Window Washing

Spring has arrived in Bielsko. To fully enjoy blue sky and sunshine we decided we needed to wash our windows. They got a "little" dirty this winter. I definitely haven't mastered the streak free techniques, but at least I can see through the windows!  

Weekly Schedule

I have been meaning to write this post this for months! 

Finally, today is the day. 

This is my current schedule. There are some changes week to week, but mostly it stays the same. I have  a variety of different lessons each week. Most of my lessons are Helen Doron. They are with kids age 2 to 8. Most lessons are 45 minutes. The kids sit in a circle on the carpet and I teach them using flash cards, toys, and a lot of games. 

Four hours a week I teach OPS or Oxford Primary School. These lessons I'm kind of like a specialist. Think of going to music or gym in elementary school. It's kind of like that. 

All my other lessons are one to one. Most are preparing for something and need to practice speaking English. I have a love hate relationship with these lessons, because it is hard to know what the students want to do or talk about and they often ask me grammar questions that I have no idea what the answer is. On the other hand they are nice because I get to really know the people. They enjoy sharing about their lives in Poland and also learning about me. 

At the begining of the year it was a lot to keep track of. I spent most of my day running around the school like a chicken with my head cut off. Now that there is only 10 weeks left of the year. I feel like I have a good handle on things. I can plan all my lessons pretty quickly and generally enjoy all of them. 

Afternoon in Cieszyn

After visiting Auschwitz we decided to go to Cieszyn. It was a nice afternoon, Genna and I had never been there and lots of people recommended a "great Mexican restaurant." 

We ate first and were reminded you get what you pay for. My whole meal was about 25 zloty or 8 dollars. Needless to say it wasn't very good, but it was still nice to eat out with friends. 

After eating we walked around the town. 

It was great to be outside and enjoy the spring day. 

We walked up to this cool tower. Adrian showed us that it is featured on the 20 zloty note. 

Can you see it? Ask Genna how long it took her to see it. : ) 

Then we walked down to the river. Cieszyn is on the boarder of Poland and Czech Republic. On the middle of the bridge there is a line that divides the counties. As you can see, I enjoyed being in two countries at once. 

Saturday was an excellent day with friends! 

Thanks Adrian, Iza and Sam!!!

Visiting Auschwitz

On Saturday we went to Auschwitz I and II.  We started at Auschwitz II Birkenau, the larger of the two camps. It was incredible to see just how big it was and imagine life for all those innocent people. We spent nearly 3 hours walking the grounds and taking it all in. 

It was humbling spend time in a place where over a million people, no different than you and me, were murdered.  After making our way around Birkenau. We drove to Auschwitz I. 

There we went on a guided tour. While waiting for our tour to begin, we had a little fun with our super stylish headsets.

When the Germans took over Poland during WWII, they acquired this Polish Army Base. The blocks were already build and The German Nazis turned it into a concentration or work camp. Later a gas chamber was built and Auschwitz I became an exterminate camp as well.  When the camp became too small Birkenau was built.

On the tour we walked through the gas chamber. The most upsetting part for me was seeing scratches from finger nails on the walls. It clearly illustrated how painful their death must have been. 

It's hard to imagine a numbers as large as million. There is a whole hallway filled with shoes taken from people were killed at Auschwitz. All the shoes in this hallway is just 5% of the shoes collected. This picture shows maybe a quarter of the hallway. Seeing these shoes made it clear how many people's lives ended at Auschwitz. 

It was an informative day and forever changed how I remember The Holocaust. 

Women's Day

International Woman's Day is March 8th. 

It is a popular holiday in Poland. Woman of all ages receive flowers, gifts and well wishes. At school they had cookies for the women and students gave us tulips and candy. 

During the communist time this was also a popular holiday and it was tradition for women to receive a carnation and stockings. 

Pear Pizza

Gallo Nero is an Italian restaurant that Genna and really like. We went their for my birthday, but hadn't been there since. They deliver so one Saturday night we decided we would try to order it in. 

It took us a while to navigate the Polish website, but after some copying and pasting to google translate we found what we wanted to order. Ravioli with salmon and cream sauce. Number 12 on the pasta menu. Shouldn't be too hard to order. Right? 

Genna called and after having the phone passed off 3 times she talked to "Big Papa." There was a little trouble with communicating our street, but after spelling it half in English half in Polish Big Papa knew where we lived. Once she hung up we were feeling very proud of ourselves for doing this on our own. 

About an our later our food arrived and much to our surprise the delivery person had 2 pizza boxes. We were both a little hesitant, but thought the pasta might be in there. We paid and went inside. We opened the boxes and realized we had two HUGE pear pizzas. 

We tried to be optimistic. "Maybe we'll really like it and it's a great opportunity to try something we normally wouldn't have." After about 3 bites all my optimism was gone. It was the weirdest pizza I've ever choked down. 

Later we went back on the website and realized Pear Pizza was number 12 on the Pizza menu. So over all we did pretty well ordering. We got 2 out of 3 correct. Number 12 and where we lived. Next time just need to make sure there is more emphasis on the pasta. 

Feeling Better

4 antibiotics and a month and a half later I am finally feeling like myself again! When we were in Paris I had what felt like a bad cold. The next week in Bukiwina it turned into a sinus, ear, and throat infection. 2 antibiotics later I was feeling better, but still not back to normal. A week later it came back. 

When you go to the doctor in Poland they recommend you stay home for a certain number of days and write you a sick note. The first time I was sick I still felt ok so I continued to work. This time I wanted to make sure I got better for good so I used the sick days. Today is my first day back to work since March 21st.

Polish Easter Basket

On Saturday Ilona had us over to make a Polish Easter Basket. 

The basket includes a cake in the shape of a lamb (Jesus), eggs (life), ham, bread (eucharist), sausage, butter, horse radish, salt (purification), pepper, fruit, and some candy. 

Once our baskets were complete we took them to Ilona's church to have them blessed. 

Her church is very big and it was completely packed! There were multiple services throughout the day for people to bring their baskets.  

On Easter morning you eat everything in your basket for breakfast. 

It was great to see and understand why and where the concept of Easter Baskets stems from. I wish we still had this tradition at home. A big thank you to Ilona and her mom for sharing this tradition with us! 

Did we ever have this tradition? Did anyone at home do this with their Easter Baskets growing up?  

Still Snowing!

On Easter we got all this snow! 

More than 10 inches. 

On Easter. 

You might be thinking "that was your last big snow of the season."

Today it is snowing again and not just a few flurries. 

Thursday and Saturday MORE SNOW!

Here's to hoping for spring's arrival next week. 

Happy Birthday Joel!

Happy Birthday to The Beer Brewing Master! 

Thanks for all of your love and support. 

Savor your filet mignon. I'll be missing it! 

Love you lots!