Extended family

My wonderful American-Polish family! AKA...Team NE Poland.

Texas bound

July 28th-September 28th I'll be in Texas with family and friends. I'll be returning to Poland September 29th. Look forward to more blog post about what is happening in Poland once I return.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

Boża Ciało

What is it?

Corpus Christi is a Catholic observance that honors the Holy Eucharist. It is also known as the Feast of the Most Holy Body of Christ, as well as the Day of Wreaths.

What do people do?
In commemoration of the Last Supper on the day before Jesus’ crucifixion, many around the world receive Communion on this day. In Poland the consecrated bread is paraded throughout the streets.

Background:
Corpus Christi is a festival that has been celebrated by many in the Catholic Church, in honor of the Eucharist since 1246. The name “Corpus Christi” is a Latin phrase that refers to the body of Christ.

The wonderful world of tea!

One thing I love about living in Europe is the wide range of teas you can pick from. When at the grocery store it's my favorite aisle to go down. I could spend hours there! When I finally make it back to the States hot tea is one thing about Europe that I will miss for sure.

Eyjafjallajokull..thats a mouth full!

When you think of a natural disaster you often think of hurricanes, tornados, flash floods and such. However, I bet many of you, including myself never thought of volcanos as a part of that category. Well with the Iceland Eyjafjallajokull volcano Europe is currently at a standstill when it comes to air traffic. Due to the volcanic ash the EU has shut down airspace over much of Europe leaving people stranded and halting others plans. Like my roommate Ashley and I. We are currently scheduled to leave out of Warsaw on Sunday morning and heading to London, and then head to Cork to run our half marathon. We are praying that by Sunday the volcanic ash will dissipate and we will be able to continue our vacation as planned. To ease the stress caused by the volcano my roommate and I have been thinking up other ways to get to London incase the airspace doesn’t open up.

The following are our possible plans; some are more realistic than others…
1. Take a train from Olsztyn Poland to London (21 hour trip)
2. Backpack through Europe till we reach London
3. Run there
4. Wait out the volcanic ash and reverse our trip...Ireland first, London second

What is all comes down to is…we hope this natural disaster leave as quick as it came. Please pray along with us that our trip will not be hindered by Eyjafjallajokull as well pray for all those stuck in airports.

Mourning for the lost

With yesterdays tragic events the country of Poland stands in shock. Many may know but yesterday a plane carrying the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski and his wife along with 96 other polish dignitaries on their way to the Katyn Massacre memorial crashed one mile from the airport in Russia due to thick fog and killed everyone onboard. Praise the Lord the transfer of political power has been smooth and without any problems. The speaker from the lower chamber of Parliament will take over for now. Due to the Polish constitution they have 60 days to elect a new President. Regular elections were scheduled for this fall but due to the tragedy they are moving up the elections and start in about two weeks time. The Polish prime ministry has issued a week of mourning for the lost as well as at 12:00 (Sunday) Poland observed 2 minutes of silence. All Buses stopped, all church bells tolled and all emergency vehicles sirens blared. It was a sight to witness as the Polish people joined together to honor those who were lost.

Walking along the streets in any Polish city right now you will find the Polish flags draped with black ribbon along with candles and flowers surrounding government buildings. In Warsaw at the Presidential palace there has been a steady stream of people paying their respects for the late President and his wife.

Please join in praying for the country of Poland, the families affected, and the polish people as they grieve this lose.

Ten Fun facts...Poland

1. Poland is the 9th largest country in Europe.
2. In Poland the name day is considered more important than the birthday.
3. Amongst all the members of the European Union, the residents of Poland marry the youngest. 4. Poland boasts 17 Nobel prize winners, including four Peace Prizes and five in Literature.
5. 90% of Poles have completed at least secondary education.
6. Marie Curie (born Maria Sklodowska ; 1867-1934), the first and only Nobel laureate in two different sciences and first female professor at the Sorbonne University.
7. Polish born astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was the first person to propose that the earth was not the center of the universe.
8. In Wroclaw there is an annual city-wide medieval festival, including jousts, horse archery, medieval dances and other activities.
9. Natural resources include: coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land.

10. Pizza in Poland does not contain tomato sauce. The waiters bring sauce to the table in a pitcher, and you pour it on top. Sometimes the sauce is just ketchup.

...and we're running

I wanted to share one of my goals for 2010....

One of my roommates and I wanted to take up running and actually enjoy it. So we decided to start training for a 1/2 marathon. Our end goal, whats keeping us going during these cold Poland days is knowing that in May we will head to Ireland to run in the Bay Race. I am so excited to think that in May I will have the chance to go to Ireland and to run in a 1/2 marathon. It's going to be so cool to say that I have actually ran a 1/2 marathon!