Vacation with three kids…

My dear Friends,

Here it goes. On June 24th 2008 I went to Poland, the country of my childhood. On the same day literary minutes before leaving home I received, so long desired, green card or officially called “Permanent Resident Card,” along came a letter with a heading “Welcome to America!” Ha! Thanks for that welcome, better late than never (I’ve been in States for eleven years now). Anyway, I kiss my husband good bye (for five weeks) and pack luggage and three little (wait – not so little anymore) kids, and taxi takes us to Logan International Airport in Boston.

Kids were talking all the way to the airport, they were very excited about going on vacation. At the airport we went smoothly through all of the gates and security check-ups and after finding our gate went on to the “duty free” just to kill time because we were really early. When we got back from the “duty free” we had a box of skittles that became kids food source for the time of flight. Our plane started one hour late but we made our connection in Frankfurt. As usual, Kasia got sick on the flight to Europe, she was holding well until we got to our gate for transit in Frankfurt, there she vomited early enough so I could change her clothing before boardng plane to Warsaw. On that plane Michał freaked out when a guy spoke to him in Polish. Poor kid must have been convinced that Polish is our special language and nobody else is using it. What a surprise! After about two hours of flight we were in Warsaw, we got our luggage without any missing pieces and went out to our “welcome committee” consisting of my in-laws and my niece’s husband. As we were exiting Michał got scared again. This time it was my mother in law who must have been dyeing to see her grandchildren. She must have been anxious because she entered the “exit way” almost all the way up to the door, kneed, spreaded her arms and exclaimed “MIchał!” The boy stopped on a spot, shouted “AAAA!” and run back to the safety of mom (Me).

155 km (about 96.5 miles) from Warsaw to Lublin was really really long for me. Poland has no highway system but people have fast cars and are not afraid of driving fast on a two lane roads. It is scary when somebody is overtaking you at the same time when cars from the opposite direction are doing the same thing. Road’s shoulder is used as an ultra slow lane, or lane for escaping on the side when someone is overtaking you. Maybe you can get used to it, still it is very scary!

For our first five weeks we had our base camp in my mom’s apartment. It is so easy to get used to bigger and better things. Mom’s apartment is a three bedroom one, and only my mom and my brother live there. When we got there it seemed really tiny. Everything is so space efficient in Europe; apartments, cars, any groceries or cosmetics you buy are much, much smaller than in the US.

For two weeks kids were attending a summer camp run by the nuns, after a while they started to like it. It was a good deal because kids went to a puppet theater for “Pyza’s Adventures” and some time later they had a field trip to Kazimierz, Wąwolnica and Nałęczów. I was there with them since Helena and Michał required a chaperon. In Kazimierz we saw an old, beautiful church, town square, and ruins of the castle build by king Kazimierz the Great. We went on the Vistula ride for about one hour and everyone enjoyed it. After the ride we got rooster shaped breads and head off to Wąwolnica and Nałęczów. Because the weather was very much unpredictable we did not sight see much of the those two towns, but got back to Lublin on time.

That summer camp had the best weather for the first part of our vacation, after it ended we went through a rain spell. It rained every day, which caused some of the Kasia’s tantrums about not going to the swimming pool thus wasting summer. When it finally cleared up we went to a new place with swimming pools and everybody was happy. We went with my university-time best friend and her two boys. All had a great time even though Lublin’s water park is nothing compared to Newark’s Aquatic Center in California.

We have visited a lot of relatives on both sides of our family, Helena was thrilled to see her cousins, aunts, uncles and grand parents. Everybody loved her and she loved them right back.

Two weeks before our departure Sławek joined us and we have changed base camp from my mom to his parents house. His stay brought us stirring… He came and stated that he wants to get back to Poland now. He took it very seriously because, instead of enjoying family and relatives, he went on a couple of job interviews. On one of them he got a good job offer. For now he had to decline it because he needs to work for his current company for a year before he is free to change work. (One year anniversary is February 2009)

So, now I am back on my “swing” and I thought we are settling down for like thirty or forty years. No, no, no, my life must stay interesting. When I was setting my mind on staying in the US (because of that green card) I need to change it back but I do not really want to.

I need to mention my niece’s wedding – a beautiful ceremony with crying bride at the exchange of the wedding vow. After a wedding there was a wedding reception with music and great food. Helena did not let anybody dance with her daddy. Little kids had a blast playing with baloons. Among three of my kids Kasia lasted the longest, it was 2:00 am when we got back her home. But she must have been tired because at about 11:30 she came to me, looked at me and asked “Mom is that you?” I must admit I looked different in a red dress and a professionally done hair but everyone else did not have any doubts that I am I.

Now I am home on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, one more week and kids – all three of them- will go to school. I will have mornings left for thinking where I really want to spend the rest of my life in Poland that changed so much during the last 11 years or in America that has been my home for the same time period. What I did not like about Poland was foul language I could hear from the adults and children alike used very casually. I did not like the lack of good roads but I guess this will change in the years to come. I did not like food because it is becoming more and more global (no more good, honest, tasty food I remember). I did not like the fact that money just slips through your fingers even though I was careful with my choices. I did not like the attitude Polish people have towards money – everybody behaves like a millionaire when they are clearly not.

I hope you had a great vacation without life-changing choices to do. Take care.