in all the beauty.  We still had a ways to go, and we were running out of time.  At this point I started to have serious doubts.  We climbed another 20 minutes and reached something I wasn't prepared for: chains bolted into the mountain side to help with the ascent.  While helpful, there is a reason they had to put chains on the trail: it was too difficult to climb without them.  We went even more slowly and carefully now, getting our gloves soaked from the snowmelt as we climbed up.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared at times, there were some pretty hardcore maneuvers we had to pull to move around, under, and over the rocks.  Just before 5pm, we met a group of climbers descending.  They said we were very close to the top, but the way didn't get any easier.  We were probably an hour from the top by my guess, but we simply had to turn around, the daylight was running out.  So we took a few pictures, soaked in all the beauty, and prepared ourselves for the long trek back.

Going down, however, proved to be even more difficult than going up.  We were both tired at this point, having started the hike (actually, it became a "climb" once we reached the chains) at 9:30am.  It was already twilight when we reached Czarny Staw, and the sun was completely gone when we reached Morskie Oko (we did get to see a few mountain goats, though!  Too dark to get a picture L ) Thankfully, the trail was basically flat at Morskie Oko and the moon was very bright, so the danger of falling was zero.  As we walked in the moonlight, Dagmara mentioned that there were lots of bears near Morskie Oko.  This was a very comforting thought, especially since our only flashlight was a cellphone.  We regrouped at the Hostel, and prepared for the 2 hour walk to the car in the darkness.

About 20 minutes into the walk, we heard/saw something, but it turned out to be a deer.  After that, our nerves were on edge, so we talked very loudly to scare away potential bears.  After an hour of walking, we saw headlamps coming onto the road—we were saved from the darkness by another group of hikers!  It was much welcomed company for the last hour of the hike.  We were both so tired when we got to the car at 11:30 pm.  14 HOURS OF HIKING!!!!  Nearly 2 weeks later, I think we both are still a little sore from that brutal hike.  It was a great adventure, but next time I think we will take the Slovakian side.  (pictures to come soon!)

But now, the adventure is Warsaw!

June 3

About a month has gone by since my last entry, and I'm back in Poland again.  It's been a busy, packed month, with a wedding, a baptism, and work.  My trip back to the US unfortunately did not go smoothly.  I had to wake up at 3am Polish time (8pm Central), I forgot to pick up my carry on bag that they made me check at the airplane on my first flight from Poland to Germany, then I was detained in Toronto for an hour because I wanted to bring a Kinder Egg (chocolate egg with a toy inside) that I bought in the airport into the US.  At customs, they asked if I had any food, and I said, "not really, just this chocolate candy egg that I bought for my nephew in the airport."  Big mistake.  Don't make small talk with customs officers, ever.  They have no social skills at work and definitely have no sense of humor.  I learned my lesson--it's best to keep my mouth shut.  While being detained, the officials had to "process" my egg and do paperwork.  After the paperwork was finished they called me up and said that Kinder chocolate is illegal in the US and they had to destroy the egg in front of me.  I almost missed my flight from Toronto because of the ridiculous ordeal, and I actually yelled at the officers because I was super tired and not able to deal with the ridiculousness of the situation.  Luckily I didn't get in trouble for that.  So, I FINALLY got to Minneapolis at 4pm-ish, and was about to leave the airport, when I realized I left my stupid passport in my seatback on the plane.  I sprinted back and an airline employee was luckily able to go back on the plane and find it.  Wow.

The good news is that after this hellish plane trip, the rest of my time in the US was awesome.  That same day I got to meet my nephew Jase for the first time, which was awesome.  The cutest thing in the world is watching Mac talk to his little bro in his baby voice. 

Mac and Jase

I can't believe I let her drive!

While home, I was lucky enough to work at Passage and pay for most of my plane ticket.  I also got to see most of my friends and celebrate my friend Lisa's 25^th bday in Uptown Minneapolis.  On the 15^th, Dagmara arrived from Poland.  We went to the Mall of America, where surprisingly she didn't want to shop—rather, we went on rides the whole time as there aren’t really any rollercoasters in Poland.  Back in Webster, we rode horse with my mom.  Dagmara got to "steer" while I rode behind.  We also went on a boat ride, bike ride, and 4 wheeler ride.  On Friday, we headed up to Lutsen for Nick and Sarah's wedding.  It was beautiful on Friday, and we really enjoyed the bonfire by the lake.  Saturday was rainy, so the wedding was held indoors, but it turned out really nice.  The dance was a lot of fun too.  Immediately after the dance was finished, we drove the 3.5 hours in thick fog back to Webster, getting to bed around 4am.  We woke a few hours later to head down to Jase's baptism.  We couldn’t make the ceremony but we did make the brunch after.  It was fun watching Mac play and make his baby voice to Jase again, and it was good to see Matt and Micah again.

at the wedding

the happy couple gettin' down

Dagmara and I stayed with Uncle Rob and Aunt Nancy Sunday night, and Uncle Rob drove us to the airport the next morning for our long trip home.  Which reminds me, thanks to Uncle Rob, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Joyce, and John, and Lisa for all your hospitality!!!

