Second Day of the Easter Triduum: Good Friday

Good Friday is the second day of the Easter Triduum, followed right after Holy Thursday. For Catholics around the world, it means fasting, even if the requirements are different for different countries. For example, in America Catholics ages 14 and up must abstain from meat and ages 18-59 must fast by eating only one full meal and two half meals that can not be greater than the full meal when put together. In addition only water and milk, and no other drinks may be consumed. On the other hand, here in Poland, there still is fasting and abstaining, but unlike in America everyone who is able to must fast if they are over the age of 18. Of course there are some exceptions to the fasting rules in all countries. For example, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, those who are sick, and those who are on a special diet are exempt in both countries, but additionally, in America, if one is traveling then that person is basically exempt. Also the rules are stricter in America than they are here in Poland as to what and how much can and can’t be eaten.

On Good Friday, in the Catholic Church there are usually prayer/Eucharistic services with adoration of the cross and sometimes Stations of the Cross happening to commemorate that Jesus died on the cross on Friday and spent three hours on it, but was later taken down and given a proper burial in a tomb. There are no full on masses from the Holy Thursday Mass to the Easter Vigil Mass to commemorate the suffering and death of Christ and to remember that on the third day He rose again from the dead. Usually Good Friday is a solemn day to remember these things. Tomorrow is Holy Saturday, which means that we will be decorating intricately the Easter eggs and going to bless the Easter baskets that symbolize what we will be eating on Easter Day. Apparently, even non-believers are mesmerized by the tradition of blessing the Easter baskets/food and do it themselves as well.

Here in Poland, all of the food that is eaten on Easter has to be prepared ahead of time, so the friend’s daughter came over with her son again, as well as her mother. We made homemade pierogies, even though the flour that we used made them practically impossible to roll out the dough and to pinch the edges together, and the meat that we used for the filling was also impossible to grind because the machine we had to use is extremely old and the meat was not cooked long enough, which made it even harder to grind. We will find out tomorrow how they turned out when we eat them with the beet soup for dinner.

In addition, the family friend made another walnut cake type dessert. The one she made yesterday overcooked, so it was a little bit browner than it should have been, and she even cried. I, personally think it turned out really well, but she said that when it is baked to the right color it tastes even better, so I’ll see tomorrow how it compares with the first one.

Other than playing with the baby and making the pierogies, today was another laid back and chill day, which I am grateful for. That is all for today, and I will update again tomorrow with how well the decorating of the eggs goes for us, and I may be able to even include a few photos to go along with the post, so stay tuned.

Relaxing First Day of Easter Break

Today was a nice break from my crazy, normal week. This is because it was a relaxing and rather laid back day, which I do not get when I am in my dorm room or during a normal week. Again, for some reason I am writing this after midnight.

Normally during the week I have to wake up at 6:00 or 9:30 in the morning depending on what day of the week it is and I usually don’t/can’t fall asleep until well after midnight, so my body does not get the adequate amount of sleep that it needs. This is even true on the weekends, because my one of my roommates usually wakes up around 9 or I have to wake up at like 8 or so to use the bathroom and as hard as I try to fall back asleep until about 11, I can’t, so I basically do not get enough sleep. During the week, on the nights that I know I have to wake up early the next morning, I try to go to sleep around 10:30 or so, but my roommates are still up and they like to leave the lights on, so I usually can’t fall asleep until at least one of them goes to sleep after midnight.

I told you this because last night I got to sleep in my own room, with no distractions to keep me awake either during the night or in the morning (even though I went to sleep well after midnight – that may have had something to do with it as well) and I slept in until noon. It was really nice. It seems that the later I go to sleep, the faster and easier I am able to fall asleep. In addition, it seems as if writing this blog has begun to help me to fall asleep faster/earlier because I am able to get the thoughts/happenings of my day out of my brain, which allows it to be nearly empty and for me not to have any thoughts circulating around my brain to think about before bed.

Before I woke up, the family friend’s daughter came over with her five-month old son and they stayed for a few hours, so it was nice to hang out with them and play with the baby. Also, the friend’s mom came over and we decided to make this type of dessert, even though I did not help at all with it, unlike when we decided to make mini pierogies for a party the friend’s were hosting the next day.

