A Few of My Favorite Things

The past few days have been relatively uneventful. Kind of the same old, same old. We got to reconect with our friends Ala and Nina, and that was wonderful. We made an unexpected trip to Warsaw Monday morning and I got to visit Ikea for the first time (I have mixed thoughts about the store....but I did buy a pair of kitchen shears, which gives me much joy!). We went to Olsztynek and Jemiolowo and Waplewo and all went well (we didn't go to Platyny because Marcin was out of town for a meeting and didn't think we needed to go there without him...good call). We've nearly gotten blown away by some seriously strong winds. We watched a movie that Amber rented and downloaded from itunes (on a side note: it worked awesome, but took 9 hours to download. You definitely have to plan ahead for that one!). Hmmmm...well, as you can see, kind of a slow week for some blogging fun. SO, I decided that I'd share with you all some of the things that I'm loving right now. Yes, I know...shallow and really pretty boring for both of my readers, but what they hey! Here we go...

...from left to right:

-my FatBaby boots. I love them. They are comfortable, even for walking long distances around here, warm, dry, and just so darned cute! They are well worth every penny spent!

-my new pink ipod arm band holder thing. This was part of Kyle's Christmas gift to me and I've used it several times to run already and it's great. The whole reason I needed a new MP3 player for Christmas was that I dropped my previous one while running! (have I ever mentioned that I'm not very graceful?)

-my "winter" Polish pottery mug. It makes me so happy to drink tea and coffee from this mug. I bought it back in November anticipating many winter nights, sitting around sipping a hot beverage, as the wind and snow swirled about outside. Still waiting on that one.

-that little slip of paper is a pierogi recipe a friend of ours gave us. It's actually her mom's recipe and we tried it out this past Saturday. They turned out pretty good. Lots of work (at least for a rookie such as myself), but we think that next time, we'll try using some fresh fruit. The potato filling was good, but it won't be long until fresh raspberry season here and that would be delicious!

-the "It's a 10" miracle hair product from Lori. Short of having a personal hair assistant to do my hair every morning, this is the best thing that has happened to my hair in a long time. My hair is very happy.

-the purse Amber gave me for Christmas. I smile every time I sling it over my shoulder. I just love it!

-my copy of Lord of the Rings. This wouldn't have ordinarily been my typical choice in reading material, but a friend suggested it and it's so good! I've read The Hobbit and am almost finished with Lord of the Rings. Definitely enjoying it.

-Good Earth Red Tea. Wonderful. Fabulous. A party in my mouth. A celebration of taste. I could go on, but I will just say that Alethea introduced me to this tea, and upon tasting, I quickly ordered some online, had it sent to my parents, and had them send it to me. If you like red hots in your apple cider, I think you will like this tea. Just a hint, if you ever try some, taste it without sugar in it first...I personally think it doesn't need any, it's great just as it is.

-my bottle of Mountain Mourning body oil (ok, it's actually massage oil, but I call it body oil). My friend Brandi gave me this for Christmas and it's been wonderful for the dry skin. It's from a company in Fremont, Ohio called the Not Just a Soap Company. The oil smells like patchouli, which is one of my favorite scents...even though someone once told me I smelled like a Grateful Dead concert. You just keep on truckin' man, and I'll keep wearing my patchouli.

As I was piling my favorite things onto my "bed" for the photo shoot, I thought to myself: "self, people probably don't know exactly what you sleep on and what it looks like". So, I put my self to work and took a "before" and "after" shot of my "bed". (that was a lot of quotation marks). This is what my bed looks like from roughly 7 am until 11 pm...

...and this is what it turns into as darkness falls upon Olsztyn. A couch by day, a bed by night. Tricky, eh?

Before I go, I feel the need to apologize to anyone still reading this post. I have wasted several valuable moments of your life. But, hey, these are the things you do to entertain yourself when you live in a foreign country. Enjoy =)

Waplewo

Welcome to Waplewo. It's a really little village near us and we've been invited to come teach three different classes of English once a week. Amber and Patsy are teaching the younger kids, Bryan and I are teaching the teens, and Alethea and Lydia are teaching the adults. So far, it's been a great experience and there has been a really great turnout each week. In fact, the first two weeks, Amber and Patsy had kids sitting on the floor! As for myself, I'm in a very unfamiliar position in Waplewo. First of all, I'm not working with Amber, which is a little strange since we've worked together on nearly everything since roughly January of 07! Also, I'm teaching teenagers, which is a HUGE stretch for me! I'm totally not used to teaching teens and definitely having to learn how to relate to them and how to teach them without cheezy songs and games that I'm used to using with kids. Thankfully, I left the apron* I used to wear when I was teaching school, back in Ohio. Now, I'm just 90% un-cool with youth, as opposed to 100% while wearing the apron.