Upon arriving in Poland this past Tuesday, we quick drove home in time for me to finally go to work in a language school.  I was just kind of thrown in to the classroom without preparation, but it all went well, and I've ended up working every weeknight so far.  Apparently my students have fallen victim to my American charm, because the school is giving me more hours due to rave reviews.  Hopefully the work situation continues to go well. 

This last week, it was Mother's Day in Poland, and I asked Dagmara's mom if she would like me to build a firepit for her backyard.  She was excited for the idea, so I went with Dagmara's cousin to the Polish version of Menards, got the necessary supplies, and we built a fine fire pit, then roasted delicious Polish kielbasa.  That's all my news for now, but I'm sure I'll have some good stuff to share in my next post…

May 1st

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:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp

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

April 20

April 20, 2011

Wawel Castle

It's spring in Poland, and I've been making a big effort to get outside more and see the country.  A couple weeks ago Dagmara and I explored a huge park in Katowice—the park gets crazy busy on the weekends, especially now that it's warm.  We also went to the "cultural capital" of Poland, Krakow.  Krakow is a one of those lucky cities that was spared all the devastation during the two world wars, so a lot of its architecture is still intact.  We didn't have a ton of time in the city as we had a late start, but we made good use of our daylight hours.  There is a huge castle in Krakow called Wawel Castle overlooking the Vistula River.  We spent most of our time walking in and around it, taking lots of photos.  I busted out my 

Church inside castle

35mm film camera for the trip, but have yet to develop the pictures, hopefully they turn out well.  After the castle, we started to walk around the Old Town.  I immediately knew that this city was an international tourist destination because I was actually seeing people who weren't white—a rarity in Poland.  A quick fashion side note about the people I saw in Krakow—the warm weather brought out some interesting, quite daring styles, and also a lot of mullets.  Such things one does not see as often in the U.S.

Dagmara in castle courtyard

Cloth Mall

Krakow has countless historical churches and there is no way I can remember all of the names, but I did get a few pictures of them.  Main Market Square was beautiful.  It is home of the Cloth Mall (arguably the oldest mall in the world), the Town Hall Tower (which leans to one side like the one in Italy), the Basilica of the Virgin Mary, and numerous restaurants. 

Basilica

The next weekend, we went to a Polish rock concert.  The artists playing were Dzem (pronounced "gem") and Myslovitz (miss-low-veetz).  The former was more classic rock, the latter was alternative rock.  I couldn't understand the lyrics, but it was pretty fun.  The next day we explored a big forest near our apartment, but it was pretty cold so we didn't go far.

Last weekend, I had my first encounter with the Polish Catholic Church for Palm Sunday.  The church was very crowded, and since we got there late, we had to stand in the back (they had the doors open so some people could listen from outside too).  To be quite honest, it was pretty boring listening for 1.5 hours to something I couldn't understand, plus having to stand up for all of it.  This weekend I hope to arrive early so I can sit down.

Dagmara and I recently joined a fancy gym, and our first day there we went to an "advanced" group excerise with this swinging trapeze bar contraption hung up for each person.  I had been running, doing push-ups, sit-ups, etc. for over a month, so I figured it would be easy.  As I looked around the exercise studio, I noticed I was the only guy, which made me start to worry.  After about 15 minutes of stretching/twirling exercises, I realized my back would not last, but looking over at Dagmara, I just couldn't leave and risk her gloating over me for not finishing the class.  So I finished.  Approximately 10 days later I'm still paying for it.  What I learned from this experience is this: if there is an exercise class with only women in it, I should probably get out of there before it's too late. 

Kozak

My final piece of news is the new addition to my family: Kozak (pronounced "ko-zock"), our new cat we adopted from Dagmara's brother.  He is a very curious creature, and quite hyper at night, waking us up multiple times.  Time will tell if this kitty will have to be locked in the bathroom at bedtime.

Most of the pictures I've taken can be found on Snapfish: http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=6940530014/a=106547587_106547587/

You may need to register, but it's free and it's a decent site for posting pictures.

