Poland

I ventured to Poland the weekend of December 5th through the 9th of 2019 staying with Kate, an exchange student who we hosted back in 2005. Landing in Poland the night of Thursday, December 5th Pawel, Kate’s husband, picked me up at the airport in Chaplin, which is close to the city of Warsaw. Kate told me before hand that Pawel was really stressed because his English could use some practice but we had some good conversations in the car back to their apartment. They were so sweet and generous to let me stay at their flat for the weekend. They moved out for the weekend and stayed with Pawel’s parents house. They told me to make myself at home in their flat and Kate even wrote some sweet notes here and there explaining what to eat and where things were.

Friday, December 6th, 2019

On Friday morning, Kate came to the apartment where we had some coffee together and started catching up after 14 years apart. She started explaining the history of Poland. She sent me a video that explained why everyone stops for one minute on the anniversary of the W-hour in remembrance of the people that lost their lives.

Poland is 90 percent Christian Catholics and the other percent is other religions. There were multiple churches. She took me to the old town and showed me around the square. Then we had “pierogi” a very polish dish that’s very fattening but very good. She took me to the top place that has the best “pierogi” called Zapiecek restaurant. Then we ventured to the museum, Powstania Warszawskeigo that talked about the history of the involvement between Poland and Germany in World War II. It was definitely heavy history that wasn’t easy hearing, but it gave me a good perspective of the effects of World War II on Poland. After a busy morning and afternoon, we came back to her apartment and had some tea. She showed me her wedding pictures and pictures of Hania when she was born.

The whole family, Pawel, Kate, Hania and I went out to eat at Fort Bistro and had some more polish food. It was really good! I loved polish food!

After Fort Bistro, we went to Deseo which is a really good dessert place. The desserts are really fancy and so GOOD!

I absolutely loved my time with Kate and her family. We have had great conversations, and I enjoyed learning history about Poland with her. I was very excited to play volleyball Saturday morning with Kate.

Saturday, December 7th, 2019

Saturday was such a fun day. Kate and I played volleyball at a school along with some of her colleagues and their kids. By no means small kids since they were high school students to college students. It was a fun time playing volleyball with them and I enjoyed listening to them talking Polish between themselves.

Heading back to the apartment we met up with Hania and Pawel. Where we changed our clothes and took off to a mall food court. Of course, I had Pierogis.

Next, we went to see the Temple of Gods Divine in Poland. It was extremely beautiful and we were able to get a tour of it in English. Although it is beautiful now, there’s still a good amount that’s still being added.

We went to Park Wilanoswki which is right by Wilanów Palace where we went to see the light festival. The park was so beautiful and I enjoyed the architecture even though it was very cold outside! During the light festival, they showed a picture of the king that build it.

After Wilanow Palace, we went to go eat at an Italian restaurant! I enjoyed watching Kate, who is a wonderful mom, feed some baby food to Hania. Hania is a very happy baby. She is so cute and adorable. Hania and I had a sweet connection, she smiled at me a lot and talked in her baby voice to me.

Kate told me about Polish traditional dancing but it all depends on the region you’re from. It’s different from region to region. She showed me a video of her University of Warsaw of students dancing the traditional dance for the region Warsaw is in.

Links of Polish Dancing

This is link of the University in Warsaw that Kate works at. Kate told me they have the best traditional dancing for their region and they have been asked to perform multiple places.

This is the link of Polish dancing from another region, in the Tatra Mountains.

Schools in Poland

Government funded public schools are free and private schools are not but the private schools are very expensive. This rule applies for universities too in Poland. If the university is public it’s free and if it’s private you pay. Paying for the university is around 3,000 dollars. It’s not expensive like the U.S.

Kates works at Warsaw University of Life Sciences, and this university works with Texas A&M University which is a big agricultural college. Because of their connection Warsaw University will let students from the U.S. attend for free.

Kate told me Saturday night, I need to practice my Polish, so I know at least one word when I go back to United States so she had me practice saying some words in Polish.

Polish Words

English to Polish

Hello- Cześć!

