Totally Random

There are a few things I have been wanting to tell you but they are small so I will lump them all into one post.

1. When people tell you that drivers in Poland are crazy, they are not kidding. Crazy, crazy, crazy!! On our way to Auschwitz, I thought there was a real possibility that the driver would kill us. During that ride, a man from England yelled at the driver to slow down and stop driving like a maniac. Today we actually had a good driver. Krista said it was the first time she actually felt safe while in a vehicle in Poland. We had the opportunity to talk with our driver quite a bit (because it was only our family on the tour) and he explained that Polish people have lived under the oppressive laws of so many foreign governments (Austrian, German, Russian) that they have gotten used to bending the rules, being a bit subversive and not trusting authority which has trickled down to the way they ignore (I say totally ignore, he said bend) the law while driving. Interesting theory, but still scary.

2. Sometimes, the differences between Poland and Canada are good and sometimes they are not. A case in point was our trip to Park Wodny. (http://www.parkwodny.pl/) They had the greatest change room I have ever seen. It was like a gigantic family change room, which was great for us so that we could all stay together. It was totally clean, partly because there were staff who's whole job it was to constantly squeegee the floor and keep it free of those disgusting pools of water, hair and garbage that so often pile up in change rooms. As soon as we paid at the entrance, they gave us each an electronic bracelet to wear to keep track of how long we were there (so they could charge us accordingly), but it also acted as a mechanism to lock and unlock the locker. No quarters!! Love it! Finally, when we were about to enter the pool there was a tap that turned on a spray to disinfect our feet before entering or leaving the pool area. I have never seen the likes of it in Canada, and will forever hold this up as the gold standard for change rooms (Normally change rooms really gross me out. Can you tell??) The kids were totally excited to try out the water slides that they had seen on the computer. And then...

...we found out that you have to be at least 10 years old to go on any of them, even if a parent goes with you. The kids were so disappointed, especially since they are used to going on all sorts of water slides in Canada. They must be killer water slides, we thought. No, no, they were not! Gord and Krista tried out a few, and they said they had to try their hardest to even get down some of them. No speed!

Best change rooms. Worst riding policy. I guess you can't win them all.

PS We did still manage to stay in the pool for an hour and a half, so it wasn't all that bad, just disappointing.

3. There are nuns everywhere in Krakow! EVERYWHERE!! And some of them are young! We play a game everyday to see how many we can count. On our worst day, we only counted 10. On our best day, we counted 48. 48 NUNS!!! I can only imagine that seeing that many nuns on a regular basis would help young girls with their discernment to the call to religious life (you know, as opposed to seeing a nun once a year in Canada).

4. We may be able to count the nuns, but it would be impossible to count the pigeons. There are so many here it is ridiculous. I guess that is true of all the major city squares in Europe, but I have never seen anything like it before.

So many!

The kids helping Krista lure one in for the perfect shot.

They love to chase them.

Careful where you put your hand, or you might get pigeon poop on your finger!

5. We have all started to use more Polish words. Don't get too excited, I am only talking about please, thank you, excuse me, etc. It isn't much, but it is a start. The weirdest thing though, is that I have adopted a Polish accent while speaking English to Polish people. You know, because that will help them understand me! Seriously weird, but I can't seem to stop!