We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto

So much to blog about, so little time!!! Yes, this is true. Since our internet availability is pretty unreliable these days, minutes are precious, so I'll try to get this out before our internet goes out! So, let's see what's been going on here...
Last week was a week long holiday for most Poles, especially for the students. The first and the third are national holidays (something like Labor day and Constitution Day), so they just decided to go ahead and cancel the whole week of classes! Unfortunately, that meant that most of the girls we've been meeting with were travelling or went to their hometowns for the week. However, we did get to hang out with two of the girls throughout the week and got to spend some time with a friend from church named Ula. It's been really great getting to know these girls better. I know I've said this before, and it seems SO obvious, but it's still amazing to me how people are people. Doesn't matter what language barriers, what cultural differences come up---people are people. Listening to Ula share her testimony about how she met Jesus was so neat, because it's so similar to mine. Different country, different culture, different language, but the same Christ and the same hunger for something that's missing in life. Good stuff.
Anyhoo, this past week has been another interesting week in Northeast Poland. I guess the best way to sum it up is to say that the honeymoon is over. It's no longer "SOOO European" to wait in line for 45 minutes at the Post Office or nearly get pushed off the bus as old ladies get off. It's just plain frustrating and annoying. I knew that this feeling would come, yet it still came as a shock! All of a sudden, living in Poland isn't like the beginning of a vacation, but real, day-to-day life. I think I've come to the point where the reality is hitting me that, in the wise words of Dorothy "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto".
It's also been another holiday week of sorts for the students. The University here hosts a weekend-long party called Kortowiada that starts Thursday and goes through Sunday. There were no classes on Thursday and Friday and there are concerts and fireworks and LOTS of partying all weekend long (kind of like Halloween at OU, but even bigger and without costumes and not in Ohio). Needless to say, we cancelled our study for Thursday night! We may be going with some of our girls to check it out tomorrow night. I'll be sure to let you all know what it's like if we go!
That pretty much sums up what's going on here in Olsztyn. Here are a few odds and ends that you might like to know:
**we picked up our karta pobytu (residence cards) today...how crazy is that?!?! I'm an official resident of POLAND!!! WHAT???
**I had a wonderful birthday, thanks to all of the great birthday wishes!!! Thank you all for the cards, e-cards, and emails. They all brought a big smile to my face. For my actual birthday, I went to language class (15 more to go! woo-hoo!), hung out here at the flat, then went to dinner at a Greek-with-a-Polish-twist restaurant with Amber and Patsy, got some delicious ice cream, came back to our flat to hang out (and open presents!!), then talked to my parents on Skype and opened the package they had sent.
**tonight we had a team birthday for our three May birthdays (Sean, Lydia, and me) at our new teammates' (Bryan, Stacey and their kids Mikaila and Ethan) house. We had an authentic American cook-out with burgers, kielbasa (ok-not so American), veggies and ranch dip, Jelly Belly jellybeans, cake, ice cream, iced tea, and scalloped potatoes. Yum! We had a great time AND I got 6 delicious homemade cinnamon and raisin bagels from Sean and Lydia and an American brownie mix from Bryan and Stacey (are you noticing a trend here...apparently people know that I like food!)
**tomorrow we're having a kid party at our flat. We're having all of our little nieces and nephew over for a few hours for some no-adult fun (I know I'm 27, but I still don't know if I can bring myself to admit it!)
**we experienceed (as in were out walking in it!) our first Poland thunderstorm today. Apparently they're pretty rare around these parts, but the sky put on a pretty good show this afternoon!

So, I think that's about everything! This has turned out to be one looooong post, but if you're still reading, thanks! As usual, I'll post some pictures that go along with this post in another post and completely scramble around the captions.