Visiting the Motherland...with My Mom

Some of you may not know that I am Polish. OK, my maternal grandmother is one-half Polish, which makes me merely one-eighth. But I have been raised feeling that Poland was my European home. While on my "world adventure" I decided that it was important to see where I am "from", where my ancestors lived and died, and meet the relatives with whom my mom has held the torch for more than 30 years. So I did it. With my mom. To the motherland. Amazing!



We flew into Berlin a few days apart from each other (for which I was forgiven - thank you Mom!) and left the next day for Torun, which would be our home base in Poland. Greeted at the train station by Kuba, my cousin, I was immediately comfortable and relishing in the feeling of "home." Kuba and his wife Kasia, are wonderful. In their early 30's, they both work as English teachers and embarrassingly have better grammar than me. (Does anyone remember "future perfect" tense?) But their language skills certainly enhanced our experience. As did their two adorable children who I have promised to be able to communicate with the next time I visit.




Upon arrival, Kuba said to me, "Pam are you REALLY a vegetarian or was your mom just playing a cruel joke on us?" I confirmed that indeed I was and I got the most hilarious, confounded head shake because Polish people really don't know how to cook without meat. I sent his mother, who was planning a feast, into a fit of craziness until she learned that I ate fish. Phew! Crisis averted... Oh, and all those desserts? I ate plenty of those vegetarian delights in addition to all the other delicious foods that they learned how to cook on my behalf. Thank you Kasia & Maria!







Here are two of my favorite things in Poland - above is Franek, who's a year and a half, and Bella the beautiful golden lab. At left, that's Anastasia, Kasia and a very cold and ill-prepared me!


Coincidentally, while we were in Torun, Kasia's Saturday English class was on "cross cultural communication," so she invited me to speak to her class about the cultural differences and communication styles in the different countries that I have visited. It was a great experience to speak in my best "simple English" to these students, which included doctors and teenagers alike. It was a joy!




Above are my Polish cousins...Lucy, Kuba, Mariusz and Gabi.


We spent the weekend, a gloriously sunny one, meeting our "live" relatives and visiting the graves of some deceased ones too. Not to be krass, but I've never spent so much time at cemeteries in my life. And it turned out to be a really powerful part of my Poland experience. We visited great-great-grandfathers and grandmothers, aunts and uncles and cousins. Standing next to Kuba at the gravesite of our common ancestors, I felt connected to a world much larger than me. This was the world of my ancestors, and I left feeling the love for their homeland.















Mom and I also went up to the north part of the country on the Baltic Sea, to the cities of Gdansk and Sopot. Talk about beautiful places! The weather was fantastic, the rich seafaring history of the area was evident, and the town - which was 80% destroyed by bombs during World War II - is alive and thriving. We shopped, ate, drank and laughed. I also got to visit my first ever castle in Malbork near Gdansk, that was built beginning in the twelfth century. It is the largest brick castle in the world. Spectacular!



Unfortunately, I only got to spend about two days in Berlin but I really loved it! The cosmopolitan vibe, beautiful architecture, rich history, beautiful museums, lovely walking path along the Spree River and the great food contributed to our nice time in the city. That said, we were there during the Easter weekend, which here means Saturday, Sunday AND Monday which meant that most of the shops were closed. Oh well, I will just have to go back!

After I made my plane to Amsterdam (whee!), I got to spend eight days with Gerdien in her home country, and Jaya who also was a part of the Annapurna Circuit trek. We biked everywhere, ate constantly and abundantly (lots of cheese!) and laughed constantly. It was a fantastic week, and cemented a lifetime of friendship with these two amazing women.

I'm in New England now hanging out with my paternal relatives. Coincidentally, there is a family party while I'm here so I will get to see all the cousins! Last night was karaoke at the American Legion Hall in Medford (say "Meffa" and sound like a local), and Beth and I did the worst rendition of "I Will Survive" ever. But of course, because it's Beth we had a great time entertaining the "blue heads and nearly deads" (her words!) and never stopped laughing the entire evening.



I leave tomorrow for a quick day in LA before heading to Guatemala. Chapter Two of my World Adventure is coming to a close, and Chapter Three will begin on Tuesday.


I got a fantastic email today from "The Universe" and I love it. It says,

"Pam, isn't it nice to know that you haven't yet laughed, all that you'll
laugh? That you haven't yet met some of your very best friends? And that you
haven't yet dreamed all that you'll manifest?

