POLSKA

Flying from Madrid to Berlin

After saying a tearful goodbye to my home away from home in Salamanca, I flew to my other home (I am very lucky to have so many you know) in Gdansk, Poland. I had a two hour layover in Berlin and even though I didn’t even get to leave the airport, I did get a nice panoramic view of the city through the airplane window. I could tell it’s a city well worth visiting and something extra to put on my never ending bucket list.

I got to Gdansk and was greeted at the airport by my uncle and two of my cousins with their two little boys whom I had never met before (it had been 4 years since my last visit) . We drove straight to my other cousin’s house, which used to be my grandma’s home and a place I remember very well. There, waiting for me were a bunch of family members already setting up the grill and filling up my glass with some strong Polish beer. Every few minutes a new family member would knock on the door and the small apartment just kept getting fuller. It was a true Polish party. We stayed up to the early morning, drinking, talking and laughing. It was awesome and I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome.

Me drinking that strong Polish beer

My two weeks in Poland were spent moving around from one family’s house to the next. Since many of my family members would work during the day, I had to organize my time wisely so as to not be alone. It ended up working out really well because I got to see so many of my family members. Each home I visited would be filled with special dinners, some of which I helped cook, desserts and hours of sitting around the table and just talking. After all, we did have four years of catching up to do. The strange thing about family, however, and the most wonderful thing, is that it always feels like no time has passed by at all. Though many of my uncles looked older and some cousins had transitioned from children to teenagers or teenagers to adults, the people and our common family bond all remain the same.

 

The cherry cake I made for my cousin

One of my favorite days in Gdansk was the day of my cousin Gosia’s birthday. I had volunteered to make her favorite cake as a surprise. Gosia’s brother, Kuba, had written down the recipe for me which his mom, who lives in England, had told him over Skype. The day of the cake making, I walked happily into the kitchen and began taking out all of the necessary ingredients. Stupidly, I did not read the entire recipe before beginning to make the cake. Halfway through the baking process I realized that the recipe called for eggs but my cousin had not written down what I was supposed to do with the eggs. I immediately knew someting was off and the runny yellow mess in the mixing bowl in front of me was not really looking very much like lemon jello. Distraught, I called my aunt over Skype and told her what had happened. Unfortunately, the mess of a cake I had started could not be fixed and had to be poured down the drain. Nevertheless, I went out to the store, bought new ingredients, and made the cake over again, this time with my aunt reciting instructions for over and hour over Skype. Thank you Aunt Wisia! The new cake was a complete success and probably one of the most complicated and beautiful cakes I will ever bake. Gosia was so surprised the next day when her dad, brother, and I, along with the cat and dog, sat her down in the dining room and sang her happy birthday, party hats and all. Sometimes good things do come out of failure, but next time, I’ll defintely read over the entire recipe before I start baking.

Me walking in the room with the surprise cake

Frida also wanted to celebrate 🙂

Florek the cat wanted to party too!

Another favorite day of mine in Poland was the day my cousin Gosia and I went to the beach. Gdansk is a big Polish city right on the Baltic Coast and therefore has some very pretty beaches. Now, when we went the water was still too ice cold to bathe in but laying in the sand and suntanning was not off limits. It was the first time I had actually laid out on the beach during my entire study abroad trip. It also didn’t hurt that I was wearing a brand new bathing suit that I’d bought together with my cousin that very morning…

Gosia and I

The beach!

Another favorite day was visiting my cousin Wisienka’s house in the countryside, half an hour away from the city. My cousin’s house is a beautiful two bedroom home with a large back yard right in the middle of Polish farmland. During the day, we sat outside under the sun umbrella and ate icecream while drinking lemon water and later, I’d lay on the garden swing seat and read a book. It was as peaceful as could be.

Saying goodbye to Poland was only made easy by the fact that I was traveling onward towards Oslo, Norway to visit my next family and third home. I promised all my family that next time I visited, it would most definitely not take four years. “See you soon,” I said, and I meant it.

Beautiful Gdynia, the port city next to Gdansk.