Warsaw - Week 1

Thank you to everyone who has left such wonderful and encouraging comments on the blog. We are thankful to be blessed with such supportive family and friends. Many people have said they are proud of me for embracing this adventure. Lets be honest...it is not easy for me! I am not a very adventurous girl, and this trip is WAY out of my comfort zone. I knew going into this that I would get homesick sometimes, and Monday and Tuesday were the first days that I wished that I were home instead of here. Really REALLY wished. I think part of the reason is that Krakow looked totally different from Calgary, but Warsaw does not. It reminds me more of home than Krakow did which made me miss home more. Also, when we were in Krakow we were on vacation and it felt like the end of our eleven days there was a natural time to go home. Instead, we came here and it hit me that we would be here for a really long time. A REALLY long time.

Monday I didn't feel well, but we had to go to the grocery store anyway. If you have ever thought to yourself that it would be super fun to take your 4 young children to a foreign grocery store where you can't find anything, read anything or get any real information from anyone, I would caution you otherwise. By the time we were done selecting all the groceries, I was one grouchy bear. Then while we were in the checkout, Julia and Michael decided to sneakily open a Kinder Egg Surprise that was still sitting on the shelf, which did not make the Polish grocery lady very happy and in turn sent the grouchy bear over the edge. I think if I could have flapped my own arms to fly us home that day, I would have. Since then, we have gotten slightly better at the grocery store, but only slightly.

Tuesday we went to the mall. Yes, the mall, which I generally try to avoid at home. We needed a few things though, so that is where we went. There is quite a big mall about a 25 minute walk from our apartment (http://www.zlotetarasy.pl/en/). We found a play place there for the kids (like a small Let's Play) and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, so the children were happy. It turns out that I don't really like the mall in Poland any more than I like it in Canada. Who knew? The good news is that we found a better grocery store there, got some kitchen things we needed, Gord got some items that he needed for work, and we got a new stroller so that Krista could stop carrying Julia around. It was a relatively succesful trip, but I was still feeling down. That is...

...until Wednesday when we made some friends!! PwC (Gord's company) hosted a lunch for all the families (complete with cotton candy machine) and we met some very nice people. I instantly felt better! They also hosted a dinner that night (with a massive amount of really delicious Polish food) and we got to know people a little bit better. The kids were happy too. Julia was better behaved that day than she had been in over a week. Gord left Thursday for three days away at a retreat, and we hung out with the other families the whole time. I suspect this experience will be a little bit like living in Residence at the U of A (without the debauchery, of course) in that in this type of environment you make good friends really quickly.

Later in the week, we went to a park called Ogrod Saski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogrod_Saski) which is about a 30 walk from the apartment:

This is Julia and our new friend Sienna (6). She is from England. Her mom is part of the coaching team for Gord's course.

This is Lily and Erin (4), Sienna's little sister.

Owen, just hanging around.

While the kids played, Krista tried to brush up on her Polish with our Polish Phrase Book. That is, until the kids asked if they could have the book. Polish boys had tried to talk to Owen in Polish, and when he tried to say "Nie mowie po polsku" (which means I don't speak Polish) the boys started laughing, so he decided to try and talk to them using the phrase book. It all seemed very lovely until we found out what he was trying to say. Owen and his new friend Mia (6) were killing themselves laughing because they were calling each other a toilet in Polish and asking Polish kids if they were wearing bikinis. This, of course, cracked up the Polish kids and helped to improve international relations. At one point, however, Julia got into a fight with a Polish boy who looked like he was about 10 and was twice her size. She screamed "English!" and he would yell back "I don't speak English. Polish!" (in English) and she would yell "Nye, Buster!!" while shaking her finger in his face. Only Julia! I did see her playing nicely with one girl, and when we were leaving the park I asked her if she made a new Polish friend, and she said "Mom, she is my ONLY Polish friend!" Well, duh!

The park is home to this beautiful fountain.

These goofy kids, however, were just passing through.

Owen, Lily, Erin, Sienna, Julia, Michael. Mia (6) and her brother Vinnie (4) are behind Michael. They are from Boston.

The park is also home to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

By the end of the week, I was feeling on top of the world. Well, at least on top of Poland. However, nothing lasts forever, and by Saturday some of us were hit with some sort of flu bug (or possibly bad water, we are not sure). Michael fell first, then Julia, then Lily. Gord, Krista and Owen remain healthy and went to church yesterday and out for lunch afterward. Today Gord went to work, and Krista and Owen went to the mall with our friends from Boston. The rest of us, however, stayed in the prison (I mean apartment), which we haven't left since Saturday. I have spent more money at the iTunes store buying apps and movies to keep sick kids happy than I care to acknowledge. If all goes well, we will go to the zoo tomorrow. If not though, we will stay here...forever...and ever...