Independance Day

Saturday morning dawned bright and warm. Aneta said it was better than the summer weather they have been having. I took advantage of the nice weather to walk to the hairdresser and get another nice "do" before our big trip. I was by myself and on my own for communication. The walk was pleasant and most everyone I met greeted me with dzien dobry "day good" literally. That is something I have learned abut this language - they put words in reverse order from what we do and they don't use many connectors, such as "a" "and" or "the". It is confusing and the language is so difficult for me that I felt very brave striking out on my own. I found the hairdresser just fine and she greeted me with a big smile and said my name by way of recognition. I only waited a minute or two until she was ready and led me to the shampoo bowl. Now this is interesting to me. There are at least four operators in this salon - all busy all the time - but just one shampoo bowl. The salon is located in what looks like it should be an auto parts warehouse. The lady who does my hair and the other operator I. The same room share a blowdryer. One unplugs iot and takes it to her station and plugs it in and uses it and then the other one comes and collects it and does the same in reverse. I am beginning to see how they keep costs under control and therefore keep their prices so low. They don't take appointments either. You just show up and wait for your operator.

When she was done and I was gorgeous again I decided to treat myself to a nice coffee at the restaurant across the street where Aneta and I had lunch a couple of days before. I knew the word for coffee and didn't thjink it would be too difficult to maneuver. U fortunately the restaurant wasn't open yet and I didn't want to hang around on the street corner so I just walked back to the apartment and made myself some nice French Press Kava at the flat.

Aneta and I spent the day doing laundry, ironing and packing for our trip. I learned something else interesting and that is that all the laundry gets dried outdoors on the patio and then everything but socks and underware are ironed before they are put away. Now there is a two year old in this house trying to learn toileting skills and not having terrific success. Everything that child wears in her multiple clothing changes each day has been ironed by her mother!

Ania took a spill a week ago and hurt her hip or her leg. She has been favoring it all week. Aneta finally decided to take her to the children's hospital in Katowice on Saturday night at around 6 pm to get it checked. I asked, "do the doctor's work on Satirday night?". She assured me they did and off they went. I asked Aneta to leave the keys so I could walk to the grocery store and wander up and down the isles to see what they carry and how I might be of some assistance with meals in the future by shopping for and preparing things I am familiar with.

Off I went again on my own and it was quite an adventure. I spent $44.33 and got a really nice European size pillow, an 8 gig SanDisk Flash drive, a very large package of wafer cookies, ketchup, three yogurts, an 8 pack of toilet tissue, a bag of granola, a large dark chocolate candy bar, a pack of Wrigleys Orbit gum, (snacks for the trip and a few items we needed at the flat)and tucked it all under my arm or hung it from my hands and walked the five blocks back home. I thought I had a lock on the communication process because I watched the teller ring up the items, knew in advance what the total would be and had the correct amount of money in my hand to turn over to her. Instead of giving me my change without exchanging words she asked me a question! Drat. I said, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Polish.". She stared at me a moment and then handed me my change. I beat a hasty retreat. Safely back in the apartment I settled down with The Paris Wife, a really terrific book I am reading on my iPad. Then my iPadstarted ringing! I got so excited I almost dropped it trying to open SKYPE to see who was calling me. It was my wonderful son and my four delightful grandchildren all lined up on chairs facing the computer so I could see them. What a treat. Aneta and Anoa came home while we were talking and Ania got so excited seeing the other children on the screen that she started making a great deal of noise. It was hard to hear until Aneta took her out of the room. Both Alicia and Meron pointed at her and waved. It was so cute. The boys-my adorable Dylan and Joshua-also waved and said hi to her. It was the highlight of Ania's day. We could see our beautiful Angie making lunch in the background in her lovely kitchen. I miss my grandchildren very much already and it was wonderful to see the whole group of the, together. They had been to Dylan's soccer game in the morning. Dylan and Joshua are now blue stripes in their Martial Arts program. They are very proud of this latest achievement. Dylan explained they are doing more kicking maneuvers now and he likes it a great deal. He is also playing soccer this year, something he told me in the summer he didn't think he would do because it would be too hard to do two sports well. I am glad he changed his mind as he is an excellent soccer player for his age. The boys told me they like their new school this year and they are excited that their parents are taking them on a Disney Cruise down the Mexican Riviera in February. The whole family is going and I think that is great. Get out of the cold and rain of the Pacific Northwest and see the sun for a few days.

Aneta is worn out tonight and decided to go to bed at 10:20. That is early for her. She is such a night owl. We have to go to bed early Sunday because we leave at 4 am Monday morning for the drive to Warsaw.

SUNDAY

Finished packing today and delivered Ania to her grandparents for the next two weeks. We were invited to dinner and had another delicious meal at Alicia's table. Father, Witek, seemed more relaxed about my presence this time and he played with Ania a good deal. We watched a little "Have Talent", which is the Polish version of America's Got Talent. I was underwhelmed
With most of the acts until a young woman sang who was absolutely out of this world. The judges thought so too. My guess is she will win the entire thing and we will hear a lot about her in the future. She sang in English so it was doubly pleasurable for me.

We left Ania and returned to the apartment. Aneta went off the pick up the van at 7 pm and isn't back yet. That was a change of plans from my last post. We got the van in Gliwice and are driving to Warsaw after all. It turned out that the van in Warsaw was just going to cost a good bit more and getting it deliverdd to the airport was complicated. It caused my poor girl much stress so I said, "just get the one from Gliwice and we will leave early in the morning and make the drive.". She was relieved. I think her motivation was trying
to save me a long ride in a car because I had so much back trouble after the ride from Warsaw to Gliwice when I arrived. I don't think it will make any difference. My back has been in spasms all day today anyway and I haven't ridden anywhere. I wish this issue would just go away but it doesn't seem to want

Next post will be from the road.