March 27

I've been in Poland about 2 months now, and sad to say I still know very little Polish.  However, I've been working at it the past week, mostly on pronunciation, which can be pretty difficult.  I don't think words are meant to have so many consonants strung together without any vowels in between.

The job situation has been pretty much the same.  Still waiting for my work permit, still work at the preschool.  I recently had a couple interviews for teaching English online, though, so that would be nice if I get one of those jobs.

In non-Polish news, I am an Uncle again!!  On March 17^th, Matt and Micah had a baby boy named Jase Patrick.  I can't wait to meet him, hopefully I get to come home soon.

Meanwhile, back in Poland…Last weekend, Dagmara and I went out for a Sunday drive, stopping in this little town called Zgierz, just outside of Łódź.  There was a pretty cool park there, with an obstacle course that I assume will open when the weather gets warmer.  I'm gonna have to hit that up.  Lots of ducks as well, got to see a few man ducks battling it out for the lady ducks.  Then we cruised through the countryside.  One of the cool things about the country roads in Poland is that they almost always have tall trees on either side.  Afterwards, we hit up this cool German restaurant on Piotrkowska Street where I sampled my very first Schnitzel.  It was pretty delicious.  I also took my camera out a bit and snapped a few more pics of the city.  The weather is warming up, so I plan on getting out to some of the cool churches I've seen.  That's all for now folks!

PS I'm blaming my NCAA Bracket disaster on geographic disadvantages

Schnitzel!!!

view from the park in Zgierz

to the victor go the spoils

country road

Our friend VW took this pic for us

Piotrkowska

Piotrkowska

March 15

Not a lot of exciting news from the past few weeks, but I do have some interesting observations.  The warmest days I've had so far in Poland was the day I arrived (January 31) and the day I got back from Florida (60s!).  Hopefully it will continue to get warmer so Dagmara and I can get out and about more. 

Here's a few observations I've made about Poland thus far: gas costs about $6/gallon, fast food restaurants are much nicer than in the US—I'd even go as far as saying fancy.  I stopped at a KFC a few weeks ago, and the women working there are apparently required to wear skirts.  People dress up to go to Pizza Hut.  There are a lot of small parks in the city where older people push around their grandchildren in strollers during the daytime, or just sit on the park benches looking at nothing in particular.  People wear wedding rings on their RIGHT hand, I rarely see minorities, but once I did see three black people in the same day—highly unusual.  There is also a small Vietnamese population, apparently immigrants from Poland's communist era.  I met one of our neighbors in the apartment building—she's an old woman that tries to teach me some Polish every time I see her.

As far as news for me, I just got back from my film school interview in Tallahassee.  It went okay and I'll find out if I get in by mid-April.  The competition is really stiff, something like 600 applicants for 24 spots, so we'll see what happens.  It felt good to be able to wear a t-shirt outside again.  The weather was perfect, the FSU campus is beautiful, and the city has a nice southern feel to it, unlike Miami, which had more of a Latin vibe.  People were very nice in general, so it was a fun time.  I got the chance to see the set of one of the student's thesis film.  It was pretty cool to watch.  

Lake Geneva

The trip there was okay, I got to fly over the heart of the Alps and see Lake Geneva from the air, which was beautiful.  The trip back to Poland was a little brutal—it took 1.5 days, with 4 flights, 2 taxi rides, and 1 train ride.  My first flight was a bit counter-intuitive, as it took me to Fort Lauderdale, much farther away from Newark (my next airport) than Tallahassee. On my final flight (Frankfurt to Warsaw), the woman sitting next to me woke me up because I was snoring too loud.  Whoops.

Working with the preschool kids has continued to be fun—one of them gives me a small memento (a little piece of garbage) every day before I leave.  My work permit should be finished shortly, so I should be starting teaching in the afternoons/evenings by next week, so that will good.  I plan on studying Polish in earnest now that I don't have to worry about preparing for my interview anymore. 

Dagmara at the Lodz Film School

Dagmara and I have done a little sight seeing in the past few weeks.  There is a famous film school in Łódź that Roman Polanski (directed the Pianist) attended.  The facilities aren't as nice as FSU's, but they seem to be pretty good.  We also went to some live music at a rock n roll bar called the Lizard King on the famous Piotrkowska Street.  Dagmara gave me a tour of her art school a few weeks ago as well.  We're hoping to go to the south of Poland in the near future and check out the Tatra mountains, check out the capital city of Warsaw, and visit the historical city of Krakow.

That's about it for now, more to come later.