(*in defense of the apron-wearing...it was awesome. It had three large pockets where I could stuff pencils, erasers, markers, chalk...you name it. AND, it was a defensive shield against a wide assortment of bodily fluids and dirt)

I don't know if you can read the buletin board in the back of the room, but I can't either. I think it's a German classroom.

I've included some shots of one of the elementary classrooms, for all of my teacher relatives. I thought you might like to see the inside of a Polish school. We've been in several schools here, and I think this one, in this tiny village, is one of the nicest!

Another shot of the classroom (and Amber and Patsy--for the record, I did not abandon my own class to run around snapping photos. Marcin used my camera and got some great shots of everyone in action). This shot was taken from the doorway. Pretty small, huh?

And this photo was taken from the very front of the room. Yup, that's the back wall you can see. I don't know how many kids are in this room during the school day, but yikes! It's close quarters for sure!

Please continue to pray for the people of Waplewo. As I mentioned, we've only been heading out to this village for three weeks now, so it's all kind of new to us. However, Marcin has had some great opportunities to talk with some of the teachers and the director of the school. Please pray for more opportunities to meet and build relationships with the people here. And please pray for me as I work with Bryan to teach the youth. Please pray for relationships to grow, for wisdom in how to plan and teach, and for some small degree of coolness with them. I mean, God can do anything, right?!?!

Sand, Pigeon Jewelry, and Snow!

These are just some random photos and things I've wanted to share with you all. (Please keep in mind that "random" is the key word here)

For those of you who have known me for any amount of time, you may have picked up on my love (ahem...obsession) for anything beach, water, Lake Erie related. Has anyone noticed? Well, when I lived in Huron (about two blocks from the beach!), my love/obsession stemmed as far as enjoying sweeping up the endless amounts of sand that was tracked into my little house. I seriously liked it. It felt like having a bit of my beloved beach right there in my house.

Well, let me just say that they use sand here to spread on the snow to make it less slippery. Can you see where this is heading? Yes, it's true. I still get to sweep up piles of sand...and I kind of enjoy it!

This is one of the many storage containers scattered about where the sand is kept. Not quite Lake Erie, but I'll take what I can get here!

Now, this next picture is pretty self explanatory. Kind of. Amber, our friend Izabela, and I were walking through Old Town last Friday and saw this poor little pigeon walking around with his buddies. Yes, that is a crust of bread around his neck. Your guess is as good as mine as to how this occured, but his "buddies" were actually coming up to him and pecking at the bread! Sheesh! It's hard to find a good friend these days!

And, finally, just a shot of the snow that actually showed up last week! It started snowing on Thursday evening, but it was only a dusting. Then, Friday afternoon, it started again and we had snow showers throughout the afternoon and into the evening. As far as winters go, this one has been kind of a dud here! I was actually hoping to have a real Polish winter and have been looking forward to snow. Who would have ever thought I would actually want snow! Wonders never cease =)

Polish Hospitality

There's a saying in Poland: "A guest in the house is like God in the house", and I would have to agree. I have definitely enjoyed experiencing Polish hospitality and have learned much from many gracious hostesses and hosts. Any time we visit someone's home, we are immediately warmly welcomed and offered tea or coffee and typically treated to some type of cookie, cake, chocolate, or other goody. At times there is even the offer of different foods. When we head out to the villages, we typically stop at Marcin and Monika's home (which is a small apartment in the church building) at some point. Yesterday, Amber and I travelled out and arrived shortly before our first class. So, Marcin suggested we start the class early in order to finish early and be able to go to his home for coffee and tea. We also were treated to some homemade pancake type things that Marcin whipped up for us! When we go to Jemiolowo to teach english, the Soltys (village leader) has coffee, tea, and some type of goody for us, and yesterday was no exception (for the record, that was cup of coffee number two for the afternoon). After our lessons in Jemiolowo, Amber, Marcin, and I headed to the home of some of our students to visit with the family. And, as we sat down at the kitchen table, the tea, coffee, and cookies came out! (cup number three---four years of teaching has somewhat trained my bladder to be patient, but after three cups of caffeine, I was shot!).
And, in case you're wondering, this isn't something the Poles do only for us Americans, this is how they treat everyone! I really like it and have enjoyed having opportunities to practice hospitality to our friends here in in our flat.

