Kasia Turned Double Digits…

Hello my Friends and Readers,

It has been over a month since my last post, so now I have a few stories to write about.

We are almost over the winter break at school, it started February 1st and lasts for two weeks, and I am so ready for my kids to go back to school!

I must say we have one mighty winter in here. The snow I was talking about in my earlier post is still around. I mean covered by about 3 feet of fresh powder and compacted by minus 4 Farenheit that lasted us for about 2 weeks, it got easier on us, and nowadays the temperatures are in the twenties F. Here is a snapshot from our living room window done just after the heavy snowfall. It shows the road we walk to school every day. Of course school was not cancelled due to snow (Kasia was very disappointed). Kids got into snow pants and other winter gear, put their packs on the backs and walked, walked, waded in snow.

Wrocław is rather flat place, unlike my home-town Lublin, so for sledging we went to an artificial hill. It was kind of interesting because the hill is right behind the Aqua Park where they have outdoor recreational swimming pools that are open year-round. So, while my kids were doing winter stuff in full winter gear people in swim suits were swimming in a steamy pools. Just have a look:    Anyway we went there when snow was still fresh and I think half of Wrocław was on the hill as well, including teenagers who were showing ingenuity and used a variety of things to go down the hill. One of them was using top of the skateboard. He did not have a lot of luck with it and he kept saying “because of the snow I can not ride.” My kids were taking turns on sleds. That hill is quite high and has very steep side slopes, not designed for rides unless you want to kill yourself in a painful way. Unfortunately this was the idea Michal had. He was using the gentle side of the slope untill he unexpectedly turned and got on that dangerous slope. My heart stopped, my mind said “oh, no, no more injuries” I covered my eyes and when I opened them Michal was off the sleds safe and sound on the steep slope. I was really grateful to his guardian angel.

As soon as the winter break started Kasia went for winter camp away from home, for a week. She was very excited to be away from us she even wrote a poem (posted on this site in Polish). She wrote it at school in the afercare, it won the “Winter Fun”contest! Anyway we were curious how is she going to do, first time on her own. She went to Szklarska Poręba, about 150 km from Wrocław. She did very well, she did not get sick, did not break anything. She tried cross-country skiing and generally she loved camp. She came back day after her tenth birthday. They arrived sooner than expected because there were good road conditions. Sławek was a little late for her and she called home and asked “Where are you? I am cold.” I assured her daddy is on his way and she said she is going back to the bus to stay warm. It made me think “why is she cold?” The moment she got home I knew why. Somehow she has used all the underwear and hence she put nothing under her regular pants or long sleeve T. No wonder, bare butt and no socks in the low twenties gives you very profound cold feeling and lips in the plum color. Of course she had ski-suit in the bag, but she did not think about putting it on. Now she has a cough, I am hoping it will not develop into pneumonia.

While Kasia was away Helena and Michal learned skating. Helena is better at it but Michał is doing well, too. They liked skating so much they invested their pocket-money and bought own adjustable skates.

Winter from my point of view is educational as well. I learned, for example, that the garage door does not open easily in freezing temperatures and once opened does not close tight. To extract my car from the garage I have to call for help, acting like a helpless woman (that I would never admit being one). The problem with that garage door is raising pavement due to water freezing under the setts. That blocks the door so you can hardly open it and forget about closing it tight, my neighbors assure me the problem will disappear in summer. I can not wait. So with the car stuck in the garage I am back to public transportation for all my shopping and life needs. It is also acting up, the colder and more snowy it gets the less reliable it is.

I got registered with Polish unemployment office, frustrating experience. First of all they told me I need all of my diplomas, most of them were in Lublin, so I got them when I was there for Christmas. When I was getting the information about the paperwork needed I have noticed that there are long lines for those registering. So, on the day zero I collected documents, made a sandwich, took a bottle of water, put knitting project in my backpack, put a shopping bag for groceries, shut the door and went for the bus. In the bus I realized I did not take the documents. When I finally got there, I took a number something like #164 with an uplifting message there are 72 people ahead of you. My California friends does that remind you of DMV? Anyway after 3 and a half hours of waiting (I did almost whole mitten) I was seen by a clerk. She did not ask me for any documents except confirmation of my address in Wrocław, she gave me two sheets of paper to fill in at home, appointment for next meeting, and after two minutes I was done with her. Two hundred and ten minutes of waiting for things that could have been done over the internet. Bureaucracy at its prime. On the following meeting I was asked for the copies of my documents (5 minutes of the clerk time) and two new appointments for which I have to show up or my unemployed status (I have no rights for any money of course) will be cancelled. All of that for privilege to see unlisted job offers. Priceless.

I got acquainted with local orthodontist, private one, for Helena. She is going to use a device for making her mouth bigger to fit all of her growing permanent teeth. I will pay for all of the treatments out of the pocket. State health plans do provide such treatments but first you must do tongue clicking for four months then they will apply for making one for the kid under 12 years of age. I am not kidding about tongue clicking, I went to one with Kasia and Michal and the doctor recommended tongue clicking (horse sound) as an exercise before getting the device. So, my dear kids will do ‘clicking.’ Amazing. The worst thing is state takes a lot of our money to support sick health care system, where there are long lines for everything. We pay, they spend and if we need somethig we have to pay out of pocket anyway.

I hope we all stay healthy! The same goes for you my friends. So long…

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