That all bridges will be mended? That all sadness will be healed? And that life never ends? That all your challenges will be won? That all of your triumphs will be shared? And that the difference you'll make has already begun?"

I am grateful for all that I have learned, and looking forward to growing into it all.

With love,
Pam

Ho Chi Minh - Universe - Berlin

So, perhaps you've read to the very end of my last blog post to hear about my idiotic military time mistake. That little two-hour mistake cost me $800. But when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! After I finally got over my absolute frustration with myself for missing that flight, and leaving my mom alone for two days while I languished in transit, I decided that there was a reason that I was not supposed to be on that flight. The Universe had something else in store for me, I was sure.

First at the Ho Chi Minh airport, I said to myself, I hope I sit next to someone interesting on this flight! Thereby, giving the Universe permission to put someone next to me (a Liz Gilbert-esque teacher) with a lesson to share. Alas, I was given Delbert, a late-20's guy's guy from Louisiana who called me Ma'am. Delbert works for an oil company in "offshore," lingo for something I really didn't want to know anything about. I revoiced my intention, aiming a little lower this time. "Universe, please let me meet someone and have a meaningful conversation."

Enter Javier and Andrew. Arriving in Hong Kong, I almost immediately bump into these two civil engineers who work in Madrid. One of them, Javier, was from Barcelona and Andrew was from Torun, Poland - the very place where I will spend the weekend with my mom! We all shared a beer and a very serendipitous moment. Andrew will be in Torun next week and there's a chance that we will get to meet again there. Javier promised to be my Spanish penpal when I return from Guatemala, and help me hone my Spanish language skills. Thank you Universe!

Andrew and Javier had just missed a flight for no good reason at all, so we had plenty of laughs to share over our common fate. So, when I told them I had to leave to go catch my plane because "Missing one plane is a bad mistake, missing two is just plain stupid," they agreed. So I went to (what I thought) was my gate, looked at the enormous line and decided to send them both an email so we could stay connected. After a brief stint online near the gate, I got to the end of the enormous line before the stewardess checked my boarding pass. You are not at this gate! This is Cathay Pacific! You are on British Airways!" (Note: my flight to Hong Kong actually was a combined British Airways/Cathay Pacific flight, so I wasn't being completely stupid.) She said it with such urgency, and I knew that my flight - wherever it was - was certainly in it's final stages of boarding. And if you've ever been to the Hong Kong airport, you will appreciate my panic because of the sheer size. I ran in my flipflops, with my carry on bouncing away, as fast as my feet would carry me towards Gate 17. I was really out of breath when I saw a representative of British Airways holding a sign, I showed her my boarding pass and she said, as panicked as she could, "RUN!" So I ran behind this 89-pound woman wearing proper shoes for running through an airport like OJ Simpson, and ran and ran. When I got to the gate, they were just shutting the doors. I was the Last Person on That Plane to Heathrow. It was a really close call!

So then I sit down, huffing and puffing, next to this amazing woman from Brazil, Denise. Denise is a university professor in Macau, and we connected almost immediately. Which was a good thing, because it was a 13-hour flight and we had LOTS of time to talk! We talked about life, love, and learning and we each felt like we'd received the angel that we needed. Score 2 for Universe!

Right behind us during the flight was a family traveling with two children, 4 and 1. And during the entire flight (I am not kidding) at least one of them was crying, sometimes both, and often with the kind of shrill that makes you wince in pain. And, while they wailed they kicked the seats in front of them wildly, which were our seats. The whole time I was thinking about what lessons I needed to take away from that.The parents were relatively unconcerned about their kids breakdowns (which is understandable on a long flight, but come on folks! Get a grip on those young screamers!) Needless to say, neither one of us got very much sleep at all, and But that was OK too, because we both had long layovers at Heathrow and we continued our amazing conversations. She's invited me to Brazil, and I'm holding out hope that she winds up calling the USA her home. Oddly enough, Denise almost missed HER flight because we were having so much fun!

So I am now sitting in Heathrow airport, the biggest shrine of Western Culture that I could possibly meet upon my re-entry to Western Culture. Needless to say, it's shocking. But I'm sure there is a lesson here for me too, I'm just trying to figure out what it is.

Berlin, I will be there shortly. I'm looking forward to meeting you!