This is a photo from Marcin's birthday party last week. Here you can get an idea of the "spread" put out. The Poles don't typically use plasticware, so it's always fun (well, except for the dish-washer!) to drink tea from pretty cups!

Ok, yes, I know there's an arm reaching right through the middle of this picture, but it's actually a telling picture. I was trying to just get a shot of the table, but it was so hard to snap one, as Marcin or Monika were in constant motion making sure that everyone was served and happy. This is Marcin's hand reaching for a spoon to serve someone some of his birthday cake...the birthday boy/girl is the one to serve on his/her birthday! And, they usually provide their own cake!

One thing is for sure: when you leave a Polish home, you definitely feel special and as though you were a welcomed guest...even if your bladder is about to explode!

"Give it to Mikey, he'll eat anything"

Well, as promised, here are the pictures with the guard in Prague. You know, the ones where they said "send Jessica, she's from the north! She'll be an obnoxious tourist!" (and, just for the record, I even have a little "northern tribute" on my ipod, complete with Youngstown by Bruce Springsteen and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot) Enjoy!

It's Fun To Stay at The...

...Swietlica? Well, we don't technically meet at the YMCA, but a swietlica could be similar (it's a community center with after school programs for kids). I will say that it seems our team has officially morphed into "the village people". We had our first week returning to two of the villages and meeting the people in two more and it was great! On Wednesday, we headed out to Waplewo for what we expected to be three groups of students. However, silly me, I forgot to remember the Golden Rule of Work in Poland: always expect the unexpected. So, I shouldn't have been surprised when we showed up and there were only two rooms reserved. It was totally no problem and worked out really well. There were about 32 kids (wow!!) and around 20 adults (12 were teachers and the others were people from the village). All in all, I think it was a great first meeting.
From Waplewo, we piled into the big while VW van with our fearless driver, Bryan, and headed to Platyny...unsure what to expect (see: Golden Rule of Work in Poland--I learned my lesson after Waplewo). Platyny is the village that we've had a pretty long...hmmmm, shall we say "history" with. The first good sign when we arrived was that the lights were actually on! Woo-hoo! (we've previously had to wait while Marcin would go hunt down the key to unlock the building) And, once we walked inside, we saw a rule list posted, as well as a sign for our english lessons! Woo-hoo, yet again! And, lo and behold...there was heat, too! Then, when we were finished, some of the wonderful ladies in the village had prepared tea, coffee, cappuccino, and cakes for us. It was such a special night and will surely be one of my favorite memories of Poland.
On Thursday, Amber and I headed out with Marcin to a swietlica in Olsztynek (the little town where Marcin lives and pastors) which was great. Then, we headed out to Jemiolowo and had a great time with the kids and the Soltys there. THEN, we headed back to Marcin and his wife Monika's home where we joined them for some delicious, homemade cucumber soup (a Polish speciality that I've got to get the recipe for!) and their homegroup meeting with members from their church. After the meeting, we celebrated Marcin's birthday! It was, once again, a precious memory and great time of fellowship. During the previous month, while things have been so slow, I've been missing out on really spending time in the Polish culture. I know it sounds funny since, um, I live here. But, it's true. So, this past week has been a "breath of fresh air" if you will.

Me and Krystyna...a believer who attends Marcin's church and lives in Platyny. She's a very sweet lady. Please pray for her, that she'd shine the Light of Christ, as she lives among her neighbors and friends in Platyny.

This is kind of a dark, lousy picture, but I wanted you to see what these ladies in Platyny did for us. It was so sweet!

Amber and I in action in Olsztynek.

In Marcin and Monika's home with some of the members of their church.

And, last but not least, Marcin and Monika, whom I love. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them both better. Please pray for them as they continue to minister in Olsztynek. They are such a neat couple and definitely love the Lord and people!