February 22

2/22/11

Well, about 3 weeks have gone by and I'm still alive.  I've been adjusting to my surroundings pretty well, getting the lay of the land, seeing some sights, but mostly focusing on getting a job.  Employers have been stubborn, but I knew it wouldn't be long before my American charm won them over.  The job offers are starting to roll in.  I've been teaching little children (2-5 years) English for ½ an hour a day, 5 days a week for about 2 weeks now.  Unfortunately, my commute is about an hour roundtrip, sooooo….  On the bright side, the kids and I get along very well, except when they decide to dogpile on me all at once, or bite me like one did today.  In all fairness, it was a good-natured bite.  It's basically all fun and games and songs, so it’s a nice change of pace from the complaining, why are we doing this, I want to do that, etc. etc. "working professionals" I had been teaching in Miami.  The kids and I exchange a lot of fist bumps and high fives, so I can't complain.  As for the "real" work situation, I aced a "trial lesson" last night where the school observed me teaching a class for an hour.  It was actually much easier than my last teaching job because every activity is scripted.  The good side of this is that I have virtually no preparation to do, the bad side, I don't have the freedom I did at the school in Miami.  I should start work at this school in the next few weeks.  Another school wants to hire me as well, and I have a meeting set up for sometime next week.  So the employment end is all coming together.

Evil Trolley Car

My driving skills have required a degree of adaptation.  For example, when driving I always keep my head on a swivel for the city of Łódź's many cable/trolley cars--I've seen several cars get hit by these things, as they travel on the road just as a car does.  I would describe the trolley system like this: a spider web of cables that run above the city's streets, except there is no symmetry whatsoever so it looks pretty tacky.  ALWAYS give the trolley the right-of-way.  ALWAYS.  I've also learned that if you want to pass someone, you need to tailgate them veeery closely, honk your horn, and flash your lights repeatedly.  At first I took this personally, but I've discovered that it is a cultural phenomenon and not just isolated incidents.  Also, the speed limit signs in Poland are outdated, but a simple rule of thumb will let you know the speed to drive: whatever the sign says + 40 km/hour.  As for parking, if you can't find an open space, just drive up on the sidewalk (as long as the curb isn't higher than a foot).  Another thing to note is the drivers' lack of concern for pedestrians.  Example: when visiting Dagmara's family in Katowice, we went on a walk with her little brother Oscar to a nearby wooded area.  The road we walked on was residential, and the few cars that went by sped past at around 50, not bothering to give us any extra space.

The gates to the cemetery

Cemetery wall

As far as sights I've seen, the only one of significance is the Jewish Cemetery near my apartment.  We went about 2 weeks ago.  It was one of the most fascinating, powerful, emotional places I've seen.  Officially, it is the biggest Jewish cemetery in Europe, and most of it is in the woods.  Not all of the graves are from WWII, but many are.  To maintain respect, photos are not allowed inside the cemetery, so I'll do my best to describe it: the entire cemetery is walled in.  The main/old part of the cemetery is a forest with tall trees that let little light in.  Picture a horror movie cemetery, old gray stone with moss growing everywhere.  Some of the graves were massive shrines, almost temples.  The cemetery is gridded out into "streets" because of its size.  The forest ends abruptly about 400 meters from the wall, where the "killing field" begins.  Here are the markers for the many thousands of Jews who died from starvation, murder, or disease in the Łódź ghetto.  What really got me were the dates on some of the crosses or gravestones—many were just children.  As we headed to the exit, we walked along the edge of the cemetery and read some of the dedications engraved into the wall.  It's one thing to read about the holocaust in books or on the internet, or learn about it in school, but seeing something concrete, tangible— 

I plan on going to Auschwitz at some point while I'm here, and that will be even more difficult to see I'm sure.

I can't make any final judgments as I've only been in Poland a few weeks, but Poland doesn't seem to have a "Midwest nice" vibe (which can be good and bad) with strangers, but I did get help from a guy in the parking lot when my car didn't start.  On the flip side, if you're a guest, family, or friend, the Polish treat you right.  Last weekend I went to a party at Dagmara's uncle's house, and the hospitality was unbelievable.  Unfortunately no one spoke English, but I still had fun.  So far every weekend we've spent in Katowice, and I've gotten to know her mom and little brother Oscar (he's 5) pretty well.  I spend most of my time playing games with Oscar.  Since Dagmara's grandma lives 30 feet away, I've met her a few times, but we can't really communicate.  Her dog had puppies recently, so Dagmara and I are considering taking one in….we'll see, we want to do a lot of traveling, so a dog might be difficult to take care of. 

In the coming weeks, I hope to get outside and take a lot more pictures, so stay posted and thanks for reading!!