After they all left, which was around 4:30 or so, the friend had to teach a two-hour English lesson, so I had some time to myself to relax. Later in the evening, the friend’s other daughter came over with her husband because she had to find some documents for the job that she will soon be starting. After they had found the documents, we ate kolacja, which is like the american lunch,but during dinner time. This is because the Polish eat their dinner during our lunchtime. After we finished eating, I had the rest of the evening to myself.

All in all, today was a nice, relaxing day that is a nice respite from my normal day-to-day life of attending classes and doing homework. Today was Holy Thursday, but in the Catholic Church, one is not necessarily required to attend a mass, but it is optional and it is the mass where random people, at least in the parish I attend at home, get their feet washed by the priest to symbolize Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. The mass is to symbolize the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples and it is the last mass before the Easter vigil mass that takes place the night before Easter, even though a church can have a prayer service of Good Friday, having a full on mass is not appropriate. Tomorrow is Good Friday, which means fasting and abstaining from meat, which I will explain further in tomorrow’s post and more about the Easter traditions of the Polish culture as Sunday approaches quickly, but today is too late for me to explain it, so I will on either Saturday or Sunday. Good night!

Crazy Start to my Easter Break!

It’s already after 12:30, but I am writing about what happened yesterday, which I do not count as yesterday until I wake up in the morning, so basically for me it is still today.

Plans can change on a whim, so one has to always be ready to make adjustments to best fit the situation. Thus is the case with where and with whom I will be spending my Easter holiday/break with. My original plans included me going to stay with my mom’s cousin’s family in her hometown for the break, but the cousin’s mother-in-law passed away recently and they are still getting over having the funeral yesterday. The mother had been living in a vegetative state for over 17 years, and over the last few years she had lost her senses of sight and hearing, so basically the only thing keeping her alive was the fact that she could breathe alone.

After I had found out that I would not be able to spend the holidays with them, which I was sort of looking forward to and I’m sure my second cousin’s seven-year old daughter was looking forward to it even more, but I’m sure there’ll be other opportunities for me to visit. As soon as I found out, I immediately called the family friends who live in town and who have become like my second family while I am here to ask if I would still be able to spend the holidays with them. They even invited me to come stay the night starting with tonight, so I quickly packed the things I would need for the next five days and headed over. Another reason as to why I called them immediately after is because before they even knew my plans for where I would be spending my Easter, they invited me to spend it with them if I had no one else to spend it with.

On a more positive note, my teacher today decided to give us a lesson in the traditions of the Polish Easter, and surprised us by bringing in a traditional cake type dessert, but less sweet. It was a welcome treat at the last few minutes before we were let out for break because she decided to serve us about ten minutes before the end of class. Next, my history class went like usual, but in my theater class there are usually around 30 people who come, but today we were only a group of 13. This small class size allowed us to finish discussing the play we will be performing and what things we would be using from what movies.

The weather over the last few days has been colder than the rest of my stay in Poland. It was even so cold today that it was basically snowing during a few parts of the day, with one point of the day the snow falling horizontally instead of vertically. Also, last night there was a really bad thunderstorm, which I did not even know was happening.

Other than the change of plans, it should be a well-rested and well-enjoyed holiday break. My family has always celebrated a Polish Easter, so I have no idea what the American Easter traditions are, but as Sunday approaches, I will explain the traditions/customs of the holiday more and you guys can inform me about some of the Easter customs from your home country, whether it be America or Australia. That’s all for today/yesterday, so I’ll update again tomorrow.

Another Decade Older? Unbelievable!

I still can’t believe that I turned 20 years old today. It’s crazy how fast time flies. My classes today were rather easier than usual, even though I may not know exactly why, but I do know why for my first class.

Instead of our regular class during the first time slot, the director of the center had everyone take this European Culture test, which the two highest scoring people get a free three-week summer school course and a free trip to Germany to compete further, among a few other prizes. For my classmates and myself, it seemed as if the test didn’t really matter because we don’t really care about winning a summer school course. It also may have been that we did not know very many things on the test, which included things ranging from a sample of different languages to having to name foods and famous people/presidents of different countries. Other than the Polish traditions and a few others including when the Eiffel Tower was built, the typical British breakfast and some Greek history, I did not know about 90% or so material that was on the test, but like I already said, I don’t really care about it. In addition, if I really wanted to study the language and culture at the center again, which will more than likely have to happen I would probably get a partial or full scholarship for the program from the Kosciusko Foundation. It is an organization that gives scholarships to students of Polish heritage to study the language of their parents/ancestors.