Ever Wondered What Earthworm Tastes Like?

This is my friend Kristin checking out one of the coolest parts of the cathedral in the Prague Castle. There were these huge arches and if you speak into the arch, the person on the other side of this HUGE room could put their ear to the wall and hear you! It was so fun!

This is a view from the castle, which is located on a hill. Wise place to build a castle. But, again, a picture just doesn't do it justice.

These are some of the ladies I was at training with in Virginia. It was such a blessing to get to hang out with them for the week. Good times, good times.

And, more of the ladies I was at training with. Fun!

Ok, this picture definitely needs some explanation. One of the girls brought a bunch of boxes of Harry Potter jellybeans. I don't know if you've heard about these or not, but apparently they have something to do with the books/movies (I've never actually read/seen any of them, although it was required--some may say it was more of a suggested, really--reading for one of my early childhood education classes). There are flavors such as vomit, sausage, black pepper, rotten egg, soap, sardine, ear wax, grass, earthworm, dirt...I'm so not kidding. What's even more ridiculous is that we voluntarily, and for FUN, played a game where you took one out of the box and had to eat it, no matter what. After earthworm, sardine, black pepper and vomit...I was out. I threw in the towel. But, it definitely proved for many laughs and lots of fun!

Prague, Bold Northerners, and Christmas Carols

Train riding. Dierks Bentley sings a song about this and, trust me, it's not nearly as glamorous, nostalgic, or romantic as he makes it out to be. But, it got the job done! And notice the bottle of Dr. Pepper. Amber knew it was going to be a loooong trip, so she brought some "comfort food".

Do you know who this is?? It's King Wenceslas....you know, "Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen..."! Imagine my surprise to find out that this was a real guy! And he was apparently really a good king. Way to go, King Wenc!

There was no snow, but it was brisk walking through Prague!

A view from one of the bridges. Of course, a photo doesNOT do this city justice.

At the Prague Castle, there is a changing of the guard every hour, which we got to see. It was pretty impressive. As we were leaving the castle, someone wanted to get a picture of a few of us standing next to one of the guards. A few were hesitant and said "Jess, you go do it...you're from the north." What?? Apparently, southerners (which pretty much qualifies EVERYONE I work with) think that we northerners are bold, blunt, and will do anything! Well, I didn't want to let them down, so I'll try to get ahold of that picture =)

Well, I am back from Prague and, in a word, it was: WONDERFUL! Seriously, it was great. We all survived the looooong train ride (we left our flat at 4:30 and arrived in Prague around 6 that night!) and thankfully made the connection we needed to make in Warsaw. Actually, one of the best parts of the trip was the scenery in the south of Poland and into Czech Republic. It was beautiful and it reminded me--now don't laugh--of the ride down to Athens, Ohio. Yes, I was riding a train through Europe and it reminded me of the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It was beautiful to see, although I had hoped for a little snow. Oh well!
The week in Prague was great. We had a church service together on Sunday morning, then had the afternoon and evening free to explore. We got to see some of the sights, eat some American type food, then walked back over the Charles Bridge in the dark, seeing the river lit up. It was beautiful!

Throughout the week, we spent the days in meetings hearing from several different speakers, and it was great. It was refreshing, refocusing, and definitely encouraging. It was also awesome to hear about how God is working through ordinary people like us all over this region. I made some new friends and connected with some old friends. Then, at night, we were free to go out and eat (there are some WONDERFUL restaurants in Prague!) and hang out together. I loved getting to hang out with some of my friends from training and talk, laugh, and talk some more.

On Thursday morning we headed out of Prague and spent the night in Warsaw to take care of some VISA things at the embassy on Friday. So, technically, you could say I was in America for a few minutes on Friday! I broke into a little rendition of "God Bless the USA" in honor of the visit. In fact, now that I think about it, even though I was in an even more foreign country than Poland (to me at least), it felt more like America! There were Americans and english speakers EVERYWHERE. And I don't just mean the Americans I was with at the conference. At one point, we were in a bagel restaurant and literally everyone sitting around us was American. It was really weird. Then, on Thursday night, Amber, Patsy, and I went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Warsaw for dinner, which is about as American as you can get in Warsaw. I guess we were all needing a little slice of America this past week =)