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. 

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?  

Christmas in Poland

At the begining of December there was a Christmas program at school. The Primary School Students preformed the Nativity story in Polish. They sang Christmas Carols and spoke about Christmas Traditions in German, Spanish, and English. 

I have a group of 3 students twice a week. It's a brother and sister and the brother's friend. The boys are 8 and the girl is 6. They made me these adorable cards for Christmas. 

On Christmas Eve we went to Ilona's house for dinner and experienced a traditional Polish Christmas. It was really great to learn about their family traditions! Thank you so much for including us in this special day! 

A big thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts. Each was so special and thoughtful!

Polish Independence Day

Today is Polish Independence Day. The Last few days there have been a lot of Polish Flags hung up all over Bielsko. Including several from people's balconies on our apartment building. I did a little research and below is  a nice summary of the Holiday. I am kind of bummed because it landed on a Sunday so we don't get a day off from school. 

National Independence Day is the most important Polish national holiday. On November 11, 1918, after 123 years of captivity, Poland regained its independence.

The date of 11 November was announced a national holiday in 1937. From 1939 to 1989, celebration of the holiday was forbidden. After the collapse of communist government, the holiday gained significance and it is now public holiday.

Major celebrations, attended by Polish State authorities, are held in Warsaw. At noon, a ceremonious change of guards takes place before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.Patriotic gatherings and parades are held throughout Poland. Churches celebrate masses with the intentions of the Homeland.

Photo via: Google Images

Information via: http://en.poland.gov.pl/