My grammar and spelling classes were normal as usual, but afterwards I decided to treat myself to dinner from the Hard Rock. I had to go alone because the girl I had planned to go somewhere for dinner with today totally forgot until I remided her this morning and she said she had other plans, but everything’s fine because we are planning to meet up for dinner/drinks after we get back from break.I had the local burger with fries, a side caesar salad, some mixed drink, the fresh apple cobbler, and coffee. Everything tasted really good, except the burger had some strange sweet sauce that I was not extremely fond of, but here wasn’t very much of it on the burger so it didn’t affect it that much. The mixed drink I had was like a mix between a pina colada and something else that I cannot name,with some mint flavor mixed in. It was really good. The salad had kind of strong flavor from the dressing, but they gave you something like craisins to put on it if you wanted, and that made it all the better. For dessert I had th fresh apple cobbler that was extremely good and the Bailey’s Coffee which was also pretty good.

While I was eating I was texting my mom because last time my dad brought my sister to Poland, the family friends of ours who live here took them to the Hard Rock, so now my mom is the only person in our family who has not eaten at that particular restaurant or even at any Hard Rock in particular. Somehow I convinced her to agree to have us eat there when she comes in July. Which brings me to say that I found out on Sunday as I was talking to my family that my mother is coming back to Poland on June 29th and leaving on July 8th with me, but on a different plane, which my parents at first wanted me to come back on my own to give me some freedom and because it would be too expensive, so I have no idea what changed their minds. I believe she hasn’t told anyone because she told me not to tell the family friends and that she would tell them herself.

Another thing is that the birthday wishes that my parents sent me today were one of the most heartfelt ones they have ever given to me. In addition, they both mentioned something about loving God and always keeping Him at the center of my life, which before today God and faith was never mentioned in out house. We go/went to church every week and I attended youth group pretty much every week and starting this past fall, my sister as a high school sophomore began attending weekly when she didn’t have play going on, which makes me extremely happy. Also, over the past few times that we have texted each other she has been saying some things that are starting to make me believe that our relationship may be getting better and starting to come off the rocks, as it had been to this point. I hope that she continues this and continues to accept the hands and part of my heart that I have been trying to reach out to her for the past few years. This is because she is my one and only sister and I want to have a good relationship with her because after our parents are gone, she will be the only immediate family I will have left. I still hope that our relationship continues to get better because I had a camp counselor once who gave me hope by telling me that while she was still in high school she and her younger brother were the worst of enemies, but by the time she finished her first year of college, they had become the best of friends. This gave me the hope that one day I could have the relationship that they had or even the relationship that my dad and his sister have. Her progress with her last few texts has given me a speck of hope that we will someday in the near future have this kind of relationship.

Sorry for another long post, but I felt like I had a lot to say today. Tomorrow or Thursday may be the last time I will be able to post before Easter/ Tuesday or Wednesday, because I am going to visit family for the holiday in a small town and I don’t know if I’ll be able to have internet there, but I guess we’ll see. I still can’t believe that I am already 20, but that’s all for today.

Last Day of Being 19!

Today once again turned out to be another good day, even if it was not as eventful as the last three have been. I had my morning classes like usual, then during my break I had a lot of writing homework to do, which I almost didn’t finish, but I’m glad I was able to, then I had my afternoon/evening classes. For my film class we went to go see a Polish film at the theater entitled “Body/Ciało”, which tuned out to be pretty good.

It is amazing how fast time goes by, but especially the last five years or so. So much has changed in my life, including the person who I am. I have become the person whom I had always dreamed/wanted to be, because for a while I struggled with depression, but that’s all I’m willing to reveal at the moment.

I still can’t believe that tomorrow I will have officially have lived for a full two decades, which at this point, is sort of amazing to me. It seemed like just last month I was turning 18 or 16 or even 12. I also can’t believe that in a year from tomorrow I will be able to legally purchase and consume alcohol in the states.

Even the last year has been extremely eventful. First, I graduated high school, which as a freshman it seemed like senior year was so far away and that it would be a really long time before it was time for me to be a senior. But of course, freshman year went by extremely fast and each year after that seemed to go by faster than the last. Next, for my graduation present from my parents, I got to tour four different cities with my dad and sister over two weeks for our annual father-daughter “camping trip turned plain vacation”. My sister and I got to stay in Poland for an extra month after our trip and I had an amazing time at the language course that I attended through the same program that I am currently attending. Thirdly, I attended my local community college, even though I was literally dead set against the idea, while at the same time working at my local Meijer’s from November through a week and a half before leaving for my study abroad semester. And finally, now I am here, pretty much living my dream and studying something that I want to pursue further.