Thank you- Dziękuję

Enjoy your food- smacznego

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Sunday I went to a Catholic mass service in Poland with Kate. It was very cool to experience a Polish mass and hear Christian songs in Polish. I enjoyed it.

We had lunch at Stary Dom restaurant and enjoyed another traditional Polish dish. It is the top restaurant that serves Tatar. Since it’s raw meat, it’s very important that it is done well and Kate wanted to make sure I had a good experience trying this traditional dish.

Kate told me that traditional polish soup is served in a bread bowl in the Tatra mountains. In Warsaw polish soup is not normally served in a bread bowl.

We then went back to their place to meet up with Pawel and baby Hania. Hania needed fed and during that time, we had coffee, and Kate introduced me to some Polish music. She played some of her favorite artist and other popular singers from Poland as well as a Christian choir in Polish that she likes too. It was a good time playing will Hania and listening to some Polish music.

Kasia Kowalska

This song is Tolerancja/Na Miły Bóg by Kasia Kowalska Feat. Stanisław Soyka

Kasia Kowalska is a singer from Poland. My sweet Polish sister, name is the same name as this singer. This is her favorite singer. I listened to some of her music with Kate.

Dawid Podsiadło

Kate took me to the old town of Warsaw to go into the Royal Palace and show me the church she got married in.

Monday, December 9th, 2019

Monday was my last day in Poland. Kate and her baby, Hania, met me at their place in the morning and Kate took me shopping. Later we visited another castle a little bit out of town and then grabbed a bite to eat at a food court where Pawel met us so he could take me to the airport.

The History of Poland & the W- Hour

This is the link Kate sent me Friday morning showing me what happens on the anniversary of the W-hour every year.

Every year, at 5 p.m. on August 1st, to mark the anniversary of the Warsaw Rising of 1939, alarm sirens are heard on the streets of Warsaw. The city comes to a stop. In holding a minute of silence, Warsaw residents pay tribute to the fallen insurgents and those who survived.

During World War II, over 80 precent of the city was destroyed. Many Polish people, including kids and women, died in this uprising while trying to defend their country. The losses on the Polish side were approximately: 18,000 soldiers died, 25,000 wounded and over 200,000 civilians killed. It’s approximately these numbers because not everyone was documented and there was no way of knowing who everyone belonged too. The German side there were approximately 17,000 solders killed and 9,000 wounded.

The Nazis from Germany where taking the Jews and were killing them in the gas chambers in Poland. Poland was one of the first places they could take the Jews from Germany and Poland to kill them. The Germans gained control of Poland between 1936 to 1938, mainly because of their military forces. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.

Nazi propagandists falsely claimed that Poland had been planning, with its allies Great Britain and France, to encircle and dismember Germany and that Poles were persecuting ethnic Germans. The Poles were heavily outnumbered and had a great disadvantage. Despite fighting tenaciously and inflicting serious casualties on the Germans, the Polish army was defeated within weeks. Warsaw and Krakow was destroyed. German units, with more than 2,000 tanks and over 1,000 planes, broke through Polish defenses along the border and advanced on Warsaw in a massive encirclement attack with heavy shelling and bombing.

Nazi’s from Germany occupied the remainder of Poland when it invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Poland remained under German occupation until January 1945.

Warsaw Ghetto

On October 12, 1940, the Germans decreed the establishment of a ghetto in Warsaw. The Germans had all of the Jewish residents move into a designated area. The ghetto was enclosed by a wall that was over 10 feet high, topped with barbed wire, and closely guarded to prevent movement between the ghetto and the rest of Warsaw. Jewish organizations inside the ghetto tried to meet the needs of the ghetto residents as they struggled to survive.

From July 22 until September 12, 1942, Germans deported about 265,000 Jews from Warsaw to Treblinka; they killed approximately 35,000 Jews inside the ghetto during the operation.In January 1943, SS and police units returned to Warsaw, this time with the intent of deporting thousands of the remaining approximately 70,000-80,000 Jews in the ghetto to forced-labor camps for Jews in Lublin District of the Government General.

My sweet Polish Family