I also have many hopes for the coming year, including traveling more and studying psychology and the Polish language and culture at Benedictine College in the fall. If I have other dreams for the next year, then I have not completely realized it yet.

On a completely different note, I would like to take a week where I sort of go through what we do in each of my classes, but this week we have Thursday and Friday off and next week we have Monday and Tuesday off for Easter Break. In addition, the week after that I have midterms so I most likely won’t be able to do it that week. Basically I would have to do it the week of April 20-24, which would already be a full two months in the semester, but oh well, what can I do at this point.

That should be all for today. I’ll update again tomorrow after I get back from my third and final birthday dinner with a girl that I have gotten pretty close with. Coincidentally she just graduated last spring from Benedictine College and majored in psychology. She is basically the reason as to why I have decided to attend Benedictine, because up until this point I had really wanted to attend Spring Hill College, but I believe that God puts people in our lives for specific reasons, and not just to have random people in our lives. Once again, I can’t believe that tomorrow I will be 20 and how fast time flies, not only when you are having fun, but all the time.

Palm Sunday: Tallest Palm Branch Contest

So today I had the privilege of going to a small town in Poland of about a 90 minute drive from Kraków. This town is known for their annual contest to see who can create the tallest palm branch that can stand alone for a minimum of fifeteen minutes.

The event happened in the main square with different groups performing traditional and non-traditional Polish songs and traditional Polish dances. There was a plentiful abundance of vendors there to purchase items ranging from decorated Easter eggs (which the Polish take very seriously to design and create beautiful masterpieces of Easter eggs) to food vendors with quite a few of the food vendors serving a cheese that is only found in Zakopane. Zakopane is a small mountain village where everything used to be local, but now has become more Westernized and commercialized. The cheese is smoked and sometimes grilled immediately before eating. It is called Oscipek. My mom loves the cheese because she is from a different small mountain village close to Zakopane, but I, on the other hand, do not entirely enjoy this cheese. I have no idea why, really, but the taste doesn’t really appeal to me.

At this festival/contest the palm branches range in size from a few meters to the record being over 35 meters in height, which is well over 100 feet. These branches are decorated, and people even create smaller ones that can range from a few inches in height to a foot or so, that are blessed at the Palm Sunday mass.

Quite the opposite of the palm branches created in Poland, the palm branches that my church gives out are more like the leaves and they are also blessed during the mass. Sometimes people creative enough create them into the form of a cross, but a lot of families save these branches until the Sunday before Ash Wednesday of the next year to be used for the ashes.

 
This is how the palm branch looks in the form of a cross. (images found by doing a google search for “palm branch used on palm Sunday”)

We left for the trip around 7 in the morning and one group got back at 2, while the rest got back at 3 pm. It was cool to see this festival, but I don’t think I will go to it again, because there were just too many people in such a small space for me. This was the 57th anniversary of the festival. In addition, there were a few important people at the festival including a presidential candidate and some important person from the European Union. A few years ago, the president was even able to attend, so the foreign students from the Center were able to take pictures with the Polish President, which would have been an awesome thing to experience. I enjoyed attending the festival, but it was a little too crowded for me.

Another Good Day and Easter Preparations

So today turned out to be another good day, even though it was not as eventful as yesterday had been. Since it is Saturday, I got to sleep in a little bit longer than I get to on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Then I worked a little bit on my computer and took a shower, with the only bad thing happening being the sink in the bathroom of my dorm room was plugged up so the water took an extremely long time to drain.

Then my family friend’s took me out to dinner (which here is during the time that Americans eat lunch) at a restaurant that their oldest daughter would always go to while she was studying at university (and even though her mom made three meals for her at home and she always had plenty enough food at home, she would still be hungry so she would go out to the restaurant that they took me too). As we were leaving and as we got back to the main square, which the restaurant was like 100 feet from the main square), there was a salsa dancing flash mob going on, so we decided to stay and watch for like five or ten minutes. There were at least 200 people or so participating in the flash mob, but it was cool to see one live, which is kind of ironic in a way for us. Seeing this flash mob is ironic for us because two weeks ago, when I went to this couple’s house to relax from my week, we started out by me showing them this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRti7YgR2u8. Basically it is about the employees of Lot Polish Airlines singing Mama Mia to the 500,000 person to fly on their Dreamliner 787. Then we somehow got into watching different flash mob videos, including the one at Grand Central Station where the people are frozen for five minutes, two dancing ones right here in Kraków, one dancing one in Germany, among a few others. We even stumbled upon a website that stated the top twelve flash mobs of all time.

Another cool thing that happened while I was with them last week was that we got to see part of a fashion show in one of the about four shopping malls in town. This was because we decided to go see a Polish comedy with their friends, and while we were waiting we saw that there was a fashion show going on, so we decided to watch for a bit. It was also interesting in that a famous Polish actress was one of the MC’s of the show and she and the other MC were asking questions about the town and the people who answered correctly got some sort of prize. In addition, as we were leaving after the film, she was taking pictures with people, but we didn’t get a chance to take a picture with her.

Another few good things that happened were that I got officially invited to this couple’s daughter’s wedding and baptism of her child, which I will explain in a later post why this is significant. Also, they were nice enough to buy me five yellow roses, which are beautiful and a white chocolate heart that says “I Love You”, which was nice of them since they have become my second family away from home here in Poland.

Then we went for a walk and talked for a bit, which wasn’t that significant, but it was still a part that made my day all that better. I also had to buy some water, but I accidentally got the wrong kind, but for some reason less of that kind quenches my thirst.

In the main square, and in Poland in general, Easter is a huge holiday since the country is made up of a majority of Catholics. Palm Sunday is tomorrow and here they make very decorative ones that can be anywhere from a few inches to several feet and tomorrow I am going on a trip to a town where there is a contest to see who can make the tallest palm branches and so far there has been one that was over 35 meters high, which is well over 100 feet. I’m excited to see these and will post some pictures tomorrow or Monday. This is completely the opposite of how American Catholics celebrate Palm Sunday, at least in my parish. At my parish, we pick out a palm branch and then during the mass we get them blessed and some families bring them home to save for Ash Wednesday of the next year. Some people are even creative enough to make them into the shape of a cross.

For this trip I have to wake up early and additionally we change out time during the night, so I probably won’t get as much sleep as I would like to, but at least the ride will be about 90 minutes, so I’ll probably sleep a bit during that time.

Today was Good Day!

So today turned out to be a very good day. First off, my class was required to bring in a dish from our home countries, so for both of my classes we were eating and learning about the cuisine’s/kitchen’s of different countries. Then I did some laundry, which was not really that exciting, and then the best part, I went out to a birthday dinner with five out of eight of my classmates.

The first people to present in my class today were a guy and girl from Hungary. They explained what he brought in, because she wouldn’t have her food until after Easter break. He decided to bring in homemade Hungarian alcohol, which we drank around 8:45, when the class started at 8 am. It is called Palinka (I hope I spelled that correctly, even without the accent mark). It is made with different fruits and consists of 50% alcohol because of the sugars in the fruits have to ferment for a minimum of six months. The kind he brought in were made with plums (he actually brought in three different kinds with three different maturities). It was extremely strong, but other than that it tasted pretty good. He said that he made it with his grandpa and his grandpa drinks it for good health. The food that they described is somewhat similar to Polish food, but with more spices and names that are nearly impossible to pronounce. The girl will bring in some kind of Hungarian dessert.

Next went the guy from Canada/America. He is apparently Jewish, so he brought in some sort of sweet macaroni dish, that tasted pretty good, but rather plain. He said that it can also be made with potatoes for more of a main dish. Before we ate, though, he gave us a little bit of a history lesson on Jewish culture and the rules that they have for what they can and can’t eat and when. It was actually pretty interesting. I learned that Orthodox Jews can’t mix milk products with meat products, even in the fridge, which my teacher later explained to us that we would not learn from any textbook, but only from a practicing Jew. That was the end of the first lesson.

At the beginning of the second class, the girl from Russia presented. She brought in a salad made of cut up vegetables and some sort of mayonnaise dressing called Oliva (again, I hope I spelled that correctly) It was extremely similar to the Polish veggie salad that I am extremely used to eating, except that it had potatoes in it and the Polish version doesn’t. In addition, she didn’t add any apples because she doesn’t like them, and the dressing she used/made had a different, sort of more bland taste than the Polish counterpart. Before we ate though, she explained to us that where she is from, which is really close to Asia, the inhabitants eat a lot of seafood and other plants/animals found in the ocean.

Next I went. I brought in the deviled eggs that I described in yesterday’s post. I explained different starters/ appetizers/hors d’oeuvres found in America. I also briefly explained main dishes and the typical food found in my parent’s house/what we usually eat.

After my turn, came the girl from Japan. She decided to make a rice and fish dish that is similar to sushi, but much easier to make and apparently more popular than sushi. It was called Onigiri. It had a lot of rice, and very little fish. She also brought in Japanese sweets, which are not sweets at all, but salty chip type things. Those were also pretty good. She was so prepared that she brought in the spices and the seaweed she used to show us how they looked. She explained to us what one can typically find in a “lunch” box in Japan, which is a little bit of meat and vegetables, among other things, and mainly rice. She also told us that there are about ten different types of white rice depending on what region a person lives in.

Lastly went the other guy from America. He decided to make homemade banana pudding, which turned out extremely good. He described how he made it and what was required of him to make it and that usually it is served in bowls, but he didn’t have bowls, so he brought it in a jar, which still looked pretty appetizing.  He explained to us the different foods found in different regions of the US. For example, the New England region eats a lot of fruits of the sea, among other regions. In addition, we had two girls in their first year of university listening in on our class to learn how to teach the Polish language to foreigners.

After my classes were done, I headed back to my room to relax a bit before I had to start doing laundry at 1 pm. I did laundry until four, and in between the times when I had to put in/take out a load of laundry I worked on my computer and relaxed a bit.

After I was finished with my laundry, I had a little bit more free time until I had to leave to meet up with my group because I invited them to dinner as a gift from my parents for my birthday. They definitely surprised me by two guys showing up with the two girls that I knew were coming and bringing me a large, beautiful bouquet of flowers and a box of really good chocolates. We decided to go to an Italian restaurant in the Jewish district of the town after taking about a half hour to decide where to go and having to ask about three people where they would recommend that we eat. We ate pizza and had a few drinks and talked for a good two hours. Of course I paid, as a generous gift from my parents. As we were leaving it was raining a little bit, but I didn’t really mind because the day had turned out better than I thought it would. Even though I won’t be able to spend my birthday at home with my parents this year, I know that I have people who care about me and make me happy and I will have at least two, maybe three birthday dinners, which I will explain more as they pass.

These are the flowers and the box of chocolates that my class got for me as a birthday present! Aren’t they just so nice? I’m one lucky girl to have the people that I do in my life.

Today turned out to be better than I ever expected it to be and I believe that my birthday this year may turn out to be one of the best ones I’ve had so far, if not the best one. This is because when I celebrate my birthday at home, it’s always with my family and we always go to some restaurant together, and sometimes they get me some small gift, but other than that it remains pretty much the same thing every year, which has become a little bit boring. It’s not that I don’t love or appreciate what my parents try to do, but that it’s the same thing every year, and it is nice to have a change of pace or even people with whom I get to spend my birthday with. That’s all for today, sorry it’s long, but talk to you guys again tomorrow!

Typical American Cuisine

So today has been kind of a busy day, and this is the first chance that I have had to just sit down and relax. I had my classes like usual from 11:30 to 6:15, but then I had to go grocery shopping, both for myself and for my homework that I had to do for my language class for tomorrow.

This week, our main topic has been about food, cooking and the kitchen in general, so on Tuesday, my teacher assigned us the task of bringing in a dish from our home countries. There are eight of us from six different countries. There’s one guy and one girl from Hungary, who did not even know the other existed before they came to the course and even though they attend the same university back home, there’s a girl from Russia, but all the way on the other side closer to China, there’s a girl from Japan (which I will discuss in a later post the demographics of the course), there’s a girl from France, there’s a guy who lived part of his life in Canada and the rest in the States, and then there’s another guy and myself which are from the States.

The teacher asked us what we were going to bring in because she was curious, but only a few people knew, so I know the guy from Hungary is bringing in some alcohol, the guy from the States is bringing in some sort of dessert, the girl from Japan is making some sort of sushi thing, and I decided to make deviled eggs.

I decided to make deviled eggs because as I was researching typical dishes found in America, I found that it was the easiest thing to make and required the fewest number of ingredients that I was required to buy. I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com, but I had to substitute some sauce for sandwiches for the creamy dressing, because I couldn’t find any salad dressing here. I ate a few of them that were falling apart and they actually turned out pretty good, even though I may have added a little bit too much mustard to them.

That’s all for today. Tomorrow I’ll tell you how my class liked the deviled eggs I made and how the other things my class brought in tasted and explain what they were. I’ll also tell you how my birthday celebration dinner went because today after class I invited everyone to dinner tomorrow, but already three people can’t make it, which makes me a bit sad, but I’ll live. Bye now!

Here’s the link to the recipe I used. I had to use a lot more of the mustard and the dressing than it said, even though I only used six eggs. Enjoy!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/deviled-eggs/detail.aspx

My Life in Poland, So Far

Today is turning out to be just like any other Wednesday, but in less than a week is my 20th birthday, so I have other things on my mind related to that. Last night, as I was texting my mom, she kept on asking what I was going to do, but I had no idea, and today, my dad surprised me by telling me he was going to add $100 to my bank account so that I could take my class out somewhere for a drink or something (the drinking age is 18, by the way, not 21, so legally I can drink). My class consists of about eight people so I don’t think that will be a problem. We have already gone out once as a group to get to know each other better and we all had a good time and found out a lot of new information about the others.

Other thank figuring out what I am going to do for my birthday, I have to worry about finishing my homework. Today that won’t really be a problem, because I have a three-hour break between my language classes and my elective workshops/lectures, which brings me to what my weeks/days look like.

The days are split up into six block of 90 minutes each with a 15 minute break between each block, starting at 8 am and ending at like 6:15. In the Polish education system, one class hour consists of 45 minutes so each block basically is two credits/points. All of my classes are in Polish unless otherwise, noted.

My Mondays look like this:
8-9:30 Polish Grammar
9:45-11:15 Polish Grammar
11:15-3:00 break to do homework in the library/go to eat something, etc.
3:00-4:30 Pronunciation and Intonation
4:45-7:00 Polish Film (this goes longer because we watch movies and discuss them)

Tuesday’s go like this:
8-11:15 I don’t have any classes, so I can sleep in a little bit
11:30-1* (Mar.24-tbd (at least a month)) Polish Grammar/Vocabulary (before Mar. 24 and after the month or so is over)
1:15-2:45* Vocabulary/Communication(talking)
3-4:30 Spelling (how to correctly spell words and the differences between the many different phonemes, for example the differences between ć(ci) and cz, among many others)
4:30 I have the rest of the afternoon/evening off

My Wednesday’s look like this:
8-9:30 Listening
9:45-11:15 Writing
11:15-3:00 break to do homework in the library/go to eat something, etc.
3-4:30 Poland Under and After Communism (in english)
4:45-7(or later) Theater (we write and will perform a play)

Thursday’s go a little like this:
8-11:15 I don’t have any classes, so I can sleep in a little bit again
11:30-1 Communication and Conversation
1:15-2:45 Reading and Writing
3-4:30 Polish Grammar (in english)
4:45-6:15 Contemporary Poland (everything from how the government runs to the educational system to the church’s role in the country) (overall, my favorite class)

And finally, my Friday’s:
8-9:30* Communication/Polish Grammar
9:45-11:15 Writing & Reading
11:15 I have the rest of the afternoon off, so my weekend starts

* I starred three of the blocks because we have one teacher for grammar and another one for everything else (the last two of each day, except Friday and Tuesday only one). The teacher that we normally have for grammar had to go to the hospital and have surgery for something because he used to smoke for a while, so for the time being we have a different teacher for grammar and the grammar lesson that we usually have on Friday’s got changed to Tuesdays.

Another schedule change that we had last week was that we had an additional language class on Wed. and Fri. because the week of May 19-22 my general teacher is taking a vacation and we have to make up those classes somehow and she doesn’t want us to have another teacher during that week, so we have to make up those lessons sometime. Last Wed. was a little bit of a marathon, but on Friday we got to do sort of scavenger hunt around the main square and nearby streets, so it wasn’t too extremely bad.

Sorry this is a little long, but at least it will give you a little glimpse into my life as a Polish language student.That’s all for today. I’ll probably be back again tomorrow to explain a different aspect about my life as a study abroad student